We had to be ready to board the bus at 9am and breakfast was to be from 8 to 9 so up about 6:30am. Still no effect of the high altitude. Symptoms of it are headache and nausea. After getting ready to go, we packed our bags and headed down to the lobby with them. Had a great breakfast buffet with choices of all kinds of freshly squeezed juices, even blackberry juice. Back on the bus with our driver and Veronica, we headed to the north part of Quito where "the middle of the world" is located. In the 18th century, the equator's location was determined by the French Geodesic Mission. With the current GPS technology the location is actually about 1000 feet north of there. They were pretty close. We went to both sites but spent most of the morning at the equator determined by GPS (Global Positioning Satellite). We were divided in small groups of about 10 to 12 and a guide there showed us what it looked like for the indigenous Amazonian people to live centuries ago in the eastern part (rainforests and jungles) of Ecuador. We had our photos taken on the equator. The guide showed us demonstrations that proved exactly where the equator line was. It was truly amazing. In one photo you will see the tub of water and this will demonstrate the coriolis effect. At home in North America if we let the water out of a bath tub the water swirls in a counter clockwise direction. In the Southern Hemisphere it will be in a clockwise direction. Right on the equator it goes straight down. The guide first unplugged the water right on the equator, and sure enough, it went straight down. He moved the tub only about 5 feet north and 5 feet south to show how the water swirled in north and south hemispheres. There was also a solar clock used by the ancient people to tell time. Back then they did not have hours of the day but had 3 parts of the day. On the equator the sun ALWAYS rises at 6am and sits at 6pm EVERY day of the year. There was also a way the ancient people could tell when the dry and wet seasons would be so they could plant vegetables. The family all slept in one bed together until kids were 12 years old. Then they were considered adults and slept elsewhere. After a girl had her first period she got married. These people only lived to be in their 40's. Ecuadorians are small people. No NBA stars from here. Anyway, the Amazonian people in the east were naked and some still that way today. This was a fascinating tour and well worth the trip. We even had our passports stamped with equator stamp. Rebecca mailed a post card to our dear friend, Hazel, from the equator. We had time to shop there before heading back to the airport for our 2:40pm flight back to met the ship, now in Guayaquil. Our flight was on Aerogal, an Ecuadorian airline, in an Airbus 319. Again the flight was only 35 minutes and this time I sat in back. We were met by a guide who took us to our buses for a 30 minute ride to the ship. The ship's crew was out to greet us and welcome us back. They did this also on our world cruise and is a very nice touch that Regent does.
Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador with a population of 4 million. Quito had been a very clean city but Guayaquil was a pit. It is the largest and most important sea port of Ecuador. They export oil, coffee, bananas, and flowers. The oil in produced in the Amazon jungles on the east side of the country. The minimum wage is Ecuador is $290 a month! The oldest cultures of the Americas were here on the Ecuadorinan coast (8800 to 3500BC). So much more but you are probably bored.
