La Mitad del Mundo Equator – Middle of the World

Playground on the way

Today we are off to the ‘middle of the world’ as it is called from the city of Quito Ecuador where we are staying near this fab playground. It has old propane cylinders plus there are two climbing balls that are incredibly fun.  There is also a flying fox and about 20 more pieces of playing equipment. We, however, cut the play short since it is past lunch time.

Exploring Quito, Ecuador with a Child

Getting to the Middle of the World

It takes us about 1/2 hour to find the bus – we were told it was a 10 minutes walk. We often find this is not accurate as people would rather supply some information to appear knowledgeable than no information.  So we get “another bum steer” – well so my son pipes up. We hop on the bus and about 50 minutes later it ends abruptly. But we are not there.

We have met an Argentinian couple who are also on their way. They speak Spanish well and we don’t, so we ask them to guide us, and they are great!

Arriving at the Middle Of The World

When we finally get to  – a good 1.5 hours later – we are hungry and ready for action.

My seven year old is ecstatic! We get to the line and he wants to “poop the E out” – funny!

Photography Buddies

Being a single Mum often means I miss out on photos as my son tends to take them in a rush, or not with a lot of accuracies – after all, he is only 7-years-old.  We meet up again with the 2 ladies from lunch at the restaurant on our first day in Quito (it seems like a small world). We exchange cameras and click away.

Excitement

Being on both sides of the world at once is just so much fun. It is a time of extreme excitement for Explorason and well worth the trip to the Equator.  We call this world schooling, where education becomes fun.  It interesting as I’ve been told I am dragging my son around the world, and what I am doing is affecting his education.  Seeing how thrilled he is here, I realize that this really is a wonderful way to learn.

Now Explorason is in the middle of the world. The photo session is just great. It goes on and on.

Inti-ñan – The real Equator?

We then head next door to a small fairly unknown native Museum called Inti-ñan. We have only 15 minutes left before meeting the Argentinians that are our guides so we need to go back onto the bus. But the cost to get in here is more than the “official Equator site”. The Inti Nan declare they have the “real GPS 0.00 site”. However, we ask for a GPS and they don’t have one!

Water Experiment

We start with the swirling water experiment. I have read that this experiment is a trick. That it is the way the water is poured on the ground slopes. It is meant to be impossible for it to swirl opposite directions that close to the equator. But we try it on our own and it does work.

Egg Experiment

We try to balance an egg on a nail. We are told it should balance easily, but let me tell you it doesn’t. Try it at home and see if you have better luck than me.

Walk The Line

Then we have to walk the line with our eyes shut and feel the pull of the universe. I daresay this is a game, more than a science experiment, but it was fun.

Intiñan Museum

Here at the original middle of the world is a great handicraft and museum section.  Intiñan Museum does have some great native displays and crafts but we are out of time.

The Return Bus

We dash back just in time to meet our unofficial guides and get the bus back to central Quito city. There are dogs (see the lady in blue behind) and all sorts on the bus. As the bus fills, the sellers push through. My son doesn’t like it as they shove things in his face and ruffle his hair.  Several other families, we know that travel have all mentioned that this is one thing the kids find hard to deal with.

The express bus takes us back to where we started.

Market

We head through the touristic market much to the amusement of the men standing around. My son wants the playground on the way back to our accommodation again and doesn’t want me to stop to let me buy. So we tell the sellers “we will come back tomorrow”.

We head back and instead we buy two HUGE pizzas.

What an exciting and exhausting day! We hope to see the equator in other parts of the world too.

Questions and Comments

• Have you ever been to the Equator and if so where?
• Can you balance an egg or walk a line?
• Do you think the native Equator is real or the touristic one?
• Tell us in your comments below.

WOW!

Quito Equador 

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