[Spidey]

Ok guys here goes nothing. Taking a new approach to this as this will be a mix of personal development and a data sheet. My month apartment in Cali is almost up, and I now have to make more decisions. Either go back to Bogota until the end of the year, or stay here. I’m leaning towards staying here because I am lazy and don’t want to move all my shit around. Also, I am slowly establishing connections here. And I am working on myself.

Everything I could say about Cali has been written. I haven’t done nearly as much exploration as I hoped to. Unicentro is a mall in the south that I really like. But it is very far from Granada (where I’m staying) so I have only been there twice. Chipichape is the go to mall around here. It’s not far and it has a lot of talent. The downtown is where you can find all the shit you are looking for. There are parks and such that you can walk around in. It’s almost uncomfortably hot in the daytime if you plan on doing serious walking so I have been trying to wait until later in the day to go out.

For me, the nightlife is shit here. I’ve been to a couple bars around Granada, but always find myself at Bourbon Street because it is the closest bar to me and they play the music I like to listen to. They also have a lot of live music and they give out free shots of rum on the weekends usually. The crowd is energetic and it’s a good time. It is also kind of expensive to drink here (in Colombian standards), so I usually drink before I get here and just have a few beers.

El Viejo Barril is another decent place that has cheaper beers. Music that I really don’t like, but it’s a good spot for a quick date. I say this because the seating arrangement is bar style, but also outdoors. This means you can sit close to the girl and touch her as you drink without fighting with a fucking table. So props to them.

I’ve been down on Calle 5 a couple times with a rocker chick I was seeing. No real standout bars here, just a shitstorm of chaos and a more rocker friendly area in my opinion. It should also be noted that I don’t dance salsa and really don’t have a desire to learn. I know, I’m a shit tourist.

I went to a soccer game one day and that was utter madness. Red shirts flogging the streets, everyone getting drunk. Seems like a fun crowd. Cheap to go to the games so it’s probably worth it for the experience. And there’s something about Colombian girls wearing a sports jersey that I love. And I really don’t like sports.

So now I want to get to the subject that I really care to write about. Myself.

When I got back to Colombia I was really excited about the potential here. I did my usual and talked to a few girls on Tinder. Got 2 girls my first week and I was feeling pretty good, but it felt too easy. One of the girls I was talking to the last time I was here (this is the rocker chick I’ve been seeing) and the other is just some chick. So I spent a lot of time with this rocker chick, which I don’t mind. Girls are good to practice your Spanish with and to introduce you to new areas of the city. But I got sick of Tinder fast. I had an issue with my phone and had to get a new one, so I just never downloaded it again.

I got to spend a decent amount of time with LYNUX here and I think I have him to thank for shaping what this has turned into for me. LYNUX you are the man, and I’m really grateful for the time we spent together. You taught me a lot in a short period of time, and you inspired me.

Daygame my friends.

The past two weeks I have focused entirely on daygame. I really don’t have experience with this, and I was initially really nervous to even attempt this because my Spanish is terrible. But after my first week or so here I felt that I had fallen into a routine. Had the two girls to spend my time with and I felt like I was sinking into a boring life real quick. So I did what we preach, I made a change. Initially I went crazy and just approached every girl I saw, but without Spanish this was really difficult and not leading to any results. Now I have slowed down a bit and am trying to focus on creating a situation where the girl will actually want to speak with me more without talking. No talking, or only one sentence. It is difficult, but it is necessary.

Colombia has turned into a place for me to practice my body language. I can’t use words. I don’t have the option. This is my only option, and it is certainly something that I need a lot of improvement on. And trust me, there are a million reasons you will want to do this. Just spend an afternoon at the mall.

So my progress with this has been relatively slow, and while I started off really aggressive with it, I have slowed down the past week. I’m physically tired from walking around everywhere all day. And it’s tiring for me to constantly try to maneuver my way into a strange situation.

My favorite challenge here, and the one that I think I need the most work on is approaching mother/daughter combos. This is so common at the malls, and at first I just walked away on these, but now I am getting more confident and aggressive. Now I approach if it feels right. I want to break down all my bullshit barriers that stop me from approaching anyone.

I have had some great approaches and some shit ones. I’ve had girls message me telling me they have boyfriends. I even had one girls boyfriend messaging me. Most of this has not led to anything. This shit is difficult. You never know if the girl you are approaching has a boyfriend or husband or anything. Tinder certainly simplified dating. But that is not a reason not to try, it just means you have to try harder. I have a lot more work to do, and I know that my body language isn’t where I want it to be, but I am determined to improve this.

Colombia is the place for it. In my eyes, you can sit on Tinder in your apartment and live the easy life, or you can push to improve yourself. And what better place to do this? The women are stunning and if you don’t speak Spanish you have to try something else. It’s all about breaking out of the box and trying something different for me. This is what travel is about, isn’t it?

Moving forward for me I need to rethink my lifestyle. I usually spend my mornings browsing the forums and doing a half assed job of looking for work. I walk around the same areas, and go to the same malls to daygame. At night I drink too much and I watch too much TV and fuck around getting stoned and playing guitar. I need to get more serious on finding work if I want to continue living in Colombia. I’ve slacked off big time the past couple weeks and now my deadlines are approaching. It’s do or die time, but I feel confident I will figure out a way to continue this life. Going back to the U.S. sounds like hell. I’ve had a lot of personal growth the past six months, but I am not done.

[Rushjones]

Nice writeup. Use DuoLingo to practice Spanish. I would also look up the local newspaper to see what's happening that week. Also cut back your drinking habits to a day a week. Get you're shit together and then think about partying. Why the fuck would you want to come back to the U.S? Media wants to start a civil war...

[Road_Less_Taken]

Its funny how you say your moving forward yet lazy at the same time. Ironically I can relate.

I was reading there has been a surge of crime recently in Cali and homicides are now back over 70 per 100,000. It did say a lot of it was due to increased gang activity. Nevertheless that puts it in some bad company. I've been to most of Colombia but never to Cali. Like any city there are safer zones, but it seems a bit too caliente for my taste anyway at the moment.

[tomtud]

I didn't like Cali that much as I prefer Medellin. However, don't give up on tinder/online because you can use it to network and make friends. Maybe she has a hot cousin or friend she can introduce you to when you are out and about. Much more easier than cold approaching.

Good luck on your quest. Cuidate

[scotian]

Cali can be a bit boring through the week, especially during the day but there'a a few different things you can do outside of the city to keep yourself entertained, here's a few ideas:

-Go to Kilometro 18, the taxis will know it or you can go by bus, there's a few decent restaurants out that way and some nice scenery including great bird watching spots. In the Farallones area it is cooler up there too so at mid-day you won't be as bothered by the sun as in the city. I once went to this place called Bichacue Yath, basically its this really cool/weird psychadelic garden bird sanctuary run by this hippy guy named Tomas. I went there with a couple of local Calena chicas and we got super baked and did the 45 minute tour then hung out and had coffee and did some bird watching. Here's a video of the place:

-[b]Lake Calima[/b]: I've only been once and want to go back, its a big lake with lots of wind and is very popular with kite surfers, I did a lesson there and it as cheap and good quality. It does get cold out there so bring a sweater, even in the day!

River Pance: A popular place to go on weekends, it gets pretty packed.

I know there's some other tours that are organized by hostels, stop by barrio San Antonio some time and have coffee at one of them, I usually go to Tostakey. There's a really good Afro-Colombian place over there, I forget the name but its a red building with a fish at the entrance, lunch is 10.000 and you will get a nice meal. You should also hit up the Alamehda market to buy some food and have lunch, there's a couple of good spots over there including another Afro-Colombian post. I don't know if I ever wrote about this on here but the food they make on the Pacific coast is my favourite in the country, coco rice and fish soup and fried bagre can't be beat.

I used to go to the Colombo-American center in Granada to read English books and magazines but mostly for the very cold air conditioning there. There's also a really good frozen yogurt place on the corner there with 8 ave. You can stop at the La Fama barbershop and get your hair cut, the guys are all really cool, the shop is one of 8 owned by Puerto Rican reggaeton star Nejo. The manager is named Bryan, he lived in the US and Canada for several years and speaks fluent English.

El Viejo Barril is my favourite bar, its actually a shitty bar and attracts shitty people but I like the set up and the service is decent, which in Colombia is rare enough. I like sitting outside, I'm always paranoid in crowded night clubs down there because you know that if the place caught fire it would be complete pandemonium, have you ever witnessed Colombians exiting an airplane in an orderly manner? Me neither. La Sexta is a dump, I've been in those bars like the one that is a plastic Mount Rushmore or something outside, those places are gross. The Douglas plays decent rock/metal and has cheap beer, a lot cheaper than Bourbon Street!

Granada is nicer but even still is kinda lame and can't hold a candle to places like Parque Lleras in Medellin or Zona Tee in Bogota, which is unfortunate. Outside of salsa nights, which there are many in Cali, the city is kinda lame. Its very spread out so moving between Granada in the north and Ingenio or Ciudad Jardin mall in the south is a big journey, at least a 20.000P taxi or a long ass ride on the Mio. There's really not too many other places in the city that have a decent combination of night life and day time foot traffic, in the south of the city its quite spread out. If you walk on 9th ave past the Hooters up the hill to Mr Wings, there's a place across the intersection from it, I forget the name but they sell beer and there's decent crowds around there at night.

[Innuendo]

(11-16-2016 06:11 PM)scotian Wrote:  

There's a really good Afro-Colombian place over there, I forget the name but its a red building with a fish at the entrance, lunch is 10.000 and you will get a nice meal.

El Pargo Rojo...it's one of the best fish places I've eaten at in Colombia

[Spidey]

Scotian thanks for all the advice, I will try to check out these places this weekend. Well, besides the haircut

I decided today that I am staying in Cali for another month, but the apartment I'm in in Granada is taken, so I have to go somewhere else. I found a cheap places in Miraflores right off Calle 5 and I will be there starting Monday. Hopefully I will have more actual data on Cali after next month as it is an area that is not talked about too much. I will miss Granada, but I'm excited to spend my time in a new part of the city. More info for you all soon!

[LINUX]

I sense a huge Cali party about to happen in the next month. Linux, Scotian, Atlantic, Pain Positive. All we need now is Fisto, Alibaba, and Stalin.

Spidey, you're invited also since you drink like a fucking champ and you refuse to Tinder, which I respect.

[scotian]

I'm gonna try to be there for the Feria de Cali, Spidey since you're moving to Miraflores you'll have to check out Parque del Perro.

[rottenapple]

I might make an appearance as well, prob do a combo of feria de cali and Medellin to meet some friends. Looking forward to meeting some of you guys!

[Spidey]

Update for you guys. Want to drop this now in case anyone is coming for Feria and isn't sure where to stay.

I’ve moved to Miraflores and am right next San Fernando. I love this area. For me, this is the perfect setup. Anyone with a penchant for rock bars and that sort of crowd should at least check this area out.

Calle 5 (Calle Quinta) is a busy main road that has a lot of bars on it.

Dublin Bar Rock is the closest bar to me. They have live music on random nights and sporadically pull crowds. What I like about this place is the smoking section, which is inside the bar. You can have a great view of the entire bar and scope out your potentials.

Rainbow Bar is probably the most popular bar in this area. It is a very small bar and attracts too many people. This bar is right next to another bar, and usually between 12-3 this place is mobbed with rockers. Mostly dudes, but some girls slip in. Most people will be outside the bar since it is so small and overcrowded. I like to hit this place late at night. They close at 4 on the weekends, but last Friday I was outside with a group until around 5.

Further down the road you have Lennon Bar which looks like it is always dead. Past that there is a club called Bronx that attracts the plastic girls. I have yet to be inside, but right next to it is a bar called Eddies. To get to Eddies you walk down a hallway. If you don’t like Eddies you can go upstairs. And if you don’t like that, you can go to the third floor. The third floor has a heavy metal crowd and you can smoke inside here. It feels lawless. These are all separate bars, and they all host bands.

Right next door to Eddies is another rock bar that seems to draw a decent crowd as well. This place is a bit more for hipsters. They have live music on the weekends I believe.

Outside of these bars there is almost always a huge congregation of people. You can buy a beer and just sit outside and talk to people if you aren’t feeling any particular place.

Across the street is another bar called Retro. It’s a total dive and they never have live music. Not much going on there, but maybe you want to see for yourself.


Outside of Calle 5 you can go to Parque del Perro. I haven’t been here on the weekend nights yet, but it sounds like a lot of people go here.

Right next to where I am staying is Carrera 23 which is a street filled with small markets. This street gets a lot of foot traffic between 5 and 8 and you can feel the local vibe here.

If you walk south down Calle 5 past the stadium you will find yourself at one of the universities. There is a lot of foot traffic here all the time with students coming or going. There are a few places to get lunch in this area.

Overall, this area is perfect for me. I love the nightlife here and I love the fact that it feels like a local neighborhood. If you enjoy rock/metal, I think this is the place for you. The girls are fun and want to have a good time.

[rottenapple]

(11-17-2016 09:05 PM)LINUX Wrote:  

I sense a huge Cali party about to happen in the next month. Linux, Scotian, Atlantic, Pain Positive. All we need now is Fisto, Alibaba, and Stalin.

Spidey, you're invited also since you drink like a fucking champ and you refuse to Tinder, which I respect.

Linux, it is happening indeed. So far it´s me, Scotian, Vinny, Buakaw and Ballsdeep that I know of. You and others who will be there, feel free to message me your nr. for the whatsapp group. The more the merrier.

[natas305]

I get back to Cali on the 26th.

[LINUX]

Way too many gringos for me to roll with. I'll catch you guys one by one and at house parties. Hope you guys are spreading out.

I got the women. Don't worry about that

[scotian]

This year's feria de Cali is going to be intense, I think there's at least a dozen RVF dudes who will be attending. I'm going to arrive there on the 24th and plan on staying until the 30th or 31st, after that I"m either going to hit up the Pacific coast (Ladrilleros) or the coffee zone (Salento) with a big bag of ganja so I can give the liver a break.

This will be my third feria, I will be focusing less on on late night time partying at clubs and more on the day/evening time activities like the parades, here's some examples:

Salsadromo: basically a salsa themed parade that takes place on Xmas day at 6-10pm

Desfile Cali Viejo: A carnaval style parade, not sure of the dates but its from 4-7pm

They did have a horse parade which was awesome, I love seeing hot girls with huge fake titties riding horses but they cancelled it after one of the horses bucked one of the chicas off it and she smashed her head on the pavement and died, poor girl.

There's a few concerts going on, I'm not sure which I'll go to but three that I have my eye on are the electronica concert, the reggaeton concert, and the feria de Poker (beer) here's a link to the concerts page: http://www.feriadecali.com/portal/evento...ertos/P12/

The other ferias I just winged it an didn't really plan much and still had a blast but I regret not doing much day time activities because I got so wasted at night that I was hung over all day. There's a lot of action in the area called the CAM, its near la sexta just across the river (near iglesia Hermita), that place will be FUCKING PACKED full of people, literally thousands of families just walking around checking out all of the Xmas lights and decorations, eating street meat and cotton candy and drinking.

Logistics: I wouldn't worry too much about booking a place to stay, one time an RVF guy and myself got fucked over with our Airbnb the day we arrived in Cali so we just walked around and found a wicked hotel in a great location (100m from the CAM). For some reason the feria isn't really a huge event like the carnaval de Barranquilla where it can be difficult to find a place to stay, also, the hotels don't jack up their prices (that I know of). I recommend staying in or near Granada so even barrios Santa Monica closer to Chipchape or San Antonio area (Miraflores, etc) could be good. There's some action down south such as the parades and the calle 60 (66?) there's some decent bars but overall I think the north is better for la feria.

Gaming girls: Standard Colombia game so if you're into online then hit up Tinder and CC as per usual, Calenas aren't nearly as flaky as Paisas but understand that it is Xmas so many will have commitments with friends and family, especially if they're home for the holidays from Bogota or wherever. I highly suggest running some day game at the feria activities and at night at those concerts and beer gardens in the CAM. I DO NOT recommend night game at the clubs here, trust me on this Cali is the worst night game city in Colombia even worse than Medellin or Bogota. Some of the free entry lower class clubs that I like to frequent, shit holes like El Viejo Barril or Cafe Mi Tierra its possible but these are also the places where people get drugged haha. Higher end places like Lolas in Menga Torre de Cali, it will be much more difficult.

Safety: Typical Colombia precautions that we've been writing about on here for years so no flashy jewelry in public, be careful where you take out your fancy Iphone 7, etc. Gangs of thieves roam the country going to these events to steal and pick pocket so be careful, lots of kids with spray foam will be blasting you in the face at the parades (thins will happen, dress accordingly!), a buddy of mine was once pick pocketed after that sprayed him.

Anyway, that's about al I have for now if any of you have any feria questions just let me know. I think we should all try to meet up at least once together, maybe not at a bar but somewhere at an outdoor feria event in the CAM where we can just drink cheap beer and smoke huge reefers.

[rottenapple]

Good post, looking forward to checking some of those outdoor events in coming weeks. Agree on the plastic girls on horses, too bad that's no longer there, but I'm sure those girls are still gonna be around. I'm excited already!

[Spidey]

God dammit Scotian why must you post this? I just bought my flight home. Looks like I'm gonna miss a great time. Hope all you guys have a good time.

[scotian]

(12-15-2016 07:56 PM)Spidey Wrote:  

God dammit Scotian why must you post this? I just bought my flight home. Looks like I'm gonna miss a great time. Hope all you guys have a good time.

Why are you leaving dude? I wanted to hit up some of those rock/metals bars and get drunk with you!

[Spidey]

(12-15-2016 08:50 PM)scotian Wrote:  

Why are you leaving dude? I wanted to hit up some of those rock/metals bars and get drunk with you!

Gotta go see the family. I'll be back to Cali on the 6th if you are still around.


Thursday night's has a jazz band at Dublin Bar Rock. Probably around 10:30-11. It's a bit strange, but pretty sweet. They even have a washboard player. They seem to be drawing a decent crowd out if you guys need something different to do.

[Vinny]

I am in Cali for Ferias too. Arriving 24th of December and will be there for 1 month.

Looking forward to meeting all of you guys.

[rottenapple]

TLDR: RVF crew is in town in Colombia and things get rowdy.


So guys, the Cali RVF crew is in full effect for the feria.

I arrived about 5 days ago, and immediately met up with Scotian and Linux. We’ve been hanging around ever since and a bunch of other members came down in the days after: Vinny, Ballsdeep, NeedtoGlobetrot, Buakaw, … All cool guys with nice lifestyles from a variety of countries.

Basically, we got a top RVF routine down here. We all hit the gym, daygaming at the malls (see Vinny’s travel log) and at night we hit the bars/clubs and discos. Yesterday we went especially strong and it made for a quite hilarious story to be honest.

We start out like everyday, pre-drinking at Linux place around 9 and getting in the mood. Aguardiente was flowing freely and soon we hit the streets and decide to drink more at this salsa place with outside tables. Vinny gets a Tinder girl, Linux has his girl there as well, me and the other guys are just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful girls and the cheap liquor.

At one point, sitting at a table, this cowboy hat vendor comes by and me and Vinny thought it was cool so we get two for a good price, around 7$ each just to have fun and look a bit more like the locals. The night passes and to be honest we all drank a shitload. Things get quite blurry from that point on. Linux and Vinny, being with girls decide to call it a night and take em to their apartment for some late night action. Me, Scotian, Ballsdeep and Buakaw go walk around in these beer gardens, where there’s a lot of people, good music and well it’s just a pleasant spot to hang around. When the place closes, we kind of lose Ballsdeep who went for food and we drop off Buakaw at his apartment where we sit for 5 minutes or so.

Me and Scotian, completely wasted, are still full of energy so we keep on checking the streets for some action. The sexta (the main party street) is full of people and at one point, Scotian goes for a piss and when he comes back he is like: hey man, where’s the fucking hat you bought? Me, completely clueless, I had no idea where it was and what happened. We look around and see this Colombian guy standing with two others guys about 30 meters from where we just passed with what seemed to be my hat on.

Both of us are like goddammit, this asshole just snatched my hat. We couldn’t let that pass so we decide to call these guys out. They deny and things get aggressive from that point on. Scotian snatched the hat of this Colombian guys head and all three of these guys go after him. A good right hit from Scotian took the first guy to the ground and I get in as well. Punches are swung around, Scotian is hitting one guy with his knee in the face and taking a few hits as well. I swing one of these guys against a tree and hit the other in the jaw, while he was trying to attack Scotian from the back. These guys are shit, so we are doing some damage.

Take into account that this was right in front of a restaurant with about 6-7 tables outside all packed with people. So, there’s about 25 people now enjoying 2 gringos taking on 3 Colombians and beating their asses over a hat.

The Colombians regroup and the restaurant waiters try to take us apart. Two of the Colombians are now holding weapons, one with a bottle I think and the other made a kind of bag with beers to swing with. Me and Scotian at that point think like fuck it, we won the clean fight two against three so let’s get out of here, before we get shot or stabbed with a broken bottle. We wake Linux up to give us some hiding shelter at night and then go to sleep in our own place. Scotian is bleeding a bit in the face but not too bad and his pants is full of blood from the Colombians. I came out without any real damage, so all in all we’re pretty happy that we defended our honor and didn’t let these guys mess with us.

Next morning, I’m eating breakfast with Buakaw and Scotian, just going over the night and fucking around a bit. Buakaw still had no idea what happened then and before we are giving the full account of our end of the night, he’s like: Hey Rottenapple, I think you left your hat at my place yesterday, don’t forget to come pick it up.

Me and Scotian took the full minute with our hangover damaged brains to fully grasp what was just said . I guess it wasn’t my hat after all . Let’s just say that me and Scotian are going to take a low profile today.

[LINUX]

My kind of people.

Much better than hanging with these "Why are we talking, we should be opening sets" pussies.

[20Nation]

Damn Cali sounds crazy this year, had a great time there last year. Glad rottenapple and Scotian didn't end up stabbed or shot after that fight. Cali is one of the more dangerous cities in Colombia. And if something ever happened to Scotian the world would be a worse place! (never met Rotten so can't say but seems like a cool guy from his posts )

[expatinlocombia]

(12-15-2016 06:42 PM)scotian Wrote:  

They did have a horse parade which was awesome, I love seeing hot girls with huge fake titties riding horses but they cancelled it after one of the horses bucked one of the chicas off it and she smashed her head on the pavement and died, poor girl.

Didn't hear that but I'm not surprised. The riders were usually off their fucking trolleys on aguardiente.

[wellrockthecity]

Hey guys off to Cali for a few days.

I will only be around 3 days and wanted to see the city but also get a feel of how receptive girls are compared to let's say Medellin.
So far only have chipichape shopping mall in my list close to where I am staying (San Antonio). Any other good place to meet girls during the day?

Also - if anyone is around this weekend let me know.