It was a big day with public transportation which is always exhausting. Took a cab from Mindo to the main highway, a short distance away, to jump on the bus to Mitad del Mundo, middle of the world, aka the equator.
This bus route is known for pick pockets and general thievery, so I was not feeling great about it. Our cab driver dropped us off and said he would wait until the bus came, which I appreciated. He made a call on his cell phone and yelled to us in Spanish, since he spoke no English, something about our good luck. His friend was driving that direction so we needed to get back in the car....hmmmm :-/ was this some scam?! I decided to trust him because he was the husband of the innkeeper who had been spectacularly helpful, nice and generous to us. He drove like a bat out of hell around sharp turns up the valley until we reached a mini van on the road and both pulled over.
The friend was a German woman who spoke perfect English and welcomed us into the van. I was thankful to get out of the taxi (which was actually just a pickup truck with no markings of a taxi, as were all of the taxis in Mindo) in the hopes of a more mellow drive. Ha! As we closed the door, she said she was late to pick up her kids and had to hurry. We had about an hour and a half in that minivan, tearing around the curvy mountain roads with only one seat belt. Nothing like passing into the oncoming lane on a blind curve with your children and no seatbelts! I promise to never complain about the crazy drivers in LA, again!
We made it to the equatorial museum safely, Intinan Museo Solar, and awaited a tour of the place. Right away it seemed cheesy, but we were all fascinated by the idea of standing right on the equator. Still so much more to share about the day but Ill save that for the next post.
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