BELOVED by tourists and locals alike and as Bermudian as Johnny Barnes, Thelma and Louise attract just as many waving tourists and snapping camera shutters as the latter whenever they make their way through the streets of Hamilton.We are of course talking about Patsy Phillips’ donkeys, which over the last decade have helped raise almost $5,000 for various charities, including The Bermuda National Trust.

In fact, a ride with Mrs. Phillips and her donkeys is so sought after, that a Scottish couple recently bid $1,500 at a live charity auction for this honour.

Mrs. Phillips, or “Granny” as she’s known to family and friends, adds that the ride included breakfast and prior to this particular day, she always served boiled eggs, bananas, orange juice, coffee, rolls with jam and cold sausages, but when the couple bid $1,500, she says she almost “passed out”.

“I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting a donkey ride for $1,500. And I thought, well I can’t serve them boiled eggs for $1,500 so I went out and bought a bottle of French champagne and served smoked salmon sandwiches and orange juice,” she recalls with a chuckle.

During a visit to her Pembroke home earlier this week, Mrs. Phillips introduced the Mid-Ocean News to the “Equus sisters”, who at the time were enjoying their version of breakfast - fresh lawn.

Anyone who has read Mrs. Phillips’ book, The Escapades of Thelma and Louise<$> - available from the National Trust shop and local bookstores - will be familiar with the antics of this kindly duo who were brought to Bermuda from Virginia 14 years ago.

But why go to all that trouble?

Mrs. Phillips recalls a time in Bermuda when there were no cars and everyone had a choice of either a push-bike, walking, taking a carriage or riding a horse if they wanted to get around.

“There were very few houses and no cars,” she says of the still largely rural Bermuda that existed before the introduction of automobiles and the opening of the airport in the late 1940s, twin developments which allowed for the growth in tourism and, later, the international business industry. “And in those days you went out the door and your Mum saw you at lunch time and didn’t ask ‘Where you going ... what are you doing?’ because there was none of the fear there is today. You can’t let your children loose as parents did in my childhood.”

A lifelong equestrian when she was forced to have her last horse, Tawd, put down due to emphysema some years later the thought of an empty stable was too much to bear: “I decided that I didn’t want another horse because of the traffic. You also get a lot of nasty comments from people when you’re out riding.

“But with the donkeys it’s quite extraordinary, I’ve never ever had a nasty comment, like ‘Get your (clucks her tongue) donkeys off the road!’ I get some funny comments like ‘Are they real?’, which I find quite amusing because what else would they be?”

She adds with a girlish laugh that when an admiring pedestrian once shouted out “Cute!”, she replied: “Who me?” which left the man quite speechless.

We’re talking in the kitchen of her family home in Pembroke and Mrs. Phillips says except for a few years living in the United Kingdom and one year living in Tanzania, she has always lived in this particular property, which boasts a barn and several stables.

Two rather large dogs, Rhodesian ridgebacks, are lying curled up on the kitchen floor and Mrs. Phillips points out that the two canines accompany her on all her Sunday morning drives.

The little family also make their way through the streets of Hamilton and Devonshire on public holidays and Mrs. Phillips says very little will scare the donkeys, or the dogs for that matter.

But they’re not particularly fond of the local Harley Davidson motorcycle club, which also makes use of Sunday mornings to take to the road.

“The donkeys just take off when they come past, but they’re very nice (the motorcycle people) because they’ll shout where they’re heading so that we can alter our course,” she adds.

Thanks to Thelma and Louise there is no shortage of funny or memorable stories and Mrs. Phillips recalls the first time she realised just how strong donkeys are.

The donkeys were trained to pull a wagon by local horseman Eddie Roque and while on a training drive, Thelma and Louise refused to stop at the traffic lights on the corner of Front and Burnaby Streets.

“Eddie stood up and had his foot hard on the break and they just kept going,” she recalls with a laugh.

She was left apologising profusely to motorists, who simply smiled at the sight of the donkey cart tearing through a red light.

Just like people, Thelma and Louise have very different personalities and while Thelma is the intelligent, strong-willed and inquisitive one, Louise is more cautious. What they do have in common is their one pet peeve - rain!

Because donkeys generally live in dry, desert-like areas, they don’t like getting wet because their thick shaggy coats soak through to the skin.

Which is why they will bite at the bit to go for a ride on a Sunday, unless of course it’s raining: “As far as they’re concerned putting their feet (hooves) in a puddle is life-threatening!”

The donkeys made their television debut on a Look TV documentary recently. And Mrs. Phillips explains that during the making of the segment the two proved to be showbiz naturals, especially when it came to having to stop and start for the cameras: “They really like to stand around and they don’t mind where,” she laughed.

Donkeys have a reputation for stubbornness, but Mrs. Phillips dismisses this, saying they sometimes won’t do something they see as contrary to their own best interests. An example of this is crossing manhole covers - they simply will not trot across one.

In other cases when they encounter something they’re not sure about, they will simply stop dead in their tracks and refuse to move and Mrs. Phillips is forced to get off the wagon and lead them over, or around the obstacle.

“Donkeys are funny animals,” she says with a chuckle. “They are totally different to horses in that if they understand what you want, they’ll do it without any hesitation.”

Mrs. Phillips’ granddaughters, Phoebe and Ashley Heslop, visit the donkeys every other day to ride and she recalls an incident when one of the girls was riding double with a friend.

The friend slipped off and pulled her granddaughter with her to the ground.

The donkey simply stopped dead in its tracks. Which was lucky Mrs. Phillips says, because one of the girls was literally underneath the donkey.

“These donkeys absolutely love children!” she elaborates, and the feeling is mutual. “I don’t know whether it’s because people and children associate donkeys with children’s books, but there are many children who are scared of horses, but they have no fear of the donkeys.”