May 28, 2026
I did end up going to the equator before leaving Ecuador. Took the metro to its northern terminus and uber the rest of the way.
There’s this giant monument that’s supposed to mark the equator. It’s off by a touch over 220 meters south. I set off with gps to find the actual equator.
Found it on the side of a highway. So, I’ve officially stood in both hemispheres at the same time. Also, fun fact, because of physics you weigh less standing on the equator. Tho, I don’t know how much less I weighed.
After that I headed to the airport.
Quito has things down great on arrival. On departure things are dumb. Be at the airport 3 hours before your flight, but you can’t check in until an hour before boarding. Only airport security in South America that won’t let you through with liquids. Also, you get to choose whether you want to go through the full body scanner, or just a metal detector. Which just seemed dumb to me. Who’s going to shove a bunch of explosives up their rectum then voluntarily go through the full body scanner?
Immigration put the exit stamp in the wrong place in my passport. Peru doesn’t stamp when you fly, so I didn’t get an exit stamp from Peru. Ecuador put their exit stamp where the Peru exit stamp would have gone.
The gate layout is also confusing and poorly signed, tho I found my gate without too much difficulty.
Made it to bogota alright tho. Colombian immigration was confused by Ecuadors dangling entrance stamp, and put their entrance stamp right next to it. So my Colombian exit stamp is going to be like 2 pages later in my passport.
Cleared customs. Still have my friends honey. So it’s going to most likely be us customs that finally confiscates it after I’ve successfully crossed 5 international borders with it.
Colombians speak the most rapid Spanish I’ve encountered so far on this trip, tho they’re easier to understand than Ecuadorians. My hotel owner upgraded my room, for free. Pretty sure I’m the only person staying here tho.
Didn’t do much research before booking a hotel here. I’m in the La Candaleria neighborhood of Bogota, right up by the mountains. I picked it based upon price vs centrality to things that interest me and transportation to other things that interest me. But, it’s kind of a sketch neighborhood that isn’t really recommended for tourists. Tho I went out a little after I checked in and there does seem to be a lot of police presence, so I’ll probably be fine.
In the final stretch before heading home. But in the meantime I’m going to bed. And tomorrow I’m going to start exploring Colombia.
