Cali Colombia info PLEASE

Hi Tim,

Honestly, I am not sure that Cali is the best choice for your budget. Maybe a town in Valle del Cauca like Roldanillo, where some foreighners live too or something around that town.
I donŽt drink and smoke so I dont know the prices but can figure it out.

Have fun.

Carolina.

Hi Tim,

My good man Carolina may be correct unless... you are ok with living in the barrios that are Estrato 1 or 2.

I don't know if you are keen on what "Estratos" are here but to give you a quick lesson it's the way they designate status and urban socioeconomic areas in the cities.  They are based on a scale from 1 to 6.

1 = the people living there are entitled to the reduction in taxes, cost of living, etc...

3/4 = the people living there pay a basic rate or median cost of living in the city.

6 = the people living there pay a premium to the basic rate.

Now with that said (I am not trying to offend anyone here or anything like that, please don't take this wrong) but I have lived in the Estrato 1 & 2 areas and while being full of life, super cheap it can get dangerous especially if you are not from these areas.

These areas aren't filled with policia or vigilantes patrolling the streets. So everything kinda goes. Literally. I have seen people stop gringos from entering because they are afraid of what may happen to them.

I am part latino and speak spanish like a champion, even said to look Colombian and I have been robbed at gunpoint in there areas just because I wasn't paying attention.  (1st time every after traveling for 14 years and a lot of time here in Colombia).

But really man you can live in these parts for the same $200/month or less and even find yourself a beautiful negrita here if you choose.  You just need to be careful in those parts.

Otherwise if you take to foot and search in the surrounding barrios that are a little more of an upgrade you may be able to find a little gem of a studio/apartaestudio for a little more but well worth it for the safety and services included.

Beer (liter) you can get from around $2.00/$3.00 USD depending on where you buy it, sometimes less.  If you don't buy it in a bar you will pay much less. You probably know this from being in Central America. Smaller bottles are sometimes $0.50 to $1.00 USD.

Cigarettes I am not sure because I'm not a smoker but you can buy from small tiendas here for $0.10 per cigarette individually from what I see while I am out.

Hope that helps out friend.  I would love to get your input on Nicaragua and Costa Rica sometime!  Don't forget to recommend my post if you like!

Hi Chris and muchas gracias for your kind, definitive response to my query. So sorry for not responding sooner, but I'm still a little bedeviled by the f***** internet. Bless it's pointed little head. Then of course had forgotten my password to this site and played hell retrieving it. You gave me an excellent perspective via su response. I think I can envision the challenges presented by Cali.
     An intended brief, but possibly wordy answer to your question re: my experiences in C.R and Nicaragua: I had visited CR two times previous to moving there. Both time stuck pretty much to the San Jose central valley. Damn expensive there aorita! I chose to move to Puerto Limon, hard on the Atlantic coast and the poorest province in the pais. My thinking was it would be much cheaper there....80% of the goods that enter CR do so en Puerto Limon. (also fulla negritas, one district there is called "Jamaicatown.) In the course of my stay there, I became friends w/a man who had worked at the Port for years unloading vessels. When he began, the port employed mas o menos 135 gente. He is now one of only 22 people still working there. Nowadays all the goods that enter there are immediately sorted from the cargo bins onto trucks and shipped over the mountains by truck to San Jose. Entonces re-shipped by truck back over the montanas to Limon. S*** is MORE expensive in the poorest province in the country than in San Jose. White drugs, as in every port city, are prevalent there. Accpmpanied by dangerous streets  etc., no? I moved to Masaya Nic. in 2009 and liked it alot. Much cheaper and a really appealing town. Mugged once (sin weapons) by four punks there for about $4, a cheap phone and my passport ($100 to replace!) Unrelated to the mugging, I just felt like movin' on. Spent a year in Leon, Nic. and thoroughly love it, Nice city pero demasiado caliente! Even the Nicas will tell you that it's intolerably hot. Now in Esteli, en la montanas y muy fresca. Great city but.....no negritas   y es solo tiempo para another move. I hope we will stay un touch, right now this inet cafe is closing. Talk to you soon, regards, Tim

Hola Chris. Tim again. Due to little time to finish my reply to your welcome response, I was unable finish a couple points I wished to make. IŽm pretty street-smart after about five years in America central. Limon (c.r.) and Bluefields (Nicaragua) are reknowned as places for gringos NOT to go, and IŽve survived quite well. IŽm wondering if Colombia is a horse of another color...i.e. is there a daily (nightly) gauntlet to run just living around Cali! Thanks, Tim

Hi Tim,
What about DR? I hear the Samana area is inexpensive.

Hey Tim sorry for the late reply. Working on my resident visa here in Cali.

Glad the information was informative!

Cali definitely has its perks if you can spend a little more but again I have been in the bad parts and have been just fine as long as I am blending in and not out super late thinking its a walk on the beach in California.

The nightly gauntlet usually here is the norm; don't walk with cash/cellphone/anything of value super late at night.  However everything usually closes at 9/10pm expect some pharmacies and tiendas in the barrios here.

The other side of the coin is when you are out dancing here.  The nightlife is great.  There are many places that at really inexpensive and relatively safe.  Usually as the people here say just keep your eyes open.

There are other smaller pueblos very close to Cali that are even more inexpensive as well as Buenaventura on the coast about 2 1/2 hrs way from Cali which is about same description as you mentioned for Puerto Limon in CR.

Hope that helps!  I can answer any questions about Cali if you need it.

Buena Suerte!

Hi Mugwump,
I live in Cali and I get by on about $1200 USD per month. I pay about(depending on the exchange rate) $440 per month for a furnished studio in the city. it includes electricity, water, gas(for cooking). It comes with a stove top, refrigerator and hot water for showers. I am walking distance to just about everything, including $0.70 beers. You can do better rent wise outside of the city, but without the convenience. Hope this helps.
kirkarty
ps. i haven't seen any goats in the city, but plenty just outside.