Quito and the Journey to the Center of the Earth!!

Well after a mostly rainy stay in the small beach town of Atacames we headed off to the capital of Ecuador, Quito (pronounced key-toe), to send off our friend Jay as his trip had come to an end. The bus ride to Quito involved a steady climb up the densely, dark-green forested mountain as we watched a raging river below slowly shrink smaller and smaller until we were encompassed in cloud. As we emerged from the cloud cover we were awe struck with the sheer magnitude of the city of Quito. We were driving on a populated mountain ridge that quickly and steeply dropped off on both sides to show us miles and miles of compact city spreading out in every direction. The ridge continued for a long time before we finally ascended to the bustling capital.

The hostel we stayed at was called the Secret Garden and was full of great people and fun staff. The reception was on the fifth floor where they had a roof top terrace with a phenomenal view of the city, a bar, and gourmet restaurant. When we found out our reservation apparently didn't go through properly they were super cool about it and gave us all a free drink and ended up upgrading our accomodations from dorms to private rooms for the first night to make up for their mistake. Very cool! We enjoyed a delicious meal on the rooftop and took part in a quiz night challenge for some great prizes but came dead last.... By a lot... Apparently we were lacking in our random tidbit knowledge like David Bowie's real name is David Jones. Who knew! Despite poorly representing Canada we had a lot of fun and the other nights were no different (with regards to fun that is). It was lucky we were in somewhat of a rush to head south for Machu Picchu or else I am not sure if we would have been able to leave Quito.

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the telling of our JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH! Well it was really only the Midad del Mundo (middle of the world) but that did not stop me from saying the aforementioned exciting journey at any and every given chance. We took a couple city buses for an hour and a half to a very impressive monument to the Equator. It was so neat to be able to jump from one hemisphere to the other and learn about all the different forces at work at the Equator and the indigenous peoples that lived around the area. The only thing that would have made it better would be if Brendan Fraser was there (he starred in Journey to the Center of the Earth if that reference seemed too obscure for you). The first monument we visited was founded by a team of French scientists who were sent out to measure the size of the Earth via tedious trigonometry but unfortunately, and much too late for the monument, were off by 200m as was later foundd using GPS. We later went to a much more humble equator monument where we were able to conduct a series of experiments to prove that it was indeed the "true" equator.

The grand but wrongly place monument to the equator.

So, things we learned: 1) water drops straight down at the equator because the opposing centripital forces of the two hemispheres created by the spinning of the earth cancel eachother out at the equator. We took the basin to either side and observed the opposing spirals created just feet away from the exact point of the equator. Sooo cool! Apparently this equalizing of forces also accounts for why there are no tornadoes or hurricanes at the Equator either. I was a little skeptical of that point but it could very well be true. 2) The sun dials are perpendicular at the equator with two faces: one for telling time while the sun is in the northern hemisphere and the other for while it is in the southern. 3) During the equinox days Quito is the closest possible community to the sun. 4) The indiginous people there believed in life after death and when you died you were buried in a pot in the fetal position to represent the womb. There were also tools and clothes buried too for use in the next life. The chief would not be buried alone so they would drug the wife with a hallucinogenic cactus and bury her alive! So not cool! They also shrunk heads of loved ones and enemies as it was believed the spirit was kept in the head. They would sow the mouth and eyes shut to make sure no spirit escaped during the process. Why not the nose you may ask, who knows! And finally, not the most interesting but still fun, 5) they were completely naked peoples and the males wore a string around their waste that found its place snugly under the head of the penis holding it flesh against their stomach (punny!) as they thought this was more comfortable. If anyone is interested in this new fashion trend let me know and I will see if I can pick you up some traditional penis string. Needless to say we had a blast even without Brendan Fraser and learned a lot.

Me walking on my hands in both hemisperes at once!


Mitch and I at the true equator site.

We are now in Montañita, a very popular surfing location with no less than 75 surfers out on the water on a busy day and are loving surfing and relaxing. More to come soon!