Part I is here.
We were invited to come to Leba the first weekend of June. Luckily it’s only an hour and a half away from our home (by car). And most of the way is in the forests, away from the main roads and from the traffic jams. So that is perfect. And very convenient when you want to get to your destination fast. The weather on Friday was quite good. Sunny. But cold and windy. However, the weather forecasts were already helling us that it’s going to be really cold, rainy and windy during the weekend. But that wasn’t going to discourage us from going there! No way!
We reached Leba around 6 p.m. The place where we stayed was great! It was a bungalow in the garden. Two rooms, two bathrooms and a fully equipped kitchen. And it was really warm inside. What can you want more?
We ate supper, put our kiddo to sleep and started planning the next day. And that’s when it started raining. The rain was pouring down everywhere and all over the place. Not the inside, of course. But it looked like somebody in heaven had a serious break down or melt down.
Saturday was the day when we did the most. Artur woke up early in the morning, the cold and windy morning, they went to the nearby shop to grab something for breakfast and we were practically off to enjoy our day out. The plan for the day? LebaPark!
I’ve heard of and read about Leba Park for some time. I was curious to go there as it had very good press. People were saying that even kids who weren’t fond of dinosaurs really enjoyed their visit there. Although the weather did its best to discourage us from visiting Leba Park (truthfully it could’ve done more. It could’ve started raining which, in fact, we thought would definitely happen), we went there anyhow. That was the reason we wanted to visit Leba in the first place!
The streets were practically deserted when we left off. It wasn’t the high season yet and it was still early for a Saturday morning. We saw a stork on the way, walking on a field/meadow/some grassy area and then taking off. It was so close to us! That doesn’t happen too often to me.
We reached the park right after the opening. Already from the outside you can see some of the figures and they are huuuge. There is a parking place designated for park visitors, but I know nothing more on it as we walked there. Then we bought ourselves the tickets. As far as I remember it was 25 PLN for a normal ticket and our kiddo got in free of charge (children up to the age of 4 get in free of charge). That’s when our journey in time began.
First you walk into a village – it’s a food court connected with a cinema, souvenir shop and a playground for kids. I can’t remember now if there was anything else there. Passing through the village you get the chance to appreciate the... architecture. I must say they cared for the details. Then, somewhere between one of the houses and the playground and toilettes, you enter the magic land of dinosaurs!
You enter it step by step. First you see quite small creatures, spread around a limited sandy area that you can see at once. Little, twisted, leafless trees and dark clouds hanging low above us gave it a bit of a gloomy look. And yet it made me want more. When we were still at home I read that the whole park is situated on 20 hectares of land. I looked at this sandy area and though man, where is the rest? Where is that big dino that I saw from the entrance? And that’s only because the first area looked like that’s it. At least from the entrance. On the other side there was an exhibit of some remnants from the old times, like rocks, amber and stuff where we could hide for a sec from the wind and the cold. And then, passing by the tiny dinos, we saw a kind of a bridge or a kind of a platform (I have no idea how to call it, a path over water) hidden among sweet flag. And an arrow leading us there.
That was a completely different world. From a tiny, limited, sandy area with quite small creatures (not what you expect of dinosaurs) to a green, unlimited, watery area where dinos where as if jumping out of their hiding places right at you. And they were much bigger too. Hidden behind turns and twists of the road. At some places you could first hear them and only after a while – see them. I must say that I’m glad that it was so cloudy and gloomy that day – it definitely added that extra something to the trip ;)
To be continued…
The stork ;)
The sandy area (it's a pity you can't see the clouds as we saw them)
The entrance to the village as seen from the sandy dino area
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