Grand Escapades
Travel Photography & Travel Experiences of Africa, South America, the Middle-East & Asia
Iglesia La Ermita, Popayan, la “Ciudad Blanca” or the “White City”
Though slightly more popular than it was 7 years ago, the South of Colombia still remains Off The Beaten Track, with mostly Colombian visitors. This is of course easy to understand considering the difficulty to reach this part of Colombia in the first place, though things have improved recently.
Exploring San Agustin on horses…
Since it is quite a way to get to San Agustin, we decided to make the most of it, especially given the stunning landscape surrounding the town. Continue Reading →
Faces are carved into the rocks, La Chaquira, above the Rio Magdalena, San Agustin, Huila, Colombia, South America
Tourism in Columbia, apart from Cartagena, has been picking up slowly over the last few years, with the vast majority being domestic tourists finally daring to leave their cities and venture into rural areas. Continue Reading →
5000 year old scultures, in San Agustin, Alto de Los Idolos, Huila, Colombia, South America
Little to nothing is known about the civilization that chiseled these mysterious sculptures from volcanic rocks about 5.000 years ago, making it one the oldest cultures in the Americas. Continue Reading →
One of the 130, 5000 year old scultures, in San Agustin, in the archaeological park, Huila, Colombia
Yeap we did it, arriving in San Agustin not knowing it was Columbia’s Independence Day! Naturally, any half way decent room was gone, considering that this is one of Columbia’s major tourist attractions. No, there are plenty of hostels, but very few meet the expectations of foreigners: access to reliable information on onward transport / sights / tours, Internet, laundry service and most important exchange of current information with other travelers. The use of a kitchen is a great plus, since “frijoles, arroz y pollo” gets a bit boring. This is not a joke, that is the never ending diet in cheap restaurants! Continue Reading →
Swaying footbridge, above the Rio Cauca, between Tierradentro, Cauca & San Agustin, Huila, Colombia
Until we reached Popayan, the roads we travelled were excellent. These conditions changed rapidly when we travelled from Popayan to Tierradentro and further on to San Agustin. These two trips, a few times, reminded us of the notorious “Death Road” in Bolivia. The main difference is that there is very little traffic here. The cliff is also “only” a few hundred meters deep, not one thousand. Continue Reading →