La Mitad del Mundo....... The Equator

Saturday was a day off for us. We headed to the equator as Avis had not been there yet. It is less than one hour north from our apartment. Veronica hailed a cab and off we went. The cost was $15 for the ride. The cost of entry to the "real equator" is $4/person. For that you get a guided toured with a maximum group size of 5-6 people. Why the term "real equator?" The French using the technology of their day located the equator about 300 meters to the south from where GPS has located it. So a large building marking the location is unfortunately in the wrong spot.

As we waited for the tour to start we were witness to a traditional dance of the native people. It has meaning to them but was strange for us to witness.

 

Avis and Veronica pose with a native dancer.

 

 We were able to see step by step drawings of how the ancient people made shrunken heads.

 

First the victim is slain and beheaded.

 

Next the skull is separated from the scalp.

 

Then the scalp is filled with hot sand and rocks.

 

The shrunken scalp is then hung from the neck or from a spear.

 

 If you were an honored person your head was hung around the neck and feathers were added to your severed scalp. If you were an enemy your scalp was stuck on the end of a spear. Both can be seen in the drawing above. Even the chief was honored by having his head shrunk. The tribe of the Amazon practiced the above on humans until about 40 years ago when they were Christianized.  

They still practice it on animals.

The ancient people related to death in a much different way than the Bible teaches us. Part of the tour was a visit to a burial site (reconstructed) of a chief. When the chief died all his wives and children were given a strong sedative and they fell into a unconscious state. They were then buried alive and died of suffocation. They were thought to then be in the next life with their husband and father.

Burial tradition among the ancient native people.
Complete with food and utensils for the afterlife.

 

The tribes that were in Ecuador were not friendly to the early missionaries. We were shown a special spear pointed at both ends. One end was smooth and for the slaying of animals. The "missionary" end was serrated.

Missionaries were impaled with the serrated point on the left
in order to inflict maximum pain and suffering.

 

The people touring the site were multi-national. There were Germans, Italians, Americans and of course Ecuadorians at the time we visited.

We tried balancing an egg on the flat end of a nail. We tried walking along the equator with our eyes closed. It is very difficult because of the gravitational forces unique to the site. We saw the ancient sun dials the people used to tell the time of the day and month. We also witnessed the Coriolis acceleration theory which was proven true before our very eyes. The water in the northern hemisphere rotates in the opposite direction as in the southern hemisphere. We only needed to be 5 feet or so away from the equator to see it happen. A tub was filled with water and the plug pulled out the bottom. What's the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon? Answer: The direction in which it spins. The people of the north and south hemisphere have named them differently.

Avis in the northern hemisphere and Walt in the southern.

 

Balancing an egg on a nail is possible.

 

Water rotates a different way in the northern hemisphere than the southern.

 

We had lunch at a small almuerzo for a total cost of $7.50 for three people. We then headed to the home of two great aunts to Veronica. Chela Viteri is known to some in the US. Her sister Anita may not be. Chela wants to come and visit at the Lampi apartment and she was welcomed. She drove us back from the equator. 

 

Walt and Avis