My first comment to Paulo comming into Cali from the airport, was "Is that cloud above the mountains or are they more 
mountains?" They were indeed, more mountains. The mountains in Cali seem to reach the sky, it is truly a Valley as I have never known. Cali lies in the "Valle de Cauca" which is incidently the name of his district as well, where the Cauca river runs through. The mountains around Cali are part of the andes mountain range and are spectacular. I really cant describe them enough, and while I will find a cool picture, bear in mind it will not do it justice. Colombia is the only country which has all 3 of the Andean mountain range lines. It is truly a country of contrasts, from altitude to the coasts; from the snow to the carribbean, Colombia has coastal areas in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and has a rich cultuaral mix (and soemtimes blend) of indigenous indian, African, Spanish 'conquistador' + other European / Scandanavian blow ins, Middleastern
merchants and a few Aussies as well ;P Cali has a highly equatorial climate character, basically 25 degrees celcius all year round give or take a few degrees throughout the year. Good old tropical dry season - wet season. Paulo's mum and dad live in a 2 bedroom apartment block off the centre of the city; 3 apartment buildings sharing a small park and pool facilities. I learned many professional suntanning angles that the normal suncreamed zinc-ed Aussie would not have though of. We took up spinning classes (bike aerobics) to try and shed those Brazililian kilos and keep off the Colombian delights - I got addicted to empanadas, arequipe (same as 'doce de leite' in Brazil kind of like caramel but not caramel), and milojas and fell in love with all the soup concoctions and bean dishes (including bean soup too) etc etc. Anyway, alas we did not lose weight from spinning but prevented getting too much fatter ;P
mountains?" They were indeed, more mountains. The mountains in Cali seem to reach the sky, it is truly a Valley as I have never known. Cali lies in the "Valle de Cauca" which is incidently the name of his district as well, where the Cauca river runs through. The mountains around Cali are part of the andes mountain range and are spectacular. I really cant describe them enough, and while I will find a cool picture, bear in mind it will not do it justice. Colombia is the only country which has all 3 of the Andean mountain range lines. It is truly a country of contrasts, from altitude to the coasts; from the snow to the carribbean, Colombia has coastal areas in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and has a rich cultuaral mix (and soemtimes blend) of indigenous indian, African, Spanish 'conquistador' + other European / Scandanavian blow ins, Middleastern
merchants and a few Aussies as well ;P Cali has a highly equatorial climate character, basically 25 degrees celcius all year round give or take a few degrees throughout the year. Good old tropical dry season - wet season. Paulo's mum and dad live in a 2 bedroom apartment block off the centre of the city; 3 apartment buildings sharing a small park and pool facilities. I learned many professional suntanning angles that the normal suncreamed zinc-ed Aussie would not have though of. We took up spinning classes (bike aerobics) to try and shed those Brazililian kilos and keep off the Colombian delights - I got addicted to empanadas, arequipe (same as 'doce de leite' in Brazil kind of like caramel but not caramel), and milojas and fell in love with all the soup concoctions and bean dishes (including bean soup too) etc etc. Anyway, alas we did not lose weight from spinning but prevented getting too much fatter ;P
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