Trip Dates: 2009-03-12 – 2009-03-15
The last stop on my trip this year was Quito, Ecuador. I traveled here by bus from Guayaquil and arrived Thursday evening. On Friday I traveled with a group of Europeans to “La Mitad del Mundo,” which is about 1 hour from Quito and is a monument placed exactly on the equator. Here there are also various museums, such as Museo Solar Intiñan, where you can see demonstrations of different experiments to “prove” that you are exactly on the equator. One of the experiments involves letting a pot filled with water drain completely through a drain on the equatorial line, on the northern hemisphere and on the southern hemisphere. The so-called Coriolis force should cause the water to rotate clockwise on the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise on the southern hemisphere, while the water does not rotate at all on the equatorial line. However, I very much doubt that this effect is strong enough to influence which way the water rotates such a small distance away from the equatorial line on either side. Another of the experiments, by the way, was balancing an egg on top of a nail, which according to our guide was only possible at the equator 😉
On day two I rode Quito’s cable car (“El TeleferiQo”) up to the top of a mountain about 4,000 m high. From the top you can enjoy an impressive view of Quito. There are also good opportunities for hiking here. Together with a guy I met from Israel, I walked around on the trails up in the mountain for a couple of hours before we took the cable car down again. In the afternoon I wandered around Quito’s historic center, which contains a number of churches as well as colorful colonial-style houses. I also went up to the monument “El Panecillo,” which is a large statue of a Virgin Mary made of aluminum that sits on top of a hill. In the evening we went out into Quito’s nightlife district, namely La Mariscal Sucre. This neighborhood is also called “Gringolandia,” since the area is full of McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King and other American chain restaurants.
Quito was the last stop on my trip for this time. I hope to continue my journey in Latin America next winter. Peru, Bolivia and Brazil are likely next on the itinerary.
Hasta pronto 🙂
