JUNGLELAND SKATES: Skateboarding site dedicated to the legend, history and preservation of memorabilia from the 1970s cult skateboard community of Jungleland -- formerly Goebel's Lion Farm -- in Thousand Oaks, California.

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Neighboring Tribes

The Santa Barbara Tea Bowls - History

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bothin bought the property in 1916. Mrs. Bothin put the Tea Gardens in to have elaborate tea parties and a lot of the flora was African. They had a nice estate at the top which burned down at some point. The view from where the estate stood is epic and the cement veranda and gazebo are still there. They also had an amphlitheatre (shown below in ruins). At some point in time the property was abandoned and the Santa Barbara teens took it over for many years to follow, first as a place to swim and hang out and then to skate. There is still remnants of the aquaducts and series of clam shaped birdbaths that flowed down the hill from one to the other.

The city of Santa Barbara tried on several occasions to destroy the Tea Bowls after skaters were injured there and furious parents called for something to be done. However, the city decided half-assed attempts would suffice, trying to break-up the concrete at the bottom of the bowls, piling mounds of dirt in them, etc. However these half-assed attempts were no match for the SB Crews skating these bowls and skating continued on. The date of the final demise and when skating stopped in the bowls in not quite clear.

Before the Skaters

Cenen Aparicio recalls - "My dad says that in the 50's and 60's the the big bowl was still full of water. The local teenagers would hang out, party, and swim up there. There was a huge oak tree that hung out over the bowl and they had a rope swing on it which they would launch into the water from. That oak tree ended up at the bottom of the bowl and I think is still there. It plagued us as skaters because it was hard to move and in the way. Sometime in the late 60's or early 70's the place emptied. The most likely cause was drought."

The Skating Begins

There were three distinct generations of Tea Bowl skaters.

1'st Generation

Those that skated them in the 70's when the bowls were un-damaged.

While the first date is unknown, it is known that Tom Sims was skating the tea bowls in 1975. From NoseWheelie.com - "Most latter-day longboarders would agree that little has changed in the fundamental concept behind their style of riding: longer (surfing-type) lines, speed and flow. In 1975, Sims made intense carves on the "perfect" walls of Santa Barbara's Tea Bowl and on the monstrous banks of the Brea Spillway."

* "Back then the big bowl was perfect, no holes, graffiti, and clean. The Sims team frequented the place heavily with team workouts there. Tom and his partner, Chuck Barfoot and Sims team members would bomb down from there on the steep hills of 'Cito after sessions. Edie Robertson who is now the owner and chef at the Sojourner Restaurant on Canon Perdido was a Sims Team member and skated there. Some photos of her up there appeared in the free Blue Edge Mag a few months back. Sims Team member Doug Demontmorency ripped the place. Local 'Cito Boy "Hydro" Hyde was known to kill it there. A young Tommy Curren (3 X Surf World Champ)skated there barefoot and supposedly tail dropped in from the vert part of the top. Gnarly. The story goes that a kid broke both arms in the place and was stuck there overnight and the City dynamited holes into it and dumped dirt after this to keep people from skating. This is maybe later 70s. I do not think it was skated for a number of years after this."

2'nd Generation

Those that skated them in the mid-80's after the first wave of damage. The majority of footage found on this site is from the Second Generation and was taken in 1987.

* " In the mid '80s our S-Land crew started going up there out of our admiration for the Sims Team style and started clearing out small paths in between the dirt piles, cracks, and holes to start to make some drops and runs again. We did some rock and dirt clearing, but were more into skating than clearing. People started going up there more and more again. Clearing out more and more of the dirt opening up all kinds of runs. We had multiple rad all day skate parties up there with beer, buds, babes, and blotter. That was some of the funnest times of my life. The cops would come up every once in awhile and bust us. We skated the upper bowl(Moguls)as well, but it seemed to be more dangerous and not as fun."

3'rd Generation

Those that skated them in the late-80's and continued through into the 90's.

* "Team Effigy skated the bowls hard in the late 80's early 90's. Mike Kretsky was one of the main guys from that crew. He went beyond our berts and slides and started getting up into the vert parts of the upper reaches of the bowl doing incredible wall rides up there. Guy has some footage of this from a SK8TV episode. Some other ripping members of Effigy were Robbie Olhoser of Unified Skates, and Ulysses Paulson who is in the video you copied from me when he was like 13. Kretsky, Ulysses, and Robbie skated it when we did in the mid 80s, but kept it going into the 90's."

* As told by Cenen Aparicio

Current Day

The Tea Bowl property has recently been acquired and will be dozed soon so that new construction can begin. The following shots were taken in 2004, long after the bowls had stopped being skated.

The Big Bowl, where the majority of skating took place:

Facing South in the Big Bowl.