santorini donkeys

[gilly88]

there is an article in the mail on line today, about over weight people and the donkeys of Santorini.

the problem of having them take tourists up the long trek into the town at the top of hill. now I have never been to Santorini but I have heard of the place and knew that the donkeys were used for this, but surely there should be better ways than using animals to get people to the top?

do any of you have any ideas? is it possible to build a lift like the one built in Malta, if this was the only way to go up I would not go. or I would do a tour not using the donkeys, If that is possible. they should only be used for children or very petite adults in my opinion.

[Manoverboard]

There is ( was ) already a lift in Santorini but there are two locations where the ships can berth. Tourists will arrive from the other side of the Island into the town ( with the lift ) at the lower level and will then need to go to the top for the nicer parts with the lovely views etc.

Walking can be a hazardous experience and given that it is extremely steep it could see off a few of the out of condition heavyweights, there is no way as a non heavyweight that I would wish to walk up to the uppermost level, down of course is far less of a problem.

Let us remember that the very survival of these donkeys depends on them carrying tourists and given the nature and expense of the task donkeys will have to remain unless the tourists stop visiting this beautiful Island … which of course they will not. Better treatment of these animals is the only improvement that is possible as far as I can see from the four visits that we have made although when I made a similar comment on the old P&O site I was shot down on the basis that they are well looked after … for donkeys.

[Jan Rosser]

Santorini is usually a tender port and there is a cable car up to the town of Fira - that is how I have travelled to the top in the past - I've never been tempted to ride up on a donkey but did walk once many moons ago - seem to remember it's a killer and not very safe

[gilly88]

There is ( was ) already a lift in Santorini but there are two locations where the ships can berth. Tourists will arrive from the other side of the Island into the town ( with the lift ) at the lower level and will then need to go to the top for the nicer parts with the lovely views etc.

Walking can be a hazardous experience and given that it is extremely steep it could see off a few of the out of condition heavyweights, there is no way as a non heavyweight that I would wish to walk up to the uppermost level, down of course is far less of a problem.

Let us remember that the very survival of these donkeys depends on them carrying tourists and given the nature and expense of the task donkeys will have to remain unless the tourists stop visiting this beautiful Island … which of course they will not. Better treatment of these animals is the only improvement that is possible as far as I can see from the four visits that we have made although when I made a similar comment on the old P&O site I was shot down on the basis that they are well looked after … for donkeys.

its good if there is a lift already, does that mean thats how most people would get up to the town? i still think that i would forgo the views for the sake of the donkeys. (i am not particulaly over weight just quite tall at 5ft 9" )
also i believe that the donkeys would still be used fro taking goods up the hill if tourists were no longer allowed to use them, so i don't think they would be abandoned.

[Manoverboard]

The lift is certainly the best way to go to see Fira at its best … you simply CANNOT forgo the views and sadly the locals cannot afford to keep the donkeys as pets nor souvenirs. Best bet would be that they would eat them if they couldn't work else they would sell them on to work elsewhere … it's their way of life and has been since God was a rumour.

Many people do not take the lift because they are trying to visit the Island on the cheap, many will walk up but only once. Our second visit was with Princess and I would have to say that a large number of very large American cruisers took the donkey option, OV was the first and most took the lift. The North Americans were still travelling by donkey in 2016 or at least those on our Celebrity cruise were.

[Onelife]

I don't have a problem with donkys being bred for this kind of work but thier welfare should always come first..... clearly from what l have read this doesn't appear to be the case.

Perhaps cruise companies should take more responsibility in not putting on theses kinds of excursions until the welfare of the donkeys has improved...The donkys profiteers would soon get the message.

[david63]

Sadly this happens in other parts of the world with camels, elephants as well as donkeys.

As for tour companies stopping it - I was reading that Thomas Cook are stopping selling tours to Sealife in Florida from next year due to the treatment of whales. If they are so concerned then why do they not stop selling them now?

[Finker]

Just take a look at tripadvisor reviews or read the forums.

The walk up and down the steps is perilous. Lots of donkey dung to step on or slide on!

From what I saw the cable car ride is not adequate to cope with the hoards of tourists and I witnessed an unpleasant scene after some people tried to beat the queue to return to the ship.

The donkeys that I saw look hot and worn out.

[Onelife]

Just for clarification (having looked at pictures) most of the donkeys are in fact mules.....

l should know l've backed enough donkeys in my time

[Happydays]

Still some poor animal suffering due to people

[Onelife]

Yep!!

Sad but true.

[Ranchi]

It’s many years since we’ve been to Santorini (Canberra days) and we too walked up (had two small children and an even smaller budget). My wife remembers it because she was squashed against the wall by a donkey/mule train.
On a more positive note ( for mules,) it’s good to see Wallace the Great has now been accepted.