Hot, Hot, Hot

Everything about Cali, Colombia is hot; the sun scorches, the dance floor sizzles and the women are on fire. The rumors are true. The women in Cali may just be the most beautiful and the salsa dancing is an obsession as is the plastic surgery. Despite lacking the obvious, a pair of heels, just one left foot, and a dress that barely covers my ass, I hit the salsa clubs anyway.

The first club, Tin Tin Deo was packed with salsa experts. I felt a little out of place since I arrived alone and everyone else had come with a partner. But after befriending a local woman who salsa'd with me on the dance floor to show me the basics again, guy after guy asked me to dance. They could see that I obviously sucked at salsa, but yet they still asked me to dance. They twirled me in every which direction and back again. I believe that you can be the worst dancer out there, but if you are with a guy who really knows how to salsa, then it doesn't matter. After awhile, I finally ran into the couch surfing group I was suppose to meet, but I only had an hour left to dance with them. Unfortunately, the clubs in Cali city proper close at 2am. And so to truly dance the night away, you have to go about 20 min outside of Cali to the clubs that close at 6am. So that's what I did the next night.
The next night, I partnered with Julia from NY and Lady, that's really her name, from Colombia and we went clubbing in the Menga district to TiTiFeRu. Apparently, it's best to go to these clubs in a large group with an equal number of men and women because the women get jealous if their guys dance with other women. Despite this, we chose a ladies night out. TiTiFeRu is where the beautiful congregate although after awhile, they all kind of looked the same; tall, skinny, long straight hair, lots of cleavage, and perfect smiles. I think if I had come with guys, they would have spent the whole night gawking. Instead, Lady, Julia and I just danced the night away to the rhythms of Merengue, Regatone and Salsa.

On another night, I joined up with a local guy from Couch surfing and we went to watch a dance show. The dancers really wowed me with their flexibility, creativity and high energy. At one point, 2 guys bent this woman's back in the air til she almost folded in half and I literally thought they were going to break her. Seeing the cultural side of countries is my favorite part.


Before the dancing, I checked out the local bars and cafes. I especially like this bar full of kitsch stuff with each room decorated in its own artsy theme. And on another night, I dragged some tourists out to a bar with a 9 piece live salsa band.

Other than the night activities, the day activities are rather boring. There's not a lot going on in Cali by day. Their zoo is rather impressive and I especially liked these strange creatures that look like shrunken head idols. I never did find their nametag and so I'm still unsure what they are. The zoo even had a Bengal tiger whose paws are as big as my head.
When not visiting live animals, I visited the cat statues in the cat park. I petted a couple but none of them purred. I walked around the city, visited the museums and received a facial. I could have received a full body sculpture for less than $1000 with every piece of cellulite drained from my body, but figured the facial was good enough.