I have to come back to the special pleasure of a perfect breakfast.
This one, at the hostel 'Ruta de Sur', gets the Oscar for the richest, most affectionate, most tasteful of the trip so far. Also the environment, which God knows can be otherwise, sometimes smelly, somewhere alone in a huge gloomy room or standing at a dirty counter, is this time particularly worth mentioning.
You sit in a real patio beneath the open sky, surrounded by all sorts of shrubs and bushes, protected by a parasol, eating with people you've never seen before.
A delicate person and a shaved Englishman
Among them a not-so-young German couple visiting their nineteen-year-old daughter, who is participating in a volunteer program for street children here in Cali.
The young tender-limbed girl is also present, talking about the daily tasks that have to be done, the constant frustrations that have to be faced, the small successes and progress that make the whole thing a sense of achievement despite all the setbacks. Not to mention the school of life for a lady at such a young age. As she tells the story, the eyes of the parents, proud and amazed at the same time, follow her explanations. Congratulations!
And there's a shaven-headed Englishman, whose mumbling I have trouble following. He is on a terribly long journey on his motorcycle and is heading for Panama as his next destination. He continuously shares his experiences and findings with his audience, which has grown to large numbers in the meantime, and wants to bring out his adventures in book form later (one of millions planning the very same thing).
Cali - a difficult relationship
Cali makes it hard to win my affection.
Something, I find it difficult to explain, troubles me in this city. Is it the criminal past, the drugs, the years of killings? Or subconsciously, the idea remains that nothing has changed and that it's still languishing in the underground, just a bit more covert?
In any case, the weather also seems to share my opinion. It is raining again, so that the visit to the city literally falls into the water.
Cali (officially: Santiago de Cali) is the third largest city in the country with almost 3 million inhabitants.
The city also became well-known for the Cali Cartel, along with the Medellín Cartel, one of the most important and powerful drug cartels in the world in terms of cocaine trafficking. Drug trafficking and drug-related violent criminality still play a major role in Cali, despite the cartel's disintegration.
Since homicides were mainly related to alcohol and bars, the authorities successfully banned the consumption of alcohol in bars after 1990 o'clock, on weekends after 1 o'clock in the morning, and a ban on weapons on weekends. In the city itself there are several shanty towns where displaced people from other parts of the country live. Some of the problem neighborhoods include Aguablanca, a corrugated tin town in the humid flood plains of the Río Cauca, and Siloé on the mountain slopes to the west.
Safe area?
However, the area surrounding my hotel is described as safe (just the fact that a neighborhood has to be described as safe illustrates the situation), so I make my way towards the many bars and restaurants that are supposed to be in the area.
A small street cafe with a few tables appeals to me at first glance. However, there is once again no menu card, and I need to get an overview of the sizzling dishes. It's best to choose something that looks somewhat edible or familiar and let yourself be surprised.
I opt for something round and nice smelling, and as it turns out later, it's arepas, a corn-based pastry filled with cheese. Finally something local, worthy to remember.
Salsa
And what else? Nothing in particular and nothing new under the sun or the umbrella.
My iPhone remains missing, the rain continues to fall, and the heavy-set lady at the reception sings and dances salsa. Oh yes, almost forgot: Cali is the self-proclaimed capital of salsa. The rhythms boom from every corner, everyone, old or young, fat or handicapped, moves in perfect harmony to the music. It must be in the blood.
Apart from that, as I said, Cali is a letdown, but I also did not give it a chance. Maybe a mistake, but I will not mourn the city (even if the hotel is highly recommended.) Let's see how Escobar-Ciudad Medellin will look like ...
Mileage: 7869
Matching Song: David Bowie - Criminal World
And here the trip continues ... to Medellin
