San Augustin, Columbia March 8-13, 1979
“Hey gringo! Wanna buy some boots, hand made? Wanna rent a jeep? Wanna rent horses? Need a guide? Wanna stay at this hotel – only 45 with breakfast! Hey gringo! Hey gringo! Hey gringo! HEY GRINGO!”
This is a definitely touristy town, where the people’s friendliness is securely fastened to the dollar sign. Also here I feel the latent, and sometimes more open, hostility towards gringos – ‘gringo go home’ graffiti on the walls of houses, ‘gringo exploiters go away’ painted on a fence. So a bit uncomfortable at the outset, but as I stayed longer I noticed that people became friendlier, especially the people at my hotel, and even more especially Carmen-Rosa, who is the always-smiling, down-to-earth, muchacha who does all the cooking here, deals with the guests, mans the front door, and cleans the rooms (when guests leave, not during their stay). I’ve spent some time talking to her, practicing my Spanish.
Rosa is 42 years old, the sister of one of the owners (a married couple), who never married, is childless, and needs the job in order to support herself. She lives in a small room in the hotel, and of course eats all of her meals there. She seems happy enough with the arrangement, and particularly likes meeting people from other places. She asks me all about Canada and my life there, shaking her head in wonder and maybe wistfulness, especially when I describe the freedom that I as a woman have to go where and when I want. I am coming to understand that that is not the reality for many women in South America. This is a distinctly and determinedly macho culture, where women like me need to think twice before assuming we can do as we do in our own countries. Rosa advises me, often, to ‘be careful'.
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Today I visited one of the must-sees of San Augustin – the San Augustin Archaeological Park, a large ceremonial site situated within a jungle area not far from town. There are a number of burial mounds, connected to one another by paths. But the really striking thing are the massive stone statues or totems that, presumably, guard these mounds. They’re all about five feet high, a couple of feet wide, and eight to twelve inches thick. The human figures carved into them – sometimes on both sides – are stylized, somewhat reminiscent of Eskimo or West Coast Indian designs. The figures are short, squat and solid; their eyes look straight ahead and out, staring, transfixed. They have big mouths with full sets of teeth (that in itself is now remarkable here, possibly thanks to Cocacola...), and very long, sharp eye-teeth. Archaeologists claim the faces are masks, and the teeth are those of the jaguar. All of the figures hold something in their hands – a flute, a snake, a chisel, a doll – or is it a baby? And what do these items signify? A profession or activity? Where these totems were originally or how they stood (were they the lids of coffins) is not clear, and there’s no information at the site. Regardless of their origin or meaning, the stolid, all-seeing yet no-seeing, god-like quality of the totems was to me mesmerizing, captivating and deeply penetrating.
Also in the park is an area known for its “foot-baths”. Basins have been carved into many large rocks, and there are some larger pools made of rock. Lots of the rocks are carved into animals and serpents. Apparently this is a place where ancient rituals took place where dyes were mixed, drinks prepared, baptisms and sacrifices performed. Was embalming done here? Who were these people and what became of them?
The surrounding jungle is so verdant, fecund and alive – plants growing on and out of other plants, vines crawling up trees, across branches, roots hanging down ten or twelve feet to the ground. Groves of bamboo over thirty feet high, with huge lichen-covered stems. Lots of birds singing, calling to one another. And butterflies flitting around and between the foliage – orange, blue, yellow – they are everywhere. And centipedes and fantastic colourful beetles and bugs. The smell of the earth, so rich, so green.
Note: According to Wikipedia: “The park contains the largest collection of religious monuments and megalithic sculptures in Latin America and is considered the world's largest necropolis. Belonging to San Augustin culture, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. The dates of the statues are uncertain, but they are believed to have been carved between 5–400 AD. The origin of the carvers remains a mystery, as the site is largely unexcavated.”
For more information go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Agust%C3%ADn_Archaeological_Park
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