We had a donkey for many years. It is a very intelligent, affordable and durable animal. Donkeys have been used as a working animals for at least 5000 years and has been a travelling companion for many travellers:

Rediscovering donkeys

Yet where would travel be without all those slow journeys of yesteryear? Adventures like Patrick Leigh Fermor’s long walk across Europe, Isabelle Eberhardt’s remarkable wanderings through the Maghreb or Freya Stark’s travels with a donkey through an Arabian winter.

Donkeys, it seems, are an indispensable asset to the would-be slow traveller. They are reportedly faster than a camel (if Freya Stark is to be believed), yet markedly slower than planes, trains and buses. If Robert Louis Stevenson managed perfectly okay travelling through the Cévennes area of France with a donkey, why don’t we all eschew trains and take donkeys? Read more….

Pernilla was one of the first donkeys ever born in Finland. Pernilla was with us on outings in the woods, she liked to be active and pull a wagon. We rode on her sometimes but since she was quite small mostly children sat on her back. She pulled Ritva in a wagon when she and Peter got married and one could see that she understood what an important task that was. She got a foal. She was born right before Christmas on Hosianna day – we called her Susanna.

Related articles

• Ten Things Donkeys Want You To Know (acordblog.wordpress.com)
• Please Think Before Getting On A Small Donkey (donkeywhispererfarm2010.wordpress.com)