Cali:
26th December 2025 - 1st January 2026
26the December – Friday
Such a shame, my last breakfast was even more of a shambles than yesterday. I had to sit at the same table and this time they didn’t even bother to clean away the previous plates, they just left them piled up at the other end of the table – disgusting. And then I got served the smallest portion of fruit ever and had to hassle the guy for my breakfast as I needed to leave on time. I did make it up to him when he returned with my food, and told him that the management need to employ another waiter as it is too much for him. He agreed and thanked me.
Anyway, I got my bus on time and settled down for the long haul: nine and a half hours! We did have a mid journey lunch break for a good half hour, I had a tamale and coffee, followed by a naughty ice cream lolly. It was very much needed. Getting my Uber in Cali was hard work. The first driver turned up but refused to come to where I was waiting so I went looking for him and then he cancelled the ride – B**ted. By now I was a good walk away from the bus terminal so sat tight and booked another, but the fare had gone up 10000 Cope – FFS.
Cali is humongous, much bigger than I was expecting. I don’t think it is very walkable in that sense. I am also a little concerned about the location of my hotel. I though being in the centre would be best, but now I am here I think further North may be better. But such is life and I will make the most of here, especially as I love my apartment.
It took a lot of hard work to actually get into the apartment, It’s all code locks and although there is a guy on duty, he refused to let me in and I had to use the codes I had been sent. I suppose, thinking about it, it is a good security measure. Turns out this guy hasn’t an ounce of English and I didn’t understand anything he said to me. Luckily another family arrived at the same time as me, he didn’t let them in either and they had to call the owner for their code. Anyway one of the guys whose boss is from the UK translated for me. The guy on duty thought I was being funny over paying because I showed him the total I was expecting to pay. Cut a long story short, I eventually saw his phone and he had a message with the same total as mine – what a relief as there is no way I could have argued any price discrepancy with him.
I love this apartment. I just need them to remove the mattress on the sofa bed so I can use the sofa. Other than that all is good, there is a decent sized fridge, a washing machine (!) and my bed feels comfy. The bathroom suit is avocado green, which actually matching my green wash bag nicely – lol.
As needs must, I found a tienda licores around the corner and came away with a 6 pack of large cans and a bottle of water. On returning I found a little cockroach in the cupboard, oh the joys of tropical climates. I also had a fantastic video all with Anthea, she is threatening to stalk me – stalk baby stalk!
And on that note, it is time for bed.
27th December – Saturday
It’s been a strange day and I think I am, at this moment in the time, the happiest I have been all day. It didn’t start out badly and it hasn’t been a bad day, I’ve just been in a strange mood. Perhaps I got out of bed too early! Even though I had enough coffee left for one large cup, I had no food, so I was up and out at the supermarket by 10am. On returning I made myself eggs scrambled with sausage and tomato and had two mini croissants. The the owners sister / cleaner, Katherine, came and took the mattress away and flipped the base into a sofa – well happy. However, it took ages to explain what a duvet cover was too her, and if I could have one for the duvet. She just didn’t understand, even with G translate. But now I think about it, the covering may not be a duvet, but rather just a white semi quilted blanket. In the end she got me a black sheet to put on top, it will do. And I have just come back to find, at my request, that they put a shower head on the shower outlet. This morning it was like taking a shower under an overhead tap. Not the most pleasant or efficient way to shower.
It took ages to decide what to do this afternoon, even with the info the owner sent me I still felt at a loss. I think perhaps the sheer size of Cali has thrown me. I left the apartment with a rough plan: first the vintage car parade, which was only 4 blocks away, then Mall Plaza for the legacy festival, and finally/maybe Uribe Uribe Park for the alternative music festival. Walter, my conversation exchange partner, not that we do much chatting, and Katherine seemed to think the car parade was free but it wasn’t and I sulked outside for a little while and then checked out the route to Mall Plaza. It meant somehow crossing over to the other side of the parade route. Not knowing where I could do this I decided to go to Comune Alameda instead, a 40 minute walk away, which was supposed to be vibrant and lively, but all I could find were your bog standard shops. It turns out that Walter and Katherine were actually right. On route to Comune Alameda I found myself walking along the route of the parade to find, towards the end of it, a long section where you can view for free. I managed to catch the last dozen cars. But in my eyes they were not vintage, even though they did look old, because they were from the 70s and 80s!
Disappointed with Comune Alameda, I checked on my map and Uribe Uribe Park, which I think is actually Parque Simon Bolivar, was only another 45 minutes away. So off I went. FFS, that was a long walk. This time I wasn’t disappointed. The area outside of the arena was lit up with beautiful Christmas lights and there was even a fun fair which added to the magic of the area. I didn’t realise, but Iglesia Ermita was also here, and wow, it really is a stunning 18th century Neo-Gothic Roman Catholic church. The architectural detail was mind blowing, it must be one of the most beautiful churches I have seen out here.
I was a little disappointed to find out that the free music festival was in fact not free. I even walked the perimeter to see if there was another entrance, that was a total waste of time. So I paid to go in and security found my vape wanted to throw it in the bin. I was having none of it and turned around to leave when one of the ticket guys offered to look after it for me, he said he would be there until the end, 3am. Being so early the festival was more or less empty. I felt quite sorry for the artist that were performing to an empty field, it must be so disheartening to do so. I found a chair, bought some food and a couple of beers and chilled for a couple of hours. It was supposed to be alternative music but most of it was pop music, which I suppose is alternative to traditional Colombian music, but it wasn’t to my taste. By 9:30 I was beginning to feel chilly from not moving around, and even though a lot more people were arriving, and the bands seemed to be getting better, I decided to leave.
I found the guy with my vape and began the one hour trek back to my apartment. Uhm, I soon found myself walking through an area of Cali that I don’t think tourist are supposed to see – crack city. It was so heart breaking, it resembled the municipal dump, garbage like it was grass and filthy children playing it. The state
of the adults was beyond dire, skinny and wretched, but there was laughter and joy in the air and most greeted me with a wave and a smile. One guy was burning some rubbish to keep warm, it was filled with plastic and the air around him was putrid and poisonous. I then found myself walking down a dark street that was lined with junkies. I walked past three younger healthier looking guys that were not so friendly and one of them jumped up in a menacing fashion, for the first time I felt unsafe and I could feel my heart pounding, it was time to get an Uber. It came within 3 minutes and I was so relieved to be sitting in a safe seat knowing I would be back in my apartment in 10 minutes. The driver had some English and I explained what had happened, he said I was right to get an Uber and that I should have walked the other way, down the bigger road. But I am glad I went the way I did, it was very sobering and left me feeling very thankful for the life I have.
28th December – Sunday
I am exhausted and my calves and feet ache so much. After yesterday, and not really seeing anything of the festival I decided to chose and stick to one event today, the Cali Viejo, which is a parade that honours afro decent and indigenous traditions. It was being held on the South Express Way, 4 blocks from here, and wasn’t due to start until 4. So this morning I fraffed around, did my 10 minute exercise routine, shaved my legs and cooked tuna, egg and sweetcorn pasta. It was very bland as I don’t even have salt, let alone seasoning but the sauce and cheese I bought to go with it helped it go down without any trouble.
Having found the public viewing area for the parade yesterday, I decided to leave at 3pm and head straight there. It was all very strange because no one was hanging out there, everyone was walking towards the flyover and what I thought was the area you have to pay to get in. Being a sheep, I eventually followed them and found a fairly crowded public viewing area. I later found out that the ticket you can buy gets you entry to the stands and bridge over the fly-over. Well, I was quite happy with not paying. I bought a beer and strolled the length of the public areas. There was no place for me to squeeze in, which was disappointing as the railing was low here. So, I doubled back and found a spot by the tall railings. An older guy, Miguel, came and sat with me for a while and we had a little chat, but it started to get crowded and after a while he was pushed out of the way by this old lady and her family. I swear blind she was trying to move me on as well, she kept pushing her back into me and leaning hard against me, but I stood my ground, I was there first and if you think you can bully me to move you have another thing coming. And I had already given up my seat on a fence plinth to a lady with her toddler, who at one point kept trying to scale the fence (the baby, not her) and the had lots of fun throwing her shoes into the path of the parade.
The parade was really slow to start, with a good 5 minute or more wait between each group. It took a good hour before it fully got going, it was worth the wait. There were a few floats but it was mainly bands and people in costume walking. I cannot say it was spectacular, I suppose I have been spoilt with the Notting-hill carnival, but it was very good. Very colourful and vibrant and it certainly did honour afro decent and indigenous traditions. After 3 hours of standing and taking photos through the links in the fence I had enough, and the parade was drawing to a close anyway, I probably missed 3 or 4 groups. I wasn’t the only person who had given up by then and the massive crowd that had gathered behind me had dissipated. But don’t get me wrong, the place was still heaving.
I had a little roam around, dodged lot of spray foam and bought 3 small pork steaks and little jacket potatoes on a skewer (£2,50!), while the lady was grilling it two separate fights broke out and the police came rushing, I even had to move as everyone was rushing past me to get a good view of the 2 girls fighting. Although the area and music continue until 1 am I decided that it was a good time to head back, it’s not like I salsa anyway – lol.
29th Decemeber – Monday
I decided against doing any festival activities today. Instead I had a long list of things to do, including my TAX return, but only got a couple of things done, the TAX return not being one of them. The main thing that I did was go to the Monumento a la Resistencia, which is a community built monument commemorating civilians who died in Colombia’s national strike in 2021. The walk there was a bit dubious. At one point I had to cross a bridge and go down an alley that did not look safe. Then a junkie came up to me and started speaking in Spanish, I explained I only had limited Spanish but asked if the path was ok, he said yes and to follow him, so I did. It was safe but there were two old guys smoking crack, they were so out of it they couldn’t even reply to my greeting them. It is so sad, I think I have seen more crack heads and down and outs since being in Cali than I have the whole of Colombia. It reminds me of San Jose, Costa Rica.
The monument was a very colourful arm raising up from the ground. It was almost like it had been tattooed with images of those who had died and other images to represent the strike, which were national protests against increased taxes, corruption and healthcare reforms. The protests were met with violence from the government of President Ivan Dugue and many people lost their lives. Across the road from the monument was a sculpture of a large cooking pot over a fire with a spoon leaning against it. Again it is related to the strikes of 2021, and the right for people to be able to define their own food systems, free from corporate control. There are several other monuments relating to the strike in the area but I didn’t come any more.
My route back took me along the crack path. The junkie that I followed was there with one of the other guys and they both had huge smiles for me. My heart breaks for these people, they have fallen as far as they can go, for one reason or another life has not been kind to them. They don’t have my fear, they are too out of it to fear, they have my compassion. But yes, caution still needs to be taken and I am very conscious of this even though it may seem like I take a lot of risks.
While I was out Katherine was supposed to clean my room, but she hadn’t. I stayed in for a while and then went out again so she could do it. This time I went to an ATM and then on the way back I found a hair dressers and had my routes died, £20. To think the woman on Streatham high street wanted £45! The guy who did my hair was not very nice, he told the woman who washed it that my hair and scalp were bad. Well yes, I have neglected my hair recently but there is no need to be cutty about it. It was a young black woman who washed it and she didn’t hold back, she gave my scalp a good scrub and was very firm and forceful. It was divine, I could have laid there for hours letting her scrub and rinse. Unfortunately she did not rinse all the suds out and I had to give it a good rinse when I got back. My scalp and locks are now oiled and my head and hair feel awesome – it was long overdue.
I also bought some fruit, I haven’t been eating enough fruit and vegetables recently, this needs to change. And, much to the delight of my feet I bought 6 pairs of new socks. It was a must as, after my last laundry encounter, I was left with one matching pair and one odd pair. There seems to something weird going on this trip with my socks, I wonder how long these will last? All I need now are some new bras, I’m sick and tired of the post-op ones that I am still wearing and they are being to look old and tatty. Sometimes out with the old and in with the new is more than called for.
30th December – Tuesday
Errol has been on my mind so much, I go to bed thinking about him and praying. This morning I had the need to call him, I didn’t know his results were back today, I just had an urge. He has not got cancer – my heart is fill with joy. Obviously there is something wrong but it is not the big C. And it was fucking awesome to see the smile on his face. I have not seen that smile since before his daughter came back from holiday – God rest her soul. After my video call with Danie and Errol, I called Justine, Christmas has been hard for her, not only does she have a stonking cold, Hadley’s boyfriend’s dad committed suicide on boxing day. God knows what state his head must have been in but what a totally selfish act, Christmas will never be the same again for that family, let alone the recovery and never knowing why he did such a thing. Hadley was there when they found him in the front room, Justine said she is in a state, poor girl. Life can be harsh.
Today was the last day of the Cali festival, so I decided to go to the booths at Coliseo Maria Isabel Urrutia, which is 5 minutes walk from the monument I went to yesterday. I had read that the booths are a highlight of the festival with lots of family activities, food stalls and good wholesome salsa music, there was music but no family activities and no food stalls, I was a little disappointed at this. On route, and I found a route that bypassed the crack alley I went down yesterday, I passed three little girls selling bracelets they had made. Children across the world do this and it is so adorable. So I stopped and bought a purple bracelet for 1000 COPE (20 pence), but me being me, I gave them a 1000 each. They were so chuffed and their older brother who was overlooking their enterprise thanked me in English!
I got to the park too early, I am still in UK mode. At home if a party in a park is starting at 4pm, the park is full by 3pm. Not here. It was programmed to start at 4pm, I got there at 5pm and it was empty. So I sat outside of the arena area on one of the bike ramps for about an hour. People were tuning up, going in and then leaving again quite quickly, which didn’t give me much hope. I felt quite sorry for the bands that were playing, it must be a real sting in the tail to play to an empty audience. I could hear and enjoy the music from where I was sitting and after an hour I went across the road and bought a beer, once that was finished I went back and go another one and some food, just a chorizo sausage one a stick and an arepa, but it was delicious and well needed. Finally I made my way into the actual arena, bought another beer and found a comfortable spot on the grass to watch the bands from.
I can’t say that I am that keen on Colombian music and Colombian salsa music, but it was awesome to hear ‘real’ music, trumpets, trombones, bongos, flutes, saxophones and guitars, and I did find myself swinging and tapping my feet to the rhythm after a while. And it was awesome to people watch, the Colombians love their music and know all the words to the songs, and they
love to dance, even those that were extremely out of time and rhythm with the music were having so much fun, it was contagious, They really don’t hold back and I loved it. None of the self conscious bullshit that is in the UK, it really was a free for all and nobody seemed to care about how they looked or if their timing was out, they just got on and enjoyed themselves, it was beautiful to watch.
However, by 10pm I had enough, 5 hours in the park listening to Colombian music was my limit, so I left and rather than walk, knowing I’d come across many crack heads on route, I called am Uber. The Uber drivers in Cali are a little stale, I tried to make conversation with him but he was having non of it, this is becoming the norm here, unlike most of the other countries I have been in, so he only got a small tip – lol.
1st January – Thursday
Happy New Year!
Yesterday I did my TAX return – YAY! But today I realised I left off £77 interest from my personal account. I will amend it tomorrow. Even so I will still be below the threshold so have no TAX to pay this year. Now that’s a happy first!
After that, not so painful ordeal, and a lovely chat to Justine on video call, I went for a wee walk and bought a cake. I then saw some rather delicious rotisserie chicken and chorizo sausages that I could not resist, and the shop assistant threw in 2 free small baked potatoes. I then added fruit and beer to my purchases before heading back to the apartment. The plan was to make chicken and sweetcorn pasta but I had a naughty nibble of the chicken and that was it. Half of it, with the larger spud, covered in butter, were sitting on a plate in front of me. I could only manage half the cake for pudding, but did finish it off later.
I found it quite hard to stay up after seeing in the UK new year with Jules Holland, Colombia still had 6 hours to go. I am not sure how I managed it, but I did. Although saying that the fireworks started randomly at about 10:30, so I doubt I would have slept anyway. By 11:45 the fireworks were quite mad, I heading onto the balcony just in time to witness the eruption at midnight, and did it erupt. It sounded like crackers going off in every garden and the sky was lit up and I would have really had a great view if it wasn’t for all of the trees. However, I did get two see two good displays that exploded high up which was decent enough for me. I was happy to retreat to my bed and watch videos for the next 45 minutes, which was how long it took for the fireworks to die down to a decent enough level to sleep. They were still going off, in the distance, at 5am!
I am so glad I went shopping yesterday. However, I hadn’t bought enough beers. I also needed a printer shop to do my boarding passes for tomorrow, so this afternoon I set out on a mission and was totally taken aback at how quiet it was out there. Virtually every shop was shut. I came across one open drug store, the shop I bought beer in and a street corner where they selling street food with a few restaurants open. It was more dead than Christmas day in Medellín was. What was nice was that I saw a lot of families out on the streets doing BBQs and / or having little parties and music was blasting out of every other street. I also passed the stadium where the festivals ‘Old Vynal Lovers Meeting’ was held. They were taking down the scaffolding from a humongous stage. I should have gone there on the last evening, it was probably far more packed than the Booth I went too and I would have been able to walk home safely after as well. Oh well, I have learnt a lot from this festival and, if I come again…..
This evening I watched a Hitchcock film, Strangers on a Train, and made the chicken pasta, of which I saved half to take with me for lunch tomorrow. I also prepped my fruit to take for breakfast and more or less packed. I have to get up at 4:30 am and call an Uber by 5:20 so the less I have to do in the morning the better.