Sharyn Spicer

To real pet lovers a ‘Family Holiday’ without pets is not family nor holiday: using the directory, you can plan a weekend or a month away with your best friend[s] for company.

Don’t expect to stay at the Mount Nelson or a Holiday Inn – most commercial hotels just don’t do pets – but there is a wealth of smaller hotels, camp sites, and lodges that welcome cats and dogs – and even horses.

Planning a weekend getaway from Jo’Burg was remarkably simple: Mpumalanga is our destination de jour and while the Royal Hotel Pilgrims Rest was tempting, for fishing, walks and clean air a self-catering cottage on a Dullstroom farm seemed just the ticket.

Self-catering is all very well but spending time cooking and washing up is not everyone’s idea of a holiday [I do it at home, several times a day] – not to worry: according to the directory, Dullstroom boasts at least two picturesque and pet-friendly pubs.

If I was a glutton for punishment and wanted to give my dog a quick work out, the book provides details of all training and behaviour clubs and, yes, there is one in Dullstroom.

However, if my pet got into a bar brawl with the other canines hanging out at the Duck & Trout, the section on ‘finding a vet’ gives no listing for Dullstroom so I would have to phone through to the Nelspruit Animal Hospital.

I addition to conventional vets, the directory lists alternative practitioners – animal acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy [my Persian would love that], reiki, not to mention Spiritual Healing.

Since my beloved old cat died last week, the section on ‘losing a pet’ was of particular interest: starting at R180 for Communal Cremation and going up to R6000 for a headstone at a pet cemetery, the option of a private garden burial was immediately appealing.

This book is a Bible for South African dog lovers: unfortunately other pets are given short shrift or ignored altogether. Were it called The Dog-Friendly Directory I would endorse it heartily, but by downplaying cats, hamsters and rabbits, I can give it only a 95% recommendation.

Whatever your choice of ‘best friend’ – pony, parrot or pot-bellied pig, this directory provides a treasure trove of all the addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses you are likely to need, and there is nothing to compare.… (mais)

It seems child-free amenities are on the rise and in the future people with children will be as unwelcome as smokers, but while you can leave your cigarettes at home for a few days, you can’t do the same with your baby.

This guide to holiday accommodation that welcomes kids is invaluable to those who previously felt the only viable option for noisy toddlers was to camp out: it details a host of restaurants, lodges, hotels, spas and guesthouses which not only cater specifically for children, but provide special rates as well.

Although of limited interest to the wider market — except perhaps to paedophobes who will now know where not to go — this little book will prove to be worth many times its weight in Pampers to young parents wanting a stress-free family holiday.… (mais)