HOT dogs (and cats... and donkeys)

When I booked my ferry ticket from Piraeus to Santorini, I'm not sure what I expected I'd be travelling in but I sure wasn't expecting a huge vessel, eight levels high with a range of restaurants and cafes, two massive garages for vehicles, a first class section and cafe-style seating throughout.

After searching around for the economy section, I realised that with an economy ticket you can just seat yourself wherever you like in the public area. People were stretching themselves along multiple chairs or bench seating, so I decided to do the same and catch up on some sleep during the eight-hour journey. The journey stops at a number of other Greek Islands along the way, so it was great to check those out but the most impressive island by far was Santorini with its white and blue houses seemingly clinging to the sheer cliff faces.

I was met at the port by Costas, one of the owners of the hotel I'd be staying at for the next three nights, Villa Dimitris in Perissa, on the south-west coast of the island. Recommended to me by Michael, who'd been to Santorini twice before, we soon figured out that he had sent me to the wrong hotel! Michael had stayed at 'Dimitris Villa' in the next town over, so it was an easy mistake to make.

It didn't really matter though, because Villa Dimitris was fantastic. I'm pretty sure I was their only guest - I never saw or heard anyone else during my time there and the owners were lovely and very helpful, recommending places to eat and visit, where to buy ferry tickets etc. I loved Perissa too - a black sand beach a world away from the relative hustle and bustle of the two main towns, Thira and Oia.

The first thing that struck me about Santorini was (not surprisingly) the amount of street dogs and cats everywhere. EVERYWHERE! The first night I went and had dinner at a restaurant on the beach and there were dogs just everywhere and I had to fight myself to not pat them. In the end though I did give in and gave pats to the less-mangier looking ones. They would go from restaurant to restaurant looking for scraps and they didn't seem to belong to anyone, just slept on the beach and played amongst themselves.

It's one reason why travelling to third world countries doesn't appeal to me, because I can't bear to see the living conditions these animals are subjected to. Most of the dogs and cats seemed happy enough (if a little mangy and skinny) but it made me sad to see cats picking through dumpsters and dogs limping. 

And the sad donkeys! They use donkeys to transport tourists from the bottom of the old port up to the main town of Thira, but I just felt sorry for them in the heat and they didn't seem to have any water available either.

I came across one particularly mangy-looking black cat in Oia that was sleeping in the shade and had followed me around a bit earlier in the day. I woke it up and poured some of my water next to it so that it made a bit of a puddle and the cat lapped it up so quickly, it made me sad to wonder where its next drink would come from. The shopkeepers don't seem to mind the cats and dogs everywhere, but I do wonder . One shopkeeper I spoke to said there are 20 cats around her shop and she has 12 at home!