Ecuador is one of the 14 countries in the world where the Equator passes. Near Ecuador's capital Quito, in the province of Pichincha is a little town called
Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) which is dedicated mainly to the Equator and the tourism it attracts.
Every day thousands of tourists from all over the world come and step on the Equator. However, the first stop of the trip
before seeing the famous line on the ground is learning about the nature, volcanoes and ecosystem of Ecuador.
Quito is located even higher than Bogotá, the city having the altitude of 2800 m, which naturally affects the climate. Especially during the winter months - despite of being at the Equator - the weather in Quito is very windy, cloudy and eventually rainy.
Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. Here the guide was telling us about the volcano behind the valley which we could have seen on a sunny day. Now, unfortunately, both visually and informationally the volcano is behind the clouds!
The currency of Ecuador is American dollar, and the locals are trying to earn their share of the tourists' dollars by selling scarves, shot glasses, little magnetic figures made from Maizena and other similar handmade souvenirs.
The second part of the trip consisted of a visit to an outdoor museum called
Museo de Sitio Intiñan. The museum is dedicated to the different indigenous cultures of Ecuador.
The Amazon is filled with different kind of dangerous animals, such as anaconda, spiders and the infamous Candirú fish.
Candirú is a type of parasitic freshwater catfish that has an alleged capability of swimming upstream, up the urethra if peed into the water. I'm just glad we were not in the Amazon!
Ecuador has many indigenous peoples who have their own habits, customs, clothing and language. To honour the deceased some natives used to remove the skull, maintaining the skin, fill it with stones to preserve the spirit of the deceased and use it as a keepsake or memento.
A native wearing the typical outfit. There are still some unfound, untouched nations in the Amazon.
"The wheel changed the history of man."
Equator's latitude is 0° degrees. The museum shows several ways how one can test the impact of being on the
Camino del Sol (Sun Path), lined up on the Equator.
The meaning of the Coriolis effect, which is caused by the rotation of the Earth and the inertia of the mass experiencing the effect, is explained in Spanish here.
One of them is the egg test. Apparently on the Equator there is a weaker magnetic field as compared to the South or North Poles on the globe. The ones who have enough patience and manage to keep the egg standing up on a nail earn a certificate!
Another one of the tests observes the flow of the water caused by gravity and rotation of the Earth. It demonstrates how a few meters to the North from the Equator the water twirls clockwise whereas in the South it runs down counter clockwise. And on the Equator, of course, straight down.
Walking the line tests the feeling of the magnetic fields of North and South pulling us to each side.
I didn't feel any pull but neither did I have my balance.
The humming bird or kolibri is a very territorial species. Due to its light weight and rapid metabolism yet heavy consumption of energy by flying rapidly, it needs to feed frequently. It is also the only known type of bird that can fly backwards.
The flutter of the wings sounds a bit like a giant fly would be next to you. Depending on the species and size, they can flap their wings 12-80 times per second.
Just in the North-West of Pichincha province there are several different kinds of humming birds.
This handy Ecuadorian man makes the wall clothes they then sell for the visitors of the museum.
On the way out we saw a little lunch vendor barbecuing guinea pig (German: Meerschweinchen, Finnish: marsu), which is a common meal in Ecuador. For us it seemed to weird to taste it but according to a local it tastes like pork meat.
The third and last stop of the trip to Mital del Mundo was a monument built by French some decades ago when they falsely thought that this is where the Equator passes. Later with the development and the more accurate GPS system the Equator was recalculated to actually run across the Intiñan museum.
One can go up the monument and see the little village from above. Inside the monument there is also a museum which shows the different kinds of indigenous nations of Ecuador.
After visiting the most important sight of Ecuador, the next few days we concentrated mainly on Quito and its historic centre. To be followed...
Ecuador is one of the 14 countries in the world where the Equator passes. Near Ecuador's capital Quito, in the province of Pichincha is a little town called Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) which is dedicated mainly to the Equator and the tourism it attracts.
Every day thousands of tourists from all over the world come and step on the Equator. However, the first stop of the trip before seeing the famous line on the ground is learning about the nature, volcanoes and ecosystem of Ecuador.
Quito is located even higher than Bogotá, the city having the altitude of 2800 m, which naturally affects the climate. Especially during the winter months - despite of being at the Equator - the weather in Quito is very windy, cloudy and eventually rainy.
Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. Here the guide was telling us about the volcano behind the valley which we could have seen on a sunny day. Now, unfortunately, both visually and informationally the volcano is behind the clouds!
The currency of Ecuador is American dollar, and the locals are trying to earn their share of the tourists' dollars by selling scarves, shot glasses, little magnetic figures made from Maizena and other similar handmade souvenirs.
The second part of the trip consisted of a visit to an outdoor museum called Museo de Sitio Intiñan. The museum is dedicated to the different indigenous cultures of Ecuador.
The Amazon is filled with different kind of dangerous animals, such as anaconda, spiders and the infamous Candirú fish.
Candirú is a type of parasitic freshwater catfish that has an alleged capability of swimming upstream, up the urethra if peed into the water. I'm just glad we were not in the Amazon!
Ecuador has many indigenous peoples who have their own habits, customs, clothing and language. To honour the deceased some natives used to remove the skull, maintaining the skin, fill it with stones to preserve the spirit of the deceased and use it as a keepsake or memento.
A native wearing the typical outfit. There are still some unfound, untouched nations in the Amazon.
"The wheel changed the history of man."
Equator's latitude is 0° degrees. The museum shows several ways how one can test the impact of being on the Camino del Sol (Sun Path), lined up on the Equator.
The meaning of the Coriolis effect, which is caused by the rotation of the Earth and the inertia of the mass experiencing the effect, is explained in Spanish here.
One of them is the egg test. Apparently on the Equator there is a weaker magnetic field as compared to the South or North Poles on the globe. The ones who have enough patience and manage to keep the egg standing up on a nail earn a certificate!
Another one of the tests observes the flow of the water caused by gravity and rotation of the Earth. It demonstrates how a few meters to the North from the Equator the water twirls clockwise whereas in the South it runs down counter clockwise. And on the Equator, of course, straight down.
Walking the line tests the feeling of the magnetic fields of North and South pulling us to each side.
I didn't feel any pull but neither did I have my balance.
The humming bird or kolibri is a very territorial species. Due to its light weight and rapid metabolism yet heavy consumption of energy by flying rapidly, it needs to feed frequently. It is also the only known type of bird that can fly backwards.
The flutter of the wings sounds a bit like a giant fly would be next to you. Depending on the species and size, they can flap their wings 12-80 times per second.
Just in the North-West of Pichincha province there are several different kinds of humming birds.
This handy Ecuadorian man makes the wall clothes they then sell for the visitors of the museum.
On the way out we saw a little lunch vendor barbecuing guinea pig (German: Meerschweinchen, Finnish: marsu), which is a common meal in Ecuador. For us it seemed to weird to taste it but according to a local it tastes like pork meat.
The third and last stop of the trip to Mital del Mundo was a monument built by French some decades ago when they falsely thought that this is where the Equator passes. Later with the development and the more accurate GPS system the Equator was recalculated to actually run across the Intiñan museum.
One can go up the monument and see the little village from above. Inside the monument there is also a museum which shows the different kinds of indigenous nations of Ecuador.
After visiting the most important sight of Ecuador, the next few days we concentrated mainly on Quito and its historic centre. To be followed...
