A Trip to Black Thunder

5 June 2015

The fun continued unabated on the fifth day after the school reopened when all the middle school students and teachers embarked on a trip to the one and only mega water theme park in Coimbatore – ‘BLACK THUNDER’. After ever-lasting traffic jams, waits and a two-hour long drive, we finally reached the park close to noon. We got our clothes changed and plunged into the water.  

Among the many rides I went in, the deadliest was the one which had a high vertical fall. I don’t know what the park called it, but left to me, I’d aptly name it ‘Death Fall’. It was a giant water slide whose topmost point would be at the 6^th storey of a building. Before the slide reaches the ground, there were two sharp bends in it, each about two storeys high! I was supposed to climb to the top where we were given a thick rubber sheet to lie belly down on. The merciless part was that we were supposed to slide head down first. I was asked by the ride operator to bend my knees while lying down on the sheet and fold and clasp the other end of the sheet at my head. 

Even though I decided to take this ride, I was very nervous after reaching the top. The moment I lay down on the sheet, there were not just butterflies in my stomach, but giant tarantulas all over! I hesitated… mumbled to myself… but decided to go on it anyway! I could hear my own heartbeat. The ride operator said one or two encouraging words and was almost going to give me that physical push to begin the ride. I was seized with a monstrous terror. Then, I slid vertically down into the empty space. I could hear the swish of the air around me as I raced up the first bend… then down again… and then the second bend. I couldn’t hold on to the massive adrenalin gush in me. Those few seconds seemed like the longest stretch in my life and I was literally dying for it to end when I dropped down the last leg of my journey through the steep slide. With a humongous splash, I tumbled into the pool at the end of this ride. Water found its way through my nose and ears and into my lungs. The entire thing would’ve lasted close to 30 seconds but I couldn’t believe I had done it! 

Other attractions were the thunderous waterfall, wave pool, pendulum ride and many different snaky slides. Though I enjoyed all of it, none can compare to the ‘Death Fall’. Our trip ended with a scrumptious dinner in town. All in all, it was an unforgettable day!