Tipsy Cat in the Centres of the World – Yes, there’s one than one
If you’re going to go to the centre of the world, you might as well go to three, and lo and behold, Ecuador can offer you just that.
There’s Catequilla – located on the equatorial line and which translates as ‘follower of the moon’. Used in pre-Inca times – it indicates the great knowledge these people had about astronomy – but our driver said that the site is closed to tourists. (At least, I think that’s what he said. Again, we had lots of enthusiastic conversations in Spanish, although we don’t speak Spanish), but we did see the mountain from a distance, and it’s actually not far off from the equatorial line.
Then, there’s the official site of the equator, Mitad del Mundo, which has the great official monument and interesting displays and museums. There’s also a very sweet church, with the equator running directly through the middle and up to the altar and tabernacle.
However, it turns out that the official centre of the world, isn’t actually, the centre. And thanks to GPS technology, the real centre has been located, well, almost (it’s apparently quite hard to find the exact centre). The Intiñan Solar Museum is great fun and has lots of little experiments to try. For example, it turns out it’s quite hard to walk with your eyes closed in a straight line (the poles pull you off centre); it should be easier to balance an egg on a nail – gravity being at its strongest (it isn’t); and water drains straight down (rather than anti-clockwise if you’re in the northern hemisphere, and clockwise in the southern). Tipsy had a lot of fun, and of course, had a nice little sit down bang at the centre of the world.
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