Back in the 1700's the Europeans "discovered" the exact location of the equator. This monument marks the spot. Of course the indigenous people had already figured it out and had built temples about on the same line hundreds of years earlier. With modern GPS they discovered that everyone was a little off and the real line was 200 meters north. Nevertheless everyone comes here to see the middle of the world.
The real equator goes through a little museum outside the official complex. In the Inti Nan museum they show you experiments on how the equator affects things. For example, water swirls down a drain clockwise on one side of the equator and counterclockwise on the other. Exactly on the equator, it doesn't swirl at all. Gravity is also affected and you weigh a kilo less on the equator than in the USA. I think I will do my weekly Weight watchers weigh in here.
I am including a photo of a traditional dish in Ecuador--cuy. It tastes like chicken but it is guinea pig. Yum.
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| Standing on the official equator (not the real one) |
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View from the Middle of the world.
The snow capped mountain is Cotopaxi |
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| Inti Nan museum |
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| Daniela walking on the real equator at the Inti Nan museum |
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How about a little cuy for dinner?
Guinea pigs are not pets here. |
Ugh! I don't think I could eat a guinea pig. The equator experience sounds very cool, though, and the museum photo looks really interesting.
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