I was a geeky child. I know this comes a shock to those of you who know the incredible figure of coolness that I am as an adult (really, I’m just taller now).
But I was a full fledged geek.
A dead giveaway was the fact that I read maps for fun. I found it fascinating to find all those names of exotic places and see where they were in reference to me. To pick out a place and imagine what it was like there.
So the Equator was a good friend to me in those days, telling me thingsI thought I needed to know about the places I imagined.
When we came to Quito, Ecuador, we were told by many people (including South American Explorers, South American Explorers , a group that our friend Cliff recommended and has been fantastic) that we had to visit La Mitad Del Mundo. Translated as “the middle of the world”, it is a monument erected on the site of the equator, about a 15km outside of Quito. It has since been questioned as being the “real” site, since GPS put the actual equator at about 200 mts north of the site, but more on that later.
Rather than spend money on a tour, Matt and I decided to take the local bus to Mitad Del Mundo. After much research (thank you, Matt and Lonely Planet!) and 60 cents, we found ourselves at the gates of the monument.
Say what you will about touristy sites, it was still pretty cool. The geeky kid inside of me was turning flips when we went to the top of the tower and could look down on the line between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Don’t you wish life was as clear as the big orange line indicating which side of the world you are on?
Here’s what we saw there: (click the picture to see the set)
Now, we had also heard about the controversy about the GPS verification, so we hoofed it down the road to El Museo De Solar Inti nan, which bills itself as the actual site of the equator. Again, my inner geek gleefully watched water drain without a vortex from a sink while on the equator- it drained with a vortex when the sink was moved to the Southern hemisphere. If there is another reason for this happening, please don’t tell me (at least not yet- I’m enjoying the mystery of the equator far too much right now).
No-vortex draining:
Southern-vortex draining:
We also tried to balance an egg on the head of a nail- an amusing Englishman was the only person in our group to succeed. Our guide was lovely and very engaging- well worth the extra trip to see this GPS verified site.
And here are the pics! (click the picture to see the set)
After many hours of hemisphere hopping, Matt and I trundled back on the bus, dirty and tired. But also kind of awed. We can try to understand the world through mathematical equations, longitude and latitude, and other tools- and we get a pretty good picture of it. But standing there, amid mountains and sky so big Montana would be jealous, it was very clear that there is magic and mystery to a place that cannot be captured with numbers or charts. And isn’t that the coolest thing?
Hey Lady! Just missing you. Thinking of you always. Just checking in on you and reading your messages keeps me close to you. Love you much.
Very groovy! (Each time I say “awesome” I am reminded that it is the “groovy” of our generation! yikes!)
I would be very excited to see this as well.
While I was enjoying my coffee this morning I was thinking about you and Matt and your adventure. I was missing you. Thanks for coming by with a bit of you!