Day 252 - 263: Dancing in Cali
Well, I have stayed longer than expected in Cali. Not because I particularly like the city itself but I fell into a nice rhythm at the hostel.
The hostel is part dance school, part social hub. The three floors feature a cool co-working area, comfy as fuck hammocks overlooking the city, breakout spaces with cozy couches, a lively kitchen plus 2 main dance areas for taking classes or lessons. I was in a 4 bed dorm, but had it to myself for most of my stay.
I contacted the Colombian Go Association who put me in contact with a Go player in Cali. As luck would have it, there were some big student protests meaning this university student Go player had the week free, so we ended up meeting almost daily for a week. He is a 3 Dan so a little stronger than me. We got some great games in. I even managed to win one game (out of 6).
Most days here followed a similar rhythm. Sleep in, take some private salsa classes around 1pm, play Go for a few hours, take group dance classes at 7pm, before going to a dance club in the night to get some real life practice in. Rinse and repeat.
Of course there are many variations to this. One day I went on a Salsa history walking tour of Cali. Cali has its own style of Salsa called Salsa Caleña, which is very distinct from LA/Linear or Cuban styles. It was born from the melding of three cultures, African slaves, Spanish settlers, and local Indigenous populations, each bringing their own instruments, rhythms, and dances. The African influence gave Salsa Caleña instruments like congas, bongos, cowbells and timbales. The Spanish brought guitars, brass, piano and of course the language. The Indigenous rhythms and instruments like the Guacharaca added a unique texture to the mix. The result is fast paced, vibrant music, with a matching fast footwork dance style.
However, I opted to learn the linear/LA salsa style due to its portability as Salsa Caleña is only really danced in Cali.
Salsa feels very alive here. During the pandemic, the government tried to implement lockdowns. However, they crossed a red line when they shut down the Salsa clubs. So in protest the caleños (people from Cali) took to the streets en masse with their cowbells, their Guacharaca and their dancing shoes and just danced. The government tried to shut this down but only made it more popular. Even now every Friday and Saturday everyone takes to the streets to dance. This is now known as La Calle de Sabor.
So I found myself in the middle of these streets on a Friday night. The streets were full of people, shoulder to shoulder for a good 4 blocks. Myself and some newfound hostel buddies made friends with some older locals there. They had brought their cowbells and their maracas and it was cool to try them out. They look easy to play but I failed miserably. They also brought some local hard liquor called “fire water” and wouldn’t stop feeding us shots…
When the street party ended, and while waiting for an Uber I decided to grab a drink to quench my thirst. I wasn’t expecting to learn a lesson but a lesson I learned. There was a bakery type place just behind me. I asked for a Coke and the guy looked confused and apologized. I pointed to the fridge full of them behind him. Realization dawns across his face and he tells me that I am in Colombia now and that I need to say coca-cola if I want a drink. My hostel buddies were all doubled over laughing at this point.
The people at the hostel made the stay. There was one Argentine guy that has been traveling South America for more than 2 years. He left with zero money and just a bag full of different colored thread. He makes money by making and selling bracelets in the streets of the cities he travels through. I bought one. He has amazing stories and gave me some good advice for Argentina, and even offered a place to stay in Buenos Aires.
I also met many people from Germany, France, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Israel, China, England and even someone from my home town in Ireland!
I probably need to write something about La Topa. La Topa is a famous Salsa club in Cali. The dancers here are incredible. I should mention that Salsa clubs are not like clubs back home. There is very little drinking happening. Most people are not drinking. The clubs are just a place to dance. But La Topa in particular is full of incredible dancers. Wednesday is the night that the professionals and dance teachers go. My salsa skills are mostly composed of badly counting to 7. So to say I have never felt such massive amounts of performance anxiety before is an understatement! But very fun nonetheless.
Another evening, the hostel gang went to La Topa for a live salsa event with some of the “salsa greats” performing. We didn’t have tickets as we didn’t know it was a ticketed event. But people traveled from all over the country for this event because of the people playing. So we just waited outside hoping they would let us in after some time. Eventually some local chancer smuggled us in. He got 3 wristbands from people inside and gave them to us. We tried to wrap them around our wrists without them looking like they were already torn off. Having been smuggled inside, we paid him full price. He then asked for the bands back. Can only imagine he was going to repeat the process with another group waiting outside. Cheeky fucker. The live salsa music was really great, though I feel like I didn’t have the musical ear to fully appreciate what I was witnessing.
I think I mentioned before that I lost my Yellow Fever vaccine card. This hasn’t been a problem before now. But apparently Ecuador has, in the last few days, become really strict in enforcing this at the border due to a spike in cases. I would prefer not to get double vaccinated just to get this piece of paper, so I contacted my vaccine center back home who agreed to send me a new cert. I picked a random post office 500 kms or so south of me where I hope I can collect it. Fingers crossed…
So that has been my time in Cali. No bike stuff in this entry… Sorry. I have already extended my stay here a few times. But I think it is time to continue south.
