On either side of the world at once

If you go to the equator about an hours drive north of Quito you should beware because there are two officially recognised lines that demarkate the equator.

I can balance an egg

Over 200 years ago a hardy team of French scientists came to Equador to see if they could figure out the actual line of the equator. They spent months climbing the volcanos and mountains that surround the city of Quito looking at the stars and calculating distances. In the end they were satisfied that they had found the centre of the world and until the advent of GPS (Global Positioning Systems) they were assumed correct in their belief.

About 8 years ago it was proved that the line was incorrect and the actual equator ran over 200 metres north of the calculated line. So overnight a local farmer found out he was in possession of real estate that lay on the equator.

Not impressed by the FAKE line

The only problem that presented itself is that a monstrous park which was built to celebrate the equator was now found to lie in the wrong place and considering the amounts of money spent on it the government did not want anybody to find out that it was in the incorrect position. Luminaries such as Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Arthur C Clarke and many other world leaders and notables have been taken in by it. However if you follow the signs to Inti Nan (way of the sun) you will find the real equator and a fat farmer lapping up the cash still unable to understand how lucky he has become.

But here is the interesting thing about the REAL versus the FAKE lines. Hundreds of years ago a tribe made their homes on the edges of the volcanos in the valley. They built many temples to their Gods but none of them have survived like the temple to the sun which lies on the exact line of the equator. When the French arrived in town they could have saved themselves a lot of time and hassle if they had just trusted the ancients position and the Ecuadorian government would not have to cover up that the park (Midto del Mundo) is in the wrong place.

One foot in the north and one in the south

So into the REAL park we went and were shown the legendary Coriolis effect which makes water flow clockwise in the southern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the northern hemisphere. On the equator the water just drops straight down. Our demonstration was given in an area not more than 6 metres accross and the effect was noticable (I will wait until you come back from the toilet to see the effect for yourself). We were also shown how an egg can be balanced on the head of a nail on the equator and happy am I to report that both of us managed to do it.

After that science we went off to see a pub where they keep live Guinea pigs so that you can choose your meal, like lobsters I suppose. We also saw how a human head is shrunken. All of the bone and cartilage is removed before the head is boiled down and dehydrated. A head that measures 6in X 15in can be shrunken down to the size of a tennis ball. We saw petrified anacondas that grew to over 10 m in length and many types of spiders and grass snakes from the jungle. We were given an opportunity to shoot a blow dart and try to hit the cactus just like the lads in the jungle.

Pauds shows how it is done

All in all it was one of the best museums I have ever been to. Lots of interactive exhibits and the FAKE site dosent compare at all. Avoid the FAKE one at all costs but you must check out the REAL one.