Posted in Awakening, Colombia, Colombian life, expat life, farm life, ghosts, glamping, spirits, Uncategorized

A Ghost

Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc.

I saw a ghost on my security camera. It is my first time, although I captured an orb on my first visit to Villa Migelita many years ago when I looked at properties to buy in Colombia. The legend has circulated around my pueblo that a Campesino visits my place. I recently had the granddaughter of the original owner visit my Glamping place. That was really special, and I talked to her about the legend of the spirit. More on that later in this blog. First I have to describe what happened.

You might think I am crazy because it sounds nuts when I say it out loud, but I saw it and know it happened. A ghost passed through my front gate, and I thought it was a real person because I had guests staying who had left to go out. They wanted to return past when I asked guests to return, and I was okay with that. I asked that they be quiet because my dogs get excited when anyone enters my property. They asked me to not leave Cash outside because he is enormous and a bit scary to people. They were afraid he would be menacing to them. Cash knows who is staying here, and he would not be as they thought, but I put him in my room.

At 3:40 am, Cash started crying and pacing my room. His tail was wagging when he came and put his face (which is huge) into my face. I opened my eyes and looked at the cameras and saw a man entering the front gate. I then looked at the street under the lamplight for the Uber. There wasn’t one. I then saw no one at the walkway before the front entrance; all of this on my cameras would show people walking. Cash continued to get more agitated. I didn’t want to let him out because I thought my guests would be scared. However, Cash would not quit crying, and when he jumped onto his back legs and tried to escape by crashing through my glass windows, I let him out. He left with a wagging tail, so I knew Cash was no danger to my guests who had returned from a night out. I left my door cracked so he could come back in and go back to sleep.

The following day, my guests ordered breakfast and asked to be served at 10 o’clock. I didn’t wake them because I knew they had returned late, and I just waited for them to appear. They came over to the Villa from my Glamping Treehouse, where they were staying, I said, “You guys came back so late! Cash was going crazy, and I don’t know how he heard you because you were so quiet.” They answered, “Is 11pm late?” I said, “No, it was 3:40 am because I looked at my watch.” They said to check your cameras. We came home at eleven. I thought, what! I know what I saw. They thought I might have seen an animal, so Cash was excited. I made a mental note to look at the cameras later.

I got busy and let it go, but I looked at the cameras on Tuesday after they left. They entered at 11 pm, and from 1:30 am until almost 5 am, an orb of light was captured on my cameras, but no person. I know I didn’t see the light and thought it was a person. I waited to talk to Adriana, my housekeeper and good friend. She has lived in these mountains all of her life. It gets more interesting from here.

I was doing my nails, and Adriana approached my room. I told her about the weird experience. The cameras were showing on the screen, and I explained what I had seen and how my guests thought I was crazy. She said, “Did you see the door open?” I thought, “No, I didn’t, and remember thinking that was strange then!” My manicurist is listening intently now. I am writing it down now so I never forget it, and it will be forever in my blog! I was seeing a spirit walk onto my property! Cash knows this spirit because he was outside with Kira, my other dog, for a while.

Adriana told me a story about the campesino who visited here, too. Adriana worked for me when I first bought Villa Migelita. She was alone doing housework and mopping when a man left my office and walked out onto my front balcony. She thought it was the guy I moved here with because of the skin color and the body’s build. This man was dressed nicely with a Colombian sombrero. Then she remembered I had left in the truck with him a while ago. She ran to the balcony to look for the truck, thinking we had returned, but we had not. To this day, she remembers this experience and has never repeated it to anyone.

I believe this spirit visits my place sometimes. My animals know him, and he isn’t an evil spirit. He hasn’t left this world and lives around my pueblo. I think he might visit more than I know. Am I scared? No. Am I a bit freaked out? YES. I saw what I saw, and that man walked right through my wooden gate and onto my property. He did. I will never forget my first sighting of a ghost. This is the photo from the camera of my front entrance at 3:40 am. I have never seen a light in front of the door like this. I look every night at my cameras. This is the orb.

An orb of light never captured o  my cameras before.

Here are a few pictures from the granddaughter of the first owner of my property.  They are interesting because I am sharing history for all to see. Enjoy.  Leave me a comment if you have a story of a visitor. I know I saw a person and I will never forget my first vision of a ghost.

The first owners of Villa Migelita Ecolodge
Continue reading “A Ghost”
Posted in Colombia, Colombian life, country living, Dogo Argentino, Entreprenuer, expat life, farm life, Glampingcolombia, mountains, nature, Uncategorized

A Snake or Two?

Scour the news for an entirely uninteresting story. Consider how it connects to your life. Write about that.

I read this prompt yesterday, and I had nothing, but because I am an avid news junkie, I wanted to write a post. Today, I was skimming the news, and there was a story I immediately felt a kinship with. A snake lands on this woman’s arm! A hawk attacks! Last year in Colombia, where I live in the Andes Mountains, I had a few encounters with snakes. I know, the horror!!! 2022 was a strange year for our climate here in the mountains. We had only three of four weeks of sun where I live. I didn’t have constant rain, but it was intermittent most days. We had those three weeks, and the snakes came alive. Now, I want to emphasize that I had only seen a snake at my property one time before this year of snake sitings. When I first moved here, there was construction going on. I remember my workers pointing out a coral snake. I was fascinated but not worried. After that one time, I would occasionally see a snake on a hike or while riding a mountain bike. Nothing to cause me any concern.

So about last year, I was told by my employees that snakes love the sun and they will come out of hibernation when the sun is out for days. I remember I was resting, reading a book in the afternoon. I have property cameras and saw my cat Geisha jump in the air on my first-floor balcony. The movement caught my eye, then I saw this vast snake moving through my planters. Cash, my Dogo Argentino, appears next, going crazy, as you can imagine. I felt immediate fear for Cash as he is a hunter, and I certainly didn’t want him to be bitten by a snake. Like a mother bear, I ran downstairs to stop him, but he was immediately gone. I saw him near my fence as this snake approached the other side. I will never forget the snake’s length as it slithered through the holes. Cash was smart enough to leave it alone. My gardener reviewed camera footage, and it was a “good snake” who eats rats, frogs, and small animals (thank God, not my cat), and it was in the boa constrictor family.

My subsequent encounter was a week later! I left my dog’s bowls on top of a closet downstairs and went to feed them. I picked up one to fill with food, and there was a small snake curled asleep under it. I screamed and called my gardener at home. “Come quickly”! I put the bowl back over the snake. This snake was called an Eckes and was very dangerous. I was lucky not to have been bitten. Saulo showed up and had to kill it because we couldn’t risk having it hang around my Villa. Animals are constantly bitten by these snakes in Colombia and lose their lives. Again, thinking of Cash, my Dogo Argentino.

This year we have had nothing but the sun. Now, I know that snakes are around living here in the jungle. The good ones and the bad ones. We have a product that my gardener sprays around the perimeter of my land to keep them away. It works, and when my customers ask me whether I have snakes, I have to tell the truth. They live in the forest, and I have seen them. They are rare, but this is their forest, and I am the intruder. I respect all nature, but I don’t like snakes! My nature retreat is filled with hummingbirds and beautiful tropical birds, but somewhere in the jungle. Snakes do live and sometimes interact with humans; it is scarce, like a lightning strike, but it can happen.