The Equator Drain Experiment

Equatorial selfie.
Ann in the Northern Hemisphere and
John in the Southern Hemisphere.

You are no doubt familiar with the theory that water spirals down the drain in opposite directions, depending on whether you're in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere.  But like the vast majority of the population of the Northern Hemisphere, you've not had the opportunity to travel south of the equator to see for yourself, so you pretty much have to take science's word for it.  Well, we're here to give you the visual proof.   

Would you like a
little head?

During a recent trip to Quito, Ecuador, we visited the Museo de Sitio Intinan (literal translation: Museum of the Site of the Path of the Sun).  It's an interactive open-air museum featuring ancient Ecuadorian culture, including thatched huts, totem poles and a shrunken human head.  Yes, you read that right, a shrunken human head.  That may be a post for another time.  Suffice it to say the shrinking of heads was not always done for malign purposes.

Anyway, back to the drain thing.  The main reason for the existence of this museum is that it's located directly on the equator.  A red line painted on the ground (and a sign) indicates the exact mitad del mundo (middle of the world).  There are various demonstrations done to show the effect of being at the middle of the world has - or doesn't have - on balance, strength, and physics.  Of course, the highlight is the water draining experiment, which you can see in the two-minute video below.  We'll let the video speak for itself.  Just a couple of things to point out: the small leaves are used to help visualize the direction of the water as it drains.  And, Ann's mind was blown.  But don't take my word for it.  Listen:

If your mind is blown, as well, please Share, Tweet, Like, Re-Blog, +1, Pin, etc.  Thanks for sharing another one of Ann & John's Excellent Adventures.

Welcome to the Hotel Quito

It was our last night in Quito, Ecuador.  We had spent the week touring the Galapagos Islands where we saw the famous giant tortoises, as well as land and marine iguanas, sea lions, and all manner of boobies (the red- and blue-footed flying variety, for those of you with your mind in the gutter).

The Boobies!
(top-to-bottom:)
Nazca, Red-Footed, & Blue-Footed.

But it wasn't until this night that we encountered Eagles.  I'll explain the capital E in a moment.  After dinner at Mama Clorinda, a Quito restaurant where guinea pig is featured on the menu, we hailed a cab for the short ride back to our hotel.  We said to the driver, "Hotel Quito,"  He nodded politely as we climbed in the cab.

Before pulling away, he removed the Spanish-language music CD that had been playing in his car stereo and replaced it with something that we assume he assumed would be more amenable to his American riders. "Hotel California" by the (capital E)agles.  He was right, we did find the song a welcome piece of Americana far from home.  But that wasn't the best part.  As Don Henley belted out, "On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair," so did our driver!  In the best English he could muster, our cab driver sang along with the American classic rock standard.  So we decided to make it a trio.

NOT the Hotel Quito.

About the time we reached the entrance to the hotel, the three of us had reached the first chorus.  "Welcome to the Hotel California!" we sang together.  As we paid the fare and started to get out of the car, it was clear our driver wanted the sing-along to continue.  "Plenty of room at the Hotel California.  Anytime of year, you can find it here," he sang.  Had it not been so late, and with an early flight the next morning, we might have stayed to sing with him to the end. Instead, we gave him a smile and a wave and got out of the cab.  He drove off into the night with the sound of the Eagles fading into the distance.