Cali, the City of Salsa

Personally one of my favorite places in Colombia, being a little rough around the edges but having great people and a relaxing old town. Cali is best known as the home of Salsa, and previously with the ruthless Cali drug cartel – nowadays the police presence is huge and the city, although still far from being touristy is vibrant and alive with life. Salsa is everywhere, and something which we definitely planned to participate in. We chose to stay at Hostel Ruta Sur in the San Antonio part of town, set up on a hillside with many cute bars and restaurants, some offering great views of the city.

I have two left feet but was still psyched about trying out Salsa lessons with Andrea, although only having four nights here gave us nothing like enough time to get anywhere with our lessons which we both came to really enjoy. With a vast amount of options in town we chose Son de Luz, a small school in the Alameda neighborhood that specializes in giving private lessons – we didn’t need to embarrass ourselves just yet with group lessons! We also wanted to hit one of the local Salsa clubs, Tin Tin Deo, for their Thursday night opening, but after stupidly arriving at 9pm to find the place empty we left and never did make it back later that night.

Reluctantly we had to leave for Popayan Friday lunchtime but we both agreed that we’d love to return and discover more about the City of Salsa.

February 3rd – February 7th 2014