Mitad del Mundo, the middle of the world.  If you google Mitad del Mundo and see the pictures of the big monument, that is not where I went!  I went to a small musem located a few miles away which is actually closer to or maybe actually the middle of the earth.  What a great trip!

I should say first that I hired a driver for the day-Luis, the same driver who picked me up from the airport.  Communication was a little limited, because his English (none) and my Spanish (broken to very little) made it a challenge, but we could communicate enough to enjoy a few good laughs.  He especially got a kick out of me saying Ay yiii yiii every time he got so close to another car or truck that we were actually almost in the driver’s lap, never mind the trunk.  I tried to get pictures several times, but he was on to me and would hit the brakes the minute I got that camera out!

These roads in the rain forest wind like snakes moving through an obstacle course.  Visibililty thirty feet?  No problem, we can pass two cars and three or four trucks.  There are very few guardrails, and the ones that exist are scarred from or have huge gaps from previous crashes.   Nevertheless, if a car passed us, Luis would mutter “Loco”.

I should mention the things I wanted to see were the Mitad del Mundo monument, a volcano and a park.  After about an hour of travel through endless suburbs, Luis pointed out the window and said Mitad del Mundo.  And kept going!  I was a little freaked, as I had paid pretty good money for this tour.  Anyway, I decided maybe we’d stop on the way back or maybe this was just his definition of a tour.

Oh, hey, I forgot to tell you.  The skies have been absolutely beautifully clear with a few puffy clouds every day since I’ve been here – until yesterday.  Not a hint of blue sky anywhere, and in the rain forest?  Clouds surrounding and obscuring the mountains.  Oh, well.  I’m sure I saw the bases of several volcanoes.

So the first stop we FINALLY made was to a butterfly farm.  “Las mariposas”.   Absolutely beautiful little place surrounded by several eco lodges.  Lke Luis, the butterflies could sense when I was about to click the camera and would close up their wings or fly away.  I know, I know, I could see butterflies right in Atlanta, but I had never seen THESE butterflies.  They had exhibits showing them from live eggs to pupas to butterflies coming out of their sac – I’m missing a few stages here, but you get the picture.

The butterflies in the top picture are eating mashed bananas.  Our guide told us if we dipped our fingers in that mess the butterflies would perch on our fingers, but they chose not to dine with me, even though I had three or four fingers absolutely covered in the stuff.  I believe it’s now dried on my blue jeans.  The second picture is the butterflies with eyes, and they really do look like eyes.

You must be tired of reading.  I’ll go get some breakfast and do Mitad del Mundo after breakfast.