Cali is the third-largest city in Colombia and the capital of Valle del Cauca. It is almost 500 years old, and you can feel some of its history when you explore the city a bit closer. The city’s got a couple of most amazing nicknames: The Salsa Capital of the World, Sports Capital of Colombia, Branch of Heaven, or Capital of Happiness. I learned that it is the fastest-growing city in this part of the country, and although you may see that progress clearly in the streets, you may also encounter the back face of the development in poor areas and garbage in plain sight.

Some of my street shots are sparse because you don’t want to flash your phone in some parts of the city.

While being in Cali, I enjoyed the company of some great people, and Gordo – a dog so fun to play with.

Borojo: To Drink Or Not To Drink?

The Embera people in Colombia have been in the country before the arrival of the Europeans back in the 16th century, and they believe that the borojo drink is a natural aphrodisiac. They say that the fruit pulp is made into a famous drink known as “Jugo del Amor” or “juice of love”. The juice is made from borojo pulp with milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, nutmeg, and water.

I had that honor to try it, and anything I might say about its effects is contained in one and one only saying: what happens in Cali, stays in Cali.

Breaking into the birthday party

On my second night here in Cali, we celebrated the birthday of Vladimir, a New York guy I met here. I was very surprised to learn that a foreigner can have so many friends here, but the surprise lasted as long as a couple of seconds because I learned almost immediately that he is such a fantastic and frank person.

Frederico from Roma, a great chef who loves to dance salsa and do yoga, made a tone of Italian food, some of the insanely good-looking focaccia that I ever tried, all gluten-free. A fantastic evening in Cali. I can’t believe all the friends that I made in this place so quickly.

Knock-knock Padlock

More than often, you may encounter art pieces like this all over the city:

These pieces of naive art are telling stories of some of the historical periods.

Now about the padlocks: I was sitting in a restaurant here in Cali, and I saw these iron fences all around the neighborhood, all of them being locked with a padlock. I was already in, enjoying my coffee, but anyone wanting to enter would have to knock and have the staff unlock the padlock and let them in.

I suppose that some of these precaution measures have something to do with safety issues from the recent past.
What Cali was very famous for was Cali Cartel, which broke away from Pablo Escobar in the late 80s. This area was one of the dangerous parts of the country to find yourself in until 1995, and I believe that people here are still taking safety issues seriously. That and, well, you never know who you can run at.

My Cali Neighbors

Anil and Sylvia are my closest neighbors, they live next door to me. In this short time, we managed to meet up quite often. I’ve learned that Sylvia likes to eat bananas while shopping, and later on, I’ve learned that it is a sort of custom here in Colombia. I’ve also learned that when I meet up with my neighbors in the local market and see them shopping stuff to make falafel, they may feel very welcome to come and use my oven to do it.

Since that was my last night in Cali – why not? What we’ll do is to go back and spend the Friday at home.

After the market Mercado Alameda, I went on for a Friday night vibe. And what this truly means is that I’ve had a crazy traffic experience. Like everyone owns a motorcycle and is out there!

I made a break and went for a nice 100% natural, 100% organic, and 100% homemade vitamin bomb juice.

What I learned about people is that they like to welcome you. But still, they keep up with observing and getting to know more about you. Eventually, if they like what they see, they grow on you, and I must say that it is vice versa. Just traveling the world, collecting stamps in your passport, is a lonesome adventure. If you feel that the destination is the goal, you may as well travel from the comfort of your home with google maps and google earth. It’s the people who help you out with going to the right places; it’s the people who help you out to experience just the right scents; it’s the people who show you the warmth of their hearts and welcome you to their life as someone they trust.

From Cali to Popayan

So, I made it to Popayan. It was about 140km or almost three hours ride from Cali. It is a rainy day at Popayan so I’m gonna wrap up this video from Cali and I guess the next video you guys are gonna see is what I’m doing here in Popayan.

Thank you for being here and reading! For watching the video about Cali adventure do go to my YouTube channel. I guarantee a nice vibe! I will be back soon with more adventures!