Cali Reports

[Luis The Great]

Plane tickets have been bought. I will be in Cali for the feria. If anybody wants to get together for some activities let me know. I will be with family some times but will be on hunting trips for some calienas.

[Fido Dido]

"wet nose"

i think cali is just like any other city in south america. take your precautions.
two "incidents" i did have in cali:
1) during my lunch in a restaurant in the centre near torre de cali i heard gunshots. before hiding in the kitchen of the restautant i saw a motor cop shooting at a car speeding away. he was aiming to hit. strange was that all trafic in the street just drove on. few minutes after the shooting everything was back to normal.
2) in one place with chicas there were a bunch of loud and badlooking colombians (males). suddenly comes in a guy telling that the police is coming in. in a second everybody disappeared through an alternate exit. kind of panic. after the police went away the guys who disappeared came back. and they took out the guns they had hidden under the seats of the chairs. i went away. don't like the combination of guns, liqor, chicas and shouting at each other.

[Wet Nose]

Hey there, just read from another source that muggings are getting horrifically violent in Cali.

They don't even wait for the victim to run or struggle. Robbers are just going up to their target, shooting them then taking everything off the corpse. So far, there have been over 600 deaths reported from violent muggings.

And no, it's not gang-on-gang violence. Can anyone confirm/deny this information?

[Surfer]

I, too, am in a great mood as I leave for Saigon in 48 hours!

Good post MM (though I do not know that Hostal or Rigo).

You omit one of my favorite places to eat in Cali, Karen's Pizza (several branches but my regular one is next to Blockbuster Video on the Sexta). Very good pizzas, but I always have the lasagne with garlic bread (and a limonade).

Also, Bancolombia ATMs allow 400K withdrawals and are the best, but last couple trips my cards won't work there for some reason so I am limited to 300K per withdrawal. ):

[Regulr Travlr]

My wingman, Spidermonkey, and I have Colombia as our next target. Your summary report is very helpful and is going in my pre trip planning file.

Your comment on money is important. This is something that should be included in reports. I had a section on money in my after action report for Panama.

Starting up my Spanish right after the holidays to get ready.

Travlr

[Master Monger]

Hey Guys,

I am in a great mood because I am starting my next adventure in 36 hours so instead of telling you to RTFF I will tell you again some awesome tips for newbies! :-)

EXCELLENT TIPS:

HOTELS

My recommendation is to stay 2 or 3 days at www.calihotel.com it is the Hostal San Fernando. Why, well Rigo is an excellent contact to have in Cali and he is the owner and spending $100 on his hotel to make his friendship is the most intelligent $100 you will ever spend. Also there are ALWAYS mongers staying at his hotel so you can make a friend and a wingman to help you explore the city. Rigo can also always help you with any question or anything you need, also he can probably hook you up with a cellphone. Once you have your bearings then I too would recommend the place Surfer recommended "Torre de Cali" it is WAY better than IC.


AVE SEXTA

The girls are in between Olympica Grocery and the clubs that start off on the most North part of Ave. 6. The best time for trolling is after 9pm up until 3am MAX. AT around 9-10pm there is about 15 girls total on the weekdays and about 40 on Friday and Saturday. The younger and hotter ones hang closer to the clubs on Ave 6, and the black ones hang out real close to Studio 54.
Any girls you see on other streets are umm...not girls!

DONT BRING CASH TO COLOMBIA

I wish the regular Colombia posters would have posted this more often. Use you ATM card because the government charges 16% I.V.A. tax to exchange dollars for pesos where if you use your card you will only pay the ATM fee.

Great restaurants in Cali:

Lenos & Carbon in every major Mall - GREAT MEAT for about $7 a person

Crepes & Waffles - Everywhere in Cali and good - about $6 or $7 a person

La Papa on Ave. 6 around 20 next to Karens Pizza - about $6-$7 a person

Noche Del Rio on Ave 4 Oeste #01-109 Barrio Granada about $8 a person

Cali Viejo - Any taxi driver knows - About $10 a person

Maki - I know this sounds crazy but, GREAT SUSHI and it is located two blocks east of the Parque Del Penon in the north, but it costs at least $15 a person.

Tezones - Ave 8 Norte #29 on the corner - Awesome but about $15 a person

Tutti Sappori - Two places down from Tezones - ITALIAN - $15 a person



Colombia is Great, Have Fun and Good Luck!

Master Monger

[Surfer]

You don't want to look too much like you are on business, but just VERY nice slacks, long sleeved shirt, belt etc.; also, don't worry about cool clothing as most clubs have good AC. They are very into shoes too (antifreeze always lectures me about not wearing my sandals in Cali, but I am rarely looking for new girls in Cali as I already have more than I can handle so I wear my flipflops anyway).

[Thunderthrust]

Thanks v much for that Surfer. Much appreciated. I looked a bit further back and found some helpful posts from you, Ricker and Slick1 amongst others. Cant wait to get there now. Bearing in mind what you say about clothes, I ll probably take a couple of suits now. If anybody is interested in going out on the sniff for some non pro action then feel free to give me a shout. I m 33 and like nothing better than going out for a few cold ones and putting my tackle out there to see what bites. I dare say I would muddle through on my own but its always good to have a similarly minded wing man. I ll be there from mid Jan for a couple of weeks.

Cheers

[Surfer]

You can dress more casual but will definitely attract more attention if you look upscale in your dress. Avoid jewelry (so as to not to attract unwanted atention). Later is better in Cali. If your Spanishg is good, try the disco in Torre de cali (particularly convenient if you stay there) Hint.

[Thunderthrust]

Cheers Chacha and Surfer,

I was quoted 82 US$ a night for the Intercontinental and having heard good things about it, thought that was reasonable but I will check out your other suggestions.
Have got a few more Q s if anyone can be arsed answering them. I ve looked through the last 30 pages or so but cant find the answers.

What tme do things start happening in la sexta? Are there any bars in particular I should concentrate on? I assume getting a taxi on the street at the end of the night will be no problem? As far as the dress code is concerned do you reckon that I ll be OK with smart T shirt and jeans with no jewellery?

Thanks guys

[Cachaca Lover]

The Intercontiental is girl friendly insofar as it allows you to bring a guest to your room, but they will add an extra charge on to the bill for the additional occupancy. Never had a probelm there.

[Surfer]

well, maybe Aguasblancas or Mojica (slums) are worse.

Not sure why you choose thatHotel (yes I believe it is guest friendly, though the closest I have been is the Italian Restaurant out frront) unless you are going on a marriage agency trip.

If you want to spend that kind of money, the Sofitel, Sheraton and Dann are all WAY better. I like the Torre de Cali and Plaza Versailles better too, but they are cheaper than IC.

Thursday night is happening. Go hit the bars on Avenida Sexta or the Casa de Cerveza. ATMs are the way to go BUT withdrawal limit varies from bank to bank. Bancolombia is best as it gives 400K per withdrawal (most others have 300K limit). NEVER use 200K ATMs (RIPOFF!)

You are going at a great time as the festival is going to be in full swing.

[Thunderthrust]

Can anyone tell me if the Intercontinental is girlfriendly(pros and nonpros alike)? I have booked a double room.

Also, is there any problem with withdrawing money from ATM s using UK debit and credit cards in Cali? Have been to Rio before and very few ATM s did the business.
Finally, I will be arriving on A Thursday night at about 9pm. I fancy going straight out beaver hunting. Can anyone recommend anywhere good near the hotel. Preferrably non pro action but semi pro or pro will do if need be.

Any info will be much appreciated. Thanks

[Travel Fun]

My trip to Cali showed the value of research – in this case I forgot to bring my research results, and it really set me back. I was reduced to using the newspaper ads, and many of the ads were not fruitful.

First, Cali seemed fairly welcoming to me as a tourist. The people were friendly and helpful, and most were interested to just chat with a North American. There are fewer guards than in Costa Rica, and I took that as a good sign.

The local paper has about 40 ads for various houses, nightclubs and private parties. I checked out almost every single house advertising, and more than half of them were not at the address listed. This went for several houses that have appeared in these forums.

When I’m traveling by myself I don’t ever go into a house I haven’t checked out in the daytime, just to give myself a little bit of extra security. So I was very disappointed at the number of houses that were simply empty shells, with signs for sale or for rent on them. I didn’t call the numbers in the ads, and that might have saved me from some wasted investigations, but if the ad is running today, and the house address has obviously been empty for weeks – I don’t think about calling the number. My paranoia I guess.

Eventually I found a couple places that were open, but the only place I actually went in was south and east of the Guayaquil neighborhood, a borderline security risk. But the house was very friendly, the ladies were sweet, and the prices were downright inexpensive. The address is Calle 13A #17-32. This house actually has two ads in the same paper.

Price asked for a massage with happy ending was COP 12,000, or 16,000 for two women, which they for some reason were really trying to get me to go for. That’s for the first 35 minutes. I wound up spending about two hours each visit, and spent COP 35,000 and 40,000 per visit. I was really happy with the services and the companionship of the two women I picked.

I stayed at the MonteCarlo Apartahotel for COP 80,000 per night. This was a one bedroom apartment with a fully equipped kitchen. The staff were absolutely helpful and nice. I did not bring anyone home, and that might not be the best thing to do there. But it would depend on the person you brought home and the person on duty I think, more than anything else. It was only three blocks away from Avenita Sexta, and all of the nightclubs, but was pretty quiet at night.

I wish I had more time in Cali, but the next time will be better yet.

[Luis The Great]

In one of the reports someone said every massage ends with a happy ending. Is this the norm even the legit looking massage parlors?