San Agustin

We have a full day of sightseeing today. First off we head west over the Magdalena river to view the waterfall - Salto del Mortiño.

Our first archeological site is Alto de las Piedras where we see statues and burial mounds with deep tombs, some decorated with paintings that are still visible. The most notable sculpture here is known as The Double Me which is a human figure with animal features and a second figure above it with a total of 5 faces.

Just outside of Isnos, a town famous for sugar cane, we stop at a place where they are making panela - blocks of sugar which the locals use for tea, amongst other things. We see the whole process from squeezing the raw cane through to the moulding of the blocks. We tasted the final product which is not unlike tablet but we also try some from earlier in the process which is more like toffee.

Next archeological site is Alto de los Ídolos which has the 2nd highest density of graves and statues of the Augustinian culture (after the San Agustin Archaeological Park which we'll visit tomorrow). From here we move on to Obando where some of the gold in Bogota museum was found.

Our final stop is the Strait of Magdalena. At just over 2 metres wide it's the narrowest point of the main river of Colombia as it flows towards the Carribbean Sea. Here a couple of ladies are crocheting various items from plantain fibre. I bought a hat which I'm assured will last me forever - unless I lose it!