Ayahuasca Retreat Reviews — Helping You Stay Safe with 5,000+ Independent Reviews
We are an ayahuasca retreat healing center, operating as a lodge in the Amazon rainforest. We are located 90 minutes outside of Iquitos, Peru near the small village of Llanchama along the Nanay River.
We provide traditional Shipibo medicine services wich includes: healing and learning diets, master plant medicine, and traditional Shipibo ayahuasca ceremonies.
Once you are here, you will meet with our shaman master healer Ricardo Amaringo, and with the asistance of a profesional translator, you can explain him your intention for the healing procces.
Your treatment will then be tailored to your personal needs, often including further treatment with a master plant. Furthermore, in traditional style, you will then adhere to a strict healing diet developed to promote the healing work of the curanderos and our medicinal plants.
Once on the diet, you will be invited to participate in ayahuasca ceremonies four times a week, for further ceremonial healing under the guidance of Ricardo and his assistants shamans. In ceremony, you will be further treated by the curanderos through the traditional healing song, called icaros.
The day after every ayahuasca ceremony, with the exception of Fridays, there is a group discussion led by Ricardo to review experiences in the ceremony and the progress of all of our participants, apprentices and visitors.
In some cases, further treatment techniques are also indicated, including healing plant preparations for bathing and vapor treatment, or cataplasm.
Traditional treatment requires time, so visitors are encouraged to visit us for one week or more. Group programs are often designed for 10 days or 2 weeks and more advanced treatment can take one/two months or longer.
For particular individuals, we also offer traditional diets for learning under the guidance of Ricardo. This level of training is best discussed in person with Ricardo himself.
We charge an all-inclusive daily fee for our services, which covers transport from the Iquitos airport, private room, modern bathrooms and showers, diet meals, laundry service, electricity, wifi internet, traditional medicine and experienced international facilitator staff support.
If you are interested in visiting, please email us to establish contact and verify availability at our center. From that point, we can plan your visit!
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Recent Reviews
Review of Nihue Rao Centro Espiritual by My Experience at Nihue Rao A Journey of Deep Healing, Transformation, and Remembering My time at Nihue Rao truly changed my life. I arrived seeking healing, clarity, and a deeper connection, but what I received went far beyond anything I… Read More from Jimmy Castillo May 5, 09:34
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Mario
November 10, 2018 at 1:15 amI just completed a 10-day stay at Nihue Rao. My only regret is that I didn’t do this years ago. It has been an incredible healing and learning experience. I was completely unaware of the anger and fear and guilt that I was carrying. I just knew that I didn’t feel right and I had trouble sleeping.
Ten days later, I am in awe of how much I have learned about my past, my family history, relationships, human nature, and the larger mysteries of the universe. My personal journey is difficult to put into words. Let’s just say that I am transformed and reborn and healed. I am forever grateful to Ricardo and the other shamans for their guidance, teaching, and healing.
I chose Nihue Rao on the recommendation of several friends who have attended over the past two years, so I didn’t have any concerns about safety or logistics. The center itself is rustic, with many dogs, cats, chickens, and other animals roaming free. It has comfortable showers and toilets. The food is basic as it should be according to the diet. But the most important thing is the community: the staff, the local people working at the center, and the other passengers from many parts of the world create an incredibly welcoming environment. The groups are just the right size, about 10 people, so you can benefit from individual attention, and still have fellow passengers to bond with and share the experience and help each other along the way.
Ten days was the minimum recommended by the center in order to do a plant diet. I had no idea what that meant. On arrival, during the meeting with Ricardo, he assigned to me a master plant based on my problems and intentions. Mine was Ajo Sacha. After a couple of days I learned to recognize and trust her and I appreciated her guidance during the ceremonies. I participated in 6 ceremonies, and each was different and powerful. I learned so much and got a glimpse of how much more there is to learn in the other realms. It is a long personal journey and I totally understand now why people return again and again to Nihue Rao.
During the ceremonies, there are always staff to assist if someone needs help. I was very thankful for their help during two particularly intense experiences. The maloka where the ceremonies take place is a beautiful space that is safe and comfortable. The whole place is very well run and organized. On off days when there are no ceremonies there are tours available in the jungle, or the river and the many animal refuge centers near Iquitos.
I can’t wait to come back and bring some of my family members. I can’t recommend Nihue Rao highly enough. If everyone came here once in their life, the world would be such a beautiful place.
baby_panther
November 10, 2018 at 1:15 amI completed a 10-day course at the Nihue Rao Centro Espiritual. I could not be happier that I did this as early as possible in my life.
The Nihue Rao center is about an hour with motocar from Iquitos airport into the jungle. There are common bathrooms and showers, all very clean. The tambos (the small rooms we sleep in) are basic and comfortable with a bed, mosquito net, table and a hammock. Looking back, I definitely brought more stuff than I needed. There is a laundry service at the center, which takes about 2 days to dry and get back.
The process at Nihue Rao is very well organised. I received a lot of support and guidance when I had difficult times, both from the staff and the other passengers in my group. The groups are small (around 10 people) which helps a lot during the whole experience, as I could get to know them well, feel comfortable and at the same time the staff could pay enough attention to all of us. During ceremonies there is always at least two people who help facilitate. I felt very safe throughout the whole 10 days.
It was very important to me that there are 4 ceremonies per week, so we attended a total of 6 ceremonies. I was cautious at the beginning of my journey and did not get my breakthrough until about the third ceremony. Four per week was intense but for me this was exactly what I needed. Additionally, we decided to do a plant diet, which you don’t do if you go for one week only. At the beginning I did not know exactly what a plant diet was, but I am happy I chose to do it. It helps a lot to guide one’s healing process. The plant diet is chosen by Ricardo based on the intentions and problems we arrived with.
The shamans and the whole staff are always open for conversation and paid close attention to my needs.
Overall, my experience at Nihue Rao was very powerful and I am extremely grateful to Ricardo and the other shamans, as well as the whole staff. I recommend this experience and particularly the Nihue Rao center with all my heart.
Splash
November 7, 2018 at 6:46 pmMy stay at Nihue Rao was transformational. I strongly recommend the center with it’s supportive staff, pleasant accommodations and deep and powerful ceremonies. They provided a diet (dieta) that is plain but palatable in accordance with the Shipibo vegetalismo tradition. Four times a week I sat in ceremony attended by a staff of three and led by five Shipibo shamans who sang healing ícaros to each attendee individually as well as to the group as a whole.
It took me a few days to get used to the food and the routine. However in my 16 day stay I got the healing I came for: getting my life back by letting go of addictive behaviors and reconnecting to spirit.
AieaChris
November 7, 2018 at 1:21 pmThis was my first trip to an ayahuasca retreat. This place was so much more than I’d expected. First, the place is safe. I have never been as vulnerable in my life and the staff and shaman there were the perfect place to open up like that. I’d also say that I would feel 100% comfortable recommending this to women. One of the core principals that Nihue Rao functions under is that ALL pasajeros are treated with the respect and care that you would expect from a spiritual center. The facilities are clean and well tended. The maloka is absolutely beautiful. The facilitators are genuine and completely invested in helping you to have a healthy and productive experience. During the ceremonies I kept getting the big picture of the level of service they were providing to humanity. I went in expecting a shaman in the ceremonies. We had a minimum of 6. I didn’t really understand how powerful the icaros are. When these people start working on you, you know it. I can’t tell you how or why, but these folks are the real deal. I guess the best testimony I heard was from several people who had gone to other centers. In their own way, they all said that they had experienced powerful things before but that this place was in a league of it’s own.
cmckinzie
October 31, 2018 at 12:53 pmA dear friend and I went to Nihue Rao this past August; we originally planned to stay for a week with the intention of doing some deep healing. After our initial consultation at the center, we were encouraged to extend our stay to 10 days to add Master Plants to support the work. I’m very glad that we did. If you are trying to decide between a week or 10 days, I highly recommend the longer stay.
As most reviews say, this is a place for healing rather than fantastic visions, although I received those as well. The retreat center itself is set up and run very smoothly and feels very safe for female-identified travelers. The accommodations are simple, comfortable, and lovely; pulling the mosquito netting over your bed after ceremony feels like you are in a jungle cocoon. At one point, a small dresser magically appeared in my room which made me smile.
I was requesting a lot of physical healing, as well as healing for mental health issues. We thought of the experience as checking ourselves in to “spiritual hospital” and being willing to follow the advice, treatment plan, diet, medicines, and interventions of this tradition with faith and trust in the process. Ricardo and the team of shamans are amazing healers.
It was very helpful to have a close friend to swing on the hammocks with, and process material that came up after ceremony. We read Dr. Joe’s book aloud to each other during the day, which made the work really come alive. Bring some good books that support your work, a journal, a friend, an extra pillow, warmer clothes than you think you need in the jungle (it got a little damp-chilly at night and I needed an extra hoodie and long sleeved shirt), and an open heart.
The 10 days jump-started my healing process; since I’ve been home there is more work to be done and I’m finding the right people to support that work, taking better care of my body and mind, feel lighter and brighter, and generally feel more hopeful. I’m sure I’ll go back when it feels like the time is right. Thank you to the caring and loving staff for all of their support!