|
Just when you thought Lusaka had it all and you would never be short
of an idea for a day out and things to do, along comes
Located in the old Lion House next to the Educational facility at
Munda Wanga the Ice skating ring opens this month. In partnership
with the Swedish Conservation and Management Society, the MWT has
built the environmentally friendly ice rink that will hold at least
forty skaters per session.
The cooling plant and towers use compressors to force the ample
ground water in a heat transfer process, to take the heat from the
rink floor down to a cool 8°C. The next phase is pumping very cold
saltwater through tubing in the concrete floor which will then bring
the temperature of the floor down to the -4°C . Deionised water is
then flooded across the floor to make thin layers of ice that
eventually build up to about 25 mm thickness. Between October and
January, a gel additive will be introduced to the water that will
make the ice colder and able to maintain its temperature with just a
fraction more refrigeration costs and avoid the problem of foggy air
over the floor. Laris Loopf, the Swedish Engineer has not quite got
this right yet as you can see fromy the photo taken on the first day
it was operational . He says that if hot air from the outside mixes
with the cold air inside, the whole experience would be very foggy
and the skaters will bump into each other. But as long as the doors
are shut he says there will not be a problem. He says he is not used
to the heat here as at home, it never gets this hot and humid.
This is the first rink he has done in Africa.
Having watched the few people skating around the rink, it seemed
slightly small, but there was enough room for them to build up some
speed and crash hard enough into the barriers to hurt themselves. I
do not think it will be big enough for ice hockey but the team are
planning discos and children’s edutainment parties which are bound
to create a reasonable turnover. They had not finalised the pricing
or the schedules by the time the Lowdown was going to press, but
look out for the advertising in the daily press over over the next
few days. Bring this copy of the Lowdown with you to Munda Wanga as
you may be eligible for a surprise. |
April 2005