Home of Ayahuasca

Home of Ayahuasca is a retreat centre on the Amazon river near Iquitos, Peru, offering individual ayahuasca and San Pedro retreats. It hosts one or two people at a time rather than groups.

Approach

Victor Breg founded the centre, and Irene Winkler is its retreat facilitator. Sessions are held one to one with ayahuasca, San Pedro and other Amazonian plants, adapted to each guest’s goals, in what the centre calls a non-touristic way of working that rests on direct communication with the plants. Each guest stays in a single hut with a bed, a table, a chair and a hammock, washes and takes herbal baths in a creek, and eats food cooked over wood and charcoal.

Who it is for

A first retreat lasts one to four weeks, and guests with experience can stay for up to six months. The centre says its retreats are meant to help people find a new direction and work through old trauma and addiction.

Practical details

Retreats have been priced at $1,500 to $3,500, with 10% off for couples, and include a transfer from Iquitos airport.

Care and safety

Every guest fills in a confidential questionnaire on medical history, psychological background and goals, then has a video consultation and a medical and psychological assessment. Alex Ramos, a general medicine practitioner, carries out the checks before arrival, sets the safety and emergency procedures and advises on care afterwards. Integration sessions continue once the stay is over. The plants come from the centre’s own forest plots or from small farmers who harvest legally, and for every ayahuasca vine it uses, the centre plants at least 60 seedlings.