Exploring Cali, The City of Salsa!

CLICK HERE: TODAY'S PHOTO ALBUM

Finally got into Cali around 7pm.  The flight was very bumpy in fact the woman sitting next to Geoff crossed herself three times when we landed!  I forgot to tell our agent about my claustrophobia, so we had a regular sardine seat.  I felt a bit of a panic when the woman in front of me started to lean her seat back -- didn't need to know Spanish to get my point across. She graciously put her seat back up for the duration.  Fortunately, it was only a short flight. 

Andres was there to greet us. He doesn't speak much English but we managed to converse and he is extremely helpful and nice. Arrived at the hotel around 8.  Well, our hotel luck ran out -- after being shown at least 3 or 4 rooms, we finally accepted the least offensive.  But in my heart, I knew we were outta there!  We walked down to a local cafe, Macondo named after a fictional place in the book, 100 Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia.  He won a Nobel Prize for his work.  The owner of the cafe is a jazz and literary buff.  The cafe is also used as a lending library.  There are books on every table.

Speaking of restaurants and the such, we found out today that Crepes and Waffles was started by a pair of students and has now grown into quite a chain.  In Colombia it is well known for only hiring single women or women in need.  Another worthy project.

Our mission this morning was to find some new accommodations.  The good news was that the tour company helping us in Cali was right down the street.  We were there first thing and explained our predicament.  Karina said go on the city tour and she was going to look for a suitable new place.  GREAT!!

Alex showed up at 10am and we were off.  The first stop was the famous Cristo Rey statue

Cristo Rey (English: Christ the King) is a statue 26 meters tall located in the Cerro de los Cristales (Hill of the Crystals) in the village of Los Andes, west of the city of Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. The hill is so named because of the large amount of quartz that could be collected in the surrounding area.

On Sunday October 25, 1953, the statue was inaugurated at its summit an image of Christ in celebration of the fifty years following the end of the War of a Thousand Days. It is made of iron and concrete, with a mass of 464 tons and a height of 26 m, of which 5m belong to the pedestal.

On the way down, we stopped to admire the carvings along the road, "The lament of the Pacha Mama"  by a popular artist, Carlos Andres Gomez.  He plans 34 such carvings to line the ravines. From here we went further down and stopped at the statue of Sebastian de Belalcazar, 

Sebastián de Belalcázar (1479 or 1480, Córdoba – Cartagena, 1551) was a Spanish conquistador. De Belalcázar, also written as De Benalcázar, is known as the founder of important early colonial cities in the northwestern part of South America; Quito in 1534 and Cali, Pasto and Popayán in 1537. De Belalcázar led expeditions in present-day Ecuador and Colombia and died of natural causes after being sentenced to death in Cartagena, at the Caribbean coast in 1551.

Next it was a drive down into the city stopping to take a stroll along Gato Park:

El Gato del Rio is a three-ton bronze sculpture by the late Colombian artist

Hernando Tejada, who moved to Cali from Bogota at the age of 14 and died there in 1998 — two years after he donated the sculpture to Cali. It came to the city as part of a municipal improvement project designed to beautify the banks of the Cali river on the city’s north side, and ten years later in 2006, the project expanded to include 15 smaller felines — all cast in the same shape — which other local artists subsequently painted as well. 

You can see these cats all over the city.  Alex then took us into the heart of the downtown municipal buildings.  Here we handed the car over to Andres and we hoofed it back to the tour shop.  First we had to admire this enormous horn-trumpet like structure in the middle of the Plaza.  It usually plays salsa music but not today. 

 

Unveiled on Dec. 25, 2015, “Niche “is a monument designed as a tribute to the artist Jairo Varela. The famous musician from Cali has been the driving force behind the group Niche, which has given an identity to the Salsa of Cali. The designed sculpture is 10 meters high, displaying the word ‘’Niche’’ in galvanized steel painted with gold synthetic enamel. The trumpets and trombones were the main inspiration for the form, as they are considered essential musical elements in the group’s music.

Stopping for a lulo fruit juice in the park, before wrapping up the tour. Crossing over the oldest bridge, we passed through the downtown area complete with bike path running through it, to the oldest building in Cali. It is now a church and nunnery.  

Got back to the shop and Katrina said there was a room for us around the corner at Casa Alegre. Alex, Andres and Geoffrey and myself all went to take a look -- it is GREAT! and cheaper! There is even a jacuzzi tub which I hope to try after tubing tomorrow.  We immediately said we would be back to check-in.  But first it was time for SALSA!!


The boys dropped us off at the studio and from there it is 1,2,3  5,6,7 count!  I had a ball and Geoff struggled.  I give him a lot of credit for doing it.  Our instructor said he would get there with a bit more practice.  I'll have to work on him.  Not sure if salsa is in the cards tonight, we have an early morning.  Grabbed some lunch at another very good restaurant in the neighborhood --which by the way is very pleasant and safe.  Old colonial style streets and buildings. Left Geoff to finish my lunch and rushed over to meet Andres who helped me move our stuff over to the new hotel.

Almost forgot to mention the three crosses - here is a view from our window:

The Three Crosses monument was built because, it is said, the devil appeared on the hill and cursed the people of Cali, so to counter this curse a father organized the building of these to lock him inside the mountain itself. Initially they were made in bamboo but later made the change for existing concrete.

We are now settled in and very comfortable. Spoke with Paula at IMPULSE and she will straighten out the rebate from the first hotel.  Her patience with me is unending and I appreciate it enormously.  

It's going to be early to bed and early to rise for us this evening.

Next time... San Cipriano