Cali Audio Tours

Cali calls itself la capital mundial de la salsa -- the world capital of salsa -- and the claim holds up. The dance style that arrived from Cuba and New York in the 1950s and 1960s was absorbed here and transformed into something distinctly Caleno: faster footwork, lower frame, the Paso Caleno technique that distinguishes local dancers in competitions across Latin America. The Feria de Cali in late December runs for six days of concerts, salsa competitions, and street parties that draw performers and dancers from across the continent.

The city was founded in 1536 by Sebastian de Belalcazar and sits in the Cauca Valley at around 1,000 meters elevation, flanked to the west by the Western Cordillera mountains.

The Cristo Rey statue -- 26 meters of reinforced concrete Christ with a 13-meter wingspan of arms -- stands on the Cerro de los Cristales hill west of downtown, overlooking the city clearly enough that it was used as a telecommunications transmitter site during the Cold War. The Plaza de Cayzedo, the historic heart, is named after Joaquin Cayzedo y Cuero, who led Cali's independence declaration on July 3, 1810, two weeks before Bogota made the same move.