Ayahuasca Retreat Reviews — Helping You Stay Safe with 5,000+ Independent Reviews
We are the Otorongo Center, a locally-owned traditional plant medicine and Ayahuasca healing center in Iquitos, Peru. Disheartened by our neighbors selling their land to logging operations, our project emerged to facilitate transformative healing and prove a sustainable and responsible ownership model.
The Otorongo Center is owned by the Perez family and the land has been in our family for more than three generations. We work with a renowned Shipibo Shaman, Maestra Mary Juliana.
A 7 Day Experience at the Otorongo Center costs $475 and a 14 day Experience costs $950. This allows us to generously pay our Shipibo Shaman, our cook, our maintenance and security crew, as well as purchase food for our clients.
Our ethos focuses on Safety, Affordability, Efficiency and Sustainability:
Safe- We screen our clients before accepting them into our retreat. We look at medical records and make sure there are no potentially dangerous medicinal combinations with Ayahuasca or Kambo. Furthermore, we have emergency protocols in place at the Center (Gratefully we have never had to utilize them), which include having a vehicle on site as well as a facilitator who could transport a client in duress to the hospital in Iquitos.
Affordable- At $475 for a 7 day experience, we are less than half that of most foreign-owned centers, while still providing a higher quality experience. We feel that these greed-fueled exorbitant prices ironically cheapen the Ayahuasca experience.
Sustainable- We purchase our food from local farmers and take clients to visit their land in order to more deeply connect with our food source. And most importantly, at the end of every retreat we replant Ayahuasca on our land. We have the honor to act as stewards for this medicine and thus have the responsibility to protect it.
Efficient- We work with a Shipibo healer who has been studying the medicine for more than 2 decades. Many believe that Ayahuasca is a feminine energy, and we feel the same- which is why we have chosen to work with a respected Female Shipibo Shaman, Mary Juliana.
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Anna Wisniewska
November 16, 2019 at 8:37 amI was supposed to spend one week at the Otorongo centre in October. Unfortunately me and other participants left after the first ceremony.
I expressed my interest in taking part in the retreat about a month before it was supposed to start. I completed the medical form and was invited to participate. I was still hesitating and looking for other options, but about three weeks before the retreat suddenly got an email from Luke that if I don’t send 50% of the total by Western Union now, my place would be given to someone else. Well, form what other participants told me apparently at that time only one more person expressed their interest in taking part in the same retreat.
The two of us who arrived together we were asked the rest of he money just before the ceremony. Guido appeared in our rooms just when we were heading to the maloca. That’s not the best moment I would say, but the two other participants were asked for it just after crossing the river, without even reaching the Otorongo Centre apparently.
The ayahuasca brew they served caused nothing but whole body shaking and a very painful purge, which lasted for hours, in all four participants, . There were some dark visions like behind a dark veil attached to it and no feelings at all. The strange thing was that all of us had the same experiences, which is something unusual for ayahuasca. When I accused them of adding toé to the brew, they denied it.
There was no communication at all with the owners or the “shaman” unless you spoke Spanish. I do speak some. Here is my conversation with the “shaman” on the next day: “Why did all of us have the same experiences?”, answer: “I don’t know.” “Can you tell a bit about your experience?” Shaman: “I have seen a big colourful bird above all of us.” “But can you maybe tell a bit about ourselves? How do you see us?” (Well, this is why we all go all the way down to Peru, isn’t it?), answer: “You are good people.”
In terms of facilities, I did not really expect internet connection of any type there, but I thought I would be able to charge my phone in order to take some photos, use the torch or read the books I had downloaded before. Unfortunately, no such an option was provided.
After we left, I received an email from Otorongo Centre happily announcing the they had fired the old “shaman” and now they have a new one. Well, what does it have to do with me? I lost lots of money for the retreat and the flight ticket from London and back. I asked the for a partial refund of $200, but received no reply from them.
Overall, it was a bad experience. I would not recommend retreats at Otorongo Centre to anyone, especially if you come from far away. Don’t be deceived by the price. One can say :”You get what you pay for.” Well, you don’t get even that.
I can prove the review is honest and accurate by showing email exchange with Luke and WhatsApp conversation with other participants.