Sapan Inka Retreat Center

Sapan Inka is an ayahuasca and San Pedro retreat centre in the Sacred Valley near Urubamba, Cusco, Peru, run by two guides who combine Shipibo plant medicine with transpersonal psychotherapy. Retreats last three to eight days, for groups of no more than seven.

Approach

Erik Hendrick has a master’s degree in transpersonal psychology and is working on a doctorate in human development, and Nilda Quispe is a psychotherapist. Both were trained and initiated by Shipibo curanderos and have guided retreats for more than two decades. Night ceremonies take place in a temple with icaros, tobacco and blown perfumes and last about three to four hours, after which participants continue privately in their rooms. The brew uses only Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, cooked by Shipibo healers in the Amazon, and integration draws on Jungian psychology.

Who it is for

The centre mainly accepts motivated people aged 29 to 60. It turns away people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder in a manic phase, borderline personality disorder, some heart conditions, severe autoimmune disease, pregnancy or recent surgery, and anyone on antidepressants, which interact with the MAOIs in ayahuasca.

Practical details

Prices run from US$600.00 for three days with two ceremonies to US$1,700.00 for eight days with four ceremonies and a visit to Machu Picchu, and a private week costs US$3,000.00. Rooms are shared by two, with private bathrooms, and transport from Cusco, about an hour and a half away, is included. The guides speak Spanish and English.

Care and safety

Guests fill in a health questionnaire before arrival and have an in-depth talk on the first day, and a preparatory diet should start at least five days ahead. There are no doctors or nurses on site, so the centre recommends travel insurance and drives anyone with a medical emergency to a clinic in Cusco.