Saturday, December 28, 2013

The Middle of the Earth Official Museum

Ecuador is named for its location at the equator.  A short drive from the center of Quito there are two museums which address this topic.  We hired a driver for the day who took us to both museums.
At the official museum there is a long path up to the monument.
Along the path there are statues and information about the scientific expedition to discover the equator.
The monument to the equator at the end of the walk.  Our driver Julio is in the foreground.
Monkey see, monkey do.  We saw some other tourists taking pictures this way.  I hope theirs turned out better.

John and I in front of the monument
Upon entering the monument one finds stairs for climbing to the viewing platform.
After viewing all around, the descent is through the ethnographic museum.  There are displays of all the different types of indigenous peoples found in Ecuador.  There is even a shrunken head on display with information about the group who engaged in that practice.







 There are restaurants, small display buildings with exhibits (for example insects of the country and photographs of volcanoes) and crafts for tourists to purchase.
Here is the museum complex. The marker for the equator here is in the wrong place. 

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