December 23, 2003
Quito, Ecuador
Latitude: 0° 0.0', Longitude: 78° 27.242'

Mom and I went to the equator today.  Actually, I had already driven across it yesterday, but this was the real deal--this was the official monument of the middle of the world, "la mitad del mundo".  What the hell, I'm a sucker for a good photo opp. 

So we cruised around snapping pics right and left.  The obligatory "got the world in my hand" shot, the panoramic from the top, etc. etc.

Then we discovered something very humorous.  This monument is actually 300m to the south of the real equator.  Apparently they blame the original french/spanish missions conducted in the 1700s and late 1800s... but later corroborrated by their own Luis G. Tuffilo.  The funny part is that 6 years ago they discovered a pre-incan monument on a nearby hill (called Catequilla, which is about 5 miles away) that apparently a recognition of the equator as good position to take solar measurements and make astronomical observations.  only, the pre-incans got their monument *exactly* on the equator.  within 5 feet or something ridiculous like that.  i'm sure ol' luis is rolling in his grave. 

anyway... to make sure that we got pictures at the real equator, we drove another 300 yards up the equator past the monument and stopped on the road where my ol' trusty GPS (now more accurate thanks to the discontinuation of selective availability & the new 'glasnost' from our wonderful military) said 0-0-0. 

then i got a pic of jesse and mom on the real equator.  also lined up in the background is Catequilla, the hill where the pre-incans made their precise monument.  theirs doesn't stick up in the air much, like the modern one, so you can't see it sticking out of the top of the hill very well in this picture... but it is exactly where the yellow line crosses the top of the hill in the pic.  jesse is sitting exactly on the equator to within about 8 meters i guess (so it says).  i the gps sit for about a minute and it seemed to be locked in with no drift.

this guy lived across the street and watched the proceedings with a great deal of amusement.  he should set up a trinket shop or something...