La Mitad del Mundo

This is the only place on the Equator that isn´t deep in forest. As such, there's a suitably impressive monument to mark the meeting of hemispheres.

Unfortunately, this monument is 200m out from the Equator, and this should be a hint for you: avoid the big obvious park. Go right for a bit to the Museo Solar Itni Nan that marks the actual Equator.

This lo-fi museum is a very enjoyable hands-on experience that is well worth the $2 entry. It's full of pop-science experiments to demonstrate the different forces at the Equator.

But what the kids will really enjoy is the chance to fire a 6-foot blowpipe! I was surprised at how easy and powerful it was.

So how do you get there? Well, it's about an hour by bus from Quito, but I took some pretty random buses. Best option is to ask the people where you´re staying - it's a huge tourist attraction.

So you want to go visit the monument? Well, alright then. Go and speak to the endearingly crazy research people in the Ecuador pavillion. They'll flash pictures at you to try and convince you that they're right, but more interesting is their discovery of the secrets of Quito...