You know why Ecuador is called “Ecuador,” right? Obviously, it’s because the Equator passes through it! While 12 other countries around the world can also claim that honor, Ecuador is the only country named after it.
Knowing how close it was to us, we figured we’d take a day trip up there at some point. And as our first full weekend in Quito dawned bright and early — and with minimal chances for rain — we said, why not today?
Getting to the Mitad del Mundo/Equator
When we spent some time in the old city of Quito — the centro historico — we saw all kinds of advertisements for tour groups that could take you out of the city to some of the area’s most famous sites. Besides the buses going to the Mitad del Mundo, there were also trips to Otavalo Market, Cotopaxi, the Mindo Cloud Forest, and more. (All of these are things we’re planning on doing! Can’t wait to share with you.)
But the idea of getting on a bus and being part of a tour group is almost never very appealing to me. It depends on where I am and the activity. While I usually love taking public transportation, COVID has kind of changed my mindset on that for the time being. Then, add in the fact that the cost of Matt & I splitting a taxi is usually not much more than the cost of taking a bus. Now we’ve got a more direct path to our destination with less exposure to other people.
With Cabify, a taxi and ride-share app we’ve been using since we got here, the 35-minute drive to the Equator Monument was $8. And it picked us up right outside our apartment. For that reason, if you’re staying anywhere in Quito, I recommend doing that rather than dealing with a tour group. It will be cheaper, faster, and you’ll have more control over how much time you spend there. And while you won’t have a tour guide — if that’s something you really like — keep reading, because I’ve got a solution for you there, too!
However, if you love tours, go for it! I recommend booking with Viator, who I always use for tours.
The Middle of the World Monument
Your driver will drop you off right in front of the entrance to the monument. There will be a ton of taxis queued up, those that have just dropped people off and are waiting for new passengers to pick up. Walk up to the ticket booth, which says “Boletería,” and has a a few short lines of people waiting to buy tickets. Tickets to enter the monument are $5 per adult. (I believe there are discounts for seniors and kids.)
Also, they asked us for an I.D., so we used Matt’s driver’s license since we hadn’t brought our passports. They also asked us for an email. You might want to have it written down if you don’t speak Spanish and aren’t able to spell it out. We conducted our whole ticket-buying transaction in Spanish, but I would imagine the ticket attendants speak English, too? Interestingly, we didn’t hear much English at all while we were there. It seemed the vast majority of other tourists — like 95% — were from elsewhere in Ecuador or other Spanish-speaking countries.
It also was not very crowded for being a Saturday with really ideal weather. I was expecting it to be much more touristy and was delighted when it wasn’t. (I guess it is January? I don’t know. Maybe the Northern Hemisphere summer months are busier.)
When you get in, there are these huge colorful letters that spell out MITAD DEL MUNDO. First great photo op of the day. Then, of course, you can’t miss the monument itself. On each side, it denotes a cardinal direction: N(orte), S(ur), E(ste), O(este). You’ll come in on the side with E, as the north and south are on your left and right, respectively. There’s a small line to take photos — but there’s really no reason to wait there. You can wander to all sides of the monument, especially the other side, west, and get the same photo with almost no one else around.
Here’s a video look at our day (courtesy of Matt, once again.)
Ciudad Mitad del Mundo at the Equator
I wondered why this area was called “Ciudad Mitad del Mundo,” or “Middle of the World City.” But once we got there, I understood. The area is full of shops and restaurants for those who are visiting. The shop and restaurant workers are positioned outside their doors and will try to get you to come in, but a simple “no, gracias,” works if you’re not interested.
After walking around the monument, we wandered down some of the paths nearby. At one shop, there were two llamas grazing in a pen. Their owners were sitting nearby and told us we could feed them for 25 cents. (It costs more to feed the koi at the mini golf course in my hometown, lol.) I gave them a quarter and they gave me a bundle of some sort of grass, which the llamas — Sol and Luna — happily began munching on.
We walked a little more. One famous “experiment” that is common at the mitad del mundo is balancing an egg on a nail. It’s supposed to work at the Equator because of gravity. Outside a shop, there was a sign that said “Experimento de huevo gratis.” Free. So I sat down and started trying to balance the egg — which was real — on the nail. The shopkeeper came out and began talking to us and watching. I gave up because I wasn’t very good, but then Matt tried. He is infuriatingly good at pretty much anything he tries, so I knew he’d be able to do it. And he did.
The shopkeeper told us (in Spanish) that he’d earned a prize. She let him choose a woven bracelet from a basket, and as she tied it on him, she said it would bring good luck and good vibes to him. We decided to stay and shop a little bit since she’d been so sweet. I was happy to finally find POSTCARDS! Surprisingly, there hadn’t been any souvenir shops in the old city. After we paid, she said she wanted to give me a bracelet, too, so Matt and I could match. 😋
By then, we had pretty much seen everything we wanted to in this area, so we stopped to get a quick bite to eat in one of the restaurants. But as we walked, we saw a group of men and women dressed in traditional clothing. We were hoping they were going to dance — and they did! In the middle of the main plaza, they performed for about half an hour. For one of their dances, they even brought up the audience members to join in the fun.
Be Sure You Do Not Miss Museo Intiñan
Ok, I’m about to tell you something you may not be ready to hear… but the Mitad del Mundo isn’t REALLY the mitad del mundo. I mean, it’s close enough, sure. But that Equator line you stand on? It’s not really correct.
I had learned through my limited research that the real Equator line was a few hundred yards away at a museum. And I had thought that museum would be within the Mitad del Mundo premises. But it wasn’t. We had to leave the Ciudad Mitad del Mundo and walk along the main road about a quarter of a mile north in order to reach this museum, which seemed like a lot more of a “hidden gem” than I thought it would be.
Museo Intiñan is an experiential history and science museum that visitors to the Mitad del Mundo shouldn’t miss. It’s another $5 to get in, but it’s well worth it. You’ll get a personal guide for your small group tour through the open-air museum. I think I read that tours can be conducted in a few languages, and our English tour had people from the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands. Our guide, though I don’t remember his name, was fantastic. He taught us about the history of the people who had lived in this area years ago. He told us how the museum’s name, “Inti” and “Nan” come from Quechua words for Sun and Way — the way of the sun.
He also showed us a variety of experiments along the “real” Equator, which the museum boasts has been calculated with GPS. There was the egg-balancing experiment again, as well as one that showed the Coriolis Effect — how water drains in different directions in either Hemisphere. The whole tour lasted about an hour, and it was great to get some additional background on the indigenous peoples of Ecuador, some of which live in the same way now as they did hundreds of years ago.
When it’s time to leave, feel free to grab one of the taxis where you were dropped off, or use Cabify to order one closer to where you are at the museum.
Should You Stamp Your Passport at the Equator?
One more thing before we wrap up. At both the souvenir shops in the Mitad del Mundo, and at the end of the tour at Museo Intiñan, tourists were offered to get their passports stamped. Like their real passports. We weren’t sure if that was really allowed. Like, is that really okay to do in your real passport? We saw plenty of other people doing it. But we hadn’t brought our passports with us, anyway.
The Points Guy, one of the world’s most famous travel websites, has an article about “14 Places to Collect Extra Passport Stamps.” I got kind of sad that I hadn’t brought mine, especially since it has double the pages as a “normal” passport and I wanted to fill it up. But just now, I read another article: “Why Fake Passport Stamps Could Cost You Thousands in Fines.”
As much as I’d love to get extra stamps, especially because I’m only two years into this passport and am missing all my old stamps, I’m too much of a rule-follower to risk it. But of course, that’s a choice every traveler has to make for themselves.
Is visiting the Mitad del Mundo on your bucket list? I was expecting the whole thing to be kind of gimmicky, but we had a fantastic day. Let me know what you think in the comments!
-Cathy
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Originally Published on January 31, 2022.
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