Tag: Sights

Last Day in Cali

The weekend flew by and now I am sad. I know I’ve only been here 3 days, but I preferred this city to Cartagena in many ways. Here are my takeaways on my last day in Cali.

  • The weather is much easier to deal with! More temperate and way less humidity than humid Cartagena
  • Easier to get around: considering Cali is bigger with 2.5 million people to Cartagena’s 900,000, I can only guess this is because I stayed in a more convenient location to all the attractions as a tourist as compared to living in the barrio in Cartagena. I don’t think that’s totally it though
  • The sights are in residential neighborhoods: In Cartagena, you only go to one area as a tourist, The Old City and adjacent Boca Grande. In Cali, sights were spread out a little bit more, and were in areas where people live so it felt like I was seeing “the real Cali” while also sightseeing
  • Cheaper: apparently Cartagena is the most expensive Colombian city, and while still cheap to a Torontonian like me, I noticed that Cali was even more affordable
  • Cleaner and prettier: Aside from the ocean and the old city, Cartagena is not that pretty. And there is trash everywhere. In Cali, the river doesn’t smell so great, but the streets and paths were very tidy and well kept. The overall impression was it’s cleaner than Cartagena.

I don’t want to make it seem like I am sorry to go back to Cartagena, because I am not. I am really glad I visited Cali though! What a great weekend!

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Cali Colombia Street Art

I did so much on my 5 hour self-guided tour of Cali and saw so much street art that deserved its own post. Here are my best photos and observations of the Cali Colombia street art scene.

Street Art Movement in Cali

I didn’t know very much about Cali until I walked around and saw it for myself. Now I know, with some online research, that graffiti in Cali is part of a growing movement with local and international artists adding to the tapestry.

I am a big fan of street art in general and am fortunate to live in a great neighborhood for it in Toronto, so it was fun to take some photos of the work in this cool Colombian city and just wander and explore the Cali Colombia street art.

san antonio barrio

Much of the Cali Colombia street art is located in the centrally located San Antonio barrio, which is where I photographed most of these works.

The San Antonio barrio is highlighted by it’s old historic church and beautiful big park. It’s colorful and artsy, with cute shops and artisan craftspeople. Plus it’s easily accessible from hotels in the heart of downtown.

Now, onto my photos!

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Loving Cali Colombia

So I got to Cali late last night – too late for me to go out, I was beat – and woke up early today to see the town. From my searches online and with my trusty Lonely Planet guidebook, I found a lot of good things to see and do! Here’s a travelogue of my first day here and why I am loving Cali Colombia.

The Hostel

I started with a taxi from my hostel, Pelican Larry. I have a private room and access to a shared bathroom, which is all I need. Clean and with hot water! My room has a fan which had the dual purpose of keeping me cool and drowning out outside noise.

Getting Out of the Hostel

The taxi to downtown was quick and cheap and I got dropped off at the Modern Art Museum, which wasn’t open until 10am (it was 9:30am) so I went in search of a café. I found a good one thanks to Google Maps!

Downtown Cali

Let me explain downtown Cali first. It’s dominated by the Rio Cali, which has walkways on both sides, and a lot of the tourist sites are there or nearby. This walking route is great with lots of scenery, and compared to Cartagena, the weather here is GORGEOUS! Warm but with little humidity. Heaven after almost two weeks of non-stop sweating.

Cute Cafe in Cali

Cute Cafe Mulato was on a side street and full of locals. I was the only tourist and it was nice and homey. The waitress had a list with everyone’s name on it and what they ordered, that’s how local a joint this was.

Cafe Mulato in Cali Colombia
Cafe Mulato in Cali
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