Atop a narrow mesa above the Río Suárez lived the Guane people since long before the Spaniards’ arrival. It was to here, Guane pueblo, that all surviving Guane were relocated in the 17th century. This entire hamlet, from its fossils to its tapia pisada architecture, is a museum. On the main square is a statue of the last Guane cacique, Guanenta. On the south side is an attractive stone church; on the east side of the plaza is the Museo de Paleontología y Arqueología, containing over 10,000 fossils of fish, ammonites, shells and petrified wood, as well as an indigenous mummy, ceramics and religious art (some from the Quiteña School).
Be sure to pace yourself, unless you want to spend the night in Guane. There is basic lodging. The village produces many products from goat’s milk. Try the sabajón, a delicious, slightly alcoholic drink in various flavors.

Guane’s feast days are Virgen de la Candelaria (2 February), San Isidro Labrador (September) and Santa Lucia (13 December).

In the Guane region are a number of petroglyphs and cave paintings: Piedra de Lubigara and Cueva del Pino (near Guane); Hato Viejo (Villanueva); La Custodia, Los Pozos and Cueva de Cartagena (Mesa de los Santos); Cueva Rica (Mogotes), and others along the Río Chicamocha.