Today being the equinox – one of the two times in a year that the sun sits directly above the equator – it seems appropriate to post an article on the equator. This magic line passes through 14 countries around the globe and I am sure that most countries mark it with monuments, painted lines, road signs and special symbols. Ecuador even takes its name from this famous line that divides our planet in two – named after a French/Spanish scientific expedition in the early 1700s to measure the curvature of the Earth.
Only a few miles north of Ecuador’s capital Quito, the grandly named
Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) has a museum with a planetarium, a bit of history, a model of old Quito and a few displays. It also includes the most elaborate equatorial statue that I have seen (right) and an area with a number of the world’s flags. A different Ecuadorian road highlights the hemispheres with a giant sculptured globe (top photo).
Uganda marks the Equator only a few miles south of their capital, Kampala, with a horseshoe-styled statue while one of the Kenyan markers on the road between Nairobi and Samburu National Park is little more than a road sign.
Apart from the usual trite gift shops, a favourite sight at the equator locations is a demonstration of the Coriolis Effect. In simple terms, this is the idea that water drains from a basin or down a toilet in an anti-clockwise direction in the northern hemisphere and in a clockwise direction south of the Equator. The effect is stronger the further you move from the equator.
For a small fee, someone will pour water in a tub or basin with a hole in it. Standing a few metres north of the Equator and dramatically dropping a match, twig or flower into the water, the item will spin counter clockwise. Moving a few metres the other side of the Equator, this same item will rotate in the opposite direction. Finally when standing astride of the Equator, the item will stay almost motionless as the water drains away.
To get an idea of the demonstration, a number of videos on
Youtube exist (simply search on “coriolis” and “equator’).
Sorry to be a spoil-sport but this demonstration is faked. The Coriolis Effect is real but standing only a few metres either side of the Equator will not show up such a weak force – it has much more to do with how the water is poured and released. In fact, somewhat bizarrely, the Kenyan demonstration that I witnessed got the two directions the wrong way around with the water draining in the opposite direction to that which would be expected.
But it does provide a lot of chatter and interest among visitors and absorbs many with all kind of queries flowing to the anointed smiling and animated science teacher. It certainly adds to the entertainment of a short break in the journey to take a few happy snaps standing astride of the Equator or climbing upon the marker.
Enjoy the equinox as the north moves into spring and the south moves out of its summer. I trust that your travels will take you past the equator at least once in your life.
Read Part One of the journey down Devil's Nose firstly.
Along the platform, enthusiastic street vendors parade a wide variety of food and drink to sate empty and dry bodies. Small kids dance along the train’s roof with the aplomb of Russian circus performers balancing trays of tasty morsels and shuffling currency with the flair of a central banker. No-one leaves their seat on the roof for fear of losing it with the influx of new passengers – possession being ten-tenths of the law on Ecuador railways!
The train finally starts its journey down the Devil’s Nose past a sequence of abandoned buildings. The sun has comfortably won the temperature battle as passengers have shed any semblance of winter clothing and try to catch any cooling breeze and hide from the harsh equatorial sun. The train rides past a junction in the line before a crew member clambers down and switches the junction. The train proceeds in reverse a further distance before repeating this same technique, zig-zagging down the mountain-side until we arrive at the abandoned town of Sibambe, with its shell of a railway station and church. We all get to stretch our legs for a few minutes before the train commences its slow journey back to Alausi, simply reversing its journey and struggling up the steep slopes of the Devil’s Nose. 
With dust-encrusted skin, slight sunburn from the mountain sun and sore legs from perching on the roof all day, most agree that it is good to be off this train that only a few hours earlier, people had rushed onto with excited anticipation. The switchback engineering is more interesting to read about than see, the views are pleasant rather than spectacular and the towns somewhat sad as they slowly fade from their colonial glory. Yet, in many ways, the Riobamba-Devil’s Nose train is a travel wonder worth experiencing.
