San Agustín, Colombia - Part 1: El Bosque de las Estatuas
(San Agustín Photos)

San Agustín (1700m a.s.l.) is a small town located in the southwest of Colombia, in the Department of Huila, about 400km from Bogotá. The area is home to some of the country's most important and mysterious archaeological sites. It is also written up as a "must see" in my guidebook. And so a trip was planned, tickets brought and arrangements made thanks to some of Ligia's relatives who live in the area. I say 400km, but that is as the crow flies. There are actually 500km of some of the most winding roads I have ever traveled along. And in spite of the alarming velocity which the driver swung our bus around bend after bend, the trip still took 9-10 hours (with the only stop being at Huila's capital, Nieva). It appears that Colombian drivers aspire to follow in Pablo Montoya's footsteps (Colombian F1/NASCAR driver).

I suspect that traveling by bus is much the same no matter which Andean country. Text that reads "Velocidad Maxima 80km/hra" found on the back of most public transport vehicle holds little significance it seems. Our bus had a "real time" speed display at the front of the cabin (relatively common in S. American long distance buses). As the bus approaches 80km/h the display's digits change from green to orange to red, at which point an alarm sounds. This only encourages the driver to continue accelerating. Meanwhile bottles are rolling around in the aisles and objects fall on to sleeping passenger from the rack above. After sounding for a minute or so the display is switched off, only to be switched on again whenever we approached a police check point.

Speaking of check points...there were many, either manned by the highways section of the national police force or the army. After traveling thousands of kilometers through Argentina by bus, I was used to the odd stop and search. However, the Argentinean Gendarmeria did not carry automatic weapons, nor did they ask everyone to get of the bus, split up the men and the women and "pad down" the men. The solder who checked my ID looked hardly 16 years old. The policemen and solders where many and highly visible all the way from Bogotá to San Agustín. As off putting as the stop was, it is certainly of some comfort know they are making their presence felt.

The landscape around San Agustín is lush, mountainous and tropical. It is in this part of Colombia where the great Andean Cordillera, which started all the way down at the southern tip of this continent near Cape Horn, splits into three parallel ranges. The source of Colombia's principal river, the Rio Magdalena is a 3500m high lake not far from town. The Magdalena has cut a deep canyon that runs by San Agustín and adds to the striking beauty of this area. This satellite view shows the terrain fairly clearly.

Colombia is blessed with a number of breathtaking landscapes. It is, however, the hundreds of mysterious stone statues that draw visitors to these parts. The remains of this pre-Columbian society was only first discovered just before Colombia's independence from Spain, in around 1800 (the Spanish Conquistadors made no note of them). The statues, some dating back to 3500BC or earlier, have been found scattered throughout the area - some in dense jungle and others buried under mounds on hillsides. Archaeologists continue to uncover more.

Little if anything is known about the civilisation that sculpted these statues or what eventually became of it. Was it gradually extinguished? Did it migrate? Or were the indigenous tribes encountered in this area by the Conquistadors their descendants? There is still a great deal speculation and everyone seems to have their own version.

The statues themselves take on a variety of forms, whether human, animal or anthropomorphic (a human/animal form). They do give some indication of the complex religious customs and spiritual beliefs of this society. Many statues have been found next to grave sites, as if they were guarding them - not uncommon for ancient burial sites. The eagle and monkey are frequently depicted, as well as human forms playing flutes or holding tools. One statue I came across is of a woman holding a baby in one hand and a club in the other.

There are a number of sites containing statues around San Agustín. However, the main site, just a few kilometers out of town, is made up of a small museum, the Bosque de las Estatuas (forest of statues) and the Parque Arqueologico. The Bosque is a path hacked through dense jungle lined with a selection of 35 statues that have been transplanted from various locations. The jungle flora and fauna is almost more of an attraction than the curiously arranged stones. The Parque covers a much larger area and is very well done with a good stone path that connects a number of unearthed burial sites and numerous statues. The museum, Bosque and Parque can all be visited in half a day.

San Agustín - Part 2: "Getting lost in the jungle" follows soon!