If Pulse Adventure Tours is a travel agency for the iPod generation, then Dan Cleland is Steve Jobs. What an absolute LEGEND. I?m a well-travelled business man residing in Toronto, and NEVER thought I would buy into the idea of using a travel ?agency? to book my trips for me. I like to ?do things live?, travel ?rough and tough? and experience the local customs as I go. Immersing myself into the culture is something I believe strongly in. Here I am wrapping up my second trip with Pulse Adventure, already planning a third and have sent several of my friends to experience this truly life-changing company. This company is not your typical pump and dump tour operator, they truly allow you to move at your own pace, make detours as you?d like, are experts in South American tour and Travel. They know places off the beaten path that you would never even read about in Fromers or Lonely planet. Dan and Tatyana are fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese, so interacting with the locals became much easier.

My first experience travelling with them involved a 13 day trip to Iquitos Peru and into the Pruvian Amazon. I recently started exploring the emotional and spiritual aspects of my life, and through my journey I found much research on Ayahuasca and it?s therapeutic uses. After many hours of research I decided I would like to explore trying the medicine. I can honestly can that I would not have wanted anyone else in the world to lead me on my first Ayahuasca ceremony. I was as nervous as I was excited, but Dan, being an extremely seasoned Ayahuasca veteran, was not only able to answer any questions I had, but did a n excellent job of preparing us both physically and mentally for the experience. Ayahuasca is just as much a physical cleanse, as it is a mental cleanse. Starting in Iquitos Peru, Dan prepared us physically by embarking on a Journey deep into the primary rainforest jungles of Peru, where we ate only Ayahuasca friendly diets. This us refrained from eating spices, sugars, fermented foods like cheese and alcohol, and no pork. We ate only fresh fruits and vegetables from the Jungle and local meats like Fish, Beef, and Chicken. We were even able to try a local favourite Paca (a large jungle rodent). We were lead by a local man, Victor, who reminded me of Mowgli from the Jungle Book. He grew up along a river in the rainforest, a small village of only 200 residents. His grandfather taught him most of what he knows about the Jungle, he taught us how to recognize different river systems, showed us many medicinal plants good for curing different ailments, caught wild animals, and fed wild monkeys; all of this on small boats navigating the river systems and by foot. This was the REAL DEAL.

Mentally Dan prepared us by answering questions, telling us that is could be difficult, and not giving us false expectations of ?rainbows and unicorns?. He recounted his own experiences, and referenced others who had experienced both easy and hard times with the medicine, and told us to take what we can from every experience. The medicine will work in subtle ways, and sometimes it needs to ?knock you on your ass? in order for you to get the message. He truly is an excellent teacher and listener. Tatayana, the other group leader, is also an incredible listenrr and teacher, she?s an angel full of light.

The second trip I recently experienced was to Jericoacoara, a small village in Northern Brazil that only received electricity in 1998 (to give you an idea of how ?off the beaten path? this place is). IF ever there was any doubt that magical places existed in this world, this village shattered all of it. Situated on the ocean next to miles of sand dunes (we had to drive by picked up truck on sand for 2 hours just to get there, after 6 hours by bus from the nearest city, Fortaleza) the village roads are made entirely of sand. Dune Buggies are the most popular form of travel in this area. Wild horses grazing, kite surfers gliding on the water planes, trees rising from the sand to resemble mirages, it truly was the closest to paradise I?ve ever been. After a day out on the sand dunes, where we caught wild sea horses, snowboarded the sand dunes, ate amazing local foods, we all decided to drop LSD. WOW. An 8 hour experience that left me feeling more connected with the human spirit and planet earth then I ever have before. At one point, after the watching the sun set from one of the sand dunes, the stars and moon were out incredibly bright. We decided we would walk out with the tide (Because the sand is such a low gradient, the tide actually goes out for 1-2 miles). Given where Jeri is situated near the equator, and the fact the village with passed a law that there can be no street lights, made for an absolutely magical experience. There was still a layer of water on the sand as the tide moved out, and as we walked, the stars and moon were so bright that they actually reflected off the ground. We felt at though we were walking in a dream, a three dimensional alternate reality that was right here on earth. Truly magical. Bravo Dan & Tatyana for a second amazing trip.

Did I mention Dan & Tatyana are fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese, and know South American better then most South Americans? These are the guys you want to be travelling with if you head to South America, I PROMISE YOU.

-Sid