Thought I would check in with you all since a long lapse in posting might mean to some people of Sequestra -- I was kidnapped--or, for those that know me, that I'm having too good of a time to post. I assure you that it's the latter. I am having a blast and hooking up with some real GFEs. I'll post pics after my trip as I forgot my connection cable.

Brief Observations of the City.

Cali is safe, put all the rumours and media hype to rest. Some guys may get spooked because there is a noticeable army presence in most places like the airports and lots of armed guards with Ak-47s or shotguns walking around everywhere, but I'm used to that after my trips to the Phillipines and Cambodia. FYI, the drive from the airport to town is safe also, I was wondering about that because the airport is about 25 minutes outside of town. My sources say that there is some sort of truce now with the guerillas so things have been pretty quiet as of late. So long as you don't venture outside the city or into their turf in the mountains, and why would you, it's fine.

As for the City, any areas around San Vicente and Versailles (where many of the things of interest to us are) appears to be very safe, even at nights. I was told to avoid the following places:

"Barrio Siloé Agua Blanca La Union Cuidad Cordoba The disused trainstation near the centre and don`t walk down the railway line as a short-cut. At night: Galeria/barrio santa helena The area surrounding Terminal de transportes Barrio republic israel Barrio antonio nariŅo Confandi".

The people are indeed very friendly, as a general rule. Interestingly, whenever I engage in small talk and the locals find out I am American, they express to me their concern about the bad rap about their City in the U.S. papers they are angry at Bush and the media for bringing this about. Cali is like any other city, you will occassionally run into drunks at the clubs and a few cold people here and there, but that's to be expected.

The City itself is kind of run down with no attempt at urban planning, similar to TJ or Manila. There is nothing to do in the Daytime aside from ordering out a call girl or spending some time with a favorita.

One of my favoritas tells me the city is going through some very hard economic times. Everything here is negotiable because people are hurting. There are just no jobs around and that manifests itself in interesting ways -- i.e. taxi drivers with college educations, college girls at the working venues and outcall agencies, etc.
As for the peso, I'm getting about 2500 pesos per dollar, which is pretty good. A tax ride is about 3,000-5000 pesos for instance, coffee is about 1200 pesos, and the girls are taking 80K-150K. It's really a great deal.

There is a healthy number of good looking girls walking around in the shopping malls and streets. I was surprised that they are fairly approachable and willing to make small talk. Haven't hooked up with one yet, but am working on the receptionist at my hotel.

Another important thing about Cali is that some ability to speak Spanish will go a long ways. Most people I have met do not speak English, even at my hotel and even at the big shopping centers.

There are very few tourists here, I only met one other American at the hotel. He was here to participate in the matrimonial services offered by some agencies here, he tells me this is a big operation and that if you're willing to meet a girl and have the patience to go out on a few dates-- you can score. I don't have the patience I replied, but almost chocked on my words when he showed me some pics of some stunning women he's courting. Gotta give it try next time.
WINDSOR PLAZA HOTEL
This hotel is good, but not great. The service is excellent and the location is in a nice, safe area close to Floras Frescas, Kaliente club, and Faroan (both of them). In fact, I walked to Floras Frescas at night. I'll explain the p4p scene in another thread.

Glad to hear you alive and well and having fun. Really looking forward to the details. For hotel, I'll probably stay at the Intercontinental. They have a 21-advance day purchase for suites for $75 a night - great for the Intercontinental. Is that hotel well situated?

I'm also brushing up on my Spanish. Would you say ability to speak Spanish in Cali is less important or more so than in Costa Rica? I would imagine more since Cali isn't a tourist town.

Have a great time!

Hi WS, Iīm having a great time and Iīll have to post the pics that will blow your mind and details later as there are few internet spots here. Some very good looking girls here who are eager to practice their English with you in between sessions :-) I will also have tons of numbers and addresses for you in the next few threads.

I think the Intercontinental is a good bet, itīs one of the nicer ones I hear. You may want to check if there are extra fees for guests as I hear some upper end places have. Also, you an get some really nice digs for under $50.00. There are some excellent hotels that I found which I will post details about later. As for my original hotel, the Windsor, it turned out to be a major dud. Awful service, small rooms, intermittent a/c, and construction noise next door. They repeatedly refused to change rooms so I high tailed it out of there to a great place called the Hotel de Las Americas, in Versailles, which is North Cali. North Cali is where you want to be, the downtown area is spook and run down. South Cali is not so bad, thatīs where they have the huge Unicentro Mall.

As for Spanish, itīs more of a requirement in Cali as very few people speak English at all. You need to be able to communicate with the girls or the pimps and also the taxis. Costa Rica, espc. near Gringo Gulch is not so bad for the non-Spanish speaker.

BTW, for anyone interested, I moved to another excellent hotel in Versailles (North Cali) minutes from Floras Frescas, Faroan, etc. Truly good service, spotless clean facility and rooms with lots of space, quiet, kitchen, living room, dining room, etc. Girl friendly, as with many hotels in Cali, if the girls stay more than 3 hrs, they donīt like it or they will charge you extra.

HOTEL PLAZAS LAS AMERICAS
Calle 21 N No. 3n-34
Santiago Del Cali, Colombia
Tel-680-1010
Fax-660-3225
email:hotel@plazalasamericas.com
Their website seems to be down.

I totally agree with your report. Everything you posted are things I noticed too. Thanks for posting an excellent report.

I totally agree with everything, too, except the idea that GF's posts aren't creating new visitors!

Hey FLH,

I'm not saying my reports aren't creating new visitors. Indeed they are and I'm getting emails telling me as such and thanking me for posting. All I'm saying is this dude that posts on Extreme was bitching and moaning like every single day. Almost crying about my posts. I've never quite seen anything like it before. Of course, anyone that knows me knows I'm a true adventurer and if I want to post I'll post. Ha, ha.

My point is that Cali will never be a San Jose or similar type city. Sure guys will go there and they have ever reason to. It just won't become a mainstream hobby destination. Sure there are pretty girls but there are better quality P2P girls in a number of other cities around the world for about the same price. I found the super cheap P2P places in Cali I didn't find any suitable girls.

The high end places including that one Merlin mentioned really aren't cheap. For the same price you can hobby in BA or Brazil with a super hottie. The only difference is that Cali is close to the USA. The disadvantages are the city has little to do during the day. The non-pro scene is the highlight for me.

P.S. I found it funny that you can't judge police walking around with machine guns as any indication of how dangerous a city is. Upon arriving at the airport in Nice, France I saw all these police walking around the airport carrying machine guns. Same thing outside of the airport. Ha, ha. Never judge a book by it's cover.

(Message edited by godfather on March 31, 2004)

Merlin, good observations about the neighborhoods. Others to avoid are Pizamos Decer Paz, Mojica and San Judas. In fact, many of the Caleņas in San Jose (Marcela, Johanna, Sandra and Viviana) are from San Judas. Many of the girls you'll meet in the P4P establishments in Cali are from these neighborhoods as well. If you become friendly with one of them and are invited to come visit, find an excuse not to. I've been to each of those neighborhoods and wouldn't do so again voluntarily.

LM, thanks for the heads up. I doubt I'll venture outside of North Cali. I drove through downtown and it's a bit uncomfy.