Colombia

We’ll take a morning flight to Pitalito and from there drive approximately 45 minutes to the newly opened Hotel Monasterio de San Agustín.
This region was inhabited by two enigmatic indigenous cultures that created fantastic sculptures using volcanic rocks approximately 5,000 years ago. They lived in the adjacent river valleys of the Magdalena and the Cauca. Divided by impassable peaks, the two rivers were these peoples’ transportation system. San Agustín, where the rivers joined, was where the two tribes met to trade, bury their dead, and worship. A now-extinct volcano close by left volcanic rock, from which local tribe members used to carve towering statues. These statues were used as part of funerary rituals, and, today, statues in the forms of pumas, snakes, and warriors still loom over the lush green hills surrounding San Agustín.
This afternoon will start with a visit to the Archaeological Museum of San Agustín, which provides an excellent introduction to the site and the area’s culture. We’ll continue on to the San Agustín Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where 130 monuments are displayed, as well as the Fuente de Lavapatas, a ceremonial fountain where images of serpents, lizards, and human figures are carved in a labyrinth of ducts in the rocky bed of a stream. Archaeologists believe the baths were once used for ritual bathing and the worship of aquatic deities.

From here, we’ll walk to the Alto de Lavapatas, the oldest archaeological site in San Agustín, where imposing statues guard ancient tombs. The prehistoric site also offers a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside.
After lunch at a local restaurant, we’ll visit a number of less-known sites, including the Alto de las Piedras, which features tombs made of rock slabs with signs of red, black, and yellow coloring. Doble Yo is one of the most famous statues, which, on closer examination, is actually composed of four separate statues. Nearby, at La Chaquira, divinities are carved into the mountainside and overlook the stunning gorge of Rio Magdalena.
We’ll have dinner at the hotel in the evening.

This morning we’ll head northwest toward Popayán, stopping at the Parque Nacional Natural Puracé, which lies within the territory of the Puracé indigenous people and is a geothermal land of waterfalls and a snow-capped, inactive volcano.
We’ll arrive in Popayán, known as the “White City” due to its chalk-white buildings, and check into the Hotel Dann Monasterio.
This graceful colonial town, located at the midpoint in the journey that gold would make between Lima, Peru; Quito, Ecuador; and the Colombian port of Cartagena on the Caribbean on its way to Spain. Its historic center is one of the most beautiful and well-preserved in Colombia. We’ll admire Popayán’s stunning churches, which were built in the 17th and 18th centuries.
We’ll end the day with a meeting with a local woman who is working to ensure that the indigenous communities in the region have their rights recognized by the government.

We’ll depart early this morning and drive to the mountain town of Silvia. Every Tuesday, the indigenous Guambiano people come to the town’s market to sell their produce. The Guambiano, one of the most traditional indigenous groups in the country, practice basic farming methods and still maintain their own language and traditional dress.

Guambiano men and women dress similarly. Both wear hand-woven blue scarves or ponchos with pink fringe, and both wear bowler hats—the men’s are typically black, the women’s dark brown.
We’ll continue on to Cali, the region’s capital city, for lunch at a local restaurant. Salsa music echoes through Cali’s streets, and after lunch we’ll enjoy a dance class and show before continuing on to the heart of the country’s so-called eje cafetero, or “coffee axis”—the best coffee-growing region of Colombia, if not the world. This beautiful landscape is dotted with coffee farms and poncho-clad coffee workers.
We’ll arrive in the late afternoon at the newly opened Hotel Boutique Casa San Carlos.
We’ll have dinner at La Trattoria restaurant.

ITINERARY