As we drive through South America, I find myself reflecting on how much cultural knowledge has been lost to history. Not always–but often–because of foreign conquerors, entire civilizations and the knowledge they accrued over centuries is just. gone. It’s too much to expect that knowledge would be safeguarded. Tragically, it wasn’t appreciated by the outsiders to begin with.
In the case of San Agustín Archeological Park in southern Colombia, the subject of our latest YouTube video, scientists believe the site was abandoned by its inhabitants. Very little is known about the culture and why they did the things they did.
According to UNESCO,
Gods and mythical animals are skillfully represented in styles ranging from abstract to realist. These works of art display the creativity and imagination of a northern Andean culture that flourished from the 1st to the 8th century.”
After the people left around 1350 AD, San Agustín slept undisturbed until the 18th century. At that time, the sacred tombs were looted. In 1931, the archeological park was created to preserve history.
In our video, we leave the Tatacoa Desert and arrive in the town of San Agustín. We spend a few days there and visit the fascinating ruins. Then it’s time to push for Mocoa, our final campsite before crossing the border into Ecuador.
Watch now:
What’s new?
If you’ve been keeping up with us, then you know we are already in Ecuador in real-time. We are camped in the town of Baños, known for its restorative thermal baths and adventure sports. Unfortunately, part of our power system went on the fritz and our Jeep habitat is 100% without power right now. REDARC is shipping the part from North Carolina and we hope it will arrive this week.
Until then, we are doing the best we can. Our camp host is kindly keeping all our refrigerated food in his fridge (though we have to ask anytime we want to access it). He’s also running a power cord outside, so we can keep our Renogy Phoenix 300 power bank charged up. We love the Phoenix 300, which is going strong after two years of regular use. As I write this article, this unit is charging Eric’s laptop, my phone, and two small pocket chargers.
We are looking forward to getting back to normal in our home. But we’re also grateful for help from others and redundancies that allow us to get by when things fail (as they inevitably will).
Thanks for being part of our journey!
-B
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