Exploring the Archaeological Sites of San Agustin on Horseback

I’ve been to San Agustin several times before and seen most of the archaeological statues. I’d hiked around the park above town – Bosque de las Estatuas and did the jeep tour of the sites: Alto de los Idolos, Alto de los Piedras and El Tablon. But there were some painted statues at the sites of La Pelota and La Chaquira I’d been wanting to see for a long time both of them located in the mountains above the town of San Agustin.

The draw back was the only way to get there was an 10-12-hour hike through the mountains or a 6-hour trip on horseback. Having been raised on a farm, I had plenty of experience horseback riding. But I hadn’t been on a horse in over 20 years. The cost of hiring a horse and a local guide was only $20 per person. Not feeling the hike, I figured why walk when you can ride. A simple decision, I thought, like hiring a taxi instead of walking 10 blocks to the center.

The trip was organized by my hotel in San Agustin. The guide, a local, elderly man, who lived in the village, came to the hotel in the morning wearing a cowboy hat and boots. We walked a few blocks to his house where the horses were tied up and waiting. He fed them water and sugar cane juice as he saddled them up. Then we went trotting out of the village and into the mountains.

San Agustin

Colombia’s finest archaeological patrimony is emerged in some of its most beautiful rural landscape. People have been inhabiting this steep terrain for 6,000 years. And these tombs and statues were created around 3,300 B.C. – about the time they were building the pyramids in Egypt; well before the Incas, whose civilization arose in the 13th century, and was thriving when Columbus discovered the Americas.

The statues at La Pelota were unique because they were the only painted statues still surviving in San Agustin. They had been dyed 3,000 years ago with colored sap from trees. Remarkably, the color was still vivid. The statues depicted a ritual of human sacrifice practiced by the people who once lived here. They would sacrifice children to the gods by clubbing them to death. It was considered and honor to be asked to offer up your newborn. Young boys were preferred.

All the statues in San Agustin are of god heads, devilish images, men in trances and man/animal figures. They believed these were creatures bridging the world of man and animals. The animal traits can be seen in the eyes, the canine teeth, and the hands.

After stopping at a local house to enjoy a cup of Colombian coffee, we rode on to see more statues carved in stone at La Chaquira. These statues sit atop a beautiful valley where the indigenous had come to pray to the Gods - an impressively scenic spot overlooking the Magdalena River roaring far below.

The ride through the mountains was beautiful and much better than walking. It was a good getting back in the saddle though little harder getting on and off than I remembered. The horses were well behaved trail horses. Not exactly barn-stormers but methodical animals that walked the same trails often. They trotted and cantered at will a little anxious to hurry things along. Towards the end of the day, it started to feel like I'd been riding a chiva bus over back-country dirt roads for the last 3 days. And when it was all said and done, I was just as happy as the horse to part ways.

For more on San Agustin See: San Agustin - Archeology - Stone -Sculptures and pre-Colombian Mystery