On Monday I met my coworker in the middle of the afternoon to take a cab out to Mitad Del Mundo - or Middle of the Earth - the area where the equator passes through Ecuador (and where Ecuador gets his name, just in case you missed that). We asked our driver to take us the 22kms out of Quito to the "theme park" set up around this line and then wait for us to scout it out. It really is a theme park, complete with over-priced vendors and awful murals.
But it turns out there are two Mitad Del Mundos. The original was so designated by French explores using nothing more than maps and the stars for their conclusion. According to the location of the second Mitad Del Mundo, they were only off by about 200 meters. That´s pretty damn impressive. The second is so designated by GPS coordinates. Cheaters.
The orginal one is awful. A gargantuan monument sits on the line first designated as the equator. There is a long walk way leading to this monument with several statues of French and Latin explores, artists, etc, all frowning or grimacing. Around the monument are various buildings including a planetarium, small hokey museums, and vendors selling all kinds of souvineers. We chose to go to this monument second. And by the time we reached it, it was covered by fog. But that improved the place.
First we went to the GPS-correct park. This was actually fun. We got a small tour with a Spanish speaking guide. Don´t fret; my coworker played translator. I needed it. By the half-way point the guide would wait a minute or two for him to translate what she had just said. I just smiled. Occasionally I would surprise her by motioning her to continue without him translating. This was rare though. There were all sorts of little activities to prove this was, in fact, the actual location of the equator. There was the draining water test: A basin was emptied on the line and the water went straight down. To the right it flowed one direction, and to the left, the other direction. Then there was the stand an egg on a nail test. The guide could do it, we couldn´t. Still not convinced by that one. But my hands are shaky. There was also a test to see if could walk the line with our eyes closed. We couldn´t. The pull from both sides was strong enough to make us stumble. Seriously. After a few pics of the line and the sign stating this was 0" 0", I declared myself a believer.
We went to the original site next. As mentioned before, it was over-done. And covered in fog at this point. We snapped a few pics and left. For this privilage we paid $3 each. Boo. But whichever one is the right one, I have proof I was standing on each.
Pics of the trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15233918@N00/sets/72157603002030111/
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4 comments:
I kind of liked the original site. Where's your sense of history??? If you can't get excited about ancient sites and artifacts, remind me again why you're going to Manchu Picchu? For the exercise??
Best. Mural. Ever.
I heard on NPR the other day that the Coriolis effect would not be noticable on a small scale (in a toilet or a sink) and that the way the water drains is more influenced is more influenced by the design of the drain and direction the water enters.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/coriolis.html
I heard that on NPR too, and read it in Lonely Planet. But sure enough, it worked, albeit pretty hard to tell. A small leaf had to be thrown in to see it swirl each direction. They actually picked up the sink and moved it to the three different locations. There is no change in the flow of toitlets here. I checked.
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