La Navidad y La Feria de Cali

Cali is an interesting city. For tourists it is not one of the most popular spots. It has some rough edges and a lot of character, for me and Mere it was easy to make ourselves right at home.

Christmas in Cali is celebrated on Christmas Eve so we decided with our wonderful friends at the hostal the we would do the same. We put together a huge meal for 13 people. It consisted of pork with an amazing sweet and sour sauce, chicken with a creamy mushroom sauce, beef with another savory muchroom sauce (they all had very fancy names but I cant remember them), pasta salad, mashed potatoes, salad, rice, and for desert tiramisu (however its spelled) and a coffee sauce on top.

The meal was amazing and everyone enjoyed themselves it was the closest I could get to that wonderful love filled holiday feeling. Now Chrismas Day is when Cali residents begin La Feria.

Everyone in the Hostal was gathering energy that evening because there was rumors of chaos on the streets. Tim (fellow traveler) surprised us by coming down in his Batman outfit which he apparantly travels with. Then Richie appeared with a Welsh flad and Dave busted out the Colombian flag. We decided we were ready to hit the streets.

Now I dont know how I could possibly describe La Feria de Cali but I will try. Just imagine its what I say times 100. The streets were overflowing with people, cars cruised at about 10 miles per hour not only to avoid the crowd or the people randomly running through the streets to bang on the windows and just cause utter chaos but to enjoy the spectacle as well.

We created quite a spectacle of our own. We were a mob of 10 or so foreigners with 2 huge capes and a Batman shaking kids hands and running in circles. Another element that add to the already out of control ambiance were the cans of spray foam and bags of flour that every third person had. You never knew where it was coming from but there seemed to be a never ending spray over everyone and everything with intermitant extreme battles where you find yourself with a face full of foam.

The night continued. Our group grew and shank. We ended up at a clud where we danced the night away, Salsa of course. For Cali being the capital of Salsa there really is no other way to dance. I am now officialy a beginning and think I am making good progress.

The rest of the rest of the week is full of event. The cabalgata, a parade of hundreds of horses inaugurates the week long festival, a miss cali pageant, Concerts, contests, beer gardens and happiness. The little team of travelers grew quite close over the week and it was sad for me and when I decide it was time to say good bye.

I left Cali to roam other parts of Colombia. Mere chose to stay and I dont blame her. So for those who havent yet definitely check her blog to read her stories. Anyways I said good-bye to Cali´s beauty of all kinds and headed back up north or really east.