Happy new year, we meet again
After taking 4 flights from NZ i arrived to Quito-
capital of Equador 1 day later, altitude is 2 850 m, it is the second
highest capital in the world {1. 3 million people} surrounded by
Andes mountains,green hills and volcanos, in the morning and in the
evening it is cold-50 F, during the day it is hot -up to 80F
i had a city tour, typical colonial old town with beautiful Plaza
Grande, many churches, narrow streets, Presidential Palace, new
city is very modern with a lot of skyscrapers, parks, many outdoor
sculptures, it is Christmas time here with a lot of decorations, i also
saw a very big menora, Quito has a very rich history-Pre
Inca and Inca,
i witnessed New Year celebration, thousands of people on Avenida
Amazonas with children dancing, singing, having concerts and burning
huge dolls-puppets, fire crackers exploding the whole night,
after 12 midnight people go to the restaurants for dinners, you hear
dancing music from early morning- it is keep you in cheerful
mood, i will try at home,
i see thousands of long stems roses every there because it is Equador's
export # 3, they send all over the world, 25 roses cost $1 ,
there are 2 unique places in this interesting
country; equator- The Middle of the World , Mitad del Mundo
and Galapagos islands and i visited both ot them,
i had a tour of equator on january 1, it was a very memorable experience, first we came to Solar museum or Museo Inti - Nan { road of the sun] where Equator was discovered by indigenous pre Inca Indians and i saw a sign - GPS confirmed Equator exactly at this spot, they celebrated MARCH 21 and SEPTEMBER 23 as equinox -day and night are 12 hours,
i bought and red a book ¨- Equator- so i learned a lot, there we did experiments which work only on equator like water goes streight down, no counter clock or clock wise, i stood with one foot on the Northern Hemisphere and the other on the Southern Hemisphere and got a certificate that i arrived at Latitude 0º-0´-0´´, weight is 1 kg less on the equator, part of the group was a very nice japanese couple, we got friendly, they took photos, email me and i attached them,
than we drove to to the smallest city in Equador- Middle of the World City- 13 km from Quito, it is a tourist complex located at the place where French Geodesic expedition of 1736 determined equator, they worked for 8 years in a very difficult conditions of high altitude, freezing temperatures, sickness and suspicious local residents, but they accomplished their mission even they are few hundreds meters off according to GPS, at the entrance there is Geodesic Ave with 13 statues of scientists, Equator Monument with the globe on top,
museum with 9 levels of different exhibitions,planetarium and childrens ecological park which has the fastest train in the world which crosses 2 hemispheres in 10 minutes.
Every day is a special day for me because i am able to see such special places on our planet,
next i fly to Galapagos,
love to all , Inna