*sigh* It's true. I spent long Roman years not knowing the ecstasy of living with llamas. Long months of making do with Bast, my Egyptian cat, or those dormice (and it doesn't do for a Roman to get fond of small mammals, they usually end up en brochette). Then last year, I took The Golden Phoenix cruise to Machu Picchu, and life changed forever!

How, you ask? I was asked to ride in the no-holds-barred Sacsayhuaman Golden Llama Race, and was given a demurely well-behaved ride named ...

STUDDELEY!

By the time I'd fallen into chasms, been ambushed by robbers, jumped by a cohort of lunatic Egyptians determined to win at any price, Studdeley and I had formed an inviolable bond that took us through the rest of the cruise and all the way to Rome . . . where he was promptly added to the Emperor's Bestiary up on the Palatine...

So when Chan asked me to do a brief summary of "Lives of Llamas We Have Loved," it was a natural! So grab your cup of pulque and pull up a chair. Let's talk critters! [ChanChan, this pulque's for you!]