Ayahuasca Retreat Reviews — Helping You Stay Safe with 5,000+ Independent Reviews
Private Ayahuasca & San Pedro Retreat in the heart of San Pedro de Vilcabamba, in Loja, Ecuador. Casa Del Sol works with small groups to optimize the quality of your experience, and share the space as a family. Blessed with a beautiful location within the Valley of Longevity, we integrate ourselves with its powerful medicine; our retreats include walking through its mountains, cleansing ourselves in the waterfalls and in the river in front of our home. We make offerings, meditate, practice yoga, hold sweat lodges and plant medicine ceremonies to encourage this integration.
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Recent Reviews
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JACent
June 4, 2025 at 11:34 pmI attended the May 2025 retreat, it was my first time sitting in ceremony and with the plant medicines.
It’s taken me about a month to be able to write this review, largely because how does one put these kinds of experiences into the world?
Santiago and Ximena welcomed the group into their home with love and open arms. The facilities themselves were warm and well kept, I stayed in one of the riverside cabins which I recommend. Offset a little from everything it is a great place for somewhere with a little more solitude. The meals were fabulous, delicious and healthy. The grounds are incredible, whole area is gorgeous and teaming with plant life, the pictures can not to the views justice. The whole area of Vilcabamba is genuinely one of the most stunning places I have ever been to or seen. (If you’re not staying a couple days after at Izhcayluma you are making a mistake.)
The ceremonies themselves are conducted safely and with great care. At no point was anything not in control or unsafe. It was an environment that I was able to deeply explore myself, to get out of the experience maybe not always what I wanted, but was needed. What the medicines provided. Santiago guided the space to foster deep spiritual connections and provided support in ceremony. The offerings and prayers again, I can’t put into words what I got out of these other than gratitude and love.
Overall if you are looking for a plant medicine retreat I cannot recommend Casa del Sol enough. I could go on and on but at some point there has got to be a character limit.
veronica9790
July 1, 2024 at 8:58 pmThis was my second time at Casa Del Sol. I came about a year and a half ago for one of the women retreats and again for the San Pedro and Ayahuasca retreat and this time I brought my niece who is a young adult. This is the perfect place for first time plant medicine participants as well as experienced participants. The groups are a lot smaller than a lot of other places I’ve been to so it was nice to be able to really get to know my fellow group members. It truly became a family within the week and a half there. I feel completely safe and supported by the facilitators. Santiago and Ximena are truly one of a kind healers as well as everyone that is there for support. I have been able to process a lot in the ceremonies and have deep healing and gain deeper insight for myself and my life. Casa Del Sol is truly a magical place surrounded by the beautiful San Pedro cactuses and a river. 10/10 and I strongly recommend for anyone and everyone. I can’t wait to come back and will always recommend Casa Del Sol to all my friends and family.
Laura
May 6, 2024 at 5:19 pmI will always remember my time at Casa Del Sol. Ximena and Santiago are wonderful souls who do their work wholeheartedly, as does the entire Casa Del Sol team. Ximena and Santiago are very dedicated to their work and have extensive knowledge and wisdom about sacred teachings, rituals and ancestral traditions. Their home, retreat place and nature around is absolutely delightful. When I arrived at Casa Del Sol I felt like home and great peace and security. The food at the retreat was also really delicious.
The retreat program was well planned and Ximena and Santiago’s San Pedro ceremonies are the best I have been to. The Ayahuasca ceremonies were also really beautiful and well kept. At the retreat, in addition to the actual program it was also possible to take other treatments that support well-being and healing, such as lymphatic drainage, abdominal massage, full body massage and neuro-emotional technique. I personally got a lot of benefit and support from these along with the plant medicines, because the process can be demanding and my health was not at its best when I arrived.
I’m happy to say that I left the retreat in better condition than when I arrived there, I got a stronger connection with myself and clarity in my life. I am super grateful for all the support I received while at the retreat, without it I wouldn’t have done such a great process. Casa Del Sol is a beautiful place to come back to yourself and heal and strengthens spiritual connection with oneself, others, nature, spirits, world and universe.
It is also safe to travel to Ecuador during these times. Cuenca and Vilcabamba, for example, are peaceful destinations where as a woman traveling alone I did not feel unsafe.
jparisi
March 25, 2024 at 11:03 amThis was exactly what I needed. Before the retreat I was feeling so stuck and struggling to deal with all my past and current traumas. I really didn’t know where to turn. I had tried so many different types of therapy and healing and still I was stuck.
Throughout the retreat I was able to find peace within, joy, and a new love for myself. I hadn’t felt much of any of those in many years.
Ximena and Santiago are truly amazing people and healers and the medicine was powerful and made with love. You can feel their dedication to the practice and to each individual participant. They made us feel held and supported every step of the way.
The land and space was absolutely gorgeous! Clean and tidy inside with all the amenities you need. The meals prepared for us each day were delicious and clean. Nourishing to the body and soul. Thank you Nati! The landscape was nestled between mountain ranges with so much lush greenery everywhere you turned.
If you are looking for a change in your life or to become more connected to your spirit and the spirit of the land, this is the place to go.
I am beyond grateful for this family and will most certainly be coming back.
MHWong22
November 4, 2022 at 6:10 pmA Sacred Journey Home
No matter where you are in your spiritual journey Casa del Sol is a must experience for those who feel the calling. Ximena and Santiago are true and respected shamans dedicated to helping every single person who comes to Casa del Sol. The experience is like peeling back layers of an onion to its core. In this case you’re peeling back layers of yourself, who you think you are including ego, patterns, traumas, emotions, and much more. Whether you are new to plant medicine like I was, or experienced, all the elements of this retreat from sweat lodges, to San Pedro, to Ayahuasca, to, Kambo, to breath taking hikes, to group sharing is truly truly special and can be a very transformative experience. The benefits are priceless as the experience provides clarity to who you truly are, who you can become, your purpose in life, your capabilities as human, what connects all beings, and more.
What I appreciated most about this experience is the one on one attention you get from either Ximena, Santiago, or any of the trained facilitators. This is because the group capacity is perfect, not too many people within a retreat. Ximena, Santiago, and family take everyone in as if they are part of their family. They genuinely support and care for everyone. I am forever grateful for everything they provided, their kindness, their support, their hospitality and their love for all.
Casa del Sol is rooted in deep and profound respect and love for pachamama (mother earth), ancestors, and the highest ideals of what it means to be human. I highly recommend Casa del Sol for everyone seeking a deeper relationship with self and all beings and more clarity around life purpose, consciousness, and the responsibility this awareness brings.