mitad del mundo

 the middle of the earth monument. it's not the actual equator, it's the line they mesured a few hundred years ago.

 

 who wants cuy (guinea pig)?? as the whole mitad del mundo monument is a really big tourist attraction (market stalls, "traditional" food, etc.) you can eat guinea pig, even if it's not food from the region around quito.

 no, they're not pets. thats food running around in the kitchen!

 after visiting the monument, i went to the outdoor museum inti ñan, dedicated to the tribes in the amazon as well as to the power of the equator line.

 there are monkey-shrinkheads!!

here is the explanation how the indigenous used to make them: cut off the head, take out the skull, boil the skin.

 then, they sew the mouth and eyes so that the soul couldm't escape. there are a few reasons why they did it. either, as a war trophy with the head of the enemy. or as an act of humiliation towards people of the community. or also if someone of the community commited a really big crime, such as trying to kill someone, they made a shrinkhead out of the bad guy to punish him and of course also to frighten off the other members. today, making shrinkheads is forbidden.

 this is the most primitive tribe in the amazon region, called wuaorani. they latley even killed a guy with lances that was (illegally of course) cutting wood in their region.

 i unfortunatley don't remember which tribe used to do that, but when they buried the people, they put them in those big kind of vases in embryo position, so that they're ready to be reborn. if a man dies, all of his women will be buried alive with him. if a woman dies, she'll obviously be buried alone.

 that's the real equator line. visible proof for instance is that when you let water through the drain ON the line, there won't be a swirl. on each of the hemispheres, there is a swirl to the left respectively to the right.

 i was able to place an egg on a nail on the equator line (for that i even received a certificate). it shouldn't be possible if you're not on zero degrees latitude.