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The main archaeological site in San Agustín is the Archaeological Park, but there is much more to see in the UNESCO World Heritage listed area surrounding the town. Visitors who stay more than a day or two will be rewarded with incredible views and several smaller yet equally important archaeological sites.
There are two popular day trips that will take you to some more archaeological sites and a few areas of natural beauty. They are a trip on horseback and a ride in a camioneta (truck) and can be arranged by just about any hotel in San Agustín. This entry focuses on our trip on horseback.
Prices
At the time of our visit, tour companies and hotels offered group tours for reasonable prices, but they can cost more if you want a more experienced and thorough guide, a guide who speaks English, or a private tour. We booked both of the tours with Don Gerardo at Hotel Las Moyas and opted for the simple group tours. For a general idea of the cost, it’s about COP$60,000 per person or COP$120,000 with a guide for a trip on horseback (as of December 2023).
Our Tour on Horseback
We were picked up shortly after 8am and taken to Las Moyas to meet our horses and guide for the day. We were to visit four sites, La Pelota, El Purutal, La Chaquira, and El Tablón. The tour was scheduled to run about four hours but ended up taking over 6 hours.
El Purutal
After nearly two hours riding through stunning scenery, past small fincas and homes, we finally arrived at our first stop, El Purutal. Admission is COP$8,000 (as of September 2023) to enter the site. Since it’s a privately owned site, it isn’t covered in the passport obtained at the Archaeological Park. After paying the fee, we walked up a small hill where our guide pointed out the hill called La Pelota.
We then walked to a part of the site where we were shown two of the most incredible finds in the entire area. These funerary mounds, excavated in 1984, yielded colorful figures that still had the original paint that was used to decorate them. The guide explained the significance of the find and theories about the statues. He also pointed out more mounds which the Colombian government forbid archaeologists to unearth.
Break Time
It was back on the horses for another long ride of about an hour. We broke it up by stopping at a small restaurant that seemed to pop up in the middle of nowhere. The owner served us delicious fresh fruit juice. We rested for a good half hour before jumping back on the horses.
La Chaquira
Next, we stopped at one of the more spectacular sites in the area, La Chaquira. We arrived and walked down a long path to what seemed to be a collection of fallen volcanic rocks. After a bit more inspection, it turned out to be one of the most sacred sites discovered, with a few animal and human figures carved into some of the rocks.
Even more spectacular than the rocks was the breathtaking scenery. We had a view looking down the center of the canyon as it zigzagged into the distance. We also spotted several waterfalls emptying into the canyon.
El Tablón
Our final stop before heading back into town was El Tablón. This site was only about 15 minutes from La Chaquira. It was the least exciting site we visited, with a small collection of tall statues.
A small ethnographic museum was located on the site, but we didn’t visit.
Conclusion
The trip overall was interesting and our guide, a local archaeologist, was excellent. He gave us a very detailed explanation at each site along with his own personal theories. Riding the horse was, well, exactly what it’s like to ride a horse. It was great until I realized I wouldn’t be able to walk straight for a couple days. The sites were great to visit, but unless you’re an archaeology buff, they probably wouldn’t be meaningful. Each of the sites had a small selection food and drinks available as well as souvenirs and handicrafts for sale.
