Colombia: San Agustin

After returning from La Macarena to Bogota, we took the night bus to San Agustin on the same evening. We arrived early in the morning after the long journey and were relieved to find that our hotel was right next to the bus stop. Very convenient. There were already various people waiting here who wanted to sell you a hotel, a tour, souvenirs and the like. And although we are usually quite immune to such pushy offers, Jörg actually let himself be convinced by the first guy to take a jeep tour for the next day, while I was busy checking into the hotel.

On the same afternoon, we visited the Parque Arqueologico de San Agustin. It contains a collection of a total of 130 statues, which were either found on site or brought from other areas, and also a museum about the culture that prevailed at that time, or rather, about what little is known about this culture. Because in fact, it's not much. We don't know who these people were and where they came from, nor why they disappeared. In the area, several hills with burial sites were found. Skeletons, grave goods and these statues, which had been placed in front of or in the graves, were excavated. And the statues are actually very impressive. They are very detailed and impressive, and the motifs are very entertaining and funny. There are representations of human and animal-like figures and deities. Throughout the park, there are several burial sites, as well as a spring where many more elaborate stone carvings have been found. It is very idyllic to wander through the park, where there are beautiful footpaths through the dense forest.

San Agustin itself is a sleepy village in the middle of nowhere in Colombia. But it has a pleasant atmosphere, and it's fun to wander around the village. There are a few good restaurants and a street with shops and souvenir shops. There were also few tourists on site, in the restaurants we were mostly alone in the evenings, which was a bit of a shame, but it was really very pleasant in terms of the crowd at the sights.

The next day we were picked up for the booked jeep tour. In the group with us were a Colombian family with a child, 2 young Colombian women and a Frenchman. The tour included the typical tourist sights of the area. We visited another museum with the graves of the former culture, as well as the Alto de los Idiolos and the Alto de los Piedras, 2 more archaeological sites in the area with many more statues. We also visited 2 waterfalls, the Salto de Bordones and the Salto de Mortiño. Quite nice. At the latter, there is a tiny platform that leads out into the gorge, from where you can take photos. The experience of standing on this piece of sheet metal at this height above the gorge is much more spectacular than the waterfall itself.

The jeep tour, although hastily booked, was quite entertaining all in all. It wasn't very comfortable, but the same sights were visited as on all other tours.