Roaming South America

Finding the Equator

September 15, 2025

The Great Toilet Swirl Myth

You’ve probably heard the story: flush a toilet in the Southern Hemisphere and the water spins counterclockwise, while in the Northern Hemisphere it spins clockwise. Sounds neat, right? Too neat. The truth is, the Coriolis effect — the force that makes hurricanes spin different ways depending on the hemisphere — is far too weak to control a couple liters of water in a toilet bowl. What really decides the spin? The design of the toilet, the angle of the jets, and how the water gets pushed into the bowl. The “different directions” trick you’ll see at equator museums is stage magic: tilt the funnel one way, the water swirls one way; tilt it the other, presto, it changes direction. Entertaining, yes. Science? Not so much.
References:
How Stuff Works
Britannica
Live Science
Snopes.com
National Geographic

Mindo, Ecuador

September 14, 2025

Mindo, Ecuador, AKA San Carlos on Google Maps, also Mindo Valley, is a small town of around 3,000 people. It's tucked into the cloud forests about two hours northwest of Quito. Officially founded in 1861, it has grown into one of Ecuador's most favorite must-see tourist destinations. On weekends, it feels like much more when buses spill out day-trippers and weekenders. The town gets visitors from all over the world. During my three days here, I met more than a few tourists from various European countries, and a few from North America. The town sits at the edge of the Mindo-Nambillo Reserve, part of the Andean Chocó region, which means it’s surrounded by thick green hills, endless bird calls, and more shades of mossy damp than you thought existed.

San Miguel de Los Bancos, Ecuador

September 10, 2025

Los Bancos dates back only to 1971, not long after the highway across the Andes Mountains was completed. The town is small, with around 18,000 people. It’s steep and hilly, as you’d expect in the Andes. Two roads are almost level - the highway, Ruta E28 (heading southwest out of town) and Av. 17 de Julio (heading northwest out of town). All the other roads are quite steep, some having stairs instead of sidewalks, and most are "paved" with hand-laid pavers, not asphalt.

Puerto Quito, Ecuador

September 8, 2025

Querto Quito is not in the Quito area, it's 140 kilometers (87 miles) away from Quito. Anyway, Puerto Quito has a population of less than 5,000 in the urban area, and the parish about 25,000. Puerto Quito sits just inside the western side of the Andes Mountains in northern Ecuador. It's a very nice little valley with Rio Caoní running alongside. The entire business district area of the town is about four blocks by four blocks. That's quite small, but it is a pleasant town, and on weekends the town center is full of people. There's a riverside park where you can swim in the river, but if you're not in the water you're going to get eaten by midges (tiny biting flies), so wear long pants. The town sits at only 135 meters above sea level, so while it is in the mountains, it's still very low, giving it a very pleasant temperature range, though the humidity does get quite high, as expected.
Wikipedia

La Concordia, Ecuador

September 5, 2025

La Concordia is in the north-central part of the Coastal Zone of Ecuador. While north of the craziness of the crime-ridden central- and southern-coastal regions, the police here are still on high alert and have a big presence throughout the town. The shutdown of the town by 7pm is a bit less noticable here compared to Quevedo and Babahoyo. La Concordia has a population of around 35,000 and dates back to only 1955, so no historical architecture here. Actually, nothing of much interest here, other than the fact that the equator passes through the town.