Mitad del Mundo

On Tuesday, my gringo group and I reunited for the second time since separating, once again in Quito.  Once we discussed the day´s events and enjoyed some delicious fresh bread, yogurt and a fruit which´s name escapes me, but was quite interesting, we headed to the centre of the world. 

We arrived at the site after a one-hour bus ride, welcomed by the hot sun of the Equator.  Our first stop at the centre of the world was a museum, which provided us replica houses of the indigenous people of Ecuador.  Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the people, and shared many interesting facts with us.  We learned about the shrunken head process, something that I always believed to be a myth.  I always imagine shrunken heads to have a Jamaican accent and saying ¨It´s going to be a bumpy ride!¨ (That’s from Harry Potter).

This represents Mother Earth, with the red, and the Sun with the yellow.

The practice was an attempt for the indigenous people to preserve the spirits of important people of the tribe, such as shamans, or family members.  If your curious, here is the process, relayed as best as I can remember it.

First, the head it severed from the rest of the body.

Then, all the contents of the head are removed.

The head is boiled in a brew of herbs, which have yet to be discovered by the public.

All the openings are sewn up.

The head is stuffed with rocks and sand to preserve its shape.

And it is adorned by the victor if it is the head of an enemy.

These practices have been made illegal by the Ecuadorian government, as they were being sold on the black market to tourists and other visitors to the country.  To make obscene amounts of money, people would slay others just to make the heads, rather than use it as a funerary practice of sorts.  However, the indigenous people still practice shrunken heads on people, and since they are so isolated from society, it is likely that they still practice on humans.

We were introduced to two ancient shrunken heads, this one the son of a shaman.

Following the slightly disturbing lesson of the process of shrunken heads, we headed right to the centre of the world.  Here, we witnessed a couple of really ¨chevere¨ (cool) experiments which demonstrated the various phenomenons at the centre of the world.  One demonstration showed us the effect of water draining on either side of the line, and also on it.  As mentioned in many shows and movies, we witnessed the water spinning in different directions, only a few steps to each side of the line.  On the line, the water did not spin, but just drained strait out of the bucket. 

Here I am, standing in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere at once.

Here is a sundial created by the indigenous people.

The group, half in the North, and half in the South.

Cassie and Alanna concentrate as they try to balance an egg on a nail, which is supposed to be easier on the Equator line.

Me attempting to walk across the Equator with my eyes closed, balancing. Its hard!

French Explorers and the monument.

Fog rolling across the mountains at the monument.

Maggie, Meg and Megan... no wonder everyone messes our names up!

At the incorrect Equator.

Our whole group at the false Equator.

Our last stop of the day was to visit the ´previous´ centre of the world.  By this, I mean that it is where the French explorers calculated the centre of the world to be, with their archaic instruments.  There is a great monument built to mark this place, along with statues of those who participated in the cartographing adventure.  It is remarkable how close they were to the actual spot, considering the limited technology at their disposal.