Otavalo and the Equator

Hungover from the night before, I took my anti-malarial tablet which I had forgotten to take in my drunken stupor. A while later, when we were getting ready to leave on the truck, I found out why you shouldn't take these pills on an empty stomach - I had to rush off the truck and puke on the street in front of all the new recruits.

On the way to Otavalo, we stopped at a museum at the equator. Everyone shuffled around quietly, feeling the effects of the night before. All we knew about this museum was that they prove the water & plughole theory by draining a sinkful of water on the equator, then moving it either side of the equatorial line to show that it circles down the plughole in different directions in different hemispheres. On the way to the museum I had stubbornly said I didn't believe it to be true (I actually exclaimed that it was b*llocks), but seeing it done in front of us, many people were amazed and laughed at me for being a doubter. It wasn't until I could get to the internet that I found out it was a trick. Of course, I sent everyone the link and gloated that I was right, but I think I was the only that cared. We were shown some other equator experiments (also tricks), like balancing an egg on a nail (which supposedly can only be done at the equator) and also a bizarre trick that 'proves' it is easier to pull someone’s arms down on the equatorial line because you are lighter. Codswallop.

We were shown a few exhibits about indigenous tribes around the equator, including a real shrunken head from an Ecuadorian Amazon tribe. Around the open air museum were fake flowers for hummingbirds, and we spotted a couple drinking the nectar, their wings moving in a blur.

Once at Otavalo, we were tempted to get up at 6am to see the cattle market, but we needed a lie in after the full day hangover yesterday. It was Saturday, market day in Otavalo, so when we got up we headed into town. The atmosphere was very different to when we were here last time. The town was completely unrecognisable, as market stalls lined every street and people were walking around with arms full of live chickens or newly purchased pigs on leads. It was a perfect time to do present shopping, as it was possible to buy items from all around South America, including Alpaca clothes, Silver jewelery and all sorts of Native American arts & crafts. We spent the day bartering with the Native American stall owners and buying gifts and souvenirs. I bought a couple of Galapagos t-shirts for half the price that they were on the islands.

We were crossing the border to Colombia the next day and we won't see the truck again till Venezuela. In Colombia we would be flying from city to city because it is too dangerous to go by road, so we loaded up all non-essentials onto the truck and hoped they will still be there by the time the truck came out the other side of Colombia.