Baños and Quito - Ecuador ... a quick taste of this beautifully diverse country.

After crossing the Peru-Ecuador border, our first stop was Baños: a small town, known for beautiful scenery, thermal baths and adventure sports, in the centre of the country.  We had intended to head to Baños to go whitewater rafting, mountain biking and hiking; though, unfortunately, the weather was not the beast whilst we were there so we really only had the motivation to hike (in constant rain) and take a fairly small, relatively easy, mountain-bike ride.

One of the most iconic images, and visited sites, of Baños is the Casa del Arbol (treehouse) and its tree-swing situated at 2600m above sea level. The so-called 'swing at the end of the world' allows you to swing out over what appears to be a steep drop down the mountain's edge (at least in photos it appears this way).  On a clear day, one can see the active Tungurahua volcano which is only 2.5km away from the swinging tree.  Unfortunately, after our 3 hour hike up to the volcano, the cloud was so thick that we could not see a whole lot in front of us.  It was still worth the effort and a bit of fun anyway.

The famous swing.  In the past it was simply a tree branch tied between the two ropes, but now it is much safer with a safety chain and all (why do they always have to ruin the fun?!). 

Me trying to get as high as possible. 

Brendan trying to fly.

Cassie swinging like a child. 

Looking over the town of Baños on the way back down from the hike. 

The second major drawcard for tourists to Baños is the 61km, mostly-downhill, bike ride along the Ruta de las Cascadas to the small town of Puyo. The ride follows a main road and passes several waterfalls along the way.  The most impressive of the waterfalls, Pailon del Diablo, is at around the 20km mark so, due to the shitty weather, we decided just to ride until this point.  We threw our bikes into the back of a truck and got a ride back to Baños.

One of the several waterfalls along the Ruta de las Cascadas.

Pailon del Diablo. We actually walked right around behind this waterfall, but obviously photos didn't work so close to the raging water. 

After our couple nights in Baños, we took a bus for Quito, Ecuador's capital.  The city's colonial centre was beautiful to explore, but a real frustration when trying to find restaurants and anything resembling nightlife after 7pm. We were lucky enough to see President Correa when we were there, though!

Basilica del Voto Nacional - Quito, Ecuador

Cassie and I love it when we find hula-hoops to play with on the streets (see San Jose, Costa Rica!) - Quito, Ecuador

                                

An indigenous group outside Plaza Grande during President Correa's address to the public - Quito, Ecuador.

The view from our hostel over the nightime skyline - Quito, Ecuador. 

The main highlight of our time in Quito was our visit to the Intiñan Equator Museum, situated at exactly 00° 00' 00'' of latitude  (yep, right on the Equator!). The museum houses a number of exhibits, but the most interesting (and fun!) are those which demonstrate a number of phenomena which relate to the equator and its magnetic forces. 

    

I am in the Northern Hemisphere, Cassie is in the Southern Hemisphere (how creative!).

Brendan split straight down the middle by the Equator - south on the right, north on the left! (Note: The Germans have to stand in their own hemisphere). 

Bridging cultures and hemispheres with our new found German friends!

Attempting to walk in a straight line along the Equator is harder than you may think.  Whilst walking with your eyes closed, head facing up, you will always be pulled to either side.  Apparently this is due to a change in gravity that occurs when you are right on the equatorial line. It was also apparent when we did a variety of strength tests - only a metre either side of the Equator we were able to withstand the strength of someone trying to pull our arms down, though, when directly on the line, they could pull our arms down with only two fingers. This is again due to the change in gravity and therefore less resistance. 

Balancing a raw egg on the head of a nail. Again, due to the change in gravitational pull, it is easier to stand an egg on the head of a nail when standing directly on the Equator (apparently - neither Cassie, nor I, could master the skill despite our intense concentration!). 

The last experiment which we witnessed (though no photos would do it justice) was demonstrating the Coriolis Effect.  The Coriolis Effect demonstrates how the Earth's rotation exerts different forces of inertia upon moving mass depending on the hemisphere (Disclaimer: I am not a physicist nor meteorologist!). The most common way in which we all see this everyday is when we flush the toilet.  As we all know from The Simpsons, when we flush the toilet in the Southern Hemisphere, the water spins in a clockwise manner, though when we flush the toilet in the North, the water spins in an anticlockwise manner.  The Coriolis Effect also determines how cyclones and hurricanes act in different ways due to their relative hemispheres.