I arrived to Cali pretty late and after my first day I just felt really… comfortable I suppose. I already knew that I was going to extend the 3 nights I had originally booked. I had no idea that I would end up staying for 10 nights and Cali would become my favourite place in Colombia…

Honestly, Cali was a blur of private salsa lessons in the morning, (with my teacher Yesica who was 1. the best dance teacher I have ever had, and 2. the loveliest person), group salsa lessons in the evening and going out to practice salsa at night, (at La Topa, El Rincon de Heberth or MalaMana). ‘Salsa Caleña’ is a specific type of salsa to Cali, all created by DJ’s making mistakes. Salsa records were coming out of Cuba to Colombia but the DJs were playing the tracks on the wrong BPM, leading them to be played sped up. This led to the uptempo, fast-paced, fancy foot-work dance style that became UNESCO recognised in 2022.

Salsa isn’t a pastime here: it’s a lifestyle. Even on my Beyond Colombia walking tour, our tour guide essentially danced around to show us the city. He showed us Calle 10, aka Calle del Sabor, aka Salsa Street. On a Friday and Saturday night, the street is packed with dancers, musicians and shops selling drinks and snacks. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt such a feeling of pure joy before. There were old people, young people, couples, singles, Colombians, tourists, anyone and everyone dancing away under the streetlight.

On the rare occasion that I wasn’t doing salsa, I was on a Alameda Food walking tour, (where I met some proper characters but the Internet would cancel me if I went into details), learning about the history of salsa at the salsa museum or simply shaking some. I met some of my truly favourite people of my trip whilst in Cali and we just had the absolute best time together. Think eating fried chicken in a bar, shaking ass in the club, shaking ass at the afters, going go the 24hour bakery to get fresh pandebono and sauntering back to the hostel whilst the sun is rising – it was girlhood in its purest form.

When I spoke to people about their Colombia itinerary, a lot of people skip Cali. I can understand why because, if you’re not a dancer, you can probably ‘do’ Cali in about 2 nights/3 days. However, if you’ve ever enjoyed dancing, are interested in Salsa or just have time to kill, then I would implore you to go to Cali. This 10 days was a dream come true, (within a dream come true – dream come true inception), of just being able to dance all day every day with some incredible people.

Cali and the girliepops I met there really and truly have a very special place in my heart.