Meet the staff

The owners; Mike and Diana

We’re a Danish/Colombian couple (Mike and Diana) that run the Casa Blanca Hostel in Cali.

We opened the doors for the first time 3 years ago and haven’t had them shut since.

We’re open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We have 32 beds in the hostel ranging from dorm beds til private rooms and twin bed rooms.

In these 3 years we have gotten two daughters, opened Motolombia -a motorcycle tour and rental business and expanded our capacity to now also include a big fully furnished private apartment with 4 luxury rooms and nice common areas.

The daily administrator; Leidy

Diana’s sister Leidy is our daily administrator and is always ready to help our guests with information on where to go or what to do.

All travelers are welcome in Casa Blanca Hostel. We do not exclude any nationality or type of traveler. If you’re looking for a nice, clean, cheap, safe and friendly place to stay in Cali – come to Casa Blanca Hostel.

WE HAVE A STRICT NO DRUGS POLICY!

 

Museo Del Oro Calima – The Calima Gold Museum

After leaving the beautiful Iglesia de la Merced, just one block from both Cali’s central square, Plaza Caycedo, and the Museo del Oro, we were approached by an “official tour guide” wearing a “Guardia Civíco” hat.

After politely introducing himself and making the usual small talk, he explained that he worked for the Colombian government and was available, free of charge, to show us around some of Cali’s cultural sites. He led us to the Museo del Oro, helped us to get in, showed us around, and finally left refusing a tip, a perfect example of Cali’s famously friendly population.

Set upstairs in the Banco De La Republica, Colombia’s state-run central bank, the Museo del Oro is a small but interesting museum about primitive cultures from the Calima region, in the north west of Cali.

As currency is printed in the same building, security is strict, so bags must be left in lockers and photos inside the building other than inside the museum itself, are strictly forbidden.

The tour starts more than nine thousand years ago when bands of hunters and gatherers settled in the Calima region, subsisting on vegetables and small animals. By around 1500 B.C., the “Ilama” tribe had started building small villages, making pottery with intricate designs and growing an array of vegetables, as well as making sculptures out of gold, which is where the museum gets really interesting. Along with their successors, the Ilamas made incredible and intricate designs out of gold, which they used, among other things, to trickle lime juice in their mouths as they chewed cocoa leaves.

The gold museum is free to enter and is open from Monday to Friday from 8am to 11.30am and from 2pm to 6pm. The official website is: http://www.cali.gov.co/sil/sil.php?id=889

By Maximilian Thurlow

 

Try a Guarapo

Need a sugar-rush in central Cali? Look no further than a guarapo stand, where freshly peeled sugar cane, or “caña”, is crushed up, mixed with a little lemon juice and served over ice.

Tasting somewhere between a non-alcoholic caipirinha and mojito, a guarapo is refreshing and energising and enjoyed by locals and “gringos” alike.

An orderly queue was formed when we decided on braving the new taste. The guarapo-maker forced a sugar cane through a strange-looking wooden contraption with an engine attached to large wheels. He caught the syrupy liquid in a jug before adding his own mix of lime juice and ice and serving it in a plastic cup with a straw.

Guarapo promises to be “rico”, or “tasty”, a promise it certainly lives up to.

There are several guarapo stands in Cali; the one I found was one block from the main square and cost 1,000 COP, around $0.50 USD.

By Maximilian Thurlow

 

CALI vs. NEW YORK TIMES

New York Times have finally found out what we have been saying for a couple of years now. Cali is definitely worth a visit in the near future.

That’s why Cali now can be found on the number 10 spot of New York Times list “The 41 Places to Go in 2011“!

Congratulations Cali!

On top of all the usually mentioned attractions like The Worlds Most Beautiful Women, Salsa Capital of South America, Year Round Tropical Warm Weather ect. – we have asked several experienced travelers to write about their favorite places in Cali. These exciting articles can be found on our blog www.Guide2Cali.com.

 

Hollywood Casino – a place to take a chance!

Cali is home to a number of Casinos but none as grand and as centrally located as the “Hollywood Casino and Café Concert.”

The casino can be found in the Chipichape Mall complex (an intersting place to visit in itself), next to McDonalds and at the end of Avenida 6 in the north of the city. It caters for daytime gamblers and night owls alike, opening at 12 noon and not closing its doors until 2.30 in the morning.

Here you can find in excess of 200 slot machines and a wide range of table games, including the muy popular Black Jack and Roulette. Though perhaps not ideal for the backpacker on a tight budget who doesnt know when to count his losses (dont worry, weve all been there) the Hollywood Casino can be a great place to liven up any visit to Cali; feeling the thrill of the roll of the dice within its glitzy and glamourous, Las Vegas interior.

Maybe you win, maybe you lose…but you wont know until you pay a visit to Hollywood.

By Roy Duffield

 

El Gato del Rio – The cat park!

El Gato del Rio has become a modern symbol of Cali. It was designed by Hernando Tejada and inaugurated in 1996. El Gato is a large, bronze cat sculpture that stands proudly by the river. The sculpure garden is situated in a narrow strip of land separating two busy roads. The area around the garden is very green and patches of bamboo trees dot the landscape. Large apartment buildings, a nice hotel and restaurants and El Museo La Tertullian (art museum) are in the immediate vicinity surrounding El Gato del Rio.

Directly behind El Gato is a pathway decorated with other cat statues painted by local artists. I am not sure if these cats should be considered ‘high art’, but they are quirky and worth a few moments of your time. Each cat sculpture has a good description in Spanish of the artists’ intentions.

Getting to the park is really quite easy. Find the river and follow it in the direction of the Tertulia Art Museum until you see a giant bronze cat. A police officer, did advise us, however, not to take the path exactly down by the river “muchos ladrones” and to instead just follow the road.

INFO:
It is free to see the cat statues and it makes a nice stop on the way to or from the art museum.

By Jeffrey Leventhal

 

Plaza de Toros – Bullfight

It is loved and it is loathed, controversial and steeped in tradition. It is the bullfight.

The bullfights in Cali are held during the end of the year and coincide with the famous Feria de Cali. For a novice to the sport I highly recommend trying to look past the senseless killing of an animal and focus on the gracefulness of the matadors as they dance with the bulls around the ring. Also, speaking with locals to learn all the nuances of the sport will greatly enhance the experience. Colombian bullfight aficionados are as passionate about the sport as others might be about football or rugby.

And if going to the bullfight don’t forget to bring your own bota. The bota is a leather sack (or plastic these days) which you fill up with your beverage of choice. Cold Manzanilla – a sweet red wine – is the traditional drink to bring. Sharing the bota with the people seated next to you is definitely a quick way to make friends at a Colombian bullfight.

Bullfights last start at either 4:00 or 7:00 PM. Ticket prices range from 27,000 to over 200,000 COP depending on how far your row is from the action and whether you sit in the sun or shade. Tickets can be bought at the stadium same day but if you want the cheapest seats make sure to buy several days in advance.

INFO:

To reach the stadium take the MIO bus (1500 COP). From Santa Monica neighborhood take the P30A to Torre de Cali station and change to the T31. Get off at the aptly named Plaza de Toros bus stop.

By Jeffrey Leventhal

 

Colombian handcraft – art and Mola shop.

Fine handcraft like gold copies of museum jewelry are among the things that can be found in a shop called Artesantes Pasandé on Avenida Sexta.

In the shop you can find many souvenirs like colorful Chiva busses and jeeps made of ceramic or wooddecorated with small coffee bags and banana stems on the roof. Miniature replicas of pre-Colombian stone sculptures discovered near to the town of San Agustin.

But most interesting is the quite big collection of MOLAS. Molas are hand stitched square cotten pieces full of bright colors geometrical figures made layer on layer.

Its the Kuna indian tribe who live on a small island in the Uraba Gulf in the Atlantic Ocean in the state of Chocò near to Panama, who are known for producing these masterpieces.

Along with a little agriculture and fishing the Indians from childhood learn to make Molas as they are used as symbols in their clothing. Women ware this piceses on their breast. Today its a recognized as an art form and because of the big foreign interest they are often referred to as tourist Molas.

INFO:

Artesantes Pasandé
Avinida 6 N no. 17A- 53
Cali

By Søren Thomsen

 

>Old fashion barbershop with a ”modern twist”

>

Few minutes walk from the Santa Monica district, across the street from the electronic mall “La Pasarela” on 23rd, you can find a very friendly family run barbershop. 

The barbershop chairs are imported from Chicago and looks like they have had a role in the movie Godfather. In a corner of the shop you have the possibility for a manicure and a pedicure for both women and men.

The family is from Ecuador, the son of the founder and his wife run the business today, but once in a while the grand old man himself helps out when the business gets busy.

One of the assistants doing small jobs there speaks a little English, Italian and Dutch and are very forth coming.

We have had several god experiences, lots of laughs, James Dean haircut, coffee or coke along with a big blue plastic cup full of Johnny Walker whiskey.

Have a try. Only 10.000 pesos for a haircut, manicure and pedicure is also 10.000 pesos.

INFO:
Barberia Ecuador
Ave Estacion no. 4N- 33
Phone: 661 34 99
Cell 310 413 76 85

By Søren Thomsen

 

>Parque de las garzas

>

This is a beautiful little park located in the south of Cali. Fresh air and peace make you forget about the crowded city. You can walk around the park while you take a look at all the different animals, like geese, turtles, ducks, birds, fishes, squirrels etc. etc.… there is a lake with a small island which is full of geese (hence the name). There is no shop in the park but feel free to bring your own food / drinks as the place is lovely for having a lunch in the free.

One way to get there is to take a MIO-bus to Universidades station (it’s the station right next to Jardin Plaza). Then change to another MIO-bus (number A11, this bus is green) and get off at Iglesia la Maria. From here you continue walking straight for 5 minutes passing the Church Iglesia la Maria on your right. The park is on the left side of the road around 500 meters after the traffic light. Going back just catch the A11 bus where you got off and it will take you back to Universidades station.

The park was originally a piece of land given to families who wanted a place to plant some trees in remembrance of their loved ones who tragically lost their lives in a fatal air crash just outside Cali in December 1995. Later that piece of land was turned in to the park it is today and inside the park there is a memorial stone with the names of the victims. Remarkable enough 2 people survived the crash.

INFO:

Entrance fee: FREE
Opening hours: Mon-Sun 8am – 5pm
Mobile 3155580285 / 3108419183
Address: Cr 127 No. 16A-100

By Ulrik Glyngoe