From Popayán I got a bus to go to Cali!!!

Cali (Colombia)

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From Popayán I got a bus to go to Cali!!!


 The Family of a friend in San Francisco lives in Cali and she said I could stay with them so I did and had the best of time! I stayed with her mom, Nancy, and her husband Javier. 

The day I arrived I first had lunch at my friend’s grandparents house and had to give them the bad news that I’m vegetarian! Haha in this part of the world being vegetarian is definitely a rare thing. Quickly they changed my menu and I got a vegetarian meal:


After lunch Nancy and javier took me to see the few main sites of Cali. 

First we went to Barrio San Antonio, a popular neighborhood with lots of restaurants and Hostels with a hipster vibe. It a way it resembled Popayán with many white buildings all over. We then went to Iglesia San Antonio but didn’t enter as there was a wedding happening.

All that time it had been raining but Javier and Nancy were sure we were going to get nice weather for Cristo Rey so up we went to see Cali’s Christ, which can be seen from pretty much everywhere in Cali!

From the Christ one could literally see all of Cali! Luckily it stopped raining so we got a great view!

After some pictures Javier asked me if I wanted "champu" and I thought it was a weird question, maybe he was going to the grocery store and concerned about my hair care. With a confused looked in my face I looked at him and said "for my hair?" Both him and Nancy started laughing, it turned out that champu is a traditional drink maize, fruits, and some spices!
This is what he meant by champu!


A few year back Cali started a movement to get the River Cali more "beautiful" so they set up a park where they put a cat made in bronze by Hernando Tejado, a Colombian sculptor and painter. 
The main attraction of the park is el "Gato de Tejada" but a couple of years ago a project called "Las novias del gato" (the cat's girlfriends) was put in place and Colombian artists painted different cats that can be found all throughout the park.



"No hay gato"


"Cálida"

After visiting the cats we headed down the river to "Boulevard del Río." Nancy and Javier told me the story of how that boulevard came to be a pedestrian zone. Before it was a big boulevard with about 6,000 to 7,000 cars transiting on a daily basis.  The city decided to make a 980meter tunnel so cars could go underneath and the street could become pedestrian only and a place for people to go out, walk, and gather with friends. 



Rio Cali!

 Look what I found in the promenade!!

"La gata dormida"
At the end of the boulevard is the beautiful Iglesia de la Hermita!
 

On top of taking me on a tour of Cali, Nancy made sure I was well feed and introduced me to some Colombian delicacies!

For breakfast she made me some "Pericos" (parakeets- eggs with tomatoes and onions) with  pandebono and an arepa! Yum!




She also made me masamorra! Kind of rice rice pudding, it was so good!


I had gone to a couple of cities and everywhere I saw people selling buckets of a fruit that I had never seen, they turned out to be called Chontaduro (peach palm.)
They looked sweet to me but I was totally wrong, they eat it with salt! 


The following day we went on a ride in the Mio Cable, one of the public transport in Cali. Cali has a lot of hills so the government decided that instead of busses they would link people via Cable Car!


The mio cable station was really nice, it had some art in tile that was very interesting. We stopped to look at them and found that many of them had a hidden message!

"Verdad"



"Yo te perdono"


Now into the Mio Cable!
The neighbourhood that one goes by in the Mio Cable are not the safest so Nancy and Javier made sure to let me know that we wouldn't get off and that the same gondola would turn around in the last stop ad bring us back down.


To be honest the ride was very impressive! From the cable car one could see most of Cali and get a glimpse of how a lot of people in Cali live.





Looking down I could see a lot of poverty and it really reminded me of the favela I visited in Rio.


That afternoon we went to try one of the staple foods of Cali: Cholado!

The cholado is pretty much shaved ice with syrup and a mix of fruit on top. Let me tell you... It was my favourite "food" in Colombia... so yummy!


Cholado!
Cholado sensillo- No fruit!

 They didn't just sell cholados, they also had bananas split, ice cream, and a lot of stuff I had no idea what they were!

What could this be?


Cheese, ice cream, and yogurt? Mmm... No Thanks!

As if the cholados weren't enough, Nancy went to the kichen and made some empanadas!!!


Watching sunset from their balcony was simply magnificent! On my last day the sky turned a beautiful shade of purple and pink!




Sadly on the 3rd day I had to say goodbye. I was so thankful to Katherine's family who took me in as one of their own and were so so so kind to me!
They will be missed 💕

Now off to my next stop: Salento!




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About Post Author

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!

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Hi! It's me... Andrea!

In this blog you can live vicariously through my journey around the world!

Please feel free to share tips or places to go!
Contact me: andreaheartstraveling@gmail.com