AMAZON & THE GALAPAGOS DAY 2 - ZERO POINT ZERO (POINT ZERO)

 

Jorge, our driver from yesterday, is also our tour guide today. Our expectation was a group van excursion, so we’re delighted to find out that it’s a private tour today. It’s also Easter Sunday, and through this entire year of planning, it never dawned on us that we were going away for the holiday.  We should really pay more attention to the details. Nonetheless, here is Jorge giving up Easter with his family to be with us today and we very much appreciate it. 

During our first leg of the trip heading north, Jorge tells us about the 11,000-year human history of this land, and the settlers picking this high place 4000 years ago because of the abundance of clean water provided by the 2 lakes.  The many indigenous tribes left a heritage of 14 languages still spoken today despite the Incas having taken over in the 1460s.  The Spaniards booted the Incas in 1583 with the help of the natives, enemy of my enemy and all that, but the worst offender of them all was the Euro diseases, against which there was no natural immunity. 

We arrive at our first stop, The Middle of the World. Not figuratively, it’s actually called that and it’s the historical site of the line of the equator. It seems there are two equators here. This one was calculated over 7 years by a team of French researchers in the 1730s and 40s who were way better at geometry than me. To celebrate, they built this really cool monument right on the line of the equator in 1981. Then they surrounded it with shops, cafes, a planetarium and a guy roasting guinea pigs. 

(In case you’re wondering, no, we did not eat the adorable pet Guinea pigs. They only sold whole adorable pet Guinea pigs and we were still full from breakfast.)

We have a lot of fun taking pictures of us splitting the line. This was definitely one of the things we were looking forward to. That and a 0.0.0 (latitude) tee shirt.  

Turns out those French dudes were only slightly better at geometry than me. In the 1990s some folks used precision military GPS and found the actual equator a few hundred meters away. Hey, nice try, and you still get a “B” for showing your work. We drive the two minutes to Intinan, the much more rustic park on the actual line, also known as the Scientific Equator.  

Here we join a small group for a tour of the park which largely focuses on the indigenous people and the Amazon region of Ecuador. At the first display we learn about the Penis Fish, that barbed scoundrel that follows the ammonia up and into your urethra and the reason the second rule of the Amazon is “DON’T PEE IN THE RIVER!”  We learn that shrunken heads are a real f-ing thing, and the gooey details of making them. 

(a pictogram of how to make real shrunken heads at home!)

At a later display, we stand inside a genuine Waorani hut home, thatched roof and walls about 20’ square, that was built by members of that tribe some years ago. 4 “families” would live in such a structure, which is to say, the one husband would rotate sleeping with his 4 wives and her kids in hammocks slung in each corner. Men and women alike hunt with spears and blowguns, and the gauges in your ears are expanded as you learn more tribal knowledge like a flappy skin merit badge. They don’t wear clothes as a sign of their freedom, but the men cinch their junk up with a rope, presumably to not attract snakes when they walk around in the jungle. There is a LOT to unpack about this crew. 

 

A few more stops and we get to the main event. The actual equator. Quito, the name of this city, literally translates to Path of the Sun in the native language, meaning that the ancients understood the shape of the earth and their position on it. And there are a plenty of anomalies that happen here.  

• There is a kitchen sink filled with water. When it’s just on the line, it drains straight down with no vortex. Moved just a few feet north, the water drains in a clockwise swirl. A few feet south, counterclockwise. Damned amazing!
• Right on the line, you can balance an egg on the head of a nail. We couldn’t, but a few people in our group pulled it off. 
• You weigh 1kg less when you stand right on the line.  Guess we could have had that adorable pet Guinea pig after all. 
• Twice each year at noon during the equinox, you have absolutely no shadow. 
• It’s virtually impossible to close your eyes and walk a straight line along the equator because that’s the exact point where all the earth’s centrifugal forces meet and cancel each other out. When you close your eyes, it feels like you’re standing on the deck of a small boat in rough seas. 

If we went home now, we’d be happy. 

But we don’t. Jorge brings us to the summit of Panecillo to see The Virgin of El Panecillo.  Taller than the Christ The Redeemer statue in Brazil, this winged depiction of Mary is the tallest aluminum statue in the world.  Standing at 135’, she was crafted in Spain and shipped as over 7400 pieces, each numbered to make the puzzle reassembly easier.  An engineering wonk, I’m fascinated with the structure and the assembly pictures that adorn the interior walls. She’s majestic and perfectly placed to look over her flock in Quito.  And it’s a very special place to be on Easter, even if we’re not very religious.

Lunch was planned ahead at the Hotel Mama Cuchara, a lovely property carved into the top of a hillside.  We pass through the well-appointed courtyard and are seated on the rooftop café for more great views of the city.  Our meal starts with shrimp ceviche Quito style, cooked shrimp in a light broth of tomato, cilantro, lime and a bit of sweetness, all with a side of popcorn and plantain chips.   It’s an unconventional pairing, and it plays very nicely.  After traditional entrees of chicken and pork, we’re treated to a special Easter dessert – a cross of seven samples of homemade ice creams in very creative flavors (the corn, avocado and fig-and-cheese were our three faves).

Finishing the drive into Old City, we start our walk on Calle De La Ronda, that most Bohemian of neighborhoods formerly home to the artists, writers and revolutionaries who shaped this city, now a hub of cafes and nightlife.  

We stop in Independence Square, flanked on its four sides with the Presidential Palace, City Hall, the Archbishop’s Palace and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Quito.  Seems that when the city was changed to Spanish rule, it was tradition to put the head of the government and head of the church in the main square of a city as a show of unity and power.  Later, right in the middle of that square, was placed the monument to Ecuadorian independence, a ironic warning against grand gestures by conquering powers.

The Cathedral is lovely and very, very gilded.

Our last stop is for an artisanal chocolate tasting at Yumbos.  Equador has long supplied Belgium and Switzerland with the finest cacao, so it seems inevitable that this country would develop its own prestige chocolate movement.  Yumbos is at the forefront of that effort, a non-profit whose mission is not only to get Ecuador recoginized as a world leader in chocolate making, but also to act as an incubator to build the domestic industry by staking and teaching the art to small houses throughout the country.  Our tasting host is a young man named Erol.  In between sampling the delicious product (70% and Chili took our hearts), we discussed the recent presidential elections in both our countries as Erol found someone to ask some very pointed questions about American politics that had been on his mind.  We didn’t agree on every topic, but had a respectful conversation of ideas that was very refreshing.

On the way back to the car, this is how Old City Quito said goodbye to us: 

Hotel. Dinner. Crash. The days are just packed.