Colombia - Cali

The last of the big cities was Cali. We wanted to see it, even if there were many comments about the general safety of Colombia. Everybody is talking about things being 'complicado', meaning that it is dangerous. This was a common expression, and we listened carefully to advice where to go and how to manage. Official travel advice for Colombia is that the main roads and the big cities are safest.

The drive to Cali was stunning, the same as the rest of Colombia where we have been so far. The landscape is very varied, and there are mountains with winding roads, as well as excellent motorways. It took us two days with an overnight stay in Armenia.

Cali is a green city with lots of trees and a display of a group of cats, 15 females and one male, in a central city park. Salsa is big, there is a museum dedicated to the most famous salsa band, Grupo Niche. We took a taxi tour around the main attractions of the city, and finished on a hill with a huge statue - Cristo Rey. We enjoyed the visit in Cali, it felt less messy than Bogotá. And we ate a very nice paella at the hotel, we needed a change of flavour.