Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World)

Today we started with plans to go to Otavalo to shop at the indigenous markets there; however, half of Quito had the same idea. We rode the city bus to one bus station and changed buses to go to the bus station farther north, from which the buses to Otavalo leave. About 500 people were massed around the ticket office, and the officials were barely moving them thru to the buses. Since we didn't want to spend half of our day at the bus station, we got on another bus and rode it back to the first bus station, where we could take another bus to Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World). Mitad del Mundo was on our list anyway, so that's where we spent the day... after 4 bus rides!

This monument marks where the equator passes thru Quito (yes, I know the equator circles the globe and passes thru many countries, but this is EQUAdor, named so because of the equator). Also, this location was scoped out using 19th century technology. They got it close, missing it by only 240 meters (262 yards), as defined by more modern technology. The Mitad del Mundo complex has the monument, exhibits, museaums, restaraunts, and shops. Today, probably because this is the first day of Carnaval, they had native dancers and a parade. Here are some of the dancers, this one a Ballet Folklorico group:

When the parade started from the center pavillon shown above, it was lead by these devil drummers. I don't know what else to call them as they were each dressed in a devil costume and played a drum as they marched:

 Other groups in the parade, in their colorful costumes included:

As I noted, today is the first day of Carnaval, when people go crazy with celebration before the beginning of Lent. The most popular seller here was the can of foam, that the kids (and the parade participants) sprayed on people... as you can see, Phillip was close to the spraying:

While at Mitad del Mundo, we took a tour to a local volcano crater, Pululahua. Behind us are the clouds rolling in, as they do every afternoon.

The volcano has not erupted in over 2400 years, so people live in the crater, farming the rich volcanic soil. The way out that most people use is this path up the side of the crater:

I did NOT walk down (as I would not want to walk back up, I've had enough moutain climbing, thank you.) Unfortunately for the people who live there, this may not be an extinct volcano after all. Our guide told us that in 1999, scientists discovered a raise in ground temperature, indicative of seismic activity. It's a minor change, so the government isn't making them move, and apparently, they don't want to.

After this tour, we watched some singers from Buenos Aires back at the pavillon. Unfortunately, I can't post a picture of them as they had a difficult time keeping their tight skirts down as they danced. Their apparel issue didn't seem to bother Phillip, however. Tomorrow, we are going to try again to go to Otavalvo, starting out earlier.