Parque Arqueológico, San Agustín, Colombia

One day in San Agustín, we walked from the Maya Hostal 2.5 kilometers to the Parque Arqueológico just outside of town.  After being in the town for almost a week it was strange to actually find the restaurants listed in our Lonely Planet guidebook.  They are the over priced places selling the same rice and fried plantains that are all over town, they are just on the tourist path to the park.  After reaching the park, we entered for about $5 each for the basic package–walk around and explain it to yourself.  Famous ancient statues are layed out over a series of trails through some thick forest.  There are about 50 different statues of various heights and depictions.  Some have angry faces with crazy hats and most of them with different things in their hands.

The statues are in very good shape for being between one and two thousand years old.  There is also lots of awesome plantlife along the way.

The path was actually not that easy.  We broke a hard sweat climbing up hill in the humid weather and were soon wondering why we decided to walk the long way around.  But we had to see everything of course.  Eventually there was even a dog that followed us for part of the trail, posing for Carrie’s pictures.  Once the rain started to come in we hurried home.  We were ready to hit the streets in town for some cheap emanadas and maybe a Poker (the best Colombian beer) or two.

*** Edit 2024 *** has anyone been to this park recently? We are looking for updated information!