"With the possible exception of the Equator, everything begins somewhere"
- C. S. Lewis
Since I'm in Ecuador, I decided to cross "standing in two hemispheres at the same time" of my bucket list.
CHECK!
Well, sort of... The ridiculous thing is, despite all the pomp and circumstance, this isn't even the REAL Equator. It's really just a tribute... (the real one is, depending on who you ask, either 47km or 240km away from this spot. So confusing...)
The entry price for the honor of seeing this spurious tourist attraction?: 3 dollars (which isn't bad considering the prices for some of the less monumental places I've been this year. Though, in their (admittedly lukewarm) defense, those places were real. Maybe Ecuador did some regression modeling on the price point at which people would stop coming to this place once it was known that it was just arbitrarily placed at this spot vs. the equidistant point between the North and South Pole. Hmmm...)
CHECK!
Well, sort of... The ridiculous thing is, despite all the pomp and circumstance, this isn't even the REAL Equator. It's really just a tribute... (the real one is, depending on who you ask, either 47km or 240km away from this spot. So confusing...)
The entry price for the honor of seeing this spurious tourist attraction?: 3 dollars (which isn't bad considering the prices for some of the less monumental places I've been this year. Though, in their (admittedly lukewarm) defense, those places were real. Maybe Ecuador did some regression modeling on the price point at which people would stop coming to this place once it was known that it was just arbitrarily placed at this spot vs. the equidistant point between the North and South Pole. Hmmm...)
Anyway, it's all I have available (except the real one that I didn't go to despite driving right past it - long story, won't bore you) and I'm telling myself that it was the real thing (Heck, Ecuador is too. Sort of...).
And, I have pictures of a line to prove it! (NB: I also read a book that was mostly about the French Geodesic Expedition to define the exact equator and shape of the Earth. So, I think that gives me a little additional latitude in doing so. Ha!)
And, I have pictures of a line to prove it! (NB: I also read a book that was mostly about the French Geodesic Expedition to define the exact equator and shape of the Earth. So, I think that gives me a little additional latitude in doing so. Ha!)
Yes, I took my shirt off in public. Yes people stared. These things happen. NBD...
Traveling solo generally means that I can only rely on random tourists for standard shots, and even then it is no guarantee, therefore the crazy ones I have to take myself. And, as most of you can attest, there is nothing crazier than a no shoes shot!
And of course the equally as crazy "My-Shadow-is-in-the-Northern-Hemisphere-but-I'm-in-the-Southern" shot. For those wondering: Yes, I did hop back and forth from north to south. After the third time, I started feeling awkward and made for the exit.
*I will not apologize for my puns or parentheticals....
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