Traditional Plant Medicine in the Peruvian Rainforest
On the banks of the Itaya River, south of Iquitos, we welcome you to our small jungle retreat, where ancient plant medicine traditions are kept alive. Take part in ayahuasca ceremonies led by our shamans, Don Gardel and Maestra Alicia, who come from long lineages of curanderos. With intimate groups and personal guidance from preparation through integration, you are never left to walk the path alone.
A SACRED PAUSE FROM ORDINARY LIFE
Paojilhuasca is a traditional plant medicine center on the Itaya River, deep in the heart of the Amazon, three hours upriver from Iquitos by our own boat. Founded in a partnership between biomedical researcher Fabrizio Beverina and curandero Don Gardel in 2018, we strive to provide real plant medicine experiences to small groups of guests from all over the world. Our resident shamans, Don Gardel and Maestra Alicia, are both highly experienced curanderos from long lineages and provide a balance of feminine and masculine to our ayahuasca ceremonies. Our Western facilitators – Fabrizio, Dominic, Caterina, and Kate – form an international multi-disciplinary team to support guests with our balanced ethos of attentiveness, encouragement, and compassion – meeting you wherever you are, just as you are.
The base program is seven days, but many guests choose to stay longer. Our weekly schedule is built around two ayahuasca ceremonies, spaced out within the week. Both take place in our traditionally hand-built maloca, the heart and social centre of the retreat. Every day, we offer different mindful practices and somatic activities to help you reconnect with body and nature. In between, you have quiet hours to pass as you please – journal from the hammock, chat in the maloca, or enjoy the sights and sounds of the jungle. No medicine or activity is mandatory, but all have been carefully selected to help you get the most out of your stay.
Our approach to ayahuasca is authentic, true, and unfiltered — which can mean intense. However, making it safe is our utmost priority. Caterina, our physician, evaluates our comprehensive medical and psychological screening requirements prior to you attending. Don Gardel, our shaman and trained nurse, lives on-site and can provide medical assistance if ever needed. You have 24/7 support from our facilitators and shamans for immediate questions or concerns during your stay. Additionally, we provide a diverse array of integration support after you leave, so we can walk alongside your journey for as long as you’d like.
A week on the Itaya River, in a small group, with time to slow down and listen. Diverse somatic practices to reconnect to your body, immerse yourself in nature’s beauty, and rediscover the medicine of authentic community. The whole time, be supported by our caring team – before, during, and after your stay. If you feel called, drop us a message and secure your place today.
YOUR TIME IN THE AMAZON AWAITS
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We know that ayahuasca can be challenging – and often, the real work starts at home. Transforming abstract insights into embodied actions in your everyday life takes dedication, time, and patience. At Paojilhuasca, we pride ourselves on comprehensive and complementary integration support resources accessible to all guests upon departure, so we can be there whenever you need us most.
For individual support, we have developed a Paojilhuasca “Integration Compass” app, complete with journalling prompts, grounding practices, and somatic exercises to reconnect and reflect on your experiences in the jungle. Our app is constantly being improved and updated to reflect what guests like you find most useful.
Our Integration Coach hosts biweekly virtual integration talking circles for past guests via our WhatsApp Group to provide a safe space to stay connected to our community and share whatever’s on your mind. These free video calls open with a brief guided meditation to ground you into your body, revisit your times in the maloca, and reflect on what’s changed since you left. We then begin an open-hearted talking circle which provides a non-judgemental space to listen and be truly heard.
Furthermore, our experienced Breathwork Coach hosts monthly virtual Conscious Connected Breathing sessions, just like you did at the retreat. These sessions facilitate access to the same powerful energy you’ve felt at Paojilhuasca – and create a space to remember, reconnect, support one another as we dip our toes back into our consciousness.
Between the app’s reflective practices, the talking circle’s community support, and the breathwork’s deep connection, we offer you a multi-faceted approach to integration no matter where your journey leads you. And, if you need more personal support, you can message our team of skilled facilitators directly, any time.
Long-Term Trends Of Psychological Growth
Science around ayahuasca is still unfolding – and we’re striving to contribute to it.
With your consent, our team conducts research on guest experiences, especially through the NETI – the Nondual Embodiment Thematic Inventory, developed by John Astin and Dave Butlein, and used by Deepack Chopra in MetaHuman. Guests are encouraged to complete this short psychological test before the retreat, then again at both one week and six months after. This assessment provides a numerical value to complex spiritual, moral, and psychological attributes, which can be tracked for change over time.
After over eight years of work and hundreds of ceremonies, we’ve accumulated a substantial amount of data. Our NETI results provide discrete evidence to subjective wellbeing reports – showing that many guests truly experience lasting psychological improvement post-retreat, especially in traits of inner peace, fear and anxiety, and in how authentic and alive they feel. Those who arrive carrying depression or anxiety tend to show the greatest change of all, and gains seem to fade fastest in guests who don’t follow any sort of integration process back home. These results are published in full in Fabrizio Beverina’s book “Le Ali dell’Ayahuasca”, and we continue to collect data from new guests to expand our database.
But ayahuasca is not a miracle pill, and it most certainly does not numb your pain. Like watching a tree grow from a seed, psychological improvements take time, patience, and diligent care. When ayahuasca is respectfully worked with, it can help you see the source of pain or struggle – and it can empower you to reclaim agency over your own behaviour, decisions, and lifestyle. But it won’t do the hard work for you – that’s in your hands.
Optional “discovery call” (virtual) to learn more about us
Pre-retreat guidance and medical & psychological screening
Arrival and departure logistics support
6 nights of accommodation
Two fresh locally sourced meals, juices, and snacks each day
Our full retreat program:
Kambo treatment
2 ayahuasca ceremonies
3 mambe talking circles
Traditional Chinese medicine support (eg. moxibustion, cupping)
Daily somatic practices (eg. breathwork, yoga, Qigong)
Shaman-guided jungle walks and/or river excursions
24/7 support from our team during your stay
Our full integration services:
Open access to the Paojilhuasca Integration Compass App
Access to our private Whatsapp groups and community events
Monthly virtual Conscious Connected Breathing breathwork sessions
Biweekly virtual talking circles and group integration support
A few personal arrangements remain outside the retreat programme:
• International and domestic flights to Iquitos, Peru
• Personal purchases and optional expenses during your stay
• Local transportation outside the arrangements provided by Paojilhuasca
Come As You Are, Even On Your Own
Many of our guests arrive on their own, including women travelling to the Peruvian Amazon for the first time. From the moment you arrive, you’ll be met with warmth and attentive support, and women are an essential part of our facilitation team. We are equally committed to welcoming LGBTQIA+ guests, and some of our facilitators are part of the community themselves. Whoever you are and wherever you come from, we strive to create a space where everyone feels respected, seen and safe to be themselves, regardless of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or spiritual beliefs.
Groups are kept small and intimate (typically no more than ten guests, but contact us to check weekly attendance) allowing for genuine connection and personal attention throughout your stay. With eight years of experience, our team knows how to hold the space with care, respect and presence.
We strive to offer guests a balanced set of activities that strike the right balance between self-challenge and self-care. Where workouts, breathwork, and ceremonies may be intense, they are balanced by gentle practices like Qigong, yin yoga, sound baths, and the many hours to relax as you please – playing in the river, exploring the jungle, reading in a hammock, or journalling from the privacy of your room.
If you’re craving community, our maloca provides a communal space to chat with others, play your own music, and cuddle our friendly cats. If you’re craving solitude, you’ll have ample time and privacy to recharge and reset as you need. Whatever balance feels right, day to day – you’ll have the opportunity to create it. No ceremony or activity is ever mandatory.
Curandero, ayahuasquero, kambocero, nurse, co-founder
Ayahuasquera, Vegetalista
Co-founder & director, biomedical researcher, kambo & bufo practitioner
Physician, breathwork guide
Facilitator, Integration coach, Kambo practitioner
Lead facilitator, Tarot Reader, Yoga Teacher, Sound Healer, & Kambo Practitioner
Integration is the process of reflecting on your experience and bringing what you learned into everyday life.
No. Ayahuasca is not suitable for everyone, and certain medical conditions and medications may make participation unsafe. That is why every guest completes a medical screening, reviewed by our resident physician Dr. Conti, before arrival, and completes a NETI psychological assessment.
There is no single answer. Consider your intentions, your health and your readiness for an intense and unfamiliar experience. We encourage every guest to approach an ayahuasca retreat in Peru with respect, openness and realistic expectations.
Before arrival, you will receive guidance on preparation, what to bring and what to expect. You will also complete our health screening, a psychological questionnaire, and share relevant medical information and medications with our team.
Your retreat combines ayahuasca ceremonies in the Peruvian Amazon with traditional practices, time in nature, movement, breathwork, nourishing meals and space for reflection. You will also have guidance and support throughout your stay.
Give yourself the gift of time, space and quiet, surrounded by the primordial nature of the Peruvian Amazon, in careful hands. So much is waiting for you: sacred ayahuasca ceremonies in the maloka with our shamans Don Gardel and Maestra Alicia, the wisdom and challenges of plant medicine, individual guidance from a multidisciplinary team with more than 600 ceremonies of experience, and the slow rhythm of rainforest life — with 77 days of continued integration to stay with you long after you return home.
YOUR TIME IN THE AMAZON AWAITS
Book Your Ayahuasca Retreat Now
Interested in learning more about our program? Have any specific questions or concerns before you book? Want to make sure this is the right fit for you? Schedule your discovery call today!
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