San Augustín

All Colombians I've interacted with have been very friendly. From friends of Gisela's, to people I meet walking around, on buses, and in cafés and restaurants. Super friendly, asking me where I'm from, sometimes wanting to try out their English with me. So I practice my Spanish and they practice their English, good quid pro quo.

Of course the travellers I've met are friendly because why the fuck not? they're having fun travelling! They're either on vacation, taking extended time off or retired, all good places to be. After Colombians, by far the next most common are French and they have represented well, I must say. Here are some pictures from a few of my encounters and adventures. First was a Colombian woman and a Cuban man who shared a taxi/colectivo with me from Mocoa on my way to San Agustín. Then a French couple I went rafting with on the amazing Rio Magdalena. I had just finished reading the excellent, The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf and the Magdalena River features prominently in the first part of the book. What an amazing adventurer he was! I highly recommend the book. Then there are the two Colombians and one Austrian who offered me a ride back to town from the tres cool San Agustín Archeological Park (more on that in another post). They were super nice and we ended up spending much of the afternoon together as he kept asking if I wanted to go with them to various lookouts. I kept saying yes, of course, and had an amazing time. We then met for supper to cap off a perfect travel day.Read more