After the heat of the Tatacoa Desert, it was a relief and a dramatic change in scenery when the landscape changed from flat desert, back to the luscious mountainous hills and valleys of San Agustin. The air was crisp, full of moisture, and a little damp, while the sky was draped in grey clouds. The city itself is not very lively, but what what happens in the surrounding area is what brings people from all over the world here. The archeological park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 and it contains the largest collection of religious monuments and megalithic sculptures in Latin America, it is also considered the world’s largest necropolis. More than enough reason to visit it for a few days.
Since lodging is a little spread out, we picked a spot before hand to save lugging our bags from door to door. We chose Finca El Maco, a swiss-owned hostel nestled in the hills above San Agustin, about a 10-15 min walk uphill or a $2 cab from the town.
As we pulled into the courtyard in front of the eco-friendly hostel, we were greeted by a pack of jovial puppies. Literally a pack. Four yellow labs, all about six months and complete with massive puppy paws, swarmed around our legs, mixing together until they were an unrecognizable blob of yellow fur.
When I finally got inside, I felt something small rubbing up against my right leg. I looked down and found yet another little labrador pup, this one however was much smaller, only about 2 months old, and black as midnight. The women at reception quickly shooed her out (apparently she was not allowed indoors.) The pups were a good omen of a great stay at the farm, and it was a relief for me to see well fed and cared for dogs for once, my heart always breaks for the poor street pups.
The little pack followed us to our new room, where we unpacked, and took a well deserved shower after the desert. Afternoon quickly turned to evening, and since the weather looked a little suspicious, we decided to order dinner in the hostel’s large multi use room, complete with tables and couches to relax. We were pleasantly surprised by the fare, all good clean food, though slightly more expensive than local dishes (running about 14k per plate) it was well worth it to try something different from the typical colombian fare.
The next day we booked a Jeep tour to take us into the National Park, the famous Magdalena River gorge and several different historical sites. There are 2 tours you can do to explore the famous ruins, both of which you can book at whatever hostel you stay at, they seem to pool together. You can take either a horseback tour that primarily goes into the national park (60k per person) or the Jeep tour (40k), that takes you to multiple sites. We chose the cheaper one with a covered roof since the weather continued to look questionable, and spent the entire day bumping along in the back of the jeep and exploring the tombs around San Agustin. We got our money’s worth, for 40k or about $13 USD, we got an entire day tour from 9-5. Remember to take a little extra cash though,lunch was not included but they drop you off at a good-quality restaurant where you can purchase food for about 10-15k. You also need to pay entrance into the park separately, $20 USD (cheaper for students), but this is a one-time fee, so if you plan on doing one of the many beautiful hikes or even taking the horse tour, you won’t need to pay this fee again. They also give you a nice passport as a souvenir for your stay.
The next two days the weather was not in our favor, so we only made a short outing to the town. San Agustin is quite small, with a handful of decent restaurants, and a couple of bars. We had a memorable evening crashing a local joint with 7 gringos, everyone staring at us curiously.
The rest of the time it rained, so we just relaxed a little, getting some time to catch up on writing, and taking breaks to play with the pups.