Authors' Names: Caitlin and Olivia Traveled Age: 16 Written Age:17 It wasn't our first time visiting Turkey, in fact, we spent several summers down in a small seaside town off the coast of Izmir. But this holiday, we decided to go to Kuşadası, a popular tourist resort.
Güvercinada (literally translates to 'Pigeon Island') is an island connected to the mainland by a man-made causeway, also serving as a dock for the boat tours. We had explored a castle before taking a boat trip around the bay, and then we returned to our hotel, which was just up the road from the lively streets and restaurants. The most exciting part of our trip had yet to come. Swimsuits under our clothes, we got into our cars and drove along the winding roads that coiled around the mountains. Up we went, leaving the turquoise waters below us, and then we saw it. There, in big white letters, like the Hollywood sign, was the name of the water park, Adaland. Situated upon the mountain top, the water park was enormous. There were pools everywhere, varying in size and features. And the slides! Some reigned from whimsical castle turrets, others could only be accessed by a winding tower of stairs. After choosing a spot amongst the endless rows of sunbeds, we were free to roam the park. We decided to start with something easy, so we swam down the Lazy River, a calm river-like pool. Then we grabbed a raft and followed the twists and turns of a pitch black tunnel. Surprisingly, the queues were quite short. There was a lot of walking involved since the grounds were so big, and the paths were scorching hot! Thankfully, the lifeguards had a bucket of water beside them at every slide, cooling the ground which people queued upon. However the paths leading to the slides were left to sizzle in the heat and when we weren't hopping from pool to pool to avoid burning our feet, we were sprinting around the park, jumping into any shadow or puddle of water we could find! The slides varied, from those that took you on slow scenic rides to others that had you free-falling into the water with a splash. One included the Loops, a twin set of slides that dropped a person through a tunnel at terrifying a speed. We found this one too daunting to try! There were many other activities too: rafting, wave pools and even a dolphin show! One of the lifeguards was a real prankster. He threw a raft on top of of us while casually walking by and not too long after he doused us with a bucket of water while we were in the queue! There was also a stage area located in the center of the park. The music would come on, and the rain dance would begin! By lunchtime we sat in a shaded seating area, eating and watching the large crowd of people revelling in both water and music! We also got our photo taken by a pirate with a real parrot on his shoulder. Wasn't the most flattering of photos considering we looked like drowned rats, but we got to hold the parrot! Overall, our stay in Kuşadası was fun, and there was plenty to do. We would definitely go there again and explore more of the town's historical sites...and maybe pluck up the courage to go on the Loops! Authors' Instagram: @teengadabouts
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