The center is located 4 hours out of the city of Iquitos in Peru. Iquitos is deep within the Amazon jungle and the best way to get there is to fly from Lima the capital of Peru which takes about 90 minutes.

The group will meet in central Iquitos at La Casona Hotel. From there we all travel to The center together. It usually takes about 4 hours to reach The center from the city and involves a bus ride and a boat trip.

We strongly recommend that you arrive in Iquitos at least 1 day before the retreat begins and spend 1 night in a city hotel (La Casona).

It’s not important to have a pickup, there are aways multiple taxis and motortaxis waiting at the airport and everyone knows Hotel La Casona. Don’t pay more than 10 soles (less than $3) in a motortaxi or more than 25 soles in a car taxi and make sure you have some change in Peruvian Soles because most taxis won’t accept dollars.

On average, about 90% of the people in our groups come alone, so don’t worry about coming alone, you’ll be in good company. Also, Peru is a stable and predominantly safe country to travel in.

No, all bedding and also a towel is provided. We provide you with a list of things you should bring which is mostly just clothes and a few necessary items such as a flashlight.

The center is a safe place for women. Many of the staff at The center are female.

We provide filtered water but please bring an empty canteen water bottle.

You can bring any kind of luggage however we strongly recommend that you bring some kind of a backpack or rolling duffel bag. The center does not provide luggage storage in the city, but many hotels and hostels allow you to leave luggage, like La Casona.

For some reason marijuana and ayahuasca don’t get along too well. Sometimes heavy marijuana smokers find it difficult to have a strong ayahuasca experience. We highly recommend that you quit smoking marijuana as long as possible before the retreat. However, there is no danger in smoking marijuana right before the retreat.

There is no danger in taking contraceptive pills while drinking ayahuasca.

We normally advise friends against sharing. Working with ayahuasca is a deeply personal experience and for most people, having privacy and alone time is hugely beneficial and sometimes really necessary.

The weather in the rainforest around Iquitos is unpredictable all year around. There is no distinct dry season and wet season like you find in the mountains of Peru. Sometimes there are weeks where it hardly rains at all and other weeks can have a lot of heavy rainfall. However, an average week in Iquitos will be mostly dry and sunny with a few heavy rain showers scattered throughout the week. One thing is pretty much guaranteed is that whatever the amount of rain, the temperature will be hot and humid almost all the time.

The shaman, his family and the workers of The center do not speak English, but there will be English speakers. There will always be at least one facilitator who is fluent in Spanish to help translate if necessary.

Although it’s not usually considered dangerous, mixing ayahuasca with anti-malaria medication can often have adverse effects on your experience and is generally not recommended. The center is located in an area of the jungle where malaria is considered low risk and the vast majority of people coming on our retreats don’t take this medication and neither do the staff or facilitators.

There are no compulsory vaccinations to visit Peru. Yellow Fever is not necessary for Iquitos. The vaccinations that are the most recommended are Hepatitis A and Typhoid but most folks don’t get them.

There is no definite answer to this question and different people have their own ideas. Some people are naturally very sensitive to ayahuasca and they will have powerful experiences no matter what kind of food they eat and they don’t consider the diet to be important for themselves. However, many people, particularly if they’re coming from stressful and polluted environments, and if they don’t eat a really healthy diet normally will usually not have a high level of sensitivity to the ayahuasca and as a result the first 1 or ceremonies are more for purging and cleansing.

The center is not connected to the grid but it does have an electricity generator that is usually turned on for a couple of hours each evening before ceremony begins. Therefore it is possible to charge things like phones and cameras throughout the week.

We recommend that you don’t bring laptops to The center because the humidity in the jungle has been known cause problems with electronics, however phones and cameras are usually fine. Peru uses the same type of plug as North America however it has a higher voltage so make sure your electrical devices work ok with up to 220 volts.

There is an intermittent phone signal, so if you have an international roaming service with your cell phone then you can send and receive text messages or make calls and possibly also have internet access. However, please only do so to let loved ones know that you are safe. Distractions in whatever form will not help you while you work with the medicine.

Absolutely.