Colombia: San Augustin & Cali
After ten days in paradise on the Galápagos Islands, it was time to head back to city life. And so began my long journey towards my first Colombian destination, San Augustin. After two consecutive days of very long and windy bus rides (and an entire kilo of Gravol), I arrived at Casa de Nelly, my home for the next few days. Set atop a hill in a beautiful finca (farm), with a garden and fresh exotic fruit from their very own trees, not to mention hammocks galore, this place was my new paradise. I quickly made friends with the hostel’s two managers, Harry and Gustavo, and my pre-planned two-day stay turned into five.[spacer size=”20″]
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The only problem with a place this beautiful is that the temptation to do nothing but drink beer, smoke some of the land’s goods and listen to Marley while swinging in a hammock are very high (no pun intended). After indulging in a little R&R, my new hostel mates and I set out to see the sights. San Augustin’s main attractions are the hundreds of monumental statues that decorate the countryside – the remains of a now disappeared tribe. You can opt to walk the different archeological sites, or take the more popular option and do it by horse, which was my original plan. I had, however, overlooked one minor detail – I had arrived smack in the middle of Semana Santa (Holy Week), which is an entire week of holidays for Easter in the Latin world. With the hundreds of families flocking into the city, getting in to see the monuments was quite the ordeal, and getting a horse was impossible. After two attempts we made it in (by foot), and it was very worth it. While the monuments were interesting, I was completely taken by the traditional Colombian band that was playing live music at a little bar near the very top of the mountains. Listening to these guys play, with a fresh sugar came drink and a view of San Augustin’s green rolling hills as a backdrop was by far the highlight of my day. Despite the madness of Semana Santa and the crowds at every corner, it was nice to see families spending time together and the Colombian Easter traditions. It was also so nice to have found a family away from home at Casa de Nelly for the Easter holidays, and that night we made a home-cooked meal while The Passion of the Christ played somewhat ironically on the television. Harry and Gustavo run the hostel like their home, and as a result the atmosphere is exactly that – homey.
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[spacer size=”20″] I particularly enjoyed learning about Colombia’s violent and fascinating history during an afternoon chat with Harry, something I think every traveler should take the time to do when traveling in a new country. Harry encouraged me to visit a few places off the beaten track to see how most Colombians really live instead of sticking to the pretty, tourist destinations. I plan on taking his advice.
[spacer size=”20″] While San Augustin was the perfect relaxation spot after a few days of non-stop travel, my inner salsa goddess was aching for a fix. Early the next day, my new French travel partner and I packed our bags and headed to Cali; salsa capital of the world! It’s hard for me to really say much about Cali. I was warned so many times about the crime; one time by a local who crossed the street in a panic to tell my friend to put her camera away. As a result, I was constantly on alert and a little less adventurous. There also really isn’t that much to do, unless you are into salsa. With the help of the lovely hostel owners at Maison de Violette, we hired a private salsa instructor ($7 an hour each) and danced our mornings away at home, and our nights in one of Cali’s many salsa clubs. Words cannot describe how much joy salsa brings me, and dancing in Cali is incomparable to any Latin nightclub in North America. The music is incredible, the dance floors are immense (usually partially outside so you can dance under the stars with a summer’s breeze blowing through your hair – very sexy!) and there is always a papi that wants to dance with you, mami! It is also very common to see some of Cali’s finest salsa school students whipping each other around the dance floor at speeds that do not appear to be humanly possible. If I could have stayed and enrolled in one of these schools (if they had a two-left-feet gringa division), I would have, but somehow I know this won’t be my last time in Cali. I’ll just have to find a papi in Canada to teach me some new moves, maybe next time I’ll be the one being whipped around the dance floor![spacer size=”20″]
[note color=”#91fdfb”]Side note: for any readers out there who thought I was a total moron for not getting immunized before leaving on this trip, you’re not the only ones! I met a Brazilian doctor in Ecuador who told me I was crazy to not have the yellow fever vaccine and strongly encouraged malaria prophylaxis. With tears in my eyes (I’m TERRIFIED of needles) I walked to the nearest hospital and asked for the vaccine, and to my surprise it was FREE! I met an American doctor the next week who hooked me up with doxycycline for malaria prevention, and after a tetanus scare last week I found out I was vaccinated pretty recently, so I’m all covered[/note][spacer size=”20″]
