Middle of the world

We just came back from a trip to Ecuador and of course one of the main attractions that you have to see and experience it is the "Middle of the world", the exact Equator, which is located in a park/museum north of the capital Quito. The current monument, was built in 1936 when there was no GPS, now with GPS systems, the actual center of the world was located about 200 hundred yards away. There you can see the evidence with your own eyes; depending where you stand, below or above the red line that marks the center of the earth. The water swirls, when it drains from a sink into a bucket, clockwise on the north side and counter-clockwise on the south side. If you put it on the line the water goes straight down, no swirl at all!  The most amazing thing was you literally cannot walk straight on the red line, the equator line and can FEEL the forces pushing and pulling you to either side by the magnitude forces and then, of course, you look like a drunk :) Another cool thing is that all year round the sun rises at 6:30 am and set at 6:30 pm regardless of season.

The real Equator is marked with the red line where it is zero degrees latitude, zero minutes and zero seconds

me and the sun

This egg is standing on a nail just by being right on the Equator

Original thatch huts, built in the 1800s, where the Native Indians lived right on the "Center of the world" grounds