Omnivore - Cali, Colombia - 'Parts Unknown'

• Brad Kaplan
• The one place in Cali, Colombia, we fully explored - our hotel

It was after midnight, and our plane was having trouble negotiating the dense clouds sitting in the high mountain valley of Quito, Ecuador. One pass, then another, then one more, all proved too risky to attempt landing. The pilot's voice carried through the cabin, a reluctant recognition of defeat - we were being diverted. To Cali, Colombia.

Cali, Colombia? At the time, all I knew of it was a vague association with drugs - the Cali Cartel, cocaine, violence. We arrived to a nearly deserted airport in the dark of night, and the thought of actually experiencing this city didn't even cross my mind. I was concerned about the safety of my family, my young kids, my wife. I didn't view our pit stop as an opportunity, but rather a potentially dangerous distraction away from our desired destination.