The Cats of Cali, Colombia

When you visit the charismatic city of Cali, Colombia, you will immediately notice a few things. First, there is music and dancing everywhere but mostly at night and mostly salsa. Secondly, there are cats scattered all around the Cali River. Although music and dancing and cats might not seem to have anything to do with each other, in Cali, they are interrelated.

In 1996, the famous Colombian painter Hernando Tejada,, donated a three ton bronze cat sculpture to the city he called home. Called El Gato Del Rio, or the River Cat, he sits grinning on the banks of the river. In 2006, Calenos decided that the cat needed a few novias or girlfriends. So artists created 15 different cats that complete Parque El Gato de Tejada. If you stroll along the riverwalk, you'll see an array of pretty kitty sculptures, much smaller than the original gato. There's La Gata Dulce, pictured in the first photo. She's covered in sugarcane branches and leaves to reference Cali's sugarcane history and her sweetness makes her my fave. Above is Gata Constelada, displaying different astronomical constellations.

This is Gata Dormida and I think she's worn out from chasing all of those birds lounging on her back.

Here's Gata Decorativa, whose name and style was probably the least creative that I saw. So how are Cali, cats and dancing all connected? Well, Cali is the world capital of salsa and the city really jumps  with music and dancing at night. That nocturnal nature, famously shared by cats, is how Cali came to have cats as landmarks.