San Agustin: The mystical funny faces of Colombia

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Von: wom87

San Agustin in Colombia is a sleepy small city that is buried in the gentle green hills of the southwestern part of the country. Unfortunately, the city lacks the pretty and picturesque charm of the colorful guatape or the adorable Salento, but this is made up for by the most beautiful archaeological park of Colombia, which can be reached on foot.

The Parque Arqueológico, which was appointed UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, houses over a hundred 3,300 years old statues that were flit in stone by the famous pre-Spanish bricklayers.

Comparable to the Moai statues on the Easter Island, although not quite on the same scale, they represent some rather beguiling, if not creepy, animal-human hybrid beings. Fang tooth faces smile awkwardly from all angles while wandering through the forested paths and climbing the green hills.

A lot of secret surrounds the statues and civilization that it built. Despite decades of archaeological renovation and research, there are still no clear answers to why these statues (and why so many) have been carved and built.

ritual funeral traditions are the most popular explanation. However, since there are only a few or no documented evidence for this pre -Spanish civilization, it will probably remain a mystery forever.

A guess was that the local population could have consumed the hallucinogenic San Isidro-Mushrooms that grow wildly on the nearby green and fertile slopes. This could explain the snake -headed people, sex -obsessed monkeys and other rather disturbing (and hilarious) stone images that are shown.

While I wandered through the park, I certainly felt a bit like a Livingstone-like discoverer of the old school. This can be because at some point we stumbled across a fairly large bird spider on our way, or maybe it was just because I was wearing my favorite expedition shirt.

Anyway that the statues and graves come from a mysterious period that neither the Spanish colonialists nor the Inca Empire can explain, a certain element of romance and nostalgia of the Old World.

In the main park there are four main parties, including a strenuous ascent to the Alto de Lavapatas, the oldest of the sites that offers a great view of the surrounding landscape. On arrival in the park there is a small but informative museum and a visitor center, where a map of the park is made available by the parking personnel.

Depending on their enthusiasm for very old and rather creepy animal-human-hybrid statues, there are other places to explore in the area. Alto de los Idolos, El Tablón, La Chaquira, El Purutal and La Pelota can all be explored on foot, with the jeep or horse.

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How do I get to San Augustin?

The Parque Arqueológico is 2.5 km on foot from the center of San Agustin. The location is well signposted and easy to find. Local taxis are also available. San Agustin needs a little dedication to get there. There are direct buses from Bogotá (10-12 hours) and Popayán (6-7 hours).

However, we came from Medellin, which meant a 14- to 16-hour bus ride to the nearby Pitalito. From here you have to take a 45-minute collecting taxi to San Agustin (4,000 cop P/person), which, depending on the driver, will bring you to your accommodation or not. We gave our driver an additional 2,000 cop tips when he brought us the hill up to our hotel.

be warned - the bus continued to Popayán was a particularly agonizing affair! The "street" is not paved over long distances and therefore very bumpy and we were unlucky that our bus stayed, so we had to wait two hours on the side of the road and then pushed ourselves up. Set up to the fact that your specified travel time may doubt!

We can recommend the Hotel La Casa de François, in which we have been in a time, which also offers dormitories and private rooms with a decent restaurant on site and a great view of the surrounding landscape.

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Lonely Planet South America contains a comprehensive travel guide for the country, ideal for those who want to explore the most important sights and take less busy roads.
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