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Published: September 21st 2012
Cali, one the place I had been dreaming of going to for years…not so much for the city in itself but for its salsa culture that shapes every beat of it and when it comes to Salsa, well, Cali is the most famous city in the world ! Over 100 salsa schools in Cali, 800 places where you can party and every single salsa world champion prize going to Cali, this is THE place if you want to discover or work on your salsa steps and party Cali style. Saturday, finally arrived in Cali after a
four hours bus ride from Armenia. As I walk out of the bus and make my way to the taxi station, I can’t help but notice how busy the place is and how literally everyone is looking at me. Well Cali is not exactly the usual tourist destination while in Colombia, most travelers starting in Bogota and from there making their way north through Medellin before spending time on the Caribbean coast.
After a short taxi ride with a driver that must have been how too happy to pick up a foreigner (as in, he tried to rip me
Street scene
Cali, Colombiaoff big time…) and quite a bit of an argument when arrived at destination but an happy ending as the girl of the hostel came out to give me a hand, I could finally settle in, chill out a little before heading for my
first night out in Cali, Saturday night simply no choice! Partying onboard of a “Chiva” bus…great way to explore the city while partying!
Walking down along one of Cali main party street (Avenida sexta) with a fellow female traveler who was in a similar party mood
is quite an introduction to Cali. Plenty of bars and clubs are lined up on both sides of the street, all of them playing salsa music (and yes only salsa!), and as we walk by I literally lost count of the number of times we declined the “free drink for lady” offered by the staff stationed at the entrance of each place. Not sure whether this was just because we were two foreigners (and at this stage didn’t see any others), but surely quite welcoming!
Still slowly making our way down the street, when we were once more approached but this time
by a large group of Colombians and Latino Americans and offered to join their party in the Chiva.
Now, I didn’t have my camera with me, but picture a
colorful bus with a roof rack & no windows, the type that you would normally find in very isolated or poor area, transformed into a party bus and when it comes to party in Colombia, it involves
lots of dancing (so they got rid of the seats), a
good sound system (still hoping not to become deaf by the end of my journey around Colombia), and colombian style drinks (full supply onboard). Most of the group was actually living in the US but would come once a year to play some football with a local team and assist kids in impoverished neighborhood, already like their approach! So here we were, dancing, chatting and dancing even more while going around the city when the sound system broke down…
The driver and his assistant tried again and again to fix the sound system, without much success, so they offered to drive back to the club that rent these chivas and see what could be done there.
Well, there
A great one
"A real friend would not let you drive when drunk"
Cali, Colombia was no chiva left so instead we settled on the terrace of the club, at least there was music, and somehow the dancing party mood was back on! After a full night of dancing & laughing, time to head back and as we were about to leave, a chiva with fully working sound system came in…well, seems that we were on for some more dancing !
Cali by night at the sound of salsa music is quite something…and definitely the best ride back to the hostel! Exploring the city of Cali - daytime!
Now
Cali isn’t quite the usual touristic type of place, it is busy with little “touristic spots” to visit as such, it is a place you would normally either pass through on your way from or to somewhere else or live in, except if you are coming for the Salsa...
As for me, I was there to learn Calena basics (Salsa from Cali) but as I was spending a whole week there I might as well explore the town too. The first impression of the city, during day time, was definitely not the greatest. It is dusty, hot, with people
Street scene
Cali, Colombia looking busy, definitely not as easy to navigate as for instance Bogota and where there is clearly a lot of urban poverty with people young and old sleeping in the street.
A bit like a magnet, this industrial city has attracted people from all around, but life is definitely not easy for everyone. Colombia
drastic gap between the richest and the poorest is depicted at every corner there and you definitely have to watch out when walking around.
And then people either from Cali or leaving there,
have slowly but surely made me see the other face of Cali. It is well hidden and it takes time to scratch the surface and dig a bit dipper to actually enjoy spending time there but so worth it !
Its people are the one who give beauty to this dusty bustling city and through daily life there going through normal day to day chores similar to the one you would do back home (grocery shopping, market, coffee break…etc) I actually started to enjoy the place to the extend where I hope to spend more time there in the future.
The Colombian staff of the
Street scene
Cali, Colombia hostel where I was staying (The Pelican House), a few fellow travelers who are living in Cali and my salsa teacher are the one I got to thank for that…without them, I would never have learn so many things about Cali, their life there, the streets filled with street vendors and Cali fantastic local nightlife…
So what do you do in Cali when you feel like walking around during day time… • you go and try every single
exotic fruitssalads sold by street vendors, seat on a bench in one of the park or square and do some people watching while enjoying your vitamin break
• you go for some
massive shopping, the calle 12 and the area around it looks like an open air market with lots of shops selling everything from shoes, to clothes to DVDs, with pretty much everything turning around Salsa…got a full stock of Salsa outfits and music, that one is done!
• You end up
chatting with police man, who always end up spotting you before you spot them and then would approach with a smile, offering to help and then warning you to be careful…I stopped counting the number of times
Fruit sellers
Cali, Colombia where they would keep an eye on me while I was taking a few pictures, gave up on using my not so discreet Canon there but still managed to get a few pictures with my compact.
• You stop by for some
snacks or a meal, and then end up
chatting with the people from the café, who always looked a bit surprise when I told them I was on vacation (most of them either think I was studying in Cali or a dancer…mmm…)
• You explore super market and
have a feast of avocados, mangos, melons and lulus afterwards
• You
catch every opportunity you got to speak Spanish, people there have an accent which is somehow easy to understand so you go for it and soon enough you feel like you are making progress, feels good !
Salsa time, discovering the intensity and complexity of the Salsa from Cali
Locals are proud of the Calena, the salsa danced in Cali, and for a very good reason!
It takes your breath away! It is like nothing else I had seen so far in salsa, intense, with the beats clearly indicated by the feet and there everything is in the
steps!
Quite technical,
extremely fast to the extent where I used to joke with my private teacher saying that this was sport not dance.
On my first lesson, Andres shown me the list of basic steps, and well I was glad I had signed up for an intensive one week course, as the bullet point list was one page long, font size 12 !
And so it was for one week, every morning while most people would be slowly waking up, salsa calena music was on in the outdoor patio and I would go through my first one hour and half class of the day, alternating between coffee and bottle of water as Cali hot and humid weather was progressively coming in.
Andres was a fantastic teacher, and within days, I could feel that I was slowly mastering the basics while
always having fun, and when it comes to dancing, as far as I am concern, that is the most important and the one thing that will make you want to learn more!
The afternoon lesson was a bit tougher, thirty plus degrees and within the hour plus of the lesson, a full 1.5L
of water would be emptied!
As the days went by, the classes were becoming more and more complex, linking basics steps together,
alternating tiny steps & legs swing, “puntas” (point of the toes), sliding, show figures and just so many more following the rhythmic of Son de Cali, Niche and Guayacan.
The “Cintura” (waist) would naturally follow the legs, adding
“suave” (smoothness) while the arms while facing your partner would keep a strong & firm grip on the one of the partner, the only way to keep the balance while stringing together fast steps.
As incredible as it might sound, when dancing salsa calena it is not just the legs muscle that you develop but every single part of your body and as far as cardio goes the fast rhythmic does the job!
Still in love with the salsa cubana but guess that now that I have tasted to the salsa from Cali I might get bored on the dance floor back home…arhh cannot wait for the Calena to be taught more widely in Europe !
Thursday night, Cali is waking out, time to put in practice the Salsa Calena
More dancing
Cafe mi Tierra, Menga Technically speaking
you could go out pretty much every night in Cali, but the best nights are the Thursdays and Saturdays. Andres offered to take me out to some of his favorite salsa clubs in Cali to put in practice the Calena steps he had taught me and we were quickly joined by Vanessa from the hostel and Pietro.
First part of the night was spent at the
Tintindeo (calle 5/ 38-71), which is
one of the most famous salsa club in Cali. The place is quite large with wall covered with posters of famous salsa singers, fans full on and the two dance floors packed with dancers. Lots of professional dancers both locals and foreigners go out there and you have just as much fun dancing as you have watching them dancing. Before we knew it, it was 2am, time at which all the clubs close in Cali during week days.
Vanessa with her energy didn’t have to insist to convince us to continue the night in
Menga, the municipality next to Cali where bars and clubs don’t close before dawn. A short taxi ride away and we were in Café mi tierra,
Street scene
Cali, Colombia one of the main super club with a gigantic outdoor terrace and dance floor. There, the music was a mix of Salsa, pacific coast dance and other latin rhythmic with time to time a bit of electro music for the non latin music fan.
4am time to head back home, luckily the next day the salsa class is not until 5pm, taking the morning off !
Traveler tips: • Accommodation: Pelican House, located next to the sexta, private rooms for 28’000 COP/ night & warm welcome
• Transportation: from the bus station, taxi should not cost more than 5000 COP during day, 7’000 at night.
• Going out: San Antonio for a starter and then Tintindeo (Thursdays), calle sexta (week end) for a ride in Chiva, and for late clubbers Menga when clubs close in Cali (2am during week days and 3am during week end)
• Salsa classes: lots of dance schools in Cali but not always easy to secure classes in one of the main one, your best bet (will save you time and money) a private teacher! If you need one, let me know and I will share Andres contact details
• Music: for the
Public writers
Cali, Colombia salsa music lover, look out for Guayacan, grupo Niche and Son de Cali!
As the Grupo Niche emblematically sing in the famous Cali Pachanguero (extract of the lyrics bellow with their translation to english)
Barranquilla puerto de oro
Paris la ciudad luz
Nueva York capital del mundo
del cielo Cali la sucursal.
...
A millas siento tu aroma
cualquiera justo razona
que Cali es Cali senoras, senores
lo demas es loma”
Barranquilla a golden port
Paris the city of light
New York the capital of the world
Cali the branch of heaven
...
I sense your aroma miles away
it is reasonable to think
that Cali is Cali, ladies and gentlemen
everything else is just a hill”
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Is dancing with the stars in your future?
Wish we had video of your dance lessons. And...glad to hear your language skills improved also. Happy travels.