On July 7, we crossed the equator just outside of Nanyuki, Kenya. For the last 3+ years we have been in Southern Africa, but not anymore. Now we are back in the northern hemisphere.
When we watched the video of The Long Way Down (see my post from way back in January if you don't remember), when Charlie and Ewan crossed the border they did an experiment about how water drains. All you readers in the northern hemisphere, go flush your toilets. You can see that the water spirals down in a clockwise direction. And all my friends back in Maputo who do the same thing can see water disappear in a counter-clockwise direction. This is called the Coriolis effect. At the equator, there are guys just waiting with water and a small bowl with a hole in the bottom to show you how this works. Two things are really cool about this experiment. First of all, you only need to be 20m north or south of the equator to see the spin operate in each different direction. And most cool of all, when you are actually exactly on the equator there is no spin at all. Water drains without any twirling. We took our own video of the experiment. It is not as good quality as the motorcycle guys, but you can watch it anyway if you want.
When we watched the video of The Long Way Down (see my post from way back in January if you don't remember), when Charlie and Ewan crossed the border they did an experiment about how water drains. All you readers in the northern hemisphere, go flush your toilets. You can see that the water spirals down in a clockwise direction. And all my friends back in Maputo who do the same thing can see water disappear in a counter-clockwise direction. This is called the Coriolis effect. At the equator, there are guys just waiting with water and a small bowl with a hole in the bottom to show you how this works. Two things are really cool about this experiment. First of all, you only need to be 20m north or south of the equator to see the spin operate in each different direction. And most cool of all, when you are actually exactly on the equator there is no spin at all. Water drains without any twirling. We took our own video of the experiment. It is not as good quality as the motorcycle guys, but you can watch it anyway if you want.
After crossing the equator we had two nights camping in northern Kenya. The scenery was changing a lot, and the road as well. Half of the time we were on brand new tar road built by the Chinese, the other half of the time on very old and crazy bumpy dirt and gravel road. And camels everywhere! Anyone who is driving from Nairobi to Ethiopia via Marsabit should stay at Camp Henry's (bottom left). Best hot shower in northern Kenya (well it could also be the only one, but anyway it was great!). Next post... Ethiopia!!!