probably the oldest ruins in latin america

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two days around the province of Huila in Colombia visiting the world heritage ruins in this part of the country. i felt quite priveledged knowing that in 2006 only 10 people a month or 120 for the whole year visited this marvelous place deep in the colombian countryside not far from Guerilla territory but deep in the countryside. enjoy....

These ruins really do feel a lot more historical than the Aztec and Mayan places that I have visited in Mexico and Guatemala and the ingravings on the statues is not as detailed as the ruins of Tikal, Chitzen Itza and the Aztec pyramids and other lenca ruins that run through Honduras and Guatemala.

The journey to actually visit the sites is pretty amazing too and involves taking a four wheel drive range rover with four other people around steep sloping mountains, valleys and mud avenues sometimes full of local farmers cultivating coffee or sugar cane. On one part of the journey its necessary to actually leave the vehicle and join in the clearing of our path through the mountains because the farm workers have just been throwing the sugar cane high from the hillsides and trying to load it onto a small truck down below. The tour also involves seeing a number of spectacular cascades or waterfalls which make a nice change from the huge mountains that have to be crossed and navigated in this part of south west Colombia. It really makes a mockery of what the Lonely Planet book and also on the foreign and commonwealth office site which states that this part of the country should be avoided because of the guerilla dangers because I found it to be one of the most tranquil places and relaxing parts of the whole country and because there is always a heavy police and army prescence you never feel too scared to go anywhere.

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Photos

Parque Arqueologico, San Augustin
ancient stone sculptures showing a lot of animal figurines like monkeys, snakes, jaguars and eagles...

Parque Arqueologico, San Augustin
ancient stone sculptures showing a lot of animal figurines like monkeys, snakes, jaguars and eagles...

Parque Arquilogico , San Augustin, Colombia
selection of the ruins here in the southern colombia at the national park & world unesco heritage site

Parque Arquilogico , San Augustin, Colombia
selection of the ruins here in the southern colombia at the national park & world unesco heritage site

Parque Arquilogico , San Augustin, Colombia
selection of the ruins here in the southern colombia at the national park & world unesco heritage site

Parque Arquilogico , San Augustin, Colombia
selection of the ruins here in the southern colombia at the national park & world unesco heritage site

Parque Arquilogico , San Augustin, Colombia
selection of the ruins here in the southern colombia at the national park & world unesco heritage site

Parque Arquilogico , San Augustin, Colombia
selection of the ruins here in the southern colombia at the national park & world unesco heritage site

Parque Arquilogico , San Augustin, Colombia
selection of the ruins here in the southern colombia at the national park & world unesco heritage site

Parque Arquilogico , San Augustin, Colombia
selection of the ruins here in the southern colombia at the national park & world unesco heritage site

Parque Arquilogico , San Augustin, Colombia
selection of the ruins here in the southern colombia at the national park & world unesco heritage site

Ancient ruins , San Augustin, Colombia
selection of the ruins here in the southern colombia at the national park & world unesco heritage site

Ancient ruins , San Augustin, Colombia
monkey influenced statue at the national park

Ancient ruins , San Augustin, Colombia
soldier influenced statue at the national park with weapon in front for guarding

Excavated Tombs, San Augustin, Colombia
some of the many tombs here, which contained a lot of gold objects which are now on exhibit in at the Gold Museum in Bogota

Excavated Tombs, San Augustin, Colombia
some of the many tombs here, which contained a lot of gold objects which are now on exhibit in at the Gold Museum in Bogota

Excavated Tombs, San Augustin, Colombia
some of the many tombs here, which contained a lot of gold objects which are now on exhibit in at the Gold Museum in Bogota

Musuem, National Park, San Augustin
some of the many statues here have been given protection from the elements in the museum here

National Museum at Arquilogical Park, San Augustin
some of the preserved statues here inside the museum plus the map showing the indigenous settlements here thousands years ago

National Museum at Arquilogical Park, San Augustin
some of the preserved statues here inside the museum plus the map showing the indigenous settlements here thousands years ago

National Museum at Arquilogical Park, San Augustin
some of the preserved statues here inside the museum plus the map showing the indigenous settlements here thousands years ago

Comments

[heaven lee]

good job
i think this whole web page has done a very good job on its information and that everything is so organized and clear> i wil continue to use this web page the next time i have a project GOOD JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[heaven lee]

lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
that pic above looks hella funny yo it looks like a buji anteich lol smiley face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[anonymous]

good work!
i am a student at a school and i used this site for one of my geography projects and i worked very well. i plan on going to this site any time i need it for a project! keep up the good work guys:)!!!!!!!!

[anita]

we love columbia
I agree that Colombia is absoluty safe and friendly, certainly safer than LA these days. To bad the media likes to play up the bad old times. We visit a few times a year and it is always a wonderfull expierince.