Expedition to the Unknown
The journey from Villa de Leyva to Laguna Guatavita was fraught with unknowns. Internet research yielded no hotels or hostels to stay. There were no direct buses or transports from Leyva. I asked around the Leyva bus terminal how to get to Laguna Guatavita. I was told to take the bus to Bogota and ask the driver to drop me off on the highway at the turnoff to “La Playa de Sesquile”. From there I “should” be able to catch a minibus or collectivo to Guatavita Nueva, the city located at the base of the mountain where the El Dorado Lake is located. No one seemed to know if there were any places to stay overnight, since it’s a small village without tourist infrastructure.
I started the trip not knowing if I could catch a bus from the highway, not knowing if there were any accommodations, places to eat, ATM machines, or way to get back to Bogota to catch my flight to Quito, Ecuador. The night before I was too anxious to sleep and ended up getting only three hours of restless sleep. I boarded the bus in Leyva at 7:00 AM. I kept dozing off and waking up, didn’t want to miss the landscape. At 9:30 AM, the bus driver yells out, “We’re at La Playa, wake him up, it’s his stop.”
Minibus to Bogota: On the way to El Dorado
A fellow passenger urgently shook me and said, “La Playa, La Playa”. I woke up grabbed my messenger bag, jacket, and backpack and disembarked the bus. I was half asleep and disoriented as I jumped off the bus. It was sprinkling a light rain. There I am standing on the side of the highway, in the rain, waiting for a bus that may not come. It was thrilling, scary, and stressful. Two buses passed and I stopped them. They were not going to Guatavita, but the drivers assured me there was a bus coming and I was standing in the right spot. The rain started coming down harder. Just as I’m about to put on my rain poncho, a bus with a bright red sign announcing “Guatavita” comes down the road and stops on my signal. It was only a twenty-five minute wait, but it seemed like a lifetime. On the bus, I asked the bus attendant if there are any hotels in Guatavita. The eighteen year old fellow nodded, then sat down to look at his cell phone for messages.
Standing on the side of the highway waiting for a bus to El Dorado
When I arrived at Guatavita Nueva, I asked three policemen where was the nearest hotel. The one they sent me to was closed for the season. I decided to have breakfast at a restaurant where the owner opened the place for me. It was a simple meal of scramble eggs with onions and tomatoes, a small white bun, glass of fresh orange juice, and strong coffee. He told me the only hotel open is the one up on the hill where the family lives on the premises. I hiked up the hill to “El Mirador” hostel, looked at a large bedroom, with private bath, very clean, with a balcony over looking the Sesquile reservoir. I paid the $22 dollar fee, collapsed on the bed, and slept soundly for three and a half hours.
View from hostel's balcony: Sesquile reservoir
Guatavita Nueva: Rebuilt in colonial style when the original town was
submerged by the Sesquile reservoir (in the background)
Restaurant where the owner was gracious enough to open for a hungry traveler
Laguna Guatavita: Fabled El Dorado Lake
The road to “El Dorado” lake is not paved with gold, or even asphalt. Exactly what I expected. It starts as a hard packed gravel pot holed roadway that turns into a bumpy, dusty dirt road. It curves up the Andes, over quick flowing streams, jagged pointed rocks, through fields of corn, potatoes, freshly worked fallow rows, with cows grazing in green pastures. The one lane path must accommodate traffic in both directions. When another vehicle, trucks carrying freshly harvested corn and potatoes, comes in the opposite direction, the downhill transport pulls into the water drainage ditch to allow passage. All vehicles travel slowly, which allows me to take in the vista of fields of agriculture, occasional abode farm houses, and the magnificent Andes Mountains with their constant halo of clouds covering the peaks.
The road to El Dorado Lake (Lake Guatavita)
Countryside along the path to El Dorado Lake
My ears pop as we continue to climb. I can finally hear the car motor screeching to struggle up the mountain. The driver points to the tallest mountain and tells me, “On top is Laguna Guatavita, the fabled El Dorado Lake that the conquistadors came so far to seize.” It looks ominous with black clouds bloated with rain hovering at its summit and challenging to climb at 10,200 feet. I prepare my rain poncho for the eventual rain that may engulf me as I trek up the mountain.
On top of the mountain to the right is Laguna Guatavita
We arrive at the entrance to the lake. It’s still an hour hike straight up the mountain. I ask if there’s a guide who can explain the history. I’m told there are only Spanish speaking guides. No problem, I understand Spanish. I’m assigned a fellow with a long indigenous looking nose, long black hair tied in a ponytail, with green eyes. He introduces himself as Jose.
Jose: A proud Muisca, even with his green eyes
Jose tells me he’s a Muisca indigenous. The tribe who practiced the El Dorado ritual, where a newly chosen leader, El Dorado, covered his naked body with a sticky tree sap and had gold dust blown on his body. He and his entourage paddled onto a lake - Laguna Guatavita. El Dorado threw his golden body into the waters washing away the gold and offering it to the Supreme Being. I ask Jose about his green eyes and whether he had Spanish blood. He became offended and adamantly corrected me. He rejects the notion that any Spanish blood flows through his veins. He says that, “Germans first came through this area, before the Spanish, and many stayed.” He affirms that the green eyes come from his German heritage.
A mural in Guatavita Nueva depicting the El Dorado ritual at Laguna Guatavita
Jose goes on to say that except for his language, Spanish, he rejects anything to do with the Spaniards, including their religion. When he was a baby, he was baptized a Catholic. When he grew older and studied the history of the Muisca, he came to believe that the Catholic Church is hierarchical and dominated by Rome. He said, “It’s corrupt and caused a lot of pain to the Muisca. We were forced to become Catholic, but many never practiced the doctrines. The Church was hand in hand with the conquistadors in looting the Muisca treasures and persecuting my people”.
I asked Jose what religion he practiced. He said he’s trying to bring back the practices and cultural beliefs of the Muisca. He taught himself the language and can carry on conversations with elder Muiscas. He mentioned that the Muisca still exist and there’s an enclave in his pueblo of Sesguile. Jose said, “I believe in one Supreme Spiritual Being. One can communicate with the Spiritual directly and we do not need the intervention of a religion. We honor Mother Earth, the Sun, Moon, Fire and Water. Water is very important in our beliefs. We are born in a mother’s womb surrounded by water. Life comes from water and is sustained by it.”
Trail to the top of the mountain and Laguna Guatavita
Approaching the El Dorado Lake and fulfillment of a lifelong dream
The Muisca were enslaved by the conquistadors and forced to crave out a notch in the lake to drain it so the Spaniards could get to the gold and emeralds left as offerings. It was a desecration and saddened the Muisca. Jose asserted, “The Lake you’re about to visit is sacred to the Muisca. It must be honored and respected.” Jose also tells me that there is no gold in this part of Colombia. The gold the Muisca used was traded for the rich salt deposits and emeralds located in these mountains. With emotion and sorrow he protested, “Gold is the tears of the sun, and copper tears of the moon. They belong to the Spiritual Being and no one can ever own them.” He accompanies me to where the craved notch in the lake is located and bids me farewell and good travels, “May the Spiritual guide you on your quest through the Americas.”
Finally at the top of the mountain
Notch (center with brown coloring) forced to carve out by
the Muisca so the conquistadors could drain the Lake
A strong wind blows across the mountain top, rippling the waters of the lake. All of a sudden it stops and the lake is calm. Birds, butterflies, and flowers inhabit the shore. The tranquil beauty and calmness creates an ambiance of a holy place. This lake continues to be sacred for the Muisca and humankind. It is the outdoor “church” where one can reach the Almighty. It has given up its treasure to Spanish conquistadors and English adventurers, as if these material goods give the lake its sacred status. The Muisca continue to perform rituals and adorations at the lake. The real value and holiness lies in the water and its path to the Almighty. I ponder the thousands of years of ritual worship and sacrifice and understand the timeless nature of this consecrated place.
Our goal is reached: Fabled El Dorado Lake (Laguna Guatavita)
Colorful flowers decorate this sacred Lake
The view from on top of the mountain
The gold, silver, and emeralds are fleeting and have been looted, and repeatedly stolen countless times. They’ve helped finance death and destruction throughout 16th and 17th century Europe. To say these riches are cursed, since stolen from the Creator, undermines the ruthless nature of humanity and its crazed for wealth. What won’t we do to be rich in our lifetime? Steal from God?
The Muisca understand that these material goods belong to the Supreme Being, and will take them back when ready. They continue to respect and adore the sacred lake, to do otherwise risks the wrath of the Almighty that could end humanity and the universe. They continue to uphold rituals and worship, so that we may continue to enjoy this world that God has blessed us with, including free will to decide if foregoing eternity is worth a few pieces of gold. I hear the Muisca and appreciate that they venerate and glorify this place, so that I can continue to experience Life’s fruits and pleasures. When it comes down to it, we all have a little spirit of the Muisca coursing through our human veins.
Last view of where the Almighty can be honored
Cheerful flowers celebrate this holy place
I’m ready to leave Colombia. I’ve enjoyed this country - its friendly, warm people, magnificent landscapes, rich history, and see a bright future. Let’s go to Ecuador to visit the Amazonian region and see if we can make contact with the infamous headhunters.
This flower grows all over the Colombian Andes
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