Mitad del Mundo - lit 'The Middle Of The Earth'

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If you have come this far you may as well check out the equator! The last time I stood on the equator was about 9 years ago in Indonesia and there was no more than a plaque to say that I was there. The Ecuadorians have gone much further and put in place a sizable touristy complex. The only problem is they missed the exact equator by about 200 meters!!

As the story was told to us, about 50 years ago a group of French scientists came to Mitad del Mundo to use the stars and whatever else they could to pin point where the equator lay. Their findings formed the basis of today's complex. However, more recently the North Americans came along with their fancy GPS system and proved that the actual equator was about 200m to the North. It didn't take long for a local opportunitstic businessman to open 'The real middle of the earth' tourist site! Here they are delighted to show you a reading of 0'0'0 Lat on their GPS system.

The newer site, called Museo Solar Inti Nan, is much less grand, but much more informative and interactive than the older one. One of the demonstrations shows how water flows anti-clockwise down the plug hole in the Northern hemishphere, clockwise in the Southern hemisphere and straight down on the equator. However, a group of science teachers from the USA who happened to be with me at the time said its all rubbish. And that in fact the Coriolos effect, which is effect the rotation of the earth has on the trade winds and ocean currents, does not have any impact on small bodies of water such as that in a sink. According to these teachers the direction that the water spins down a plug hole is dependent on the shape of the sink!!!

As well as visiting these museums you can also visit the nearby ancient volcanic crater called Pululahua. Its quite an impressive crater about 400 metres deep but most notable for that fact that it is inhabited by several small villages of indigenous people who work the surprisingly fertile land.

It is also interesting to note that there is a snow just off the equator line! Its is on the peak of a snow capped volcano c30km East of Mitad del Mundo. The peak of the volcano is 5700m above sea level.

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