I’ve got pretty experimental with the starters menu, my favourites being the pink hummus and butternut squash bruschetta, and if you want a classic Greek winter warmer then spicy baked feta cheese is the way to go. Classic garlic mushrooms are pimped up with bits of bacon and blue cheese and served on brioche, and carrot and ginger soup has hints of coconut.

My main menu is inspired by Alpine mountain food, Tartiflette comes just under snowboarding in my list of favourite things ever, and since I wont be strapping on a board for the next few weeks its safe to say I will be gaining a few kilos this winter!

If you haven’t tried it yet, Tartiflette is beautiful concoction of potatoes, bacon, onions and cream baked with Reblochon cheese, and goes great with a side of cured meats, pickles and a glass of red wine.

Another hearty warmer is the Beef Bourguignon, but don’t worry it’s not all aimed at carnivores! I’ve given our classic roast vegetables a bit of an upgrade and will be serving them with roasted red pepper hummus, feta and olives. The festive vegan option is a winter vegetable stir fry with walnuts and cranberries.

In a compromise between a Caffi Kiki special and a Christmas Classic is the “Ultimate Christmas Wrap” – crispy turkey, stuffing and cranberry. If you want to go all out then try the “Dog in a blanket” – A giant pig-in-blanket served in a brioche bun with stuffing, cranberry sauce, dipping gravy and skinny fries.

If you’ve still got room for pudding then it doesn’t get more Christmassy than the trio of Greek desserts: pastries, cakes and biscuits with flavours of orange, cinammon and syrup.  If you want something more traditional try our best ever chocolate brownie, decadent cheecake or Christmas pudding. If you haven’t got a sweet tooth then treat yourself to our Welsh cheese platter served with bara brith.

We’re now taking bookings for day or night time for groups of over 4 people, and will be opening on the evening of the 14th and 15th of December for groups of any size. Get in touch via email: [email protected], or give me a call on 07450325119 for more info or to book!

The post Winter Party Menu appeared first on Caffi Kiki.

We are in the process of turning the park into a winter wonderland! The huts will make up a little Alpine Christmas market, with amazingly talented local craftspeople selling everything from handmade Christmas decorations and jewelery to goat’s milk soap.

The festival has been in the pipeline for the last few years, and is planned and funded by the Ffestiniog Town Council, whose aim is to give local businesses a platform to promote their products and showcase everything that Blaenau and the surrounding area have to offer. And that’s a whole lot more than just slate!

Many local businesses have jumped at the chance to get involved but most of the stalls have been booked by independent craftspeople and hobbyists. This is a great opportunity to keep your Christmas shopping ethical, buying from local producers and putting money back into your local economy. Some local charities have also taken stalls for fundraising, and you can also help out causes a bit further afield by visiting the Shop Bethlehem stall and buying handmade crafts from Palestine.

There will be delicious hot food available at the festival, and not just from Caffi Kiki!  Local butcher’s van Blas yr Allt will be serving up hot turkey and festive sausages, while Piggin Delicious carves up a nice hog roast! We also have more exotic options with Coconut Kitchen dishing up fresh Thai curries, Camp Halloumi bringing the best Cypriot products and local baker Mr.Racheed’s  famous Kurdish breads and pastries! Local roastery Poblado will be setting up (coffee) shop for the weekend, and there will be delicious homemade cakes from Blaenau’s newest cafe Y Gorlan.

While parents do their Christmas shopping the little ones (and larger ones) can whizz around the ice rink which is also equipped with a snow machine and a bubble blower! Sip festive cocktails from the adorable Baabaa Bar whilst checking out the local talent on the stage, and hold out for some big Welsh headline acts over the weekend!

On Monday night the stage will open with Faerial Performances fire show and local band Yr Oria. Tuesday night the stage will be transformed into Blaenau’s Got Talent, with the final round being hosted on Wednesday night with Dilwyn Morgan. Thursday night is traditionally “Goleuo Stiniog” when the lights in Blaenau are switched on and shops stay open for late-night shopping, but as Blaenau Bendigedig did not go ahead with the traditional parade and concert in Diffwys this year, the local choirs and brass band will be putting on concerts in the park. The night will end with all of the choirs leading community carol singing! Can you imagine anything more festive?!

(I still can’t believe these guys are gonna be there!)

On Friday night Welsh legend Dafydd Iwan will be drawing in the crowds, with support from the winner of Blaenau’s Got Talent and will be followed by local boys Horizon who will appeal more to the younger crowd with an exciting laser show. Saturday will warm up with an open mic session in the afternoon followed by Gypsy Jazz duo Rainbow and the 4Ts before Gai Toms a’r Band take to the stage to headline. Sunday will see a showcase of talent from Ysgol Y Moelwyn’s music department, followed by local band Yr Oria and then bilingual cover band JD and Co before the festival closes with another community carol singing session!

I know what you’re thinking… It’s a pretty ambitious program for the first event in the park – but I’m a strong advocate of “go hard or go home” – and why have a party for a day when you could have it for the week? People can visit the festival as many times as they want, with free entry meaning they can come and enjoy something different every night!

And here’s to the first of many!

The post Ffestiniog Winter Festival appeared first on Caffi Kiki.

For this reason, we’ve made sure that every option on our main meals menu can be tweaked to provide a gluten free option, with gf bread, wraps, pitta breads, sausages, hash browns and fries. We also keep a completely gluten free fryer, so if you have a severe gluten allergy please let us know when ordering (your order may take a little longer for the fryer to heat up)

All of our soups, specials and cakes are homemade, so we know exactly what goes into them, and we keep a “kitchen bible” with all of our ingredients and allergens for each meal, so if in doubt staff or customers can consult this.

Disclaimer: Gluten free alternatives are harder to source, more expensive and take extra time to prepare, which is not currently reflected in our pricing… However if you do make us get the special stuff out of the freezer and then decide that you’ve “been good” so you can have a “normal cake” for dessert… We can’t promise not to add a “dickhead tax” to your bill at the end

Here are some examples of the gluten free meals on our menu:

Moelwyn Mawr/Moelwyn bach cooked breakfast

GF Porridge with your choice of milk, served with fruit and honey

Avocado, poached egg and smoked salmon on GF toast

Range of GF sandwiches

Roast veg with hummus and olives (option to add garlic and lemon chicken)

Garlic and lemon chicken in a GF wrap with tzatziki, salad and fries

Chilli (meat or veg) with jacket potato, rice or quinoa

Curry of the day with rice

Minute steak with mushrooms, onions and blue cheese sauce, served in a gf sandwich, wrap or pitta bread with salad and fries

Gourmet GF burger with bacon and smoked cheese, served on a bed of salad or with gf bread, with fries.

We can also tailor meals depending on your allergies, just talk to us about your needs and we will do all we can to meet them. A customer with a very restrictive diet and numerous allergies made up her ideal meal of lemon chicken and tzatziki in a pitta bread with salad and rice… As long as we have the ingredients, we will make what you want!

The post Gluten Free Options appeared first on Caffi Kiki.

While this summer has been a bit of a washout, I’ve loved being able to take a little bit of time to update the blog, and as promised, to write a little bit more about what we do at the cafe.

I hear lots of people saying, “oh yeah you do all that healthy stuff in the cafe” and while I really wish that crispy chicken and skinny fries were in fact healthy, I feel obliged to clear a few things up:

1. What we do at the cafe is offer plenty of healthier “options,” we have lots of customers on slimming plans who come to the cafe knowing that we can make a few small changes to make their meals as guilt free as possible, like avoiding oil and just using spray lite, substituting fries or rice for salad or quinoa, and anything else that is within our power to do. But we also have some big, fat cheat meals.

   

2. The main goal for the menu was to make it super inclusive, I didn’t want anyone to feel like they couldn’t have exactly what they wanted to eat, that’s why we have everything from big fry-ups to fresh salads, gourmet burgers to vegan ice cream. We also take off-menu requests, so if there’s anything you fancy that isn’t on the wall, there’s no harm in asking!

   

    

3. We’re not a vegan/vegetarian cafe, but we do try to make most of our meals vegan at the base, with the option to add cheese or meat, for example our roast vegetables with hummus and olives can be upgraded with feta, halloumi or garlic and lemon chicken, and our stir-fry can be pimped out with chicken or king prawns. We always stock almond and soya milk and often have vegan cakes and treats, and we’re always looking for ways to do more, so if you have any  suggestions, please let us know!

   

4. We are also dedicated to making sure that people who follow a gluten free diet have as many options as possible, and have come up with gluten free substitutes for almost everything on the menu. That’s right, we have gluten free bread, wraps, pittas, fries, sausages, hash browns, oats and soy sauce, making our famous stir fry now gluten free! Talk to our staff for detailed information about ingredients and allergens.

   

    

If you have any questions about anything on our menu or would like to suggest something that is missing then we’d love to hear from you! Drop us an email at [email protected], DM on Facebook or Instagram, or pop in to the cafe for a chat!

The post Exploring your options: Something for everybody at the cafe appeared first on Caffi Kiki.

We try to keep this “naughty option” as guilt free as possible by grilling the main ingredients in Fry light, and even garnish with a few spinach leaves, because, you know…  It’s all about the balance.

Moelwyn Mawr and Bach are also available with gluten free substitutes, and vegetarians don’t have to miss out either, as bacon and sausages can be substituted for grilled halloumi and extra veggies! (often served with a cheese-based joke)

Millennials are also catered for with avocado on toast, and you can load up on protein by adding poached eggs and/or smoked salmon for a decadent brunch. Add a peanut butter and banana shake if you’re still worried about your #gainz.

Lighter breakfast options include Greek yoghurt with muesli and fresh fruit, or porridge of the day, which can be made with gluten free oats and non-dairy milk. (almond or soya)

We strive to cater (sometimes through gritted teeth) to your whims and darkest fantasies, so let us know if you’re craving a combo that we haven’t listed, and don’t be afraid to go off-piste! Try adding a turkey dinosaur to your fry-up for the famous “Kiki Special!”

The post Breakfast at Kiki’s appeared first on Caffi Kiki.

Even though I was brought up in Blaenau Ffestiniog, I never really thought of the park as somewhere to go in my spare time. This may have something to do with the fact that my childhood memories of the place are tainted by stones thrown at me and homophobic slurs (how do bullies have such fine-tuned gaydars?)  But the park is no longer the teenage wasteland of my youth, and I was pleasantly surprised when I got the keys to the pavillion to see how much it had been developed in my absence.

The park has won Green Flag awards for its cleanliness and the abundant flowerbeds are cared for almost daily by John, the dedicated gardener.  Although the fences and CCTV give the park a slightly Alcatraz vibe, they also make it a safe space for children to play, and the playground, obstacle course and football pitch are a haven for the little bambinos whizzing around on their bikes.

But the park has something for every generation, children play while their grandfather mows the bowling green, and men of all ages turn up for the matches. Crazy golf offers fun for the whole family, and the more serious athletes can head to the tennis court. Visit the activities page for more information and prices.

While the park has come a long way, there is still so much that can be done. I’m looking forward to organising 5 a side football tournaments, fundraiser days and getting involved with the exciting new winter fair.

More than anything I want to see the park being used by the community, the more activities we can get started, the better! If you have any suggestions for activities that you would like to see in the park, or if you would like to get involved in organising dance/fitness/sports clubs or classes, or anything else that I haven’t thought of, please get in touch or pop in to the cafe for a chat!

The post Parklife appeared first on Caffi Kiki.

Well, not that this glorious British summer that we’re having wasn’t worth coming back for in itself, something weird happened over this last year. It was a slow, insidious process, but I think I grew up. I didn’t realise what was happening at first, but hanging washing to dry on electrical wires on my scorching hot roof in the caribbean wind started to frustrate me, and then six months later, trying to dry my underwear clipped to the bindings of my snowboard propped up against a borrowed electrical heater was the final straw.

The dirty haired hippies and ski bums that I used to think were the coolest started to bore me, and the people I would envy in hostel conversations were the ones who had interesting jobs to go home to. I found myself cornering the girl at the beach party who had a copy-writing job with Nike (turns out she just knew someone who got her the job) and yawning at yet another hot Aussie who had quit his job to travel the world. I started to crave the little comforts in life that everyone takes for granted. A wardrobe, a hairdryer, water that wasn’t infested with worms.

While I’ve always chased this nomad life, being (physically at least) stable in Colombia for ten months showed me that I was ready to put down some roots. Even though my dream of making a living from my writing on the road was starting to become a reality, I realised that I wanted more. I also realised that I had too much animosity towards the selfie-stick wielding millennial travel-blogger to enthusiastically join their ranks.

Kiki’s Cafe started as a way for me to document my travels and to showcase my work. The name came from my obsession with cafe culture, and the desire to reflect certain elements of this on my blog: sharing recipes, stories and a sense of community. I never had a conscious intention of opening a cafe, 13 year old, snobby Kiki used to tell customers at her mum’s cafe that she would do something far more important with her life. But when the opportunity arose, I realised that it had been something I’ve been gravitating towards for the last few years.

I’ve never been the type of traveller to take a coffee flask or a packed lunch, even if it’s wildly beyond my means I always considered eating out to be an integral part of the experience. And now I’m excited to be able to offer that experience to other travellers, and more importantly, to locals. Part of my vision with Caffi Kiki is to bring food from all over the world back to my little Welsh hometown. For people who are itching to get out there and taste the world to have a little preview, under my roof of maps.

I want my physical cafe to bring together all the elements that I was striving for with my blog, to build a community around eating healthily, sharing tastes from around the world, and keeping up some kind of cultural exchange. I’m planning on hosting different theme nights, language clubs and sporting events. And taking over the world, obviously.

In all seriousness, putting roots down has been harder than I ever imagined, and karma has got me back for years of insta-bragging, I can barely scroll through my feed without wanting to jump on a plane. Luckily for me, work has drained me of the energy to do even that. While I’ve got huge ambitions for the business, I’ve realised that it takes more hours than I can physically stay awake for just to do the bare minimum. I may have finally got that wardrobe, but my clothes are locked in a chair-floor-washing-machine cycle, and drying my hair feels like more of a luxury than ever.

The biggest irony, however,  is that I actually thought going home and starting a business would bring me stability! I can say with more confidence now than ever that I have no idea what the next three months will bring!

The post ‘Kiki’s Cafe’ to ‘Caffi Kiki’ appeared first on Caffi Kiki.

Yeah that’s right. I’ve given up my life of zero ties and minimal responsibilities and decided to do a grown-up thing. I’m still not entirely sure why, but one day in Verbier I heard about this opportunity and I could just picture everything falling into place. Go home, have a purpose. Have a wardrobe. And a bedroom. And more than a backpack full of possessions. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense.

I started to get really excited about the cafe, drawing up menus and thinking up marketing schemes before my proposal had even been accepted. I could picture the cafe in my mind’s eye (even though I’m not 100% sure I’d even been in before) and all of a sudden had an actual vision for how my life could be that didn’t involve grey dreadlocks and selling friendship bracelets on a beach somewhere.  

I got the keys to my new venture the day after I arrived back in the UK, and realised that the little pavillion in the park would need a lot of work before my vision could become a reality. I dived straight in, sanding, painting and scrubbing for three weeks solid, distracting myself with dilemmas about shades of moss green, and what to do about skirting boards to stop myself thinking about the fact that I had just forfeited by freedom and voluntarily returned somewhere I’d spent most of my life trying to escape.

But less than two months later, I’m in my second week of business, and it feels like I’m really supposed to be here. I’ve come back to my home town and I’m seeing it with completely new eyes. Although it’s fair to say we’ve both changed a lot over the last 9 years!

Rather than the old school of railway enthusiasts and nuclear families who used to descend on Blaenau in the summer, the town now appeals more to backpackers and adventurers. I’ve been amazed that in my first two weeks I’ve had customers from Switzerland, Mexico, Uruguay, USA and Australia! But my favourite customers are the half Ecuadorian children who come in for sweets and water and speak to me in a mix of Spanish and Welsh!  

I really feel like Caffi Kiki is a culmination of everything I’ve been doing over the last few years. Working in mountain resorts, teaching and working with children, cooking… And most importantly, the interminable hours I’ve wasted away in coffee shops around the world can now be looked back on as a solid investment. It’s safe to say I’ve done my market research!

Anyway, this post isn’t to say that I’m abandoning my writing, I was actually hoping that being a bit more settled and (hopefully) having a steady income would allow me to concentrate on my writing a bit more. (Don’t say it.) So the plan is Kiki’s Cafe 2.0…I’ll be merging the blog and the cafe, writing about the yummy healthy food that I’m making, and the exciting youth projects that will hopefully come into fruition in the near future! I’m really excited to start getting involved in the community, organising charity events and other exciting projects, which I will reveal in good time…

I’ll also be writing some local guides, because after all the places I’ve been,  I’ve realised that North Wales is actually one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Don’t worry, I’ll probably still bother you all with nostalgia fuelled accounts of trips that I enjoyed too much to write about at the time! So for now, carry on enjoying my travel stories from the comfort of your screen, or even better, pop in and swap some over a ‘panad’!

The post Kiki’s Cafe 2.0 appeared first on Caffi Kiki.

https://matadornetwork.com/read/23-funniest-expressions-welsh-use/

The post 23 Funniest Expressions in Welsh and how to use them appeared first on Caffi Kiki.

While Colombia is renowned for being one of the most dangerous countries in the world (cheers, Pablo) I can honestly say that if I hadn’t heard anything about it before coming, I would never have guessed at this reputation. Okay, maybe about the drugs. 

Sitting outside Juan Valdez, scrolling through Facebook a few months ago,  I nearly choked on my tinto frio to see that Insider Travel had named Colombia the most dangerous country in the world. In 2017.

To put this into context, that week I had been far more concerned about my friends back in the UK following the London Bridge terrorist attack, and for my brother in Afghanistan who’s camp had just been targeted by a suicide bomber, than I had been at any point for my own safety.

I’m not denying that there are still obvious safety concerns, but to paraphrase a girl who I wrote off as a massive douche on the back of this statement,  it definitely didn’t feel like the most dangerous place I’d travelled to.

But this reputation almost put me off coming.

People who probably couldn’t even pinpoint Colombia on a map decided to wade into the debate, from concerned relatives to the waitress at my goodbye dinner. Informing me that Colombia was dangerous as if I had just made a snap decision to move there without knowing the first thing about the place. Which in retrospect is not entirely untrue.

Alone in my hotel room in Bogotá after almost 24 hours of travelling,  I worked myself up into a frenzy. Looking at my little blue dot on Google maps I realised just how far away I was. I had never been this far away from home, and I had never been this completely alone. It struck me that I didn’t know a single person on the entire continent. As irrelevant and purely symbolic as the fact was, it made me feel completely lost. Metaphorically and literally. In my panic, I had managed to lose my hotel room twice and I froze whenever anyone spoke Spanish to me. I was well out of my comfort zone.

Sometimes, when I’m outside my comfort zone I find myself questioning my life choices. Wondering why I can’t just be happy to get a “normal” job and settle down. Have stable friendships and relationships. And a dog. (Mostly the dog.)

I know deep down that this isn’t what I want, but when I’m weak from jet-lag and feeling disorientated, this voice takes advantage of my lowered defences. And it had particularly strong opinions on Colombia, echoing my aunt’s reaction to the move  “How can you have read so many books and still be so stupid?”

I cried, did some yoga, gave myself a pep-talk and dragged myself out. Arriving at the hotel I had been a bit freaked out that I had to give my booking confirmation before would even open the gates to my cab, so I was relieved that in the light of day I could walk freely in and out of the hotel. We weren’t in complete lockdown.

Walking down the huge highways of Bogotá I was struck by how normal everything was. Urban. Modern. Clean. I made my way to Park 93, stealing glances at Google Maps, wary not to let anyone see my phone. When I reached the park I started to laugh at myself. People lounging on picnic mats had smartphones and tablets in full view, using the park’s free wifi. A toddler was running around after a puppy.  I started to chill out a bit.

Although nothing I saw made me feel unsafe in Bogotá, people continued to freak me out with their stories. A Colombian woman warned me not to go anywhere alone, not to travel after dark, and I later found out that one of her sons had been killed.

In training, we were given talks on safety and warned about a substance that gangs use to rob you. Scopolamine, or “Devil’s breath” can be blown into your face, and leave you in a zombie-like state where you have no free will (but don’t look wildly out of control) Kind of like the imperius curse, except you can also die.

We were warned about the paseo millenario, which is nowhere near as fun as it sounds and involves taxi drivers kidnapping you for 24 hours where they drag you around atms until they have drained your bank account. This didn’t pose a massive threat to me considering I had already done most of the work for them, but the sexual assault side of it was definitely a worry.

In my first few weeks in Colombia, I took all the official advice. I never got into an unbooked taxi. I even to booked taxis even to travel a few blocks home in the centre of town after dark. I didn’t carry cash. I kept my hand glued to whichever pocket my phone was in.

I soon relaxed. The centre of Santa Marta became familiar, I grew to recognise the local crackheads and knew which places to avoid. I walked home alone down the main, well-lit streets. But I walked quickly and confidently and developed a bit of a “fucking try it” attitude. Street harassment was definitely more of an issue for me than the threat of actual crime. 

A few of my friends were mugged, and their stories were pretty sobering. (guns, knives, punches to the face)  and I warned myself not to slip into a false sense of security.

When my mum came to visit I tried to show her that Colombia really wasn’t unsafe. I planned to show her how normal my life was in Santa Marta but Santa Marta didn’t really play ball. The rainy season hit and the streets flooded. There were three men passed out in the doorway to my flat. (instead of the usual one) Her bright blonde hair meant that we were followed and hassled even more than I was used to. I had booked to take her to Cartagena for the weekend and wondered if I should tell her about the group message from my coordinator warning us not to travel to Cartagena because of a terrorist attack. (false alarm, they turned out to be two unrelated explosions) 

Sometimes random things would remind me that I was in a famously “dangerous” country. One day I was teaching a class on camping and outdoor activities, and I asked my students about the potential dangers of going camping. Expecting them to suggest insects, snakes or the odd twisted ankle I was shocked when the first reaction was “you could get kidnapped” closely followed by fears of rape.

Obviously, I know that Colombia’s peace process is still in a delicate phase, but kidnappings are down 92% since 2000. There are areas where you really shouldn’t go, and even in controlled “safe” areas, horrendous things can happen.  But you can’t live in a country and constantly be afraid.

By the time I visited Medellín, I felt completely at ease in Colombia. I travelled alone from Choco, the remote north-west of Colombia bordering Panama, and wandered around the zona-rosa in my favourite aimless, directionless and carefree way.

On the Medellín walking tour, I was brought back down to earth. While caution had become a habit, my paranoia and constant fear of being attacked had disappeared. The guide kind of messed with this. He made us huddle together to take photos, and although the tour ended in a busy park,  he made sure that we all left in groups, and warned us not to come back at night.

The tour guide wasn’t about scaremongering though, he was overwhelmingly positive about Medellín’s present situation and future, but also very open and honest about the past, in a country which in my experience tends to gloss over painful chapters. Somewhat understandably.

Medellín’s Museum of Memory, for example, has some beautifully touching exhibitions but deals with the conflict without specifically mentioning names or events. The artist Botero took a stand against this famous collective amnesia by opposing the removal of his statue of the bird from the Plaza San Antonio where it was blown up, killing 23 people during a concert. Instead, the artist insisted on installing the replacement next to it. The statues are now known as the Pajaros de Paz (birds of peace) and it seems symbolic that Botero built the new statue bigger and more robust. There’s a phoenix analogy in there somewhere.

Standing next to the statue was one of those “standing on the edge of a cliff” moments. Seeing up close how a bomb can rip through bronze like it’s tin-foil makes you realise how fucked you would be. And how fucked people can be. Watching Narcos, and even the news, you become desensitized to the scale of the violence, but standing on the spot brought it crudely to life. Imagining the lives that were torn apart, the ripple effect of such a random, brutal and ultimately pointless act of violence. 

The following day I took a free graffiti tour of the infamous Comuna 13. Learning about the way the barrio has been regenerated, how street art and hip-hop (and some big-arse escalators)  have changed the face of one of the world’s most dangerous neighbourhoods made me frustrated that people still see Colombia as a country plagued by drug crime, instead of a country striving to re-invent itself.

By the time I visited Bogotá for the second time, a few days before flying home, I wouldn’t have recognised the girl cowering in her hotel room ten months earlier.  Rushing around the city and hopping in taxis by myself, I already felt like I was back in Europe. After a hipster brunch, I headed to a shopping centre and was surprised to be stopped by a guard with a sniffer dog. (a dog with a job!!!)  It wasn’t until I tried to use the second-floor bathroom that I realised that this was the shopping centre where a French girl had been killed in an explosion a few weeks earlier.

It’s a strange feeling, but it’s a feeling that is becoming increasingly common in Europe these days. Last year 22 people were killed in a concert in Manchester, at a venue that is home to some the best memories of my teenage years. I’m not saying that the security situation in the UK is comparable because my experience in Colombia taught me how insanely privileged we are to grow up in such relative safety. The point I’m trying to make is that there are incredibly shit people who do incredibly shit things everywhere. While there are always risks, we should never allow our fear to stop us living life to the full.

Towards the end of my time in Colombia,  I went to San Gil for the weekend by myself. During the 13-hour coach journey, I followed my little blue dot with excitement rather than fear.  Standing outside a bus station in the middle of nowhere, looking up at the little upside down-crescent moon, I no longer felt lost and lonely, but elated by my freedom.

The post Feeling safe in Colombia appeared first on Caffi Kiki.