Canto Luz

Canto Luz has been permanently closed, and this page is now for reference only.

Treehouse Lodging. Female led ceremonies. Small group retreats with personal attention. Flexible Pricing. 1500 Acres of Virgin Amazon Rainforest. Volunteering.

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We work with the principle of ‘Where Attention goes, Energy flows’ through a deeply intentional work in ceremony we introduce our guests to new tools of self-healing and transformation.

Keeping our retreat groups exceptionally small ( 6 people), allows us to provide personal attention to each of our guests and to keep the atmosphere of a small family house in the deep forest.

We hold a gentle space for processing traumas and re-programming of psychic patterns that no longer serve. At Canto Luz we also provide space for shamanic plant dietas for the ones who are ready to embrace serious inner work and encounter plant allies.

Your commitment and work during your retreat at Canto Luz will be a step in a life long process of working with your Higher Self.

Our goals are for long lasting changes in our guests? lives and their accomplishments become the source of pride for Canto Luz.

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Canto Luz Centre for Conservation and Cultural Preservation is a registered not for profit organization dedicated to working with local indigenous communities, supporting preservation of their cultures, healing modalities and environment. Our goal is to help to preserve the biggest tropical rainforest in the world by restoring the balance between the modern man and his surroundings, by reconnecting ourselves to our hearts through the traditional shamanic work of the Amazon.

Our home is located in the middle of primal rainforest full of animals and birds and we offer unique tree house living as a way to re-connect with nature. We offer flexible pricing on our Ayahuasca retreats, shamanic plant dietas and work exchange opportunities.

Canto Luz offers various options for accommodation and can host between 6 and 12 people at a time in our 3 double occupancy treehouses or the ground level 4-bedroom house. We are also available to host any guest retreats that might benefit from the rainforest setting. All our houses are completely misquito-proof and built with locally sourced lumber, often from salvaged wood and with focus on simplicity, sustainability and functionality.

Reyna Luz Edery Flores is a curandera with over 20 years of experience working with medicinal plants of the Amazon. Her strong leadership of the ceremony has a feeling of being embraced by a Mother. Reyna is famous for her beautiful singing and gentle, loving energy.

Reviews (33)

5.0 out of 5
Overall 5.0
  • 27394
    27394
    June 2, 2017 at 6:01 pm

    The place is beautiful, I made a right choice by going there. The location is amazing, I’m very happy I met all those people who was there and I hope to meet them again. One of the advances of Canto Luz it is not very commercialized like many other places, there are no constant flow of people, groups are small, ceremonies are intimate. Many other good things were mentioned in previous comments and I agree with most of them. It past 4 months since my retreat and as I was told the actual experience will start after retreat, so I’m working on all the knowledge that I got, It’s not easy but I see a lot of changes inside of me, thus, in the outside world. I would like to understand some more things and I would love to visit Canto Luz again and now it feels like going back home! I hope I’ll get a chance to visit it again.

  • Craven Rock
    Craven Rock
    April 4, 2017 at 8:25 pm

    It’s been eight months since I went to Canto Luz, desperately, in search of an answer to the depression and PTSD that had a grip on my life for as long as I can remember. I picked the perfect place. First of all, it’s deep in the jungle, it took us a three hour boat ride up two rivers to get us there. We were deep in the jungle where I saw an anteater, toucans and so many exotic butterflies. Monkeys screeched everywhere (never saw one *sigh*).
    Canto Luz is really small. They only take six or eight guests and some volunteers so at other places you might be in a maloka with 30 or so people, but here it’s a relaxed space based on healing. Also, they screen guests asking them questions as to their intention, so most people you meet will be there to better themselves and not to check something off their bucket list.
    The staff here were so intuitive and helpful to your needs as you worked with the medicine. They are experts. Juan was one of the kindest, happiest and most empathetic people I’ve met really helping me work through some of my darkness as I worked to heal with the medicine. The shaman they had for my treat wasn’t their regular one (she was visiting a family member in the hospital), but he was a deeply magical person, the songs, his icaros triggering the energy that was necessary for healing.
    It was a wonderful place. I’m a sexual abuse survivor who has suffered from severe depression, PTSD and anxiety. I desperately wanted some relief. I feel like I left Canto Luz a changed person. I wanted to beat depression and I feel like I did. I’ve still got a lot of work to do. I still have anxiety. I still have PTSD. But the horrible depression, the crippling suicidal anguish and sadness. It’s just gone. And it’s nine months later. This is a great place to heal. A wonderful place to better yourself as a person.
    I’ve slacked on putting this review up and now I’m glad I did because now I can attest that the work that I did there got me has had long-term effect.
    Love you Canto Luz

  • AshtonKohl
    AshtonKohl
    March 11, 2017 at 7:48 pm

    I visited Canto Luz in September of 2016 and, upon returning, felt I should wait a while before trying to post a review. I felt that time might allow me to do my experience justice in writing, yet 6 months later here I am—still wavering. Accepting that whatever I write will not measure up to the gift that was my visit, I will try my best give you a glimpse.

    I have divded my review based on factors I think people typically consider when choosing a place to experience the medicine. It is my hope that this practical form of retelling will affirm any gut-feelings in favor of Canto Luz you might have. It really is a magical place.

    Safety: Upon arriving, one of the first things that Mariya—curandera and co-founder of Canto Luz—told us was that, as human beings, we were the most dangerous animals in the jungle. Her point was that, typically speaking, the other animals of the Madre de Dios do not attack people who visit. Granted, you will be in the jungle and there is a certain amount of risk in that, but the settlement of Canto Luz mostly keeps those dangers at bay. Aside from environmental dangers, you couldn’t be in safer hands! As a small-statured person, ill-equipped for self-defense, it was a priority of mine to find a place that spoke to my sense of security. For those of you with similar concerns—especially women—Canto Luz will give you peace of mind. There is a palpable maternal (nurturing) energy here.

    Food: All meals served here are vegetarian and respect the typical guidelines people stick to when dieting for the medicine—and it is still soooo good! So good that I even asked for their recipe book! You will not go hungry! Meals are held at the same times each day and are a special event for guests and staff to grow closer—like family. Some of my favorite moments took place during those times.

    Lodging: Canto Luz is unique in that guest quarters are well off the ground—in tree houses! This was one of the most magical aspects of my stay. I felt so bonded with the mighty being supporting my shelter—a reverent reconception of home. Each house is lined with mosquito netting to keep the majority of critters out, but don’t forget, you will be in the jungle and it is likely that a winged friend or two might wiggle its way in to meet you! And that is another central beauty of Canto Luz—it’s setting deep in the Madre de Dios. Being immersed in the wilderness affords the kind of reorientation so many of us who have grown up in techno-industrial societies need. In my perspective, this is the ideal situation to experience the medicine.

    Ecological Concerns: Canto Luz is committed to living with the jungle, rather than against it. Sustainability and respect for the environment figure in on the operation here, as manifest in dry compost toilets, salvaged building materials, and a gardening project.

    Staff and Guests: The most important takeaway from my stay was the experience of ordinary time as sacred—something that was embodied and reinforced by the company I had. Each person present, staff member or guest, was fully committed to inner work and full of compassion. This encourgaed an atmosphere where one could be completely vulnerable, and as a result, form fast bonds. The high ratio of staff to guests ensures that guests have ample support. I felt confident that if I needed it, I could reach out for help at any time and be warmly received. Mariya is such an inspiration—truly dedicated to her work. As a link between the western world and the indigenous tradition of plant medicine, Mariya’s guidance is invaluable to visitors who may lack the framework necessary to process their experiences on their own.

    Medicine and Ceremony: The medicine is made at Canto Luz by Mariya herself and others—so you can trust that what you get is made with discernment and care. Transparency is important, right?! As mentioned above, the high ratio of staff to guests ensures that ceremonies are rife with support if it should be needed. Each ceremony opens with the entire ground stating their respective intentions. Mariya and the Shipibo curandero, Loyver, facilitated the ceremonies I experienced while at Canto Luz. Their icaros were beautiful, moving… I cannot translate into words how much those hours meant to me. The ceremony is closed the following morning when the group reconvenes to share what was learned. This method of closing helps each person to integrate what they experience by encouraging reflection. I felt enriched upon hearing the insights and experiences of the others, and it was in those moments that I felt our solidarity the most.

    I can say in all honesty that my stay at Canto Luz was a decisive moment in the overall arch of my life. I learned so much about myself and life… and walked away with a heart full of gratitude.

    I hope this review was helpful for anyone interested in Canto Luz. Much love and good luck to you in your journey!

  • silvaair
    silvaair
    March 6, 2017 at 12:27 am

    Writing this review a few years after attending. The lessons I learned have stayed with me and undoubtedly the atmosphere that was created allowed for me to learn the lessons I needed at that time. The location was beautiful. The food reminded me of my grandmothers. I never felt uncomfortable or nervous. The jungle provided the perfect environment for the ceremonies. I’m looking back at the year 2016 and it was one of the best years of my life and I have to credit the week I spent with Canto Luz in 2014 with most of the credit. Took a while for me to incorporate the lessons I learnt in the ceremonies into my life but glad I put the effort to do so. I felt completely safe in the hands of Reyna and Mariya and could not have asked for better people to guide the ceremonies.

  • statusquofugitive
    statusquofugitive
    January 2, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    *This review is from a slightly different perspective due to the length of time spent in the jungle, but also the capacity in which I existed there.*

    Spending 5 weeks in the jungle had never really been something on my radar till suddenly last May it was. After submitting to the volunteer program and going through the subsequent interviews in June, I ended up on a boat headed up the Madre De Dios the beginning of September unsure of what I was getting myself into.

    Canto Luz is really a special place on this planet! The various buildings constructed from rough hewn timber off the property are beautiful and very rustic. It’s certainly not the most remote place you can go on this planet, but it’s pretty wild and remote. Rising every morning as the jungle awoke, going to bed to the rhythmic sounds of various insects – you feel much more connected to the world and it’s amazing. That isn’t to say there aren’t unpleasantries like mosquitos, wasps and the like but nothing is so awful that you can’t deal with it. Ironically, I think the little “pests” in the jungle are there to teach you something just as much as any of the visions and experiences the ceremonies bring.

    Despite all the meals being vegan, the food is quite tasty and filling. Our volunteer staff rotated turns preparing meals so everyone got a chance to make everything on the menu at least once. I can tell you with confidence – Canto Luz takes cooking good food seriously. Now if you are doing a dieta, that’s a whole different story that doesn’t involve things being nice : )

    The point of coming to Canto Luz isn’t to do all kinds of exotic activities but there are definitely some fun ones that were offered by various members of the staff. I’m not going to list what they are because it’s always going to be different with the possible exception of the jungle walk. Being in a remote location can get taxing after a few weeks especially when you are closely interacting with other people you’ve possibly never met before. While the ball is never dropped, the extra curricular schedule is rather flexible to accommodate the needs of the staff as well.

    Everyone at Canto Luz, including the volunteers, is there to do personal work so bear that in mind when you show up. It is a safe environment but don’t come there expecting to find Heaven on Earth with “enlightened” people levitating their way through the jungle or anything like that. I can pretty much guarantee that something or someone will get under your skin at some point but it’s simply an opportunity to be more honest with yourself. Canto Luz is a mirror. It puts you up close and personal with you reflecting truths so that you can grow. Don’t expect to drink some medicine and then suddenly be better. It’s not a magic wand type of thing (though it may feel like it at times). The hard reality of life is that healing is many times a process that takes time. Canto Luz and Ayahuasca aren’t going to do the work for you, they are just tools for you to do the work yourself.

    Wherever you end up in your journey, will be exactly where you need to be.

  • raymondyu
    raymondyu
    August 27, 2015 at 12:00 am

    Hola amigos! From July 7th – July 13th 2015 I was fortunate to spend my time at a 7 day retreat at Canto Luz. As this was my first encounter with ayahuasca, I chose Canto Luz because to me, based on my research of ayahuasca, it appeared to be a more authentic practice. After a week retreat every aspect of Canto Luz was just as genuine as I have believed.

    Just to list a few things that stood out and in no particular order, the food! I’ve never eaten anywhere as fresh, organic, and refreshing as I have at Canto Luz. The dishes were vegetarian and light but that’s not to say I wasn’t full when I left the kitchen table. The meals and beverages were some of the best foods I’ve consumed and all of it was prepared with no electricity.

    The accommodations at Canto Luz are treehouses! I slept in a bed in a treehouse surrounded by the wildlife and fell asleep every night to the sounds of the jungle. The hum of the night helped me to fall asleep while the birds in the morning was my alarm clock. The spacious abode was more than enough for my needs.

    With running water you shower in an outdoor yet private overhead rain shower. One of the many luxuries in the jungle I was not expecting.

    As for the ceremonies, this is something very personal. The ceremonies were very sacred events. They were performed with the utmost respect to traditional teachings. The Icaros’ are so powerful it can energize you, give you a sense of strength, and it can even bring you to tears. The ceremonies itself is something to be experienced first hand as my attempt to describe it would do no justice. Trust mother Peru and she could change your well being.

    In between my days there was time spent to reflect and to integrate the teachings of the plant medicine. This time to reflect is an important part of the learning process. The quiet time to yourself is something to be embraced. Some time reflecting was spent in the treehouse, other times just laying in the hammock, and there was even a day I went for a walk through the jungle to have a think.

    This retreat offered more than I expected. The head director, the maestra, the volunteers, and the staff were so welcoming that at times I would forget that I was in the jungles of Peru in the middle of nowhere. As far away from home I was, it didn’t seem like it.

    If anyone was thinking about experiencing ayahuasca I highly recommend a retreat at Canto Luz. Canto Luz had such a positive impact on me that I’ll cherish this experience forever. I hope Canto Luz impacts you just the same!

    Thanks for taking the time to read my review.

  • ayahua
    ayahua
    August 26, 2015 at 12:00 am

    I went to Canto Luz near the end of July for a week and had an amazing experience. Mariya, Reyna, and all the women and men who worked at Canto Luz were incredibly caring, and did not make me think twice about my safety and health while there. The icaros were beautiful and powerful. They really drove the necessary emotion out of me during the ceremonies. It was my first time doing ayahuasca, and my first time ever having any dmt, so I was both excited and nervous, but Mariya made everyone feel comfortable, and made it known that she is there if anyone needed any help. Reyna is an incredible shaman. It was great having the centre lead by Mariya and Reyna, two female shamans who made the experience feel very nurturing, safe, and an environment where reflection and attention to our spirits and feelings is promoted. The meals were all healthy, varied, prepared with care, creativity and tasted incredible. I was happy to have eaten so well and let my body cleanse along with my mind. Staying a tree house in the middle of the rainforest was a magical experience. I loved having the sounds of the rainforest put me to sleep, and greet me in the morning. The beds were very comfortable, and the tree houses were well built. All the staff at Canto Luz seemed like a family, respected each other, and seemed to genuinely care very much for the center and for the guests.
    Overall, I would recommend Canto Luz to those who put a premium on being in an environment that is comfortable, authentic, with caring people who focus on the spiritual journey and healing, a great shaman and leader in Reyna and Mariya.
    Thank you for a once in a lifetime experience!

  • Memo
    Memo
    August 22, 2015 at 12:00 am

    Imagine that in the lungs of our planet there stands a kingdom of living, breathing, feeling beings we call plants, plantas maestras, who wish to teach those who will listen where there reigns a queen, Reyna, who channels the songs of the trees and broadcasts it through all the forest like some paradise bird delegate come from the heart of Gaia at night and her canto ascends toward the heavens in a tract of light destined for other such channels from other such kingdoms and where they meet is where the light defeats the darkness. The kingdom is called Canto Luz.

    In Summer 2015 I participated in a five-week work exchange program at Canto Luz, and I found this to be a tremendously rewarding experience overall. What I enjoyed about the work exchange program in particular was its marriage of teamwork with heart work. Elsewhere we might become accustomed to tuck away messily our problems into the dusty closets of our heart, but Canto Luz is a kind of open field, there is nowhere for you to hide. Teamwork, friendship, the forest – for anyone who stays at Canto Luz, all stands as a mirror to a process that is at once deeply introspective and widely social. The heart work we do in ceremony finds its body in our everyday relations. Intense might not be strong enough a word to describe a work environment in which team members are simultaneously maintaining the upkeep of a retreat lodge run with the highest standards and working cooperatively through team dynamics while each member is immersed in a weeks-long eco-therapeutic process of lightening their own subliminal baggage, taken all in an environment as oppressive, encroaching, and animate as the jungle. To commit as a volunteer to steward and represent Canto Luz is no small undertaking, but when taken in concert with a strong determination to work with love it becomes precisely the path to an open heart. No mud, no lotus.

    One outstanding quality of Canto Luz that deserves mention is the integrity of Mariya’s and Reyna’s work, and their upholding of tradition. The cultural context of ayahuasca has been shifting markedly over the last twenty years, and different people are working with the medicine in different ways. Reyna, a mestizo curandera from Pucallpa, has accomplished over twenty years of plant-medicine work in a traditional native context on the banks of the Ucayali river. Reyna stands in the forest with the same mastery and dignity as any Western doctor, although she will tell you humbly that it is in fact the plants who are the doctors and teachers, that she simply seeks and hears their council. To diet on a plant, dieta, is in a sense to become the plant, attuning one’s body to the frequency of the plant and receiving its signal on a wavelength normally missed. It is through decades of practicing this ancient tradition of dieta that Reyna has achieved such intimacy with these plantas maestras, plant teachers, and at night she sings to them and they sing through her.

    Whereas Reyna represents one of the few true curanderas who still work for love of the forest instead of for their own ego and greed, Mariya, apprentice to Reyna and mother of Canto Luz, embodies the new spirit of ayahuasca as foretold by the prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, bridging indigenous inroads from North and South America and gracing all with colors from her own spiritual heritage to the shamanism of Siberia. Mariya operates with exceedingly high standards when it comes to guest safety and satisfaction. The attention and care she gives to preparing her medicine, for example, is impeccable, requiring all who come in contact with its preparation to maintain a peaceful and loving state of mind even when handling the wood that will be used to cook the medicine or when approaching the perimeter of the medicine kitchen because, she reminds us, where attention goes energy flows. When Mariya does something she does it with her whole heart, and I trust her implicitly. She sees more with her eyes closed than most will ever dream, but whenever you feel lost in your shadow they will open for you from the outerdark to guide you back home. All of this amounts to a truly dynamic healing environment unlike anything I’ve encountered before, but needless to say, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

    Plus: treehouses. Can we all just take a moment to imagine what it might be like to spend a week in the cacophonous canopy of virgin Amazonian rainforest? Can you hear the birds? The monkey laughing? The overhead rain, or is it leaves falling? Can you hear the ants? The trees? Just listen, just listen.

    This has been an account of how the forest revealed itself to me, but that’s not going to happen to you. Instead there in the forest lay waiting with redwood patience a message for you alone, and its unraveling may feel unlike a learning but a recalling of what was eons ago inscribed in your heart. I can imagine no safer container for one to discover the light and shadow of this forest and the healing tradition it bore and to receive this medicine, ayahuasca, nature’s greatest gift, than Canto Luz. May you know its song.

  • Jo
    Jo
    August 16, 2015 at 12:00 am

    I spent two weeks at Canto Luz and wish I could have spent much more time there. There are so many wonderful and beautiful things about Canto Luz that made it the perfect setting for me to further my spiritual and healing journey.

    Not a moment went by during my stay that I did not feel safe and extremely well cared for. The tree-houses are amazing, the food is delicious and most importantly I constantly felt that I was surrounded by genuine and compassionate souls.

    Words cannot describe the beauty and integrity of the ceremonies led by Reyna and Mariya. The small and intimate ceremonies helped me in feeling comfortable and allowed me to relax and fully open up to what the medicine has to offer.

    I cannot say enough wonderful things about Canto Luz. So much gratitude to everyone at Canto Luz. I am looking forward to returning.

  • anny
    anny
    July 31, 2015 at 12:00 am

    I always said: “I would never travel twice to a place in the world.”
    But now there is one exception: Canto Luz with Reyna!
    I visited Canto Luz with my partner in May 2014 and now, over one year later, I think the same as I thought then: That was a unique lifetime experience, what ripples into the rest of my life, as Mariya would say. 🙂
    At this stage of my life, I would say, it was THE lifetime experience.
    I still feel deeply honored, that I could stay at this place and met this wonderful people. I could carry on to praise Canto Luz, but here are the facts:

    Why choosing Canto Luz?
    1. Reyna is an experienced shaman with a big heart. You will love her!
    2. Mariya is a wonderful bridge between Reyna and the “Western World”. She is one a the persons, who makes this retreat complete.
    3. The Tabacco- and Ayahuasca Sessions are unique. I never have been to other Ayahuasca-retreats before, but I heard during my travels in South America, that some shamans are leaving you alone after you drunk the medicine.
    In Canto Luz Reyna and at least one Service Person are with you and sing for you – the whole night! I felt safe and secure. The groups are very small. At the beginning we were five people, then four. You can choose a Dieta, what I strongly recommend. It is a wonderful way to reset.
    4. Juan is the organiser in the background. He has visions, connects the villages of the rainforest to improve the use/ agriculture of the land and the most important thing: he saves the rainforest by owning that wonderful piece of land… and as he said in May 2014, he wants to continue buying.

    Do you want to contribute something for this world?
    Go to Canto Luz!
    Your money is well spent on your health AND the world!

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