Friday, July 18, 2008
After 4 days in the Napo Province, we were driven the 5+ hours back to Quito. Arrived in the city late afternoon, spent the night, and then we were picked up by a new driver at 8am. Our destination was near Mindo, in the cloudforest area, only about 2 or 2.5 hours this time. On our way out there (west of Quito this time), we stopped at Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World), where the equator runs through. Just north, outside of the city of Quito. There is the big monument and shopping area there, but right next door (200 yards) is what is claimed to be the "real" equator line, Intiñan Solar Museum. So we got to visit both :)
The Mitad Del Mundo monument. There's a museum inside, and an elevator took us to the top, where we were able to get a great view!
View from the top of the monument. All of the buildings in immediate area are part of the Mitad Del Mundo center, shops and more museums (each one including a new entrance fee, of course!). The equator line goes through where the photo is taken.
Thursday morning drinking espresso on the equator. Not too bad!
A church at the center.
So, this is the *other* center of the earth. They say that GPS has proved it. We didn't have our GPS with us, and there weren't any around to verify. Cool to see the contrast though, this set-up was way more low-key than the other.
Also at this one were science experiments to *prove* that this one is real. This is Richard balancing the egg (supposed to be easier on equator). Most of them are said to be fake, the experiments that is. We looked them up online later to check, and yup. False. Oh well.
We just had to do The Kiss... :) :)
After we were done with mischief on the equators we stopped briefly at Pululagua Crater. It was a total hike down there, so we skipped it. The volcano's last eruption was about 2400 years ago, so there is now a village in the crater. Also, at 2.5 miles wide, it's the largest crater in South America.
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