How did Ecuador Get Its Name? A Visit to the Equator

How did Ecuador Get Its Name? A Visit to the Equator

Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador

Ecuador-Galápagos 2018

26 February 2018

Introduction

Ecuador was named because the equator runs straight through it. You can't have an equator line without silly tourist attractions, so I proudly put on my new Galápagos 'I love boobies' tank top and put my camera around my neck to be the ultimate tourist on my last day.

There are two equator attractions right by each other. One is owned by the government and has a mini city set up around a giant monument. It is also noticeably off from the actual equator line. If you go to the museum nearby, it is more accurate.

Booking the Journey

On my first full day in Quito about three weeks prior, I went on a free walking tour of the Old Town part of the city. This was through Community Adventures. I remember them offering a Middle of the World Tour as well and since my cab driver went to a completely incorrect Wyndham hotel and the cab arrangements at the hotel wanted to escort me around the city all day for the price of one arm and two legs, I looked for other options. I opted for a simple one-way cab ride into Old Town from the airport area for $30, which is the median cost of Quito << >> Airport transportation.

On the way into town, I was able to book the Middle of the World trip online, costing me $10.00. It provided transportation to both equator attractions and back. I would be paying my entrance fees.

Community Adventures: Middle of the World


I enjoyed Quito in the morning and arrived at 14:30 for the quick trip. There were only four of us going so we could comfortably spread out in the van. It was about a 45 minute drive.

Museo Solar Inti-Nan

The "real" equator line.
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The "unofficial-official" equator line.
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While the government built a massive monument a little too far from the equator, someone else built this museum on a supposedly more accurately calculated line.

The charge for this museum with a 30-minute interactive tour was $4.00. Nothing crazy.

The tour starts with some exhibits on the native tribes in Ecuador - Shuar, Woaranis, Tsachilá, etc. They have life sized human and animal replicas as well as of typical housing units.

There was a shrunken head exhibit. The pictures of the exhibit below show the process from death to having a shrunken head on a stick. In the display case is an actual shrunken head. On top of the display case is a fake one...so they say! She did ask if there were any volunteers for an exhibit demonstration.....

And then I finally get to straddle the line that separates the Northern and Southern hemispheres. I got to do a similar thing in Kenya about ten years ago, but with a new continent it's just as exciting.

Now it's time for the interactive activities! The first one is watching which direction water drains due to the Coriolis Effect. This one is a bit of a gimmick. They already have water in the tub when we arrive sitting nice in still on the equator line. It empties straight down. Then she moves the tub about 2 meters to the South and then the North to repeat. However it really is how the water is poured in that demonstrates the direction of the water flow. Someone else decided to write more details about it, and you can read them here. Supposedly since Ecuador is right the equator, it doesn't get hurricanes or other spinning storms. They spin different ways depending on the hemisphere.

Next - balancing an egg on a nail directly on the equator line. There were two stations set up. You put one foot on N and the other on S, splitting the line. An egg is sitting next to a nail, and then goal is to get the egg to balance on the nailhead. Out of the nine people in the group, only four could do it - myself included! Is there any difference doing this at the equator than anywhere else? Is there any difference doing this sober and then drunk? 

The next one I don't think really counts as an equator trick. How many people can close their eyes and walk in a straight line? I sure can't. It was equally hard here, especially you know, the forces of each side were trying to pull me away from the balance.

After all the silly games, we went into another example of an early Ecuadorian residence. They had live guinea pigs in the corner. Which one is dinner?

At the end of the tour, I received a certificate for balancing the egg on the nail. How official! It will have to go with my certificate from the place in Kenya if I can find it.

They also stamped my passport. It's the final stamp on this passport as it expires in October and will be renewing in the next week or so.

I took a picture with the girl in the Community Adventures group who also became an Egg Master. We had both just gotten back from the Galápagos (different tours) if you can't tell by the dark, glowing skin.

Mitad del Mundo

After the tour we got back in the van and traveled about 2 minutes to Ciudad Mitad del Mundo - the government's little city complex with the massive monument.

Based on the signs outside of the attraction:

• The Middle of the World City belongs to the Pichincha provincial government. With the intent of promoting Ecuador's identify and paying homage to the Geodesic Missions, Prefect Dr. Patricio Romero Barberis made the order to build this attraction in 1979. 
• The equinoctial line is a 5km wide strip in which the 0"0'0" GPS position constantly moves. This is due to the Earth's changing physical forces of rotation, translation, and nutation.
• During the equinoxes - March 21 and September 21 - the sun's rays fall perpendicularly to the Earth causing shadows to disappear at midday.
• One of the results of the First Geodesic Mission was the use of the meter to standardize longitude measurements.

Entry costs $5.00, which seems a little steep. We were allotted twenty minutes, which I think should have been at least thirty, to go inside. The price may have been more with it with more time for the planetarium and the other stuff going on.

It was beautiful to see all of the mountains in the background.

Ecuador likes it's big letter signs.

At the location where you can take your own pictures for free, we waited a minimum of 5 minutes for this very rude family to take a whole series of terrible photos. I was bored enough that I even took a picture of them. The quality of each photo kept decreasing, and this one was taken in their first 2 minutes. When told about the line behind them, they just started laughing and then had to take individual pictures. Then the little boy didn't want to leave when they were finally done so they took more pictures of him to make him stop whining. I was thinking about framing this photo and hanging it up in my house.

I took my 1 minute tops to take my photos.

After we took ours, we popped into a gift shop so I could get a sticker for my beer fridge and then got back to the van to go back to Old Town.

Some links about the equator activities in Ecuador

• Life in Ecuador: Intinan Museum
• Wikipedia: Coriolis force Applied to the Earth
• Atlas Obscura.com: Intinan Solar Museum
• Lonely Planet: Equator
• Smithsonian Mag: Much Ado About Nothing at the Equator

Small Island, Great Diversity, Extraordinary Scenery -- Isla Plaza Sur, Galápagos

Small Island, Great Diversity, Extraordinary Scenery -- Isla Plaza Sur

South Plaza, Plazas, Galápagos

Ecuador-Galapagos 2018

24 February 2018

The morning of our last day, the Letty is once again joined by the Eric and Origin. As per usual we were the first boat to unleash the pangas and reach the shore. Today we are at the Plazas – specifically South Plaza Island, a very small island off the eastern side of Santa Cruz. We had a normal welcome of Sea Lions laying on rocks. This dock is often guarded by a very large and very alpha male [not the same one every time]. So alpha that it once jumped in a panga. Our arrival was not as exciting, with the alpha male establishing its presence only with swimming and barking. Even though South Plaza Island is only 0.13 km², we saw some amazing and less-occurring phenomena.

There are two islands/islets that compose the Plazas. We visited South Plaza, which is the only visitor site. They were formed by geological uplift. The Southern side of the islet has more uplift which form the giant cliffs that can be seen on the hike. While The Galápagos Islands already seem to be a totally different world from real life, this is the first time I felt like I actually landed on a totally different planet. Red sesuvium with scattered prickly pear cactus covered the landscape at the dock. The sesuvium shows that it has not rained on the island during the current season – otherwise it would be green. I think the green would have made the experience feel less interstellar.

This would be our first opportunity to see the endemic Galápagos Land Iguana in the wild. We saw one male two days ago at the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz two days prior. We saw plenty of iguanas today but we also observed even more Swallow-tailed Gulls. These coastal, distinctive-colored birds have red feet and legs plus a defined red ring around their eyes that resembles lips. They are the only nocturnal gull in the world and hunt along cliffs at night. They also mate for life. The island is perfect for their population due to the high cliffs, available nesting areas, and lack of predators.

Speaking of lack of predators – this is the reason why the land iguana population has become so abundant. The Galápagos hawk used to reside on the island but no longer does allowing the land iguanas to reproduce in peace. We see many males and females as we walk around the vegetated part of the island. The males are much more brightly colored and their coloration also changes depending on the timeframe of the mating season, which is occurring now. The swallow-tailed gulls are also currently mating as we see pairs together on nests. Many bachelors and bachelorettes are spotted too such as this lady iguana patiently waiting on a rock looking very pretty.

Land iguanas dig holes for sleeping. This is one of many key differences between land and marine iguanas. Marine iguanas pile together at night to keep warm while a land iguana will sleep underground in a comfy hole.

As far as diet is concerned, Land Iguanas eat invertebrates while young and then switch over to a vegetarian diet once they grow up. They like to feast on opuntia cactus flowers as demonstrated by the photos of this iguana who was clumsily struggling to get her meal. We saw about three unsuccessful attempts, the first occurred as we walked by without cameras ready.

Attempt #2

Attempt #3

Oops!

We reach the top of the cliffs where a pleasant breeze temporarily cools us off. Here is where we got to see the native Red-billed Tropicbird. These birds have a bright red beak, mostly white plumage, and two very long tailfeathers that make their flying style very graceful. They plunge into the water to feed on small fish and fly around cliff areas where they place their nesting grounds.

There were two Red-billed Tropicbirds flying around but also close to fifty or so other birds – mostly the Swallow-tailed Gull. There were potentially Galápagos Shearwater and Noddies mixed in as well.

As we continue our walk we find a female land iguana digging a hole in order to lay eggs.

At one of the last cacti [or cactuses....by the way - what do you think the plural of isthmus is?] before they stop occurring as frequently, a young Cactus Ground Finch is obnoxiously screeching at his parent for food. Not only do they eat opuntia, they also nest in it too.

We come across a nest of a pair of Swallow-tailed Gull. It is obviously a nest because an egg is visible. I guess laying behind it works just as well as sitting on it. A third bird arrives making the parents very angry. They both show aggression towards the third bird to make it go away, leaving the egg unprotected. Fortunately their negligence turned out okay because the egg was untouched.

Now we see an initiative to grow more opuntia. There is a significantly small percentage of the original amount of opuntia on the island. This was a result of a rodent problem. In 2012, they de-rodented many of the Galapagos islands, including South Plaza.

We see another hungry juvenile bird but this time it is a Swallow-tailed Gull. This one was also being obnoxious towards his/her parents but was old enough to have feathers and be almost the size of an adult.

juvenile Swallow-tailed Gull, South Plaza, Galapagos

"I don't mean to bother you, Mom, but I'm HUNGRY. And my feathers won't let me fly yet." As Dad stays out of it...

Meanwhile as Pepe talks about something, a Yellow Warbler hops and flutters around.

Instead of packed clay, the trail turns into small boulders of what everyone supposedly thinks is some sort of white lava. Wrong. It is in fact solidified Sea Lion poop.

Which brings us back to the lower coast where several momma and youth sea lions are napping. Alpha male is swimming laps. Then we see….

A Galápagos Shark! - probably about 3 meters long, followed by a sea lion who wants to play. I managed to get a picture of some of the fins above water. Galápagos Sharks like to hang around the dropoff areas of islet islands but will also swim through the ocean to go from island to island. This was one of the more exciting occurrences.

Just kidding! Fredy did some more research based on the picture, and it is more likely to be a Blacktip Shark than a Galápagos shark. Notice in the picture below [same picture as the one above, just zoomed in more] how the tail fin goes slightly inward. This is a very, very rare occurrence. At least in the past. Apparently some naturalists have recently reported this shark off the same island. Blackfin sharks are uncommon in the archipelago – they are circumtropical.

A young Sea Lion and a Land Iguana share the shade of the same Opuntia. However when the Sea Lion tries to cuddle up next to the Land Iguana, the iguana is not impressed.

I get a few more shots of the crazy landscape including one of myself – I have to show I really did land on this planet and take these pictures.

At the end of our hike we have more iguana fun. Two are fighting along the trail and then I spotted a juvenile Land Iguana about 2 meters off the trail. Pepe said that this is rare to see, even on this island where they don’t have predators. The young usually hide. Look at this cutie with its tongue sticking out.

And another iguana because why not? They were everywhere. This island has one of the biggest Land Iguana colonies for sure, even though they tend to be smaller than Land Iguanas elsewhere.

Another Cactus Ground Finch:

And now check out the island’s current alpha male Sea Lion barking at all of the baby Sea Lions. We then get back on board the pangas to sail back to the yacht.

Another cute Sea Lion picture for good measure!

South Plaza I think has been one of my favorite locations! It felt very alien and very peaceful. We got to see some interesting things, and I really enjoyed the short hike.

Strava Map of Stroll

Link to Strava hiking activity: A stroll on a different planet

Flora y Fauna

Fauna       

• Galapagos Sea Lion [Endemic] Zalophus wollebaeki
• Swallow-tailed Gull [Endemic] Creagrus (Larus) furcatus
• Red-billed Tropicbird [Native]o Phaethonaethereus mesonauto
• Galapagos Land Iguana [Endemic] Conolophus subcristatus and C. pallidus
• Lava Lizard [Endemic] Microluphus spp.
• Cactus Ground Finch [1 of Darwin’s Finches – Endemic] Geospiza scandens
• Galapagos or Audobon Shearwater [Endemic] Oceanodroma castro
• Yellow Warbler [Native] Dendroica petechia aureola
• Galapagos Shark [Native] Carcharhinus galapagensis
• Blackfin Shark Tiburon Volador

Flora

• Opuntia [Endemic?] Opuntia echios?
• Sesuvium