Middle of the World – Mitad del Mundo

This is one of those touristy things I just had to do..and I’m glad we did. 

ya…I’m a dork with my camera and purse cris-crossing my body…guess I didn’t know I would look like this 🙂  Of course, just the fact that I thought it would be fun to have one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere proves that I’m a tourist!!!

He poses and is quite handsome

I’m not sure what this mountain is but we loved the look of the clouds and the mountain from the ecuator.

Interesting thing about this area…by the way this is where the restaurant and the delicacy were located…it also had lots of shops and was an obvious touristy place but shockingly there was no toilet paper in the bathrooms, nor hand soap.  When traveling to Ecuador tourist locations, you must carry your own wipes…although interestingly enough – we paid 15 cents for about 9 squares of t/p at a public restroom at Independence Square in Quito.

Currency in Ecuador is the American Dollar but they also use the sucre within the country so there is not currency exchange required.  They also use the Sacagawea dollar coin rather than the dollar bill.

Along the coastal highway between Manta and Salinas there were many speed bumps..mostly as you left/entered small villages or when they wanted you to slow down to look at their produce.  These speed bumps could be made from concrete or heavy rope layed across the road.  Some had alert signs and most didn’t.

During a trip to Otavalo for the Indian markets and Cotacachi for leather shopping, we noticed many of the hills, bluffs and mountains were quilted with crops…it was quite beautiful and a total culture shock thinking about farming in Iowa/United States..  These crops – some across the mountain and some vertical were obviously planted and harvested by hand.

The American Disabilities Act is for North Americans…things like wheelchair ramps and handicap accessible sidewalks, etc were not existent…in fact some curbs were a challenge for my short legs.

That is it for stuff that has flittered thru my mind this morning.

Until next time…