The International Schools Review Forum

I lived in Cali for over a year. Love the place but will never return now. I brought the family to visit friends and there was a massive shoot out around the corner with plenty of dead bodies littered around the bus station.

When I was living there, I saw plenty of dead bodies. I had two people pull a gun on me, and one was just outside a mall.

So it is dangerous enough, and even more so if you were actually involved with drugs. And if you are into the clubbing scene, which is great being the salsa capital of the world, then you are automatically exposed. Though they won't pester you to buy produce if you are not interested.

The school itself has a good reputation in the city. And I had friends that worked there, and they seemed reasonably happy.

There is a considerable danger in Cali, and I would not risk it with family. Bogota is much safer.
The city is a hole, but the people are wonderful. The food gets boring after a while, and is a bit on the salty side (but that's my personal opinion)

The Calenos and Calena that I worked with felt the people from Bogota had a bit of stuck up attitude towards them. The folk in Cali are really very warm and friendly.

I'd have to go with Mathman and say that it's probably not quite as safe as some of the posters here make out. However I lived there for 2 years '99 to '01 (supposedly the bad years and I never once felt threatened) so maybe it's improved.

The kids at the school are wonderful (aren't they always) but the red tape at school can make life difficult at times. The sentiment amongst most of the foreigners was that the Colombian admin didn't understand the foreigners even after years of hiring them. The school has been around a long time but continue to make the same mistakes. If you're an 'amable' kind of person you should have few problems.

CCB offered the best salary in Cali but I don't think you're going save heaps anywhere in South America.

I have very fond memories of working there and I'm sometimes tempted to think about returning.

I lived there in 2004.

I visited last year, 2011.

It was supposedly safer, but it's relative. I wouldn't consider Colombia a safe place to be. Risky, yes. But not where your life is in imminent danger at all times like being anywhere near a Chinese road.

[quote="Mathman"]I lived there in 2004.

I visited last year, 2011.

It was supposedly safer, but it's relative. I wouldn't consider Colombia a safe place to be. Risky, yes. But not where your life is in imminent danger at all times like being anywhere near a Chinese road.[/quote]

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I don't find the driving/traffic all that bad in Beijing. It was much, much worse in Egypt. Here at least they will occassionally stop for a red light and if there is an accident it's usually at 20 mph.