Montenegro, Salento, Santa Rosa de Cabal and now, Cali, Colombia. We passed thru multiple states, ate lots of different things, took lots of pictures, hiked in the mountains, climbed lots of stairs and enjoyed the famous hot springs on our way to the grand city of Cali, Colombia.

So…. Cali is hot.. Not warm, but hot. Maybe not to everyone (I saw locals wearing sweaters and jackets) but it’s the kind of hot that makes me grouchy and miserable – and I know this! I’ve had plenty of miserable trips to sunny beach locations (and other places that heat seekers flock to – and I know what heat does to me). Add heat = instant bitch.

It was also the surprise visit for Andres and his daughter’s shared birthday weekend.

So I couldn’t let the heat get to me. I found a charming Airbnb home with a small swimming pool. The hosts were absolutely delightful, so I posted the link above, if you are planning a trip to Cali. It was in a nice neighborhood (but not a lot of stores or restaurants to walk to) right on the river. It was the perfect solution – we basically lived in the pool for much of the weekend. His daughter loved it, we had a good time, and I didn’t become a heat enraged monster.

I don’t usually feature someone else’s rental on the blog – but this house made all the difference. It was spacious – charming.. We barbecued, we swam, we slept in the hammock by the pool. This house made all the difference for me – (and certainly for people who had to travel with me!)

But we didn’t stay in the house the entire time. We took a morning stroll down to the Parque de los Gatos and other Cali landmarks. Of course, I did manage to bow out of one afternoon adventure in the heat – to hang out by the pool and read a book. It was lovely! I also used the time to sneak out and get ice cream for the birthday folks..

I probably should talk about Cali and salsa dancing.. or salsa music, drink champus or the many other things that make Cali famous and noteworthy.

But I didn’t go and experience any of those things on this visit. (This is my second visit to Cali.)

Here’s an easy Recipe for Champus. It’s a tasty nonalcoholic drink made with tropical fruits. Lots of people say they drink it at room temperature, but we usually have it chilled.

At the end of our weekend, we returned to Bogota.. I drove for a good bit of the way – but I really don’t like driving in Bogota, so we switched off at Ibague, where we stopped for lunch, and to wait out traffic with some friends. (You don’t want to drive thru/ near Bogota during peak time – it can take 3 to 4 hours to cross the city if caught in peak traffic.) On one of my future posts – we are going to talk about Driving in Colombia. I know I mentioned that I received my driver’s license and motorcycle license this year but driving in Colombia particularly in the city of Bogota is worthy of a special note.