Weeks ago we told you about our crazy bus trip to Middle Earth or Mitad del Mundo. We also mentioned that I really wanted to go back to the “new” location, advertised to be the “real” Equator.

Well today was the day and back we went. Our directions were to head past the entrance of Middle Earth and find the dirt road, it would take you right to it. And low and behold it did!

Oh, my, gosh, this place was unbelievable! We had an English speaking guide so could understand everything and ask questions and the best part, we could understand the entire answer! Our guided tour included a discussion of the early inhabitants of Ecuador and some of their habits such as the burial process. The bodies were preserved and placed in a fetal position then buried with worldly possessions to take to the “after” life. If the king of the tribe died, his entire immediate family (wife, children) were knowingly and willingly drugged into a coma state then buried with the deceased king. They would eventually awaken but by then they had already been buried alive. (I am guessing no one wanted to marry a king.) So having no living heirs, a new king would be chosen.

Another interesting thing about early inhabitants is that they did partake in head shrinking. It is a 5 or 7 step process to shrink a head (I can’t remember, I was a little mortified during this part of the tour.) In some cases it was done to enemies and then warn or displayed as a trophy. In other cases it was in honor of deceased royalty or maybe a family member you wanted to honor. It is not really done anymore mostly because it is outlawed in Ecuador. In the 1930s, the Ecuadorian and Peruvian governments made it illegal to sell, own or trade shrunken heads. (Before that you could buy one for about $25.) In the 1940’s, the U.S. followed suit. The sale and purchase were outlawed but it is still taking place in the black market. It is believed that today 80% of shrunken heads on the market are fakes – monkey heads or made from leather. For a period of time the shrunken head trade was a huge business for Ecuador and Peru.

Overall it was very interesting to learn about different Indian tribes and see parts of how they lived and in some cases are still living.  The photo below is of a woman’s house (I cannot remember her name) that lived in this location almost on top of the equator until she died at age 114. It’s her actual house, but, I am sure they refurbished it for tourists. She made Chicha de jora which is basically a corn beer prepared by germinating maize, extracting the malt sugars, boiling the wort, and fermenting it in large vessels, traditionally huge earthenware vats, for several days. Her and her “herd” of Guinea Pigs lived in this house. (Did I mention that Ecuadorians usually keep their Guinea Pigs in the house?).  I guess easier to pluck out of the cage to prepare for dinner.

Finally we were at the exact location of the “real” Middle Earth. This part of the tour was why we were here and as promised, there were several “scientific experiments” that we could take part in. Had the GPS identified the real latitude 0’0’0”? We were about to find out!

One of the experiments was a sink with water and leaves. When the plug is pulled at the center (Equator) line, the water flows straight down – no swirl. When moved 10 feet to the left the water/leaves swirled clockwise – when moved 10 feet to the right, the water/leaves swirled counter clockwise. Another experiment was balancing a raw egg on a nail head – easy at the equator. Other experiments included tests of strength 5 feet off the equator and then exactly on it. It seems that both forces are pulling you when you stand exactly on the equator and it is much more difficult to do simple strength tasks. I could easily pull Tod’s arms down with 2 fingers on the Equator and 5 feet off the Equator I could not do it with 2 hands much less 2 fingers. You have really got to go there and check it out for yourself – it reminds me of a vortex effect.

I am so glad we went back to find this place. I do believe this is the real Equator line in Ecuador and the early French expedition team were really 700 – 820 feet off the mark but again, considering the tools they had to work with I believe they did a remarkable job!

I cannot believe this trip is almost over. The time has gone by so fast and we were having so much fun. Ah well, until the next post, take care. T & M