We arrived right at 11:00am, opening time. The admission price is US$28, and we wanted to take full advantage of our tickets. Unfortunately, the staff members were not ready to receive us at 11:00am, and a line formed behind us while they got themselves together. At about 11:20am, we finally were able to buy tickets, except for that they had a problem with my credit card, which took another twenty minutes to resolve. Finally, at 11:40, we were able to get into the park!
Kool Runnings Water Park has just a few main attractions: 1) Seven water slides; 2) A Lazy River; and 3) An interactive children’s area. My kids were too big for the children’s area, and the Lazy River is not very fun, so we spent most of our time on the water slides.
We spent most of the morning running up and down the stairs of the waterslides and sliding down. I used to love the very fast and scary rides when I was younger. Not anymore. I stuck to the slides that are less exhilarating and where your heart will not rise to your throat as you go down. My kids, in contrast, tried all of the slides, many, many times. Perhaps because it was a Tuesday, the park was not very crowded, and we rarely had to wait more than a couple of minutes to get on the slides.
When I first saw that the water park is fairly small, I was disappointed. However, as the day wore on, I realized two things: 1) A small park makes it much more relaxing for me; I could see the kids from most vantage points, and 2) The seven slides provided plenty of fun for the kids. The kids, of course, have a lot more energy than me. Thus, when I tired of running up and down the stairs, I could sit in the shade and relax while watching them run up and down the stairs.
Before going to Kool Runnings, I was worried that lunch might be expensive. I packed a few snacks just in case. I was pleased to find out that the lunch is both reasonable and tasty. I had a jerk chicken lunch for JA$380 – less than US$5, and the kids had hamburgers for the same price.
After lunch, it was more slides and slides for the kids. I spent most of the afternoon relaxing and listening to the reggae music blasting from the speakers. However, I had a second wind when the sun began to go down and it was not as hot, and got on the slides again. The Lazy River is also much more enjoyable when the sun is not blazing on you, so I floated around that a few times with the kids.
Kool Runnings has a DJ, and he attracted the attention of the crowd a few times through contests. My kids just love to participate in contests, so they were eager to get on stage. The first contest was a hula hoop contest, and all three participated. Unfortunately for them, there was a hula hoop expert in the competition who more than outlasted everyone else. After that, there was a reggae dance contest. Of course, we are in Jamaica, but I did not dare tell the kids that their chances of winning a reggae dance contest were slim to none. Soraya and Raymi rushed to the stage. Tatiana decided to sit this one out.
The DJ decided that each kid would dance for thirty seconds. Despite my high expectations for the Jamaican-American contestants, they actually were not that good. The DJ put on popular dancehall songs that have a dance that goes along with them. The older kids did the dance choreographed in the music video, but without much grace or style. Raymi and Soraya were not privy to the choreographed dances, so just did their thing. Raymi did some foot-kicking moves and Soraya did her Michael Jackson-esque routine. The winner, however, was the two-year old who really shook her thing. When it was all over, Raymi asked me why they always let the littlest one win. At least she did not take it as a blow to her self esteem. Raymi also pointed out that the little one copied her moves! When they get older, I will have to remind them of how they bravely participated in a reggae dance contest in Negril, Jamaica!
When I tell them that story, I might also tell them that I participated in a cumbia dance contest in Peru. A couple of years ago, when I was in Piura, I went to a technocumbia show, and they called people on the stage to dance. Thinking it would be fun, I went on stage. The show was in the rural part of Alto Piura, where there are few to no white people or foreigners. I won the competition, by popular vote. I am sure the cheers were more out of surprise that a) there was a white woman in rural Piura and b) she got on stage to dance!
All in all, Kool Runnings was a good way to spend the day. The crowd there was nearly all Jamaican and Jamaican-American. I suspect that most foreign tourists would rather spend the day at the picturesque beaches than at the water park. I, too, would have preferred to be at the beach. My kids, of course, would disagree.
0 comments:
Post a Comment