We’re going to the centre of our earth today on the equator in Ecuador to a place called Mitad del Mundo.
There is a monument up the road from the photo you see above that commemorates the start and the accomplishment of the French Royal Academy of Science-sponsored travel to Ecuador measuring the equator over two centuries ago. First erected in 1936 on the bicentennial of the mission, the monument is located near the town of San Antonio Pichincha, a few miles north of Quito. It is mistakenly believed to be the point of the equator.
The equator in fact is a little further away from the ‘official’ monument…it’s a place where you can balance an egg on the tip of a nail…where strength and gravity play tricks on us…water travels a little unnerved. It’s a fascinating place that really illustrates the subtleties of our planet and how magnetic forces dictate how we and inanimate objects react to each other.