Ayahuasca Foundation

The Ayahuasca Foundation runs ayahuasca retreats and training courses at the Riosbo Retreat and Research Center, in the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve near Iquitos, Peru. Founded in 2009 and directed by Carlos Tanner, it has always worked with one Shipibo family, the Lopez healers from the Roaboya community near Pucallpa.

Approach

Don Enrique, with more than 30 years of practice, leads the eight-week initiation; his sister Doña Angela leads the healing retreats; and their brother Don Ronor leads the longer retreats and four-week courses. A 10-day retreat has five ceremonies plus daily plant remedies, vapour and smoke baths, consultations with the curandero, yoga, meditation and a cacao and breathwork ceremony. The family brews the ayahuasca from the vine and chacruna alone.

Who it is for

The retreats aim at healing, while the courses are for people who want to learn the Shipibo tradition and diet teacher plants such as noya rao. There is also a women’s retreat, and veterans’ retreats run with the Heroic Hearts Project.

Practical details

The 10-day renewal and women’s retreats cost $2,950, the 18-day retreat with dieta $4,250, the four-week empowerment course $5,550 and the eight-week initiation $6,850. The 10-day price includes airport pickup, two hotel nights in Iquitos, nine nights at Riosbo in a private room with bathroom, the bus and boat transfer, and at least two meals a day. Sharing a room saves $250 each.

Care and safety

Applicants complete health forms and must disclose all medication from the past year. The guidelines exclude people with bipolar disorder, psychosis or schizophrenia and ask for SSRIs to stop at least four weeks before, under a doctor’s guidance. Counselling before the programme and an integration session after it are included, and five assistants are on hand during a 10-day retreat.