San Agustin

Long before the Europeans came to Latin America, the region around San Agustin attracted a mystic group of people who came here to bury their dead. They were honoured with magnificent statues and tombs have been excavated in many sites spread around in a vast area. The rolling hills, the magnificent river gorge and the lush forests must have seemed like a good place to depart for the afterlife and San Agustin is truly beautiful. The best way to tour the sites of interest is by jeep as the distances are too far to effectively be made on foot.

The area also features the Bordones fall, the second highest waterfall on the continent after the Angel falls in Venezuela.

San Agustin is not too far from Popayán as the crow flies but seems awfully remote due to long shaky journeys on primitive roads across the mountains.












First row from left:

1) The river valley around River Magdalena

2) Occasionally, everyone had to get off the bus to make sure it did not get stuck in mud when passing certain road sections

3) A tomb site featuring some interesting statues


Second row from left:

4) Mattias intruding a tomb, surely catching all sorts of bad spells cast by the ancient civilisations

5) The Bordones fall