Mitad del Mundo

This past thursday I did something most people probably would never aspire to do, but when the opportunity is there, its definately not something that can be passed up. I stood on the equator. Both actually, the wrong more touristy one and the proper but unfortunately less known line. Apparently this incorrect line was determined way back when (that's right, I'm tired of tours and pamphlet reading!) by some French guy, the actual line was determined by Ecuadorians, the indigenous I think, and is about 200 m away from the more recognized line.

The correct line has a museum on it where tourists can try lots of interesting 'only on the equator' types of experiments. One experiment was draining water through a sink on the equator and on either side. When the sink was placed directly over the line the water drained straight out the hole in the bottom of the bason. In contrast, in the southern and northern hemispheres the water visibly drained either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Another experiment we did was the act of balancing an egg on the head of a nail. Because the nail was hammered into the equator, balancing the egg is made possible (though not easy) because it is on a line of total equalibrium. Myself and another guy in our group were the only successful "Egg Balancers"... we got certificates! haha. The last experiment was a strength one where we found that it is harder to resist someone pulling your hands down from over your head when you are on the equator.

Because there is a museum on equator I also got to see the skin of a 10 ft anaconda and the shrunken head of a 12 boy (a ritual practiced by the local ancient civilizations).