Our 10-day Amazon Master Plant Dieta is an ayahuasca retreat in Peru guided by Mestizo shaman Don Gino. We gather for five Ayahuasca ceremonies. Between ceremonies, you drink tea from your chosen Master Plant, and we bring meals to your private tambo or glamping tent. Much of the day is yours to spend quietly in the forest.

Our retreat center lies on 44 hectares of rainforest near Shamboyaku in San Martín, about three hours by road from Tarapoto. The Dieta closes with a daytime ceremony on day ten. We return to Tarapoto the following morning.

Learning from a Master Plant

In the Mestizo tradition, a Master Plant Dieta is a way of learning from the plants. Don Gino introduces five Amazonian Master Plants: Bobinsana, Chuchuwasi, Uña de Gato, Tawari and Renaquilla. He explains how each is used in his tradition. You then choose one plant or a blend of all five for your tea.

Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi) growing at Chaka Runa.

We share the opening and closing meals as a group. In between, you eat privately. Dieta meals are prepared without salt or oil. You might spend a morning writing on your veranda, resting in your hammock or listening to the forest. Before you travel, we explain the food and physical-contact guidelines so you can decide whether this way of spending ten days suits you.

Ceremonies with Don Gino

Don Gino grew up in Puno in the Peruvian Andes, where his grandfather introduced him to Andean spiritual traditions. He later travelled to the Amazon, undertook Master Plant Dietas and trained with the Mestizo maestro Don José Campos. His practice also draws on Shipibo ceremonial traditions.

We gather in the maloca, our open-sided wooden ceremonial house. During the quieter part of the ceremony, Don Gino sings icaros, traditional ceremonial songs, in Spanish, Quechua and Shipibo. There is time to listen and turn your attention inward. Towards the end, the music often becomes more celebratory, and you may be invited to play a rattle or dance. Four ceremonies take place at night. The fifth takes place during the day.

Inside the maloca at night.

Personal guidance and care

Before travelling, you complete an application covering your physical health, medications and psychological wellbeing. Our team reviews it with you and provides preparation guidelines. You can read about our screening process and support during ceremonies before applying.

On arrival, you meet individually with Don Gino before your first ceremony. You can share your intentions, talk about previous experiences or ask a question in private. The programme is conducted in English, and you can speak directly with Don Gino in English, Spanish or Italian.

Groups usually have 20 to 25 participants. On ceremony nights, six to eight assistants work alongside Don Gino, both inside and outside the maloca. You can ask for help moving around or for someone to sit with you for a while. A doctor is on site during the Amazon Dieta.

Your stay in the rainforest

At the Chaka Runa Retreat Center, each wooden tambo and glamping tent has a private bathroom and warm shower. The tambos stand on raised platforms, spaced apart along forest paths. Fine mesh takes the place of solid walls, so you can hear the forest from your bed. Rechargeable lamps provide light in the evenings. There are usually very few mosquitoes on the grounds.

The view from inside a private tambo.

Between ceremonies, you can join our ecologist for a medicinal-plant walk to see Ayahuasca vines and Chacruna (Psychotria viridis) growing in the garden. There are also opportunities to paint or learn medicine songs with Alí on charango, flute or guitar. Three creeks cross the property, and several of its ten waterfalls have natural pools where you can swim.

After the Dieta

After the closing ceremony, we share a meal. Don Gino and the team explain the post-Dieta guidelines for your first weeks at home. Around one month later, we meet again for a group integration call, included in the programme. It’s a chance to speak with others who shared the retreat and ask the questions that have come up since you returned home.

View Amazon Dieta dates and prices