Jurassic Water Park

Saturday, we took off on our first all camp excursion.  Polish pilot in tow, we were off to a Jurassic water park.  What is a Jurassic water park you ask?  Your guess was as good as mine.  It took us two hours by bus (which was actually only 60 miles, but on these roads, it’s awful) to travel to this dino-aqua park.  Luckily, they had packed each of us a “bus snack” to take with (two bottles of water, a banana, two sandwiches - one large and one snack size, some crackers and a cookie). When we got there, we dismounted and all were given a pair of 3D glasses... still not knowing why we were handed these or in what capacity we would be using them.  We got into the park and were divided into groups- the kids and the American staff.  We got an English speaking tour guide and the kids went on their own with Polish speakers.  The first thing we saw was a prehistoric oceanairum.  Again, your guess was as good as mine... It ended up being a dark circular tunnel with LED screens on the inside of the circle reflecting prehistoric sealife, so as to look like a large aquarium of sorts.  Some of them just floated by the window pleasantly, and others bore their teeth at us as we walked around the circle.  It was a most unpleasant experience as a result of my inappropriate fear of sea creatures and anything that swims.  

After this, we boarded a small tourist train, which as anyone who has traveled with me in Europe will attest, I usually love.  However, this was a different story.  on the left side of the train was a closed wall so as to block that side of the train.  The right side was open and had tiered seating to form a theater like aspect to the train.  It would have been fine had I not been bruising my knees because the rows were so narrow.  Keep in mind that I am a petite person who doesn’t usually require a lot of leg room, but this was absurd.  Evidently it was for small children.  Whatever, I was excited about the train.  I was going to sit in the front.  Once the train was fully loaded, we took off on a tour of the “time tunnel.”  On each train car, there was a projector mounted and the “tunnel” was a long dark tunnel with a screen on the right side.  the projector shone on the screen, with English subtitles, and we were told the story of the evolution of the earth.  After a 10 minute ride through the “time tunnel” we were left out in a field type area to continue our tour.  I still didn’t really have a grasp on what we were doing or where we were going, but after my years in Hungary, I learned to just roll with it.  Too bad it was about 95 with 100% humidity out.  It was flat out uncomfortable.  And away we went... to the dinosaur field.  I don’t even know how to explain it, but as a kind of quarry that had been filled in with life size dinosaurs.  We had to walk on a path that wound around and opened up into the dino field.  I probably would have enjoyed it a bit more if it wasn’t so dang hot out, but we were out in the blazing sun and dinos have never really done it for me.  The impetuous for building this here is as a result of the fossils they found in the area.  I will say that seeing a fossils of skulls of dinosaurs millions of years old was pretty cool, but I wasn’t having the sun. 

After the dino tour, we were brought to lunch.  Each of us, the 100 some kids and Polish staff, the 18 Americans and our bus drivers were given Russian Pierogis (the only think that makes them Russian is that they are filled with cheese and potato).  They kind of turned me off to peirogis in general, but what can you expect from amusement park attempts at cultural food.  At any rate, after lunch the kids were released to the water park.  I wasn’t interested as it was a man made lake with sand and such - probably a urine infested cesspool (not really, but I’m skeptical about water parks).  I sat and read instead.  All in all, a bit of a crazy day, but when in Poland...

The front of the park

looking into the dino park part

the train with the projectors on it

Polish dino