View Full Version : me Voy pa' Cali Goin' to Cali but not 'fornia
mbfirey
11-01-2009, 05:22 PM
Santiago de Cali in Colombia- my second trip- I plan to look at lots of tropical plants- that could never grow here. The highlight of my trip is usually the grocery store where I buy any fruit that I've never seen or heard of before- lulo, curuba, and lots more. Also something we can never find here fresh Papa Criolla, the most delicious potato I've ever had.
Should be lots of fun.
sunfish
11-01-2009, 06:09 PM
Have a good time
CValentine
11-01-2009, 07:46 PM
Awesome mbfirey!!
Don't forget to take & post plenty of pictures PLEASE?!!
Enjoy! Bon Voyage!! :) ~Cheryl
Sounds like a good time, enjoy it. Funny how the markets in other places seem to always be so interesting!
Patty in Wisc
11-02-2009, 12:43 AM
Lucky you! Have a great time & post some pics please.
mbfirey
11-20-2009, 08:22 AM
I'll have some pics soon but for now here's the fruits I tried while there:
Jugo de Borojo (with or without chontaduro)
Curuba
Chontaduros
Feijoa
Granadilla
Guama
Guanabana
Guava pera
Guava coronilla
Lulo
Mamoncillo
Mango
Maracuya
Passion fruit
Pitaya
Physalis
Tomate de arbol
Zapote
(and of course Bananas)
A few of these I've never heard of Lulo, Mamoncillo, Guama, Curuba ,Borojo
Anyone heard of these or have other names for them?
lorax
11-20-2009, 09:11 AM
You should have nipped over the border and visited me!
What did you think of the Lulo? They make an excellent wine of it in Cali, and I'm kicking myself for not having bought a couple of bottles last time I was there.
mbfirey
11-20-2009, 09:18 AM
Lulo is awsome- I didn't know they made wine- or I would have bought some sounds great.
Hey maybe you know? I'm trying to identify a plant I saw a lot in the mountains outside Cali. It looked like a giant Yucca or some type of agave- I doubt it was agave because most of them were in bloom (and agaves only bloom once and die). The had long toothed spikes 5+ feet long- and from the center a bloom stalk 15-20" high. It was larger than any yucca I've ever seen.?
lorax
11-20-2009, 09:35 AM
Do you have a picture? It sounds like Puya chilensis to me, which is a bromeliad local to the paramos from Colombia all the way down to Chile.
mbfirey
11-20-2009, 09:54 AM
I didn't a picture but I might have caught it on one of our videos driving through the mountains- I'll try later to get a screen-shot of it.
It wasn't a "Puya chilensis" (I googled it). The leaves were longer and the flower stalk wasn't as dense- more like branches and the flowers weren't very noticable. The plant had to be 10+ feet around. I saw lots of them in the mountains- though in cali they had a few planted in the median between the streets.
I've searched the net and can't find a picture anywhere- I'll look at my videos... I hope I find it.
lorax
11-20-2009, 10:33 AM
I hope so too - with a photo I can probably tell you immediately what it is.
mbfirey
11-24-2009, 07:27 AM
I found a picture online that's similiar...it was labeled as atype of agave, it just amazes me if it is because so many were blooming at once. When we looked at a mountain side it looked like it was covered with trees, but they were really the blooms from these.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=27172 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=24342&ppuser=6032)
They were also more Green and less blue that the agave's I've seen before.
Something else that made me laugh in Colombia were the restaraunts I saw:
Mario Bross. (like the video game)
Alf (like the 80's TV Show)
Krusty Burger (as from the Simpsons)
All real restaraunts with the cartoons on the signs.
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