Mitad del Mundo or Middle of the World

As I noted yesterday, while in Ecuador, one of the must do’s in my book is to take the chance to straddle the equator. So that was today’s mission.

As agreed, Hector picked me up at the hotel at 9:00 am this morning to try and take advantage of all we could in one day. We headed for Mitad del Mundo, but went slightly beyond it to stop at the now dormant volcano Pululahua GeoBotanical Reserve. Sounds like a Hawaiian adventure, doesn’t it. This volcano crater is one of two in the world that are inhabited. There are 14 families that call Pululahua home, and they farm the land at the bottom of the crater very successfully and without the use of chemicals to enhance the land because the volcanic ash provides the necessary elements for great crops. Just outside the crater is one of Ecuador’s Cloud Forests and while we were there we watched the clouds come into the crater and then back out several times teasing us.

Next it was a short distance back down the road to the Intinan Museum which is now known , using GPS technology, to be the REAL middle of the earth or equator. The monument you’ll see further down this page a bit was built between 1979 and 1982 to highlight what was then though to be the exact location of the equator and commemorate a French scientific expedition from the 1800’s. In the reading I did, some people were complaining and calling it fake news since it wasn’t the real location. However, my thoughts were, really, in the 1800’s they got the location that close!

But I digress. At the Intinan Museum, they took advantage of the draw of the real equator to educate tourists about the life of early Ecuadorians. It was a little kitschy, but got the point across.

This woman is spinning alpaca wool to be used in weaving and other artisan products.

Mom and Dad slept with the kids in one set of hammocks until the kids were 12 and then they sleep on the floor. But don’t feel bad, they were married off at the age of 14 or 15 and then they got their own set of hammocks.

This is a gravesite, I think he called a “sink”. The Ecuadorians believe in the afterlife so all of their possessions that they would need there were buried with them. In the higher ranking families, it is assumed the wife would not want to leave her husband and so she was buried alive with him.

Like in many other countries, these cute little guinea pigs that we have as pets regularly appear on Ecuadorian menus.

They also demonstrated the process of making chocolate from cacao fruit. Ecuador has won many awards for its chocolate and in fact one year in an international competition took all three awards, Gold, Silver and Bronze. We were told that while Toblerone is made in Switzerland, the cocoa to make it comes from Ecuador. We were able to taste the product all the way along through the process and I know I’ll be picking some up at the airport on the way home.

They of course had a few demonstrations about how things are special at the equator, such as being able to balance an egg on the head of a nail, how the water in the same vessel drains clock wise on the south side of the line and counter-clockwise on the north side. (I’m not convince about that one yet but can’t for the life of me figure out how they did it).

This picture is of my guide Hector (to the right) successfully balancing the egg.

And of course there were the compulsory photo opportunities.

Next it was down the road to the Monument at the site originally thought to be the equator. Again the required photo ops. Why do some people think that at the most visited tourist site in Ecuador that they’re going to be able to get a picture of themselves in front of the moment with no one else in it?

The boulevard leading up to the monument lined with busts of previous Presidents.

And these hummingbirds which also line the boulevard were all painted in different colours. I’m told there are 50 varieties of hummingbirds in Ecuador!

And we were able to climb to the top of the monument to look at the imaginary line of the equator and the surrounding countryside from the top. On each landing of the stairs to the top they had a display about one of the 38 different traditional groups in Ecuador, their costumes, tools, instruments, etc. I’m convince it was just done as an excuse to allow us to rest at each landing before proceeding to the next stair case but I was more than OK with that. Sorry Nanci, I didn’t count the stairs.

There were museums and little shops selling all sorts of artisan products, but given that I’m at the beginning of the trip I decided I best not stop at any of them yet.

Then it was back to the city, and to Old Town where we managed to squeak a half hour walk in just to give me an orientation for the next time I stop in Quito (I’m here 3 more times on my way to and fro) when I will have a chance to explore more. Going back to where Hector parked his Jeep I almost died. It was very steep up hill, we’d been on the go all day and with the altitude and my general lack of breathing capacity, I had to stop often on the way. Hector was very gracious and found fun things to tell me about the city along the way. None of which I can now remember unfortunately.

Just a taste of what’s to come when I do get back to Old Town. This is one of 7 churches on one street. This is the Basilica, with it’s Galapagos native iguanas as gargoyles.

We got back to the hotel, just in time for me to attend the meeting of the tour group with our CEO (guide). Only 11 of the 16 people were there but that will make it easier to try and remember names. Some of the group will return home or head to the Galagos after our 7 days in Ecuador, others will carry on to Peru with me. The CEO, Maria Sol (both are given names that she goes by because there are so many Maria’s in this predominantly Catholic country). I know so far that there are 5 Canadians, 5 Americans, and one Aussie.

Although Maria Sol had a plethora of recommendations for us to check out for dinner tonight, Deborah (from Whitby who I met at breakfast yesterday) and I opted for a quick dinner in the hotel dining room. Her room mate from Courtenay, BC arrived and joined us for a drink.

The first day of our great adventure starts tomorrow with only a 1.5 hour bus ride to Otavalo which hosts the largest outdoor artisan and food market in all of South America. I might be dropping some cash tomorrow, storage space be damned.