Mack's 2010 Trip #6 – Children's Day at Zizima

A post from Mack:

Before we get started, here's a quick review of our group's Honduran sponsored kids …

I sponsor two boys: Jonathan and Wilson

Victor sponsors three boys: Axel, Carlos, and Wilmer (not to be confused with Wilmer in Guatemala).

Sam sponsors one boy: Darwin

Joining us on our day out would be a mother/relative for each child, plus a collection of siblings. I only know the names/ages of my own kids' sibs, but here's the breakdown:

Jonathan = One brother, Jimi (17)

Wilson/Axel = Two sisters, Sayda (13) and Soreli (9)

Carlos = One brother (13?)

Wilmer = One sister (7-ish) + one cousin (11-ish)

Darwin = One sister (teenager)

Our CI hostesses were Irene (the sponsor relations director) and Miriam, one of the women who accompanied us on our mall trip in 2009. Jessica, our other 2009 hostess, could not join us this year because she is expecting a baby, but I got to see her during my visit to the SPS headquarters.

We arranged to meet the CI reps and our children at the Zizima Water Park entrance at 10 am. This allowed me plenty of time in the morning to slather my entire body in ridiculous-looking white sunscreen. At about 9:30, we loaded the back of a taxi with gifts galore and headed to the park.

When we arrived, there was a line-up about a half mile long waiting to get inside. This was surprising, as the park had been practically empty when Victor took the boys in January. We'd expected a better turnout this time around, but nothing like the crowd that milled before us!

While Sam and I waited with all the stuff, Victor took a look around to see if the CI vans had arrived. They had, and he was actually able to spot our group amongst the masses. Fortunately for us, the mothers had staked out a position near the front of the queue waiting to enter the park. The only thing we lacked were our tickets, which I planned to pay for with my credit card. Irene went with me, and together we schemed to lie to the ticket agent about the number of people in our party – claiming that we had MORE, not less! We needed to purchase entry tickets for 23 people, but if we'd had 25, we would pay half-price for everyone. It wasn't entirely a lie when we told the park employee that we were a group of 25 … we simply bought tickets for the two van drivers, even though they had no desire to come with us into the park. With the discount, the total for everyone's tickets came to about $60.

To explain the crowds, Irene told us, "It's Children's Day in Honduras, of course. That's why you came today, right?"

We had to admit that we had no clue about the significance of the day we'd selected for our visit. It was complete dumb luck. Besides, I wasn't entirely sure we were lucky to be sharing the park with so many other guests. With the place so packed, it was difficult for us all to stay together and do things as a group. On the other hand, Victor thought that this second visit to Zizima was better than the one back in January. All park activities were in full swing and there was plenty to do. The other time, the staff had been reluctant to even turn on the water slides for such a small number of guests, and only one restaurant had been open.

To be continued...