How to get out Cali
The little hamlet of San Cipriano is a good day trip. Most people visit this place only for the ride to it, but it is also possible to stay overnight. Enjoy a swim in the various river beaches, or enjoy a tube ride down the river.
Calima Lake , 1,5 hour drive from Cali, is, due to it's year round wind, one of the best wind- & kitesurf spots in Southern America. There are at least 3 windsurf schools around the lake. One of them is Pescao Windsurfing , run by windsurfing instructor Luis Fernando. They have excellent wind- and kitesurfing gear for rent (prices: windsurf COP 55.000 - 70.000 for 2 hours; kitesurf COP 60.000 per hour, COP 120.000 per day) and offer courses too (prices: windsurf COP 100.000 for 2 hours; kitesurf COP 100.000 per hour). Overnight stay at the school costs COP 20.000 per night. To get to Pescao, take a bus from Buga or Cali to Darién, and ask the busdriver to drop you off at the school.
City of Buga 1 hour drive. Visit "La Basilica", a major pilgrimage site in Colombia (Ask for Dulces del Valle best place for traditional Dulces). Also, Buga is more tranquil and cleaner than Cali.
Parque del Cafe . Approx 3 hr drive from Cali ( approx 2 hrs from Buga, listed above). This is an amusement park, and the Colombian Coffee Museum, complete with the history of Colombian coffee and Juan Valdez. See the theatrical show there that explains the local culture celebrating coffee.
City of Jamundi half hour drive (ask for Cholados that Jamundi is famous for-a delicious mix of shaved ice and exotic fruit with rasberry and sweet condensed milk sauces and a wafer cookie. Often sold from vendors that have stands that display fruit and shaved ice. There is a traffic circle roundabout near the city entrance with many Cholado stands)
Popayan is about three hours away, and a nice place to stay for a couple of days.
Isla Gorgona is a remote Island in the pacific. The whole island is a national park, specially known for scuba diving expeditions because of the great diversity in fauna. There is a brand new fancy ECO hotel opened in 2009 . Reachable from Cali: Either via Buenaventura (2.5 hrs to the west by car) or regional flights available from Cali to Guapi. From any of these towns you need to take a boat to the island.
Watch humpback whales: around 1,200 humpback whales are expected to arrive every June - July in the Pacific ocean waters of Isla Gorgona, Sanquianga and Utria National Parks. With the whales come dozens of tourists every year to watch them mating. The whales spend the summer months feeding in polar waters and head to tropical waters in winter for mating and calving, sometimes traveling up to 17,000 kilometers. They are black, grey and white, can grow up to 18 meters long and weigh up to 40 tons.
|
This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow!
|
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Cali
