Tag: Pre-Colombian Culture

Unearthing Colombia’s Ancients in San Agustín and Tierradentro

Scenes from San Agustín and Tierradentro

I had no intention of visiting San Agustín and Tierradentro. But after perusing the information wall at the excellent Hosteltrail.com hostel, the Colombian Heritage Circuit struck me as the perfect four-day getaway to an interesting and not-very-visited part of the country.

This is an area that only recently opened to tourists. Long the domain of leftist People’s Army, a.k.a. FARC guerrillas (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), the Colombian army has succeeded in pushing anti-government forces out. While I felt safe in my travels so far in Colombia, my current guidebook (published only months prior) still had intriguing warnings on specific routes:

You should not travel after dark, not because of guerrilla activity but rather due to late-night bandits…

I asked several locals in Popayán and no one seemed to think the area or the journey were all that risky. So off I went, during daylight hours of course.

San Agustín burial sites are located on graded hilltops with spectacular views
The burial sites can be several meters deep, here a local schoolchildren visit San Agustín
The entrances to the subterranean graves are studded with statuary that individually celebrates the life of the departed
Some of the varied (and creative) statues found in the San Agustín region: shaman, soldiers, chieftains, women, anonymous faces... all is represented
The statues were brightly painted as seen in this rare example... most have not weathered the millennia nearly as well
Some of the statues are quite large, this one was half buried and the above-ground portion heralded the grave of an elite
I\'m standing behind the statue, this one is cheery and large
An elaborate series of engraved animals, pools and waterfalls carved in the limestone of one of the brooks at the San Agustín site

San Agustín and Tierradentro are the sole UNESCO World Heritage architectural sites in Colombia, important reminders of the ancient culture of southern Colombia that dates from 4000 BC when settlers established agricultural communities and thriving trade connections.

Unfortunately little is known about this civilization. But hundreds of unearthed statues remain, beautifully sculpted from volcanic rock, represent humans, sacred animals and even fantastical monsters. Today these are viewed atop panoramic altos (hilltop burial grounds) overlooking emerald forests.

I arrived safely to San Agustín town after an uneventful (yet bumpy) bus ride through the sparsely populated Andean hills. I did see armed Colombian soldiers patrolling the roads but the only apparent threat were the hairpin turns on unpaved roads that teetered above steep chasms.

View of San Agustín town from the rooftop terrace of my fantastic hostel
Typical street in San Agustín, the republican architecture still stands today
San Agustín\'s roads on market day seem to have more animals than motor vehicles
San Agustín\'s market day comes alive with colorful commerce
Local transport laden with goods from the Monday market in San Agustín
Market day is also an excuse for farmers to drink beer and shoot pool...
...and play poker with the buddies
Somehow the urinals in San Agustín seem sacreligious

San Agustín is a boom town, more bustling than I expected. Tourism is set to take off with newly-arrived expats opening traveler-oriented businesses. I was greeted warmly at the flashpacker-chic Bambú Hostal where I spent a couple comfortable and undisturbed nights. Cheery Dionisio, the jazz-playing Argentine hipster who owns the hotel, pointed me to the remarkably tasty Tomate Verde, a healthy vegetarian restaurant run by a gifted German cook.

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Finding R&R (Rest & Ruins) in Serene Samaipata

Scenes from Samaipata: Paul amid the peaks ~ Peter chatting on the parrot phone ~ El Fuerte archeological site ~ Easy rider Paul

In Quechua the town means “The Height to Rest” – and indeed this is where Paul and I found a relaxing and picturesque place to kick back for a long weekend.   We were coming from steamy, tropical Santa Cruz in the eastern lowlands of Bolivia in search of cooler temperatures and an escape from the crowds.  It was our last weekend together in Bolivia before Paul had to return home.

Samaipata is something of an anomaly for Bolivia.  Blessed with a delightful subtropical climate and tucked in the easternmost folds of the Andes mountains, the area has attracted foreigners for centuries: first the Sephardic Jews expelled from peninsular Spain during the Inquisition, later some Italians and Croats, and finally a sizable number of expats (mainly artists and free-thinkers from Europe) starting in the 1970’s when the road from Santa Cruz was paved.

Perhaps the most celebrated foreigner to come to the region was Ernesto “Che” Guevara in 1966 during his ill-fated attempt to bring Socialist revolution to South America.  He was killed almost a year later in the nearby village of La Higuera.

Today Samaipata remains a sleepy backwater with quiet colonial streets, a peaceful Plaza Principal filled in the evenings with locals on promenade and traveling hippies playing music and selling hand-made wares.  The resident expats are barely visible but present, often running businesses catering to tourists.  Samaipata hosts organic farms, Buddhist meditation retreats, ecological construction (my superadobe instructor from La Paz is based here), and a large number of reveling cruzeños from Santa Cruz on holiday weekends.

Samaipata is an especially agreeable place.  It reminded us of what San Miguel de Allende in Mexico may have been like decades ago.

The quiet streets of Samaipata: wandering cows, unpaved roads and the parrot phone booths

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