Una día mas

Greetings, everyone! I'll get right down to business. Today was a three-stop trip for us. Our first location was the valley of Puluha... Puluhoga.. Pulu... Um, this place.

It is a volcanic crater, and has a beautiful view. It is also a geobotanical reserve, whatever that means. It was formed when a volcano actually collapsed. You wouldn't know from the lush green land.

Yes, beautiful views. And then there's Mom.

Our second stop was an outdoor museum dedicated to the equator and the peoples of Ecuador. We got to stand on the equator and try our hand at several activities.

Activity #1: water swirling

This one wasn't interactive. There was a bucket of water that emptied into a smaller one underneath. When the bucket was directly on the equator, the water emptied straight down, with no whirlpool generated. When it was moved a bit into the southern hemisphere, a left-to-right whirlpool was created, and in the northern hemisphere, the whirlpool was right-to-left. It was a startling difference for a few feet.

Activity #2: egg balance

It's far easier to balance things at the equator, because the gravity is not swayed at all. My dad and I both managed to balance an egg on a nail. We got certificates... that were actually half- advertisement. "I balanced an egg on a nail, and come and spend money at the museum" pretty much sums it up.

Smug Aidan is smug.

Activity #3: Aidan balance

In this activity, we walked along the equator, feet close together, with our eyes closed. I don't know why, but it was harder to balance. Maybe we just weren't used to the two gravitational forces.

Oh, right: There was also a whole lot of our guide explaining stuff in a thick accent.

Within the museum, there was also a traditional house. Does anyone in the audience (that's you, loyal followers) know about the Incas? What about how they ate guinea pigs? Well, Quito was influenced by the Incas. Unfortunately, I think the cute, fluffy little guys below are being raised for food.

On a lighter note, our final stop was the "other" equator. This monument was established by the French, and is a homage to... actually, not the equator. Some theorized that the French got it wrong, but they didn't. The monument actually was on the equator when it was built! But thanks to continental drift, the site of the equator is now 200 meters away, at the museum that we went to first.

Bonus photo: photobomb returns!

Spanish contest standings:

Aidan- 53

Mom- 6

Dad- 34 1/4