Travelblog LA#6: Popayán, Tierradentro & San Agustín – Colombia

2nd – 7th May, 2023

 

The border crossing into Colombia was smoother than I expected – no queues, bag inspections, or questions – but it was rather the journey after that was choresome. Due to recent landslides, a bus that was supposed to take seven hours took over ten, meaning it was late into the night when I finally arrived in Popayán. I was worried that it would be too late for the hostel wouldn’t let me in, but after ringing the doorbell a couple of times, a man came out and greeted me.

I was surprised by how empty it was as he showed me around. This hostel was one of the cheapest and best-rated in the entire town, but my dormitory of twelve beds only had another two people sleeping in it, and most of the private rooms were empty. This would become a reoccurring theme over the next week during my time in the south of Colombia.

Popayán is a charming colonial town in the Pubenza Valley, most famous for its white buildings and being home to seventeen Colombian presidents. Unfortunately, I found many of its attractions – such as its churches and museums – to be closed, but I did manage to get inside its cathedral.

Along with the Archdiocesan Museum of Religious Art (once I rang the bell a few times).

I also went for a walk up El Morro del Tulcán, which is supposedly a pre-Colombian burial site, but I didn’t see any signs of any ruins. It did, however, have views of the city.

Other than that, it was a day when I got my bearings in this new country. Purchased a SIM card. Drew out some money. That sort of thing. The following morning, I rose early to catch a taxi to the bus station in time to claim a seat on a bus heading to Tierradentro.

A reoccurring theme of this area will be, ‘Where is everybody?’. I had asked a few questions by now and was told by others that the south of Colombia doesn’t receive too many tourists as it is, and we are currently in low season. I was still a little confused. I usually travel to places during low season – as I don’t like big crowds – but it had been quite some years since I had witnessed a low season quite as ‘low’ as this. Usually, when a place is this quiet, it will be because of a recent natural disaster or adverse weather, but I couldn’t see any sign of either.

After checking in at a hostel, I went straight to the admission office for the archaeological park, and as I filled out my details noticed that I was their only visitor that day and one of less than a dozen over the past week.

For a place that sees such few visitors, Tierradentro does have a lot of staff, all of which immediately tore their attention away from their phones and seemed happy to let me into the various hypogeums.

This site is not the most photogenic, so I don’t expect my photography to do it justice, but it was rewarding to visit. Not much is known about the culture that created these monuments, but archaeologists have dated from between the 6th and 9th centuries. I am someone who likes to study the history of places I visit, so a part of me yearned for answers, but I also have a fondness for mysterious places.

Most of the entrances face towards the west, and many feature anthropomorphic carvings and geometric patterns on their walls.

Once I had finished clambering in and out of all the hypogea I was allowed access to in the Alto de Segovia – the main site located closest to the admission office – I walked along the trail to reach El Tablon. It was then that I began to appreciate just how much Tierradentro had to offer as a destination, not just because of its ruins but also its scenery, situated in a beautiful valley surrounded by little hamlets and farms. This was my first real glimpse of rural Colombia.

After passing through El Tablon – home to a series of anthropomorphic statues – I stopped at the village of San Andrés to hydrate myself before heading to the last two sites, both of which involved a rather strenuous climb.

It was around 3 pm when I reached Alto de San Andres which had yet more hypogea that I could climb inside. One of them in particular was very well preserved with original paintings.

And then I set off for El Aguacate (‘the avocado’), the peak of the mountain overlooking both Tierradentro and San Andres. It was a bit of a tough climb – especially considering the heat – but it was worth it for the stunning vistas.

If I am honest, once I reached the top, the hypogea located there we neither as impressive nor as well maintained as most of the others I had seen that day, but I was still glad I came up there for the setting itself.

It was there that I also met a Belgian couple by the names of Mari and Tom. This was their second day exploring these ruins, and they were also coincidentally staying at the same hostel as me. We swapped some stories and realised that we were both travelling to the same destination the next day – San Agustín – so decided to band together. I was quite pleased by this, as my recent experiences made me appreciate the idea of safety in numbers.

Overall, I liked Tierradentro and think it deserves to be visited more. It has everything going for it. A UNESCO World Heritage site, with stunning scenery, well-maintained paths, and a smattering of (mostly empty) hostels waiting for guests. I guess there are a few reasons it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Colombia, as a country, is not known for its ruins, and among the few ancient sites that it is known for, Tierradentro is overshadowed by Ciudad Perdida and – the more local – San Agustín.

I think the real problem, however, is transport. It is a bit of a pain to get to. There are buses from Popayán, but mine dropped me off at a junction two kilometres away, and I had to walk the rest with all my bags. And then, if you are travelling on to San Agustín – like most visitors to this place seem to – there is no direct bus there either, so the onward journey is a bit of a hassle. We had to catch a two-hour colectivo to La Plata, followed by a four-hour minibus to Pitalito, and finally another colectivo to San Agustín. With all the waits between, it took us most of the day, and the first colectivo was one of those trucks with a pair of benches at the back that we were crammed inside, and by the end of it our bags, clothes, and hair were all covered in dust. Personally, I don’t mind these kinds of days too much – as long as I don’t have to do them too often – as, despite the discomfort, there is a certain novelty to watching the scenery pass you by whilst feeling the wind in your face. You get to see a different, less touristy side of a country.

It seems that Tierradentro is caught in a rut that it is yet to climb out of. It is not busy enough for shuttle buses between it and San Agustín to be a viable enterprise, and yet the absence of such a service is making people shy away.

After the attempted robbery during my last day in Ecuador, one thing I have been particularly mindful of during my first week in Colombia is that I do not want it to define the rest of my journey. I am more mindful about certain things, definitely, but I don’t want to become one of those travellers who clutches their bag tightly the whole time, eyes every stranger that passes by suspiciously, or flinches away every time a local person offers them help.

I can happily say that Colombia has made this very easy for me. Everyone I have met so far has been warm, welcoming, and helpful. I have already mentioned the staff at Tierradentro, but on this blog, I always try to also want to give shout outs small businesses that make an impression on me, so I also want to recommend Hospedaje Bamboo. The couple who own it are very friendly and helped me figure out transport options before I left. It is not one of those places that can be found online or are listed on Google Maps, but you can’t miss it if you walk up the street a little from the entrance to the site. They also run a shop downstairs and – most importantly – have a very cute doggo.

Similar can be said for the place I stayed in San Agustín, Finca El Maco, an ecohotel set within some lovely gardens. I booked to stay in their dorm, but because the place was nearly empty, they upgraded me to a chalet, and they went out of their way to help me feel at home during my entire stay, despite how little I paid, and the incredible deal they gave me.

Although my hostel was almost empty, San Agustín is more connected to the tourist trail than Tierradentro, so I was not the only person visiting its main attraction the following day.

The monuments are more photogenic than Tierradentro’s hypogeum but no less mysterious. Not much is known about this culture either, but there does appear to be a connection between them as the two sites do feature some similarities, such as in their anthropomorphic statues.

As someone who has also explored a lot of neolithic sites in my home country, I found it quite eerie that some of the photos I took looked like they could have almost been taken in the British Isles. And no, I do not think it is aliens – it is most definitely always humans – but synchronicity is something that I have encountered again and again during my travels, and I find it fascinating.

San Agustín also has an on-site museum with information in both Spanish and English, and there are guides available to hire at the entrance. I decided to forgo hiring a guide, as being alone meant it would have been expensive, and not much is known about the civilisation that built these monuments anyway so I am not sure how much reliable information they will be able to give you beyond a series of speculations and perhaps some anecdotes concerning the excavations. If you are travelling in a group and/or have some money to splash, it could be worth it – and you would also be helping to support local workers – but one thing I will say is this; make sure you don’t miss any parts of the archaeological site. It didn’t escape my notice that very few people with guides ended up venturing to the Alto de Lavaplatos, for example, which just so happens to be the one that involves walking up a hill. This is a phenomenon I have noticed many, many times, and I can’t help but suspect that it is sometimes because the guides become jaded over time about which parts of the sites are ‘worth seeing’, and they don’t want to walk too far.

There are two other smaller sites that one can visit with the same ticket, and I did look into options to get to them, but transport turned out to be a lot of hassle. San Agustín sits within the slightly frustrating intersection of not receiving enough tourism to have convenient bus services but being popular enough for the taxi drivers to have pulled off the ol’ tourist town classic of setting their tariffs for rides artificially high. So, once again; if you are in a group or have some money to splash, it could be worth it, but if you are a solo traveller on a budget, there are currently no viable options.

Despite this slight niggle, I had a great time in San Agustín and am glad I came. More people should explore this beautiful and fascinating part of Colombia.

If you want to see more photos click here. I also have albums for Popayán and Tierradentro.

 

Travelblog LA#5: Attempted Robbery and Burundanga Drugging in Quito – Ecuador

1st May, 2023

 

Those of you who follow me on social media will already know that I had a bit of a scary incident on a bus recently, and I have decided to give an account of what happened. This is not because I desire sympathy – not necessary; I was not harmed, and I managed to recover my possessions – but rather because I want this blog to reflect all facets of this journey I am taking. Also, to potentially help other travellers who might end up reading this. As a backpacker with over three years on the road under my belt, I am well-versed in all kinds of scams they warn us about, but this particular method they tried to use on me was not one I had heard of before.

It started when I got on the bus at Terminal Carcelen in Quito. I was heading to Ibarra as it is closer to Colombia, and I wanted to get a head start for my border crossing the next day.

Just as the bus was revving its engine, a man came to me pretending to work for the company. He sprayed some stuff on my hands (which he pretended was hand sanitiser, but I later came to suspect was something else), and then placed my bag in the luggage compartment above my chair before telling me to fasten my seatbelt.

I will preface what happened next with a little caveat; I was a bit foggy-headed that day as I had arrived back in Quito late the night before (having just come from the Amazon), so I was tired and not fully acclimatised to Quito’s altitude. But, a couple of minutes later – after the bus had driven out of the terminal – I suddenly felt a sense of unease. I realised that I had zoned out for a couple of minutes – almost like I had drifted out of my body a little – and now I had ‘zoned in’ again, I was feeling a bit disorientated. I blinked a few times to help clear my mind and noticed something peculiar.

The other people on the bus were not wearing their seatbelts. And some of them had their bags on their laps.

I turned around and looked up just in time to see the man in the seat behind me make a sudden movement. My bag was closer to his seat than mine now, and I immediately knew then that something was wrong. 

I grabbed it to find it was fastened closed, but didn’t seem full enough, so I opened it to find that my laptop, camera, Kindle, and power bank were missing and immediately went into panic mode.

I asked the man where my laptop was – as it was obvious that he was the culprit – and he seemed to panic too. He pointed to the front of the bus and told me to go there. That my things were there.

I obviously knew he was lying, but I went to the front of the bus anyway – taking my bag and what remained of its contents with me – so that I could get the driver or someone to help.

But as I was walking, the man yelled at me again. He was now gesturing to the place underneath my seat, where I looked to find my laptop. I grabbed it – feeling a huge amount of relief to be holding it again – and then put it in my bag.

I then asked him where my camera was, and he – once again – pointed to the front of the bus only to call me back to tell me it had mysteriously ‘appeared’ underneath my seat.

I am not sure exactly how many rounds of this weird game of whack-a-mol we played – three, perhaps? – but I eventually recovered all of my things. As I was placing them back into my bag, the would-be thief talked to me. I didn’t catch all of it, and I don’t know if it was because of the altitude, the rush of adrenaline when I thought I had lost everything, or because his accomplice had possibly drugged me with that spray; but I was feeling very disorientated. I was just relieved to get my things back. From what I did hear, he was trying to gaslight me. Implying that it was someone else. That he had rescued my things. That I should be careful.

I knew he was lying, of course, but I didn’t know what to do. I felt scared. I knew by then that he had at least one accomplice – the man who pretended to work for the bus company and then vanished – how many other people were involved? At least ten people were sitting behind us. Why had none of them noticed what was going on? Why had none of them stopped him? Why were all of them – still – doing nothing? Was it because they were scared, some of them were involved too, or, did they simply not care?

I was very aware, during that moment, that I was a foreigner, and I was alone.

So – with all of these things going on in my clouded brain – I simply froze whilst clutching my bag. I didn’t want to sit down again because that would mean turning my back on him. I just stood there, watching him.

Eventually, he got off the bus, speaking some last words to me about being careful as he left.

It was after he left that I started to think a bit rationally again and thought to take some photos of him. I did so just in time to catch the side of his face.

And a few minutes later, I finally went to the conductor and spoke to him about what happened. I know I should have done this earlier – before he left the bus and got away – but I wasn’t thinking clearly or feeling my usual self. Also, whilst I can converse fairly well in Spanish now, it takes a certain amount of brain energy for me to hold conversations, and that was something that I didn’t have when I was feeling so spaced out and disorientated.

The bus conductor was somewhat sympathetic and got me to send him the photo I had taken. I am hoping that this means the people at the station will look out for him, and he will find it harder to target other people from now, but I don’t know how seriously they take these things in Ecuador. From what I have heard, I can’t even completely rule out the possibility that the conductor and bus company were involved too.

During the rest of the journey, I turned to some of my friends for support over Whatsapp, and almost all the ones from Latin America said the same thing when I mentioned the spray and how I was feeling.

Burundanga. Also known as scopolamine.

When you look up burundanga online, there is a lot of conflicting information. There are reports about police stations and hospitals recording people needing help after being spiked with it in their drinks, but in Latin America it seems to be more commonly sprayed in people’s faces during muggings and robberies; after which the victims either go into a daze or pass out completely. It is said to make you feel more passive and compliant if you stay conscious. There are also some wilder claims – such as criminals impregnating into paper and drugging people by handing them leaflets – and, finally, lots of sceptical first-world people giving their ‘opinions’ on whether it is real or not (whilst seemingly ignoring the lived experiences of thousands of people who claim to have been victims).

If you want my (unprofessional) opinion, here it is. I can understand why people would be sceptical about people being drugged by being handed pieces of paper – that sounds rather dubious to me – and there are yet to be any clinical studies on whether absorption of scopolamine in liquid form through the skin would be effective. I personally don’t see why the absence of studies makes some people feel like they can weigh in heavily either way though; I can only guess that they all feel very smart typing away at their keyboards whilst living in their much safer countries. Many substances are known to be absorbable through the skin, so it is possible. 

And even if scopolamine is not absorbable through the skin, that doesn’t mean that spraying it at people is not an effective technique, as it can still be breathed in, and people touch their faces much more often than they think they do (around twenty-three times an hour on average, and I am guessing it is more when people are in stressful situations.) 

And, finally, even if scopolamine is not as effective as believed, that does not mean that the criminals aren’t trying to use it, so watch out for anyone who tries to give you ‘sanitiser’. 

I would say – from my experience of how I felt – that I was probably under the influence of something during this incident. I didn’t feel my usual self and continued to feel very spaced out and disorientated for the rest of the day. I am not entirely certain, as it could have been a combination of altitude and adrenaline, but I am lingering on about 70% sure I was drugged.

And, before any of you feel compelled to bless me from your fountain of wisdom; yes, I do know how psychosomatic symptoms work. I also happen to know my own body better than you do, and I think I know whereabouts I lay in the spectrum of suggestibility. Ta.

It is a shame that my time in Ecuador (a country that I am very fond of) ended in such a way, so I am trying not to dwell on it too much. I am unharmed, I managed to recover my things and learned some lessons.

I think one of the reasons that I let my guard down a little on this occasion is just how nice most of the people in Ecuador have been. The Pastaza region (where I have spent most of my time in Ecuador) is very safe, and people had warned me that other parts of the country are much more dangerous than they used to be. I did listen, but over the years I have gotten used to claims of how dangerous places are being exaggerated – and, if I never visited anywhere that people (and/or institutions) warned me was not safe to travel, I would have denied myself some of my richest experiences.

So onwards and upwards, I guess. The next day I got back on a bus again (clutching my bag much more carefully this time) and headed to Colombia.

Travelblog LA#4: Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve – Ecuador

27th – 30th April, 2023

 

Day 1

I arrived in Lago Agrilo in the morning after a long and rocky journey from Quito. I did sleep a little but it was broken by all the twists and lurches as the bus snaked through the Andes. Looking out the brightening window, I could already see that I was within Ecuador’s tropical realms by the vegetation around me. I was back in the Amazon again for a tour of Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (close to the border of both Brazil and Colombia).

This was not part of my original itinerary – I have already done an Amazon tour four years ago in Peru – but during my time at Merazonia Refuge other volunteers gave this place such glowing reviews that they inspired me to make a detour.

For this trip, I was also joined by two other Merazonia veterans, True and Lucian.

Our names were the first the conductor called out when the bus stopped at a little café down a dirt track road. I was somewhat relieved that – out of the entire bus full of gringos – only five of us were destined for Green Forest Ecolodge, whereas the others had all booked their tours with other jungle retreats. We drank tea as we waited for another minibus to pick us up, and it was only an hour or so later that we reached the dock, where we met Tamara, one of our guides. After loading our possessions onto the boat, we were soon making our way down the river. Our tour had begun.

It only took a few minutes for us to start seeing wildlife. Our first sighting was some hoatzins, also known as ‘stinky jungle turkeys’. They are one of the most commonest sightings whilst cruising through the rivers on this part of the Amazon, but I never got bored of seeing them in the days that followed because of their unusual appearance. Their diets consist almost entirely of leaves that they eat straight from the branches of trees hanging over the waters.

We were also lucky enough to see a grey-headed kite that afternoon.

Blue and yellow macaws.

As well as a monk sakis.

Two hours later, we reached Green Forest Lodge, were we assigned dorm beds in one of their jungle huts and unpacked our things. Whilst getting our bearings, we were delighted to discover they had a bird-watching tower; a place I frequently returned to during my free time. In that first afternoon alone, True and I were lucky enough to spot a gilded barbet, a squirrel cuckoo, and some tamarin monkeys.

Shortly before sundown, we met Elvis, who would be our guide throughout most of the next two days. He took us out on a boat to a lagoon to watch the sunset, and on our way there, spotted two different breeds of sloths and yet more monkeys and birds. We also caught our first sightings of dolphins.

Swimming in the lagoon at dusk turned out to be a daily activity of this tour. It was always a refreshing way to finish a hot and sweaty day in the jungle, but the first evening was cloudy, so I will instead share photos from the following two days, where the clearer skies meant we got to see some spectacular sunsets.

What did change with each event was the activity after the sunset on the lagoon. The first night we made our way back to the lodge slowly on the boat and saw some of the Amazon’s nocturnal animals, including a caiman and a tree boa.

 

Day 2

The main activity of this day was a jungle walk, where Elvis proved himself very knowledgeable about flora and fauna. I will not tell you about everything we saw that day – as it would simply take too long – but instead give you some highlights.

An Ecuadorian poison dart frog: so named because of the poison that seeps from its flesh is often used by indigenous people to coat their darts to paralyse their prey when hunting.

A goliath ‘bird eating’ tarantula, which Elvis managed to cleverly draw out from its hole using a stick (video here).

Howler monkeys.

And, finally, a family of night monkeys.

That night we once again went to the lagoon at dusk, but after the sun had set, we made our way back to the lodge quickly – matching pace with a group of bats along the way – so that we could put on our wellies in time for our night walk, during which we saw spiders, tarantulas, and lots of frogs, including this glass frog.

And a HUGE – and very grumpy looking – bullfrog.

 

Day 3

We spent most of this day in a little paddleboat, and Elvis took us to another lagoon.

We didn’t have quite as much luck with wildlife that morning, but I think that was due to the weather being a bit wet.

Despite this, this was probably my favourite day of the tour. We had the entire lagoon to ourselves – there was not another tourboat in sight – and the lack of engine made for a peaceful ambience (and also that the wildlife we did see we managed to get closer to). This was the closest I ever felt to living in a David Attenborough documentary during this trip.

The lake was also very still, almost turning it into a mirror.

And we saw some beautiful orchids and bromeliads.

We weren’t completely unlucky with the wildlife either. We did see quite a few birds, including this blue-crowned trogon.

Some red cardinals.

And last – but certainly by no means least – we came across a group of woolly monkeys later in the afternoon. This was something that I was especially happy to see after working with these species quite closely at Merazonia Refuge.

In the evening (after our customary swim in the lagoon), we were taken on one last boat tour, where Elvis found yet another caiman in the swallows outside one of the other lodges, as well as a tarantula and another tree boa.

 

Day 4

We rose early and met Elvis at the top of the tower to do some birdwatching before we had our last breakfast. With the help of his telescope, we managed to tick many more birds from our list, including a group of toucans and a pair of yellow-headed vultures.

After that, we packed our things, said our goodbyes and made our way back. We were once again with Tamara on our way out of the park, and we told her that our tour exceeded our expectations in almost every way. We seemed to have been lucky with the wildlife and (mostly) the weather.

The only thing that we wanted to see before we left was an anaconda – something that is a fairly common sighting for those who visit this park – but seemed to have eluded us so far, despite our luck elsewhere. Tamara said she would do her best.

And for the first hour or so of the boat ride, it did seem that our luck had run out. We passed by several hoatzins, ingas and tiger herons, but these were all things we had seen plenty of over the last few days and almost – but never quite – grown bored of. We didn’t even bother to slow the boat so that we could take photos but simply continued.

It was just as we were getting close to the dock – and the tour was almost over – that Tamara suddenly rose from her seat and yelled at the boatman to stop. She seemed excited about something, and when the boat halted and she pointed up to the trees, we saw why.

So, you have probably noticed that this is not an anaconda. It is something much rarer; a harpy eagle. Tamara claimed this was one of only a handful of times in her career.

The perfect end to our tour.

Overall, I was very pleased with my experience with Green Forest Ecolodge. They have good facilities, the food was great (considering the setting), and the guides are very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Several different lodges are working in this park, so you often come across other boats during your tours, and I happened to notice that a lot of the others had bigger boats with louder engines and filled with more people (which means their experiences were probably less personal and they probably didn’t see as much wildlife).

If you are interested in booking a tour with them, their website can be found by clicking here.

If you would like to see more photos (and there are many on this occasion) click here.