Awakenings Ayahuasca Retreat

Name: Awakenings Ayahuasca Retreat
Rating: 5

Santo Domingo Ecuador

5.0 (130 reviews)

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Awakenings Ayahuasca Retreat

A Sacred Journey with Indigenous Roots

Only Retreat Certified by Ecuador’s Ministry of Health | 100% Indigenous-Owned & Operated.

Why Choose Awakenings?

• The only retreat in Ecuador certified by the Ministry of Health

• Located on sacred Tsáchila ancestral land

• 100% Indigenous-owned and operated by the Tsáchila tribe

• Medicine is prepared on-site and you are invited to participate in the process

• Small groups & personalized retreats — you choose your dates

• Your money helps local indigenous and some of the money supports the local elementary school as well; supporting many minorities in need.

Medicine and Ceremony

At Awakenings, we work with authentic ancestral medicines and offer the opportunity to participate in the preparation of Ayahuasca and San Pedro; allowing you to deposit your energy and intentions from the very beginning.

Our healing team includes:

• 4 experienced male Tsáchila shamans

• 1 female Tsáchila shaman (available upon request)

These are four generations of wisdom, born into the sacred path of medicine.

What Makes Us Different

• We live on the land, unlike other retreats that rent properties or hire outside shamans

• We run year-round with flexible dates

• No large groups — we keep it personal and safe

• Confidential integration support before and after ceremonies

• Wi-Fi available, but we encourage you to disconnect and reconnect with Mother Nature

Our Most Popular Package: 8 Days / 7 Nights – $1600 however you can do shorter or longer stays. Every journey is personalized for your needs on your time.

Includes:

• 3 Ayahuasca ceremonies

• 1 San Pedro ceremony

• 1 Kambo, 1 Sananga, and Rapé

• Private accommodations & meals

• Massage, Temazcal, reiki, sound healing

• Cultural immersions, waterfall hike, 1

Massage, preparation of cacao and more.

Additional: Cacao Ceremony, Bufo, Mushrooms, Xanga and Cannabis ceremonies available upon request.

Transport from Quito and laundry service available upon request but are not included on the packages.

Learn More About the Medicines

What is Ayahuasca?

“Ayahuasca” is the Quechua word for both the vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the sacred tea made from it, traditionally combined with Chacruna leaves. It contains harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine. Used by Amazonian tribes for centuries, it opens portals to emotional and spiritual healing. Our vine grows on the property, and we prepare the medicine in the traditional way.

What is San Pedro?

San Pedro (Trichocereus pachanoi) is a sacred cactus native to the Andes of Ecuador. It carries masculine energy and helps us open our hearts and expand our connection with all life. We also grow this cactus on the land, and ceremonies are done with great reverence.

What is Kambo?

Kambo is a powerful healing ritual that uses the secretion of the giant monkey frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor). Applied through small burns on the skin, Kambo detoxifies the body, boosts the immune system, and clears emotional blocks. It’s used for deep physical and energetic purification.

Your Healing Begins Here

We don’t just host retreats; we offer a path to rebirth, in harmony with Pachamama (Mother Earth) and the ancestral spirits of our land. You will not be asked to share in vulnerable settings, and everything is done with respect and care.

You are not here to escape. You are here to remember who you truly are.

USA: +1 (646) 300-9646

Ecuador / WhatsApp: +593 98 044 0627

Website: awakeningsayahuasca.com

We look forward to walking this sacred journey with you.

You are the medicine. Welcome home.

Reviews (130)

5.0 out of 5

Overall 5.0

Arturo
January 18, 2025 at 8:41 pm

I been 8 days with the tribe and it was a very safe and friendly environment.
The family are very good people with the heart in the right place.
Will come back in the future.
Thank you.
did the full program:
2 ayahuasca
1 san pedro
1 kambo
Rapè
1 sananga sound therapy
1 sauna
1 floral bath
1 waterfall
1 reiki
Cultural class
Preparation of cacao and coffee
Integrations
1 massage
1 making of brasalet
1 preparation of ayahuasca
1 preparation of san pedro
rachelk
January 18, 2025 at 6:44 am

Had a very lovely experience here! As a solo female backpacker I always felt very safe and cared for. The leaders were amazing and Estafani did a great job with making me feel welcomed. I really enjoyed the ceremonies with Juan, he is genuinely very caring and does his best to make you feel heard and understood. Their ayahuasca and San Pedro is pure and you are able to take part in the making of the medicine which is very unique and reassuring. The accommodations are also nice, there’s a pool and a beautiful river on the property. There are very friendly dogs and a cat as well which helped ease any anxieties I felt upon arriving. I would recommend this retreat to everybody!
nw342
January 15, 2025 at 6:38 pm

I just got back from an 8 day, 7 night retreat, and it was an incredible experience. I arrived with another gentlemen, and spent the first 2 days with just him. After the second day, another guy joined us. It was very small groups, which allow the shamans to really connect with you.

The first day after arriving, we had many activities, both spiritual and cultural. We were taught about the tribe and how they dye their hair, along with their version of henna tattoos. We then had a sauna and herbal bath to cleanse ourselves. At 8pm, we had an ayahuasca ceremony, which also included rapeh.

After that, we had many cultural experiences during the day, including a jungle hike, a waterfall hike, traditional dances, and chocolate making. Every other night, we would have ayahuasca, with 1 on 1 integration the following day.

One day we had kambo, which was extremely safe compared to other retreats. They bring in a professional to administer it, and she does a medical checkup prior to the ceremony.

The final day, I did san pedro with another guy. They showed us how to prepare it, then gave us 2 cups. They let us wonder the grounds enjoying nature, while also keeping an eye on us to make sure we were safe.

As for the grounds, it was beautiful. Its a mini jungle, with cabins all around, and even a river you can walk to. The food was delicious and homemade each day! On days you have ayahuasca or another intense medicine, they provide fruit of juice to enjoy.

All the tribes people were extremely friendly, and I felt genuinely cared about here. They are extremely knowledgeable, and are able to guide you in the right direction.

The ONLY complaint I have was cold showers, but I couldnt care less about that. I would recommend anyone wanting to try ayahuasca to do this retreat. Its a small, family run place, and the money goes to a very good cause. You have small ceremonies, compared to other retreats that cram 50 people in a room. You also get to help brew they aya, so you know there isnt anything weird in it.

Im very grateful that I chose awakenings, and I will definitely be back!
michael1
January 2, 2025 at 11:30 pm

I stayed at Awakenings Ayahuasca for 8 days around New Years 2024-2025.

I’m really glad that I chose this retreat. This is a very small retreat, where I felt like I had a very personalised experience catered directly to what I was looking for. Over the stay, I got to spend a lot of time with the staff, shamans and other guests, and developed very rewarding friendships.

I am not a particularly spiritual person, and was not seeking a spiritual experience. I came primarily for 2 reasons: out of curiosity of how Ayahuasca and San Pedro feel, and to see if there could be any benefit for my mental health as I have had trouble with a mental health condition for quite some time.

In my experience here, the shamans were understanding of where I was coming from. While the medicine very much has a spiritual element to them, they understood that it was not spiritual for me and their advice and interpretations of what I saw were framed in language I could understand.

My package included 3 Ayahuasca ceremonies. For the first ceremony I was the only participant and had a private ceremony with Manuel, who was able to focus entirely on me. I feel like this was a very unique experience and felt really special.

My second ceremony had 5 participants, including me. This was led by Juan with the assistance of Yanina. It was interesting to see how the shamans each had their own style and different ways of doing things.

Each of the ceremonies was followed by a very in-depth integration session the next day with the shaman and the wonderful translator Stefany. After the second ceremony, I decided that I had seen what I came to see and that I didn’t need the third ceremony.

I would also like to shout out Yanina for her incredible patience and kindness during my second ceremony.

The cultural experiences here were also fascinating. I really loved learning from Fernanda and Naomi about the traditional way chocolate is made, and demonstrations by Tiwi of how plants are used to dye hair and paint on skin, and the historical reasons for this.

I’d also just like to acknowledge the food here and the effort that Yanina put in just to accommodate me. She catered to my vegan diet with no fuss at all and all of the food was incredibly delicious and very healthy.

While I came here to experience the Ayahuasca and San Pedro – and I did enjoy that and got a lot out of it – in hindsight I really think that the best part of my time here was the people that I met. These are incredibly generous, kind and patient people who did so much to make this a beautiful and welcoming experience. They opened up their culture and their community to an outsider and stranger, and made me feel at home. Joining in the new year’s celebration with them will be a memory I cherish forever.

I also would just like to mention that I got to see and do many other things here, and I just can’t cover all of it in this review. I also feel like one of the great things about Awakenings Ayahuasca is that everyone who comes here will have a very personalised experience so me going into a lot of detail about my time here may not be helpful. I encourage you to come here and experience it for yourself.

If you are looking for a retreat to experience Ayahuasca then I highly recommend coming to Awakenings Ayahuasca. The experience was great, and the people are amazing. This is a very special place.
paperwork
December 26, 2024 at 9:29 am

It was an excellent experience. They were very caring and friendly people. Estefany did a great job making arrangements for transport to get from Quito to the retreat. …and of course back to Quito after the retreat. Tigui was awesome explaining the ceremony. Shaman Manuel was very friendly and wise. Thank you!