History - The Wasteland
 Left behind, was the
deteriorating "ghost town" of Jungleland. Structures were the first
to go, either being torn down, vandalized, or completely overwhelmed by
vegetation. "No Trespassing" signs went up, but the enforcement of
this policy faded with time, and with the crumbling of the gates and fences
around the property. The last things to go were
what changed everything....
...The old alligator, seal and hippo pools which used to house some of
Jungleland's resident creatures still stood. Constructed of various types of
concrete and in various shapes and sizes, these "pits from the past"
became really all that was left of Jungleland, inter-connected by narrow,
decaying asphalt roads and acres of native trees (big oaks) and
non-native, "jungle-like" vegetation. (The following
section as remembered by Frank Still, OG Jungleland Tribe Member)
I don't remember the first time that I heard about doing something as
"bizarre" as riding skateboards in these things, but it was sometime
in the mid-1970s.... probably almost exactly 1975, as I do the math in my head
now. I had already been through my brother's old clay-wheel board, and probably
even past my first set of ball-bearing Cadillac wheels. I had seen in
Skateboarder Magazine, images of people taking their skateboards off of the
street, and into the new world of banks, ditches and even swimming pools. I was
more than ready to try it, especially when I heard there might be something
like it, right in my home town.
I think my Dad and I just went there to watch, the first time. There, before
our eyes, a few people were actually doing it: skateboarding in what was the
only clear bowl at that time, "The Alligator Bowl!" This shallow
(1-3 feet deep), free-form-amoeba shaped hardscape was smooth as butter,
with flowing, small walls around the sides, a peanut shaped island in the
middle, and one, 3 foot, almost vertical wall with a rounded top..... Yes, the
transition was VERY quick on that wall, to say the least! About 1/4 of the bowl
was filled with a large amount of dirt, which would never be removed. but here
it was. The beginning of about 5 years of my life that I will never forget. The
unique feeling of this strange, isolated wasteland, yet a skateboarder's
paradise, right in the middle of downtown, suburban Thousand Oaks.
 The
next bowl to be cleared was "The Peanut Bowl" or what some called
"The Hippo Bowl." This small, peanut-shaped pool also had a severe
transition, going from flat to almost vertical in about 4 feet. We all put in a
lot of sweat equity, shoveling, sweeping and even bailing water from this
thing. I used to hate the rain, because that always meant lots of bailing when
skies finally cleared.
 The next, and last bowl to
be cleared was the monster, slightly past vertical, 10 foot deep "Blue
Bowl". Pretty sure this is where the seals used to be, back in the
Jungleland heyday. We (The OG Jungleland Tribe) had been eyeing this
pool for years, saying "someday, we HAVE to clean that out. But man, there
was sooooooo much crap in the bottom of that pit. We did not even know if the
concrete would be ridable, under all the dirt and debris. but we finally did
it, and this is where all of the most "extreme" skateboarding took
place. It's where learned and perfected everything, from grinds to aerials.
Now none of these bowls were made for skateboarding, of course.. They
were all really hard to ride, and in fact, to skate them well, you really had
to be local. I even remember a couple times when pros would come by, after
hearing about our little, secret spot. Even though these guys far surpassed our
overall talents, every one of them had a very difficult time finding lines and
dealing with the harsh transitions. These were OUR BOWLS, BABY! This was OUR
PLACE.
The skating scene at Jungleland paralleled other spots being dominated by
skaters/surfers in the mid-late 70's, particularly in the Southern California
area. A decaying wasteland, an extreme place where localism was alive
and well and where only the hard core locals practiced their craft, day after
day and by doing so, reaped the rewards.
***Photo Credits for Top Photo Right - Camel wall and Bottom photo right (dog )
used with permission from the News Chronicle Collection, Thousand Oaks
Library
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