Charlie’s Experience in Ecuador: Part IV
Low clouds spread over lush mountains. They moved in the valley, ghostly and slow. We had been driving for close to an hour. A heavy rain fell through a thick mist. Droplets of water clung to the greenery. If you stood close enough,you could see the mirrored fractals of color. A world seemingly fractured into infinite pictures. 
We we were heading to the center, or waistline, of this giant blue ball. Here, I was told, gravity takes on a new look. Flush a toilet in the Northern hemisphere and the water drains clockwise. In the Southern hemisphere it drowns counter clockwise. At the Equator, where we were heading, there is no direction to the fall. Instead, the water rushes straight down. I had to see this for myself.
It turns out, this is true. A direct result of the Coriolis effect and the inertial forces that are in motion at different parts of the world. Even taking a single step north or south, just off of the Equator line (the exact point of our planets surface center), the water drains different ways. Remarkable how a few inches can make all the difference even though the ending is all the same.
At the center, which has been built up to serve both tourists and pilgrims alike, we were taken on a journey through old Ecuadorian customs. We were shown Incan houses, made of logs and mud, blow dart guns used for hunting small game and a pair of shrunken heads which did little more than make me realize how infinitesimal even my worst headache had been. 
In this place was a colorful mixture of gnarled trees covered in moss, flora and fauna, orchids and ferns, bromeliads and agave plants. The kind of greenery so pumped with life that at times it appears to pulsate as though directly in tune with the heartbeat of the world.
Towards the end of our tour we were brought to a weaver, whose hands were tanned and worn. He was in the midst of crafting a scarf. The yarn he used was that of an alpaca. There’s a distinct difference between the coats of a llama and an alpaca. The latter having a much smoother, more luxurious fleece. I learned this after a few cases of misnomer and an instance where one of the larger more aggressive of the Camelid family almost punted me off the Inca Bridge trail alongside the mountains which house Machu Picchu. Alas, that is a story for another time. 
It was a short journey to the center and back. I have no doubt, that our journey ended with all of us having a further understanding of balance. It’s power, purpose and the necessary pressure that tethers us to a more grounded state. Although an often overused cliché, there is a great truth behind the yin and yang. Often, we are pulled away from our center towards our more hedonistic endeavors or towards an opposing spectrum. But these endeavors, don’t get me wrong, have as much of a place in our lives as do other ventures which pull our souls to far off places for as short a time as we allow them.
To read other installments from Charlie’s series click here
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