Blanca Valbuena

Why is Cali Colombia so unsafe?

AskCategory: ColombiaWhy is Cali Colombia so unsafe?
Antonio Evans Staff asked 6 years ago
So I am reading a bunch of blogs and your is one of them.   I see you spent alot of time in Cali.  Why is it so unsafe?  From the Airbnb and hotel pictures it looks amazing.   I have been to Medellin in the Poblado area and it was safe.  No issues.  But is Cali the same?   I speak Spanish pretty well. Also do you know of any churches in Cali I connect with?   I did a year in Costa Rica on a mission and hoping to recreate it in Cali.
1 Answers
Antonio Evans Staff answered 5 years ago

So Cali can be fun and horrible at the same time. It's a city of opposites. There is a rich class of people spawned from the former drug cartel and various monopolies that corporations have. These people run the city, live like kings/queens and invest heavily on western style restaurants, bars and night clubs.

On the other end there are the middle and poor class who work long hours but enjoy their evenings dancing, drinking aguadente and connecting with their family clans. Being Colombia has over 40 official holidays they have plenty of time to see one another. They make due with what they have.

Between these two worlds (north and south of the city) are a range of favelas, poverty, drugs and violence. So as you skirt the worlds you might see 13-year old drugged up prosititues with gringos. You might see a robbery or a murder. Every person in my family has been robbed at least once. Houses, muggings or just seen some violence.

It's a city of dancing and parties but also a city of crime, traffic and pretty bad pollution.