Hotel Ms Castellana Cali

... Next order of business - swimming. We were all dropped off at the Rio Cali, the local watering hole for some, semi-clean-water fun. Evan got some help from a few locals and climbed up to the top of a boulder to jump off - he was obviously feeling better.

That night was a hostel hang out with rum and cokes all around and spanglish "Pantomime" which is charades, but with only one word. Two of the most memorable were Fluffer and Facebook - no ...

... brains. I'm looking at the distances we've done over the past few days and they look pathetic. We could have gone from Espinal to Cajamaca but we thought it would be cold, so we put off the inevitable yet another day. It turned out to be quite warm.

The last few days have been pretty amazing for wildlife, probably due to the amount of water lying around. There have been lots of butterflies, however, the one that is most prolific and ...

... Lagerfeuer, Sternenhimmel, was will man denn sonst noch...?! Das nenn ich einen gelungenen Ausklang für einen Geburtstag in Kolumbien! Nach unserer Rückkehr in die Zivilisation haben wir noch ein paar schöne Tage in Cali verbracht. Wir waren an der Uni Valle, wo Alex Musik studiert hat und nun noch einen Abschluss in Literatur macht. Auch an dieser Uni gibt es viele Probleme und die Studienbedingungen sind sehr schwierig ...

... not what we had expected. We hoped that things would pick up as time went on, but as 11pm, 12am, and 1am passed, things did not improve. We tried to make the most of the night with a bit of salsa dancing in a bar, but the momentum was spoiled slightly by the random jumping between salsa, electro, slow dance, then back to salsa. My advice to people coming to Colombia: if you want a party, head for Medellin. Next destination: probably Popoyan, Colombia.

Arrived in Cali , Colombia´s third major city and famous for being totally mad about salsa dancing aswell as notorious in the 1980´s - 90´s as the home of Colombia´s second major drugs cartel. Most travellers I´ve spoken to along the way have been less than enthusiastic about Cali and indeed having walked around the city I find myself in agreement , it´s really not a particularly compelling place to visit ... there´s very little in the way of sights and it´s mostly a rather ...

... bit too much reggaeton for our taste... Once out of there, we went to a nice bare called Orange, where I got the best vanilla milk-shake since I can remember.... :o) Tired but happy, we got to the appartment. With Tavinho we had planned to wake up early in the morning in order to visit the Park of Coffee (Parque del Cafe, in "Eje Cafetero", an area of coffee plantations), a place he also wanted to visit (but I am sure, he was thinking that in ...

... horse back matador, some fella's riding heavily protected horses and finally the horses that drag the bulls body out of the arena. The first bullfight was an absolute nightmare and I was so close to walking out. The guy just couldn't kill the bull (he was a beginner) and people started booing him with frustration and maybe sympathy for the bull. Thankfully things got better. The build up to a fight is as follows; bull is let loose in the arena, fellas on padded horses and secondary ...

... once, and even though it was clean, there was no seat cover and you were handed a certain amount of toilet paper to use. Oh yea and it cost 400 pesos, not much but yes you pay. If you go to a restaurant to use the bathroom you pay too unless you are a customer. The water pressure in the showers isn't as strong either. And when you flush the toilet it's even worse for the sink and shower. Internet and Phones: There is an ...

... and drinking alot of expensive whiskey. Since I had such good fortune I tried to buy drinks for our gang but booze was free anyway! After the casino Bernardo and his girlfriend Viviana took me out to salsa dance and meet their friends. Of course they were all ridiculously nice and keen to practice their English. Later that week I managed ...

... of staying in after such a long day, i went out to a salsa club called tin tin deo with wilma and both my salsa teachers....by the time we got back it was 2:30am and i was totally exhausted (bearing in mind that i went out to a salsa club with my teacher the night before last and then i also went to a club with some people from the hostel last night!!!). out three nights in a row...i think it will be a day of rest tomorrow for sure.