Donkeys in Santorini

[giorgosz]

Peanut butter is not common in Europe :)

Anyway, the things you mention may be right, but I think is a very small percentage of the greek population and that I am sure that the majority of greeks do not behave like that and strongly disagree with those things.

But you can't judge the whole population.

Anyway, I hope you had a nice time here, as I have a nice time when i visit the U.S.!

[agabbymama]

Peanut butter is not common in Europe :)

Anyway, the things you mention may be right, but I think is a very small percentage of the greek population and that I am sure that the majority of greeks do not behave like that and strongly disagree with those things.

But you can't judge the whole population.

Anyway, I hope you had a nice time here, as I have a nice time when i visit the U.S.!

 

Oh, I certainly had a wonderful time in Greece. That's why I'm bringing my friend to Greece and Italy in Oct '08 on a cruise. She is of Armenian heritage, so really wanted to see kind of that part of the world. And even the stop in Kusadasi Turkey, she is really looking forward to seeing all the ports. We will visit Santorini, Mykonos, Corfu, Olympia, and Athens. As well as Rome, Naples, Livorno, Monte Carlo, Venice, and Kusadasi. I think we will have a wonderful trip. It will all be new to her, and I will get to visit places I didn't visit on my previous visit. I wanted to do the islands, but we were there in December, and our friend said the islands close up in the Winter and the ferry ride over would be extremely rough in December, so we didn't go. We stayed mainly on the Peloponese Peninsula. But then that left something for us to do this time.

 

I'm glad to hear you treat your women with respect and that you don't agree with beating them or leaving them at home.

 

And yes, I know peanut butter isn't big in Europe, you have something there called Nutella and it is wonderful too! But boy your coffee sure gives a person a jolt. I even tried Nesc, but didn't care for it either, so I switched to drinking tea for the month we were there. Ha Ha Ha

 

Hope all your travels are happy ones.

[hcat]

Glad we can take the busses out of there -- going on the donkeys just has no appeal to me for more than one reason.... have to see how we can get back to the ship....We will have to check how many other ships are in port on our day; but how long would should it take to use the funicular & then the tender back to the ship? Wonder how many miss the ship in this port?

[agabbymama]

Glad we can take the busses out of there -- going on the donkeys just has no appeal to me for more than one reason.... have to see how we can get back to the ship....We will have to check how many other ships are in port on our day; but how long would should it take to use the funicular & then the tender back to the ship? Wonder how many miss the ship in this port?

 

hcat,

The buses are only if you book the tour through the ship excursions. Princess has one that I'm looking at that you take the bus up and then the bus takes you back down, or you can choose to stay in the town and take the funicular back down. I plan to ride the bus both ways.

 

Happy travels.

[JLC@SD]

....to all who are on their "high horse" about the donkeys......:)

 

....donkeys are bred to be animals of burden......to bear loads and riders......they are not pets......;)

 

.....I agree they should not be beaten.......and the fat asses should not ride on the smaller asses......;)

 

......however .......calling for boycotting the riding of donkeys .........because someone saw one being abused......makes as muich sense as advocating no dog ownership ........because someone saw a dog being abused....:confused:

[Pacific Sandy]

....to all who are on their "high horse" about the donkeys......:)

 

....donkeys are bred to be animals of burden......to bear loads and riders......they are not pets......;)

 

.....I agree they should not be beaten.......and the fat asses should not ride on the smaller asses......;)

 

......however .......calling for boycotting the riding of donkeys .........because someone saw one being abused......makes as muich sense as advocating no dog ownership ........because someone saw a dog being abused....:confused:

 

OMG - OMG

[coxswain]

Donkey's aren't bred to be abused !! so why would anyone pay to get on a donkey were its hit with a stick or starved of water ???

 

 

 

 

 

jj.......

[Sheik]

Enjoy the ride up with the funicular, the walk down gives you a lot of very beautiful views of the ships in the bay.

 

Please, don't use these poor animals. It's really a shame that some countries in eastern and southern Europe don't respect animals as in other parts of Europa. That's a fact and I regret this.

[Hlitner]

After reading some of these posts I have been trying to figure out who are the real "asses." Now, I guess we could talk about bullfights, but that is an entirely different topic.

 

Hank

[irc2100]

We will be in Santorini in a few weeks, and have been looking forward to the donkey ride as part of the overall experience. We have read so many negative comments about the cruelty these animals endure that we'll take the funicular.

[Pacific Sandy]

Good decision.

[coxswain]

Thank you !!

 

 

 

 

jj.....

[hcat]

There is another recent thread on the Celebrity board--with amazing photos of what this looks like--I am afraid of heights so it really made an impression!

[vivacious redhead]

Agabbymama, I have ridden the mules down into the Grand Canyon. It is a fabulous experience and one of the highlights of my life and I have traveled the world, been on 17 cruises, etc. They only take 2 groups down a day, with about 10 in each group. And you have to make the reservation at least a year in advance. The mules are huge, quite larger than a horse, but the weight limit is 200lbs, including all of your stuff you take down with you. They actually weigh you the day before, to make sure that you are not overweight. The ranglers are fun and really cool people and they tell jokes all the way down and back up again. The mules go down and come up the next day, but then they get to rest for a day or two before they have to make the trip again. There has never been a human death, due to the mules falling off the path.

 

The donkeys in Santorini are very small, but they can carry at least twice their weight. I'm not so concerned about the weight of the people, as I am about the beatings. They should NEVER be beaten around the head. The men in Santorini that own these donkeys are making a profit off of them, so I would think that they would treat them well to take care of their investment, but obviously that is not the case. 'Nuf said.

[Kindlychap]

Greece - this is the same country whose ancient civilations gave us ...

coined money

maps

the thermometer

the lock

the harp

the hula hoop

democracy

and pizza

 

Animal cruelty is not to be tolerated anywhere and I applaud the few people on this thread who recognise that the donkeys are not treated well and who will, in their own way, no support the exploitation of them.

 

Pizza?

 

Athenian democracy wasn't what we'd think of as democracy. Only the elete voted.

 

Having said that Greece is a country with a legacy that goes back further and more deeply than almost anywhere else. "Backward" is an odd thing to say.

 

There are those in America, as I understand, that still regard black people as subhuman, and regret the passing of the slave era. Does that make New England "backward"?

[pinkflood]

If you don’t want to ride them, then don’t ,( I didn’t) . But to say that empty pockets of the owners will somehow improve donkey’s life??? I doubt it.

 

 

 

This one is kind of famous, Antoni, the smiling donkey of Santorini, he is even on youtube.

 

 

 

[olga77]

Oh, I certainly had a wonderful time in Greece. That's why I'm bringing my friend to Greece and Italy in Oct '08 on a cruise. She is of Armenian heritage, so really wanted to see kind of that part of the world. And even the stop in Kusadasi Turkey, she is really looking forward to seeing all the ports. We will visit Santorini, Mykonos, Corfu, Olympia, and Athens. As well as Rome, Naples, Livorno, Monte Carlo, Venice, and Kusadasi. I think we will have a wonderful trip. It will all be new to her, and I will get to visit places I didn't visit on my previous visit. I wanted to do the islands, but we were there in December, and our friend said the islands close up in the Winter and the ferry ride over would be extremely rough in December, so we didn't go. We stayed mainly on the Peloponese Peninsula. But then that left something for us to do this time.

 

I'm glad to hear you treat your women with respect and that you don't agree with beating them or leaving them at home.

 

And yes, I know peanut butter isn't big in Europe, you have something there called Nutella and it is wonderful too! But boy your coffee sure gives a person a jolt. I even tried Nesc, but didn't care for it either, so I switched to drinking tea for the month we were there. Ha Ha Ha

 

Hope all your travels are happy ones.

 

What are talking about? The coffee in Europe is fabulous!!! I don't know what they do with it but, we Americans, certainly don't know how to make good coffee. Dreaming to come back and enjoy a cup....

[olga77]

Agabbymama, I have ridden the mules down into the Grand Canyon. It is a fabulous experience and one of the highlights of my life and I have traveled the world, been on 17 cruises, etc. They only take 2 groups down a day, with about 10 in each group. And you have to make the reservation at least a year in advance. The mules are huge, quite larger than a horse, but the weight limit is 200lbs, including all of your stuff you take down with you. They actually weigh you the day before, to make sure that you are not overweight. The ranglers are fun and really cool people and they tell jokes all the way down and back up again. The mules go down and come up the next day, but then they get to rest for a day or two before they have to make the trip again. There has never been a human death, due to the mules falling off the path.

 

The donkeys in Santorini are very small, but they can carry at least twice their weight. I'm not so concerned about the weight of the people, as I am about the beatings. They should NEVER be beaten around the head. The men in Santorini that own these donkeys are making a profit off of them, so I would think that they would treat them well to take care of their investment, but obviously that is not the case. 'Nuf said.

 

I agree about the mules. By the way, horses were the only means of transportation back then and whether you liked it or didn't, you had to ride them. Horseback riding is fun and I think horses enjoy it! I will definitely not going to ride a donkey in Santorini, just because they smell so much:o. But instead of judging other countries we need to look at our own: husbands abusing their wives here in the US, people abusing animals, American citizens still living in deplorable condition with no AIR CONDITIONERS, etc. I can go on forever! We tend to judge someone else instead of looking at our own backyard!