Rogelio Manuel Diaz Moreno
HAVANA TIMES — During the summer break, one takes advantage of the free time to go on the outings you can’t accommodate at other times during the year. Even though we’re not actually on vacation, our son, Rogelito, is everything to us and he deserves all good things we are able to give him.
So as the summer break was coming to an end, I decided to take him the Isla de Coco (“Coconut Island”) amusement park. The park was built where the renowned “Coney Island” was once located, in Havana’s neighborhood of Playa. It is close to the International Convention Center and the La Concha club and beach. Because of its location, the park is relatively easy to reach for us. We caught a miraculously efficient bus that left us there after a mere three stops.
We had gone to the nearby La Concha beach several times recently and had noticed the amusement park was not as crowded as it used to be and that most of the rides were working. Rogelito was interested in going there and we planned a trip for last Saturday.
We arrived at the beautiful amusement park at around ten in the morning. Purchasing the tickets is a somewhat bothersome process because each ride requires a different ticket, even though there are only two different prices. Children pay for each ride with one ticket and adults with two. Having fun is always going to be expensive there (even if you don’t buy any sweets, like us).
Despite its origins, the park has been Cubanized considerably. “Coconut Island”, in fact, is taken from the comic strip authored by our Jorge Oliver. The characters of Captain Plan and his friends and the evil but humorous Rui La Pestex decorate the paths and small boulevards inside the park. They are joined by other Cuban characters, such as those belonging to the Elpido Valdes saga. In fact, the horses in the merry-go-round have the faces of Palmiche, Elpido Valdes’ loyal horse.
The more modest and traditional swings and see-saws can also be found at the park, but, located in an open area under the merciless sun, they attract very few visitors. The offers of the self-employed combine effectively with the State offers including toy, knick-knak and snack kiosks. The person running the inflatable castle showed himself hugely generous and flexible in terms of prices, earning a free promotion from me. An arrogant crab questions his upstart neighbor without leaving the comforts of its cave.
I realized how exhausting the outing had been when I got home. Rogelito, however, showed no signs of tiredness and aspires to go back and have other experiences there.
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