🇬🇧| Where Coffee Is Enjoyed with the Heart

In the central plaza of Cajicá, Colombia, there's a place that doesn’t appear on maps or social media, yet everyone knows about it.

It’s Doña Yohana’s coffee cart. It’s not a café with elegant tables or a shop with soft lighting and background music, but her coffee has a flavor that no modern machine can match.

And beyond the coffee, what keeps me coming back again and again is her,Doña Yohana, with her wide smile full of stories and her way of making every conversation feel like a warm hug on a cold morning.

Before the sun has even fully risen, she’s already there. A metal cart, two huge thermoses filled with black coffee, a small box with sugar, and a jar of panela. People stop by for her coffee, but they stay for her words. Because Doña Yohana doesn’t just sell coffee,she serves up stories, advice, and laughter for free.

_{Photograph of my authorship}

The first time I stopped by, it was out of sheer caffeine necessity, but I returned for the warmth. "How are you this morning, my dear? Today, I’ve got a delicious coffee for you to shake off that sleepiness!"And just like that, the day already feels better. Because Doña Yohana doesn’t ask just for the sake of asking—she truly listens. If you’re happy, she celebrates with you; if you’re feeling down, she’ll say, “But life is always sweeter with a little coffee and a good chat!”

She’s told me about her youth, about how she learned to brew coffee with her mother, about the times when the plaza was filled with horses instead of motorcycles. She also knows half of Cajicá’s stories. If someone doesn’t show up one morning, she worries. “Haven’t you seen so-and-so today? Hope he’s okay he’s a good guy.” Sometimes, she even plays matchmaker, bringing people together with the excuse that “coffee shouldn’t be drunk alone—coffee is meant to be shared.”

_{Photograph of my authorship}

What I love most is that, no matter what, she always has a positive attitude. It doesn’t matter if it rains, if it’s cold, or if the day wakes up gray—her energy remains the same. “Life is like coffee, my dear. Sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet, but always necessary.”

I go almost every day, not just for the hot coffee that wakes me up, but because starting the day with a conversation with Doña Yohana feels like starting on the right foot.

Sometimes I think that if her cart ever disappeared, the plaza would feel empty. Because some places become special not because of what they sell, but because of the people who bring them to life.

And Doña Yohana’s cart, with its perfect coffee and words full of warmth, is one of those little corners where life simply tastes better.