2nd Tarantula sighting

Ok, so I never told you about the first tarantula sighting. That is because I didn't have a picture. Well, the first one was about 3 weeks ago, it was on the steps of the guest house. We were having an Easter service that night at the guest house so there were several of us there. As we were getting ready to leave, there he was, in the middle of the first step so you had to go past him to get out. By Ecuadorian standards, he was not very big, maybe 4 inches in diameter. Several people wanted photos, so we (really them, because I was just watching from afar) were bothering him. So he moved, kept trying to walk away but they kept following him. He was walking on the railing (really a short concrete wall) that had shoes lined up on it. We thought for sure he would end up in someone's shoe, so one of the ladies decided to move the shoes. As she picked up the first shoe, he jumped onto the shoe then onto her hand, she screamed, jumped, and dropped the shoe. He fell over the railing onto the ground below and walked into the trees. It was quite scary for me to be that close to one that was moving. I only freaked out a little when I felt he was getting to close to me and I couldn't move because there were people all around me. I ended up pushing someone out of my way because I asked several times for them to move so I could get away and they wouldn't.

Well, last night I was on call and I got called in at 1 am. I was coming home from the hospital around 1:30 am and I saw this tarantula (in the photo) on the side of my house. He was even smaller than the first one, about 3 inches in diameter (that is a standard 16 inch cinder block), really just a baby. I came in the house and got my camera and was taking pictures at 1:30 am. I was afraid, since it was dark and I was making a bright flash, that I was going to scare him and he was going to jump on me, that is why the picture is kind of far away. I wasn't getting too close. Anyway, I got called in again at 3:30 am and he was still in the exact same position. When I went in again at 7 am, he was gone.

I always knew there were tarantulas around our houses, but now I have seen the proof. I had a couple holes in my screens that I have been meaning to patch (with duct tape of course) since I moved in. You can bet that I already patched them this morning.

Mitad del Mundo

I just had a 4 day weekend and decided to explore a little of Ecuador, that I had not seen yet, with my friend DeNise.

Mitad Del Mundo (middle of the world). This is just outside of Quito on the Ecuator. There is a monument with a museum inside telling about all the different Indian groups in Ecuador. There are lots of shops and restaurants in the area. You can go up in the monument and look out from the top, it is not that high really, maybe 7 stories. It was fun and informative.

Museo de Inti-Nan (this is an Indian word), is around the corner from the monument at Mitad del Mundo. This is the real location of the ecuator. This was a really cool museum, they tell about the traditions of Ecuador too, but also have demonstrations to prove you are on the ecuator. There was a sun dial that had a north side and a south side. The shadow appears on each side for 6 months at a time. And it was true, the shadow was only on one side. Then there was a water demonstration. In a sink with a drain, on the ecuator, the water did not swirl, it went straight down the drain. In the northern hemisphere, it swirled counter clockwise and in the southern hemisphere it swirled clockwise. If you look at your sinks when water drains, it will follow this pattern too depending on which hemisphere you live in. Then we balanced an egg (a raw egg) on a nail, right on the ecuator line. You can do this because the force of gravity is straight down. Then with a partner, one person put their arms up in the air and the other tried to pull them down. In the northern or southern hemispheres, I could not pull my partners arms down. On the ecuator, I could, again, because the force of gravity is straight down and helping you. The last thing we did was walk a straight line, heel to toe (like the sobriety test) with our eyes closed, on the ecuator. This is very difficult because the forces of both hemispheres are pulling you in opposite directions. The museum was very cool to see that there really are differences in the forces in each hemisphere and on the ecuator line. The photo above and to the right is me in the northern hemisphere and DeNise in the southern hemisphere. The red line represents the ecuator. The photo to the left is me with the RAW egg that I balanced on a nail.

Then we went to Mindo. This is a small town about 70 kilometers outside of Quito. It is at about 3500 feet elevation. We went to a couple butterfly farms, an orchid farm (because there are more than 2000 varieties of orchids that grow in Ecuador.), and a hummingbird sanctuary. Those were cool places. We also went hiking in a forest that had 7 different waterfalls. We had to take a Tabitha across the valley to get there. It was 530 kilometers long and about 300 meters (thats about 900 feet) above the ground. I didn´t like that part very much. But the hike and the waterfalls were absolutely beautiful.

Overall we had a really good time. It was a much needed rest from work and a relaxing time. The place we stayed at was like a little log cabin in the woods. It was next to a rushing river, we had hammocks on the patio overlooking the river. It was very nice.