Narrative by Judy Lawler
We had no idea it was a water park! Last July when we rented a bus, piled all of our kids into it and headed outside of the city of Lusaka to a destination that a Zambian friend had recommended, we were anticipating just your typical day of fun at the park. We had packed about 80 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (enough for 2 apiece) along with 40 bananas and drinks, so that we could have a picnic as well as enjoy the playground activities. When we pulled up to a well-manicured parking lot and noticed a line of people with beach towels waiting to get in, our suspicions were aroused. Our surprise was complete when we went through the gates and entered into a tropical paradise with lush vegetation and pools of water of various depths and shapes, all beckoning to us to jump in!

At first, we just wandered around wondering what to do. The kids didn’t even own bathing suits, so this was not a destination that we would have knowingly chosen for an outing! But while we adults looked frantically around for other available activities, the kids had another idea. Not burdened with the same scruples as their American hosts, they soon had all stripped down to their underwear and were joyously splashing and frolicking in the cool water, absolutely delighted at the turn of events! “Jude! Jude! Look at me!”, they shouted, one after an-other. The sound of their laughter rolled across the water and through the trees. My heart overflowed with the joy of it!

Eventually, the bigger kids found their way to a huge water slide at the far end of the park. We kept the little ones away from that and actually found an indoor play-room (that would rival Chuck E. Cheese’s!) filled with riding toys, Lego tables, a plastic ball pond and inflatable jumpers, tunnels and slides! Yes - it turned out that there were other things to do besides play in the water! For outside fun, there was a large field for running around and playing ball games, and they also had a nice volleyball net set up. The biggest draw by far, however, were the trampolines!

What child doesn’t long to jump high in the air on a trampoline? It’s as close as you can get to flying! Our kids went crazy over them! Each trampoline was ground-level, constructed over a rectangular pit. They weren’t very large, so the children had to take turns jumping two at a time. Of course, they tried to mob them, and ten kids would try to jump at the same time! Each child was so desperate to get his or her own turn that sometimes pushing and shoving would erupt. As a result, we had to do quite a bit of policing around the trampoline pits! To see the looks on their faces, however, as they jumped high into the air - priceless!!!

This July, we will take our kids back to that park, but this time, each child will have his or her own bathing suit and towel! Also, we will plan to use the out-door facilities to stage a big cookout, with barbeque chicken, burgers and all of the sides. We plan to do whatever it takes to give our kids another day to re-member! Wouldn’t you love to be there?