Please be aware that there are people out there who , for whatever reason, sometimes just don’t care enough about your wellbeing and if push comes to shove you may not actually come out alive. My boy went there with all the best intentions, backed by Kapitari’s stated attention to caring for paying guests , sadly in our case this was NOT the case.

Watch the attached youtube clip , watch and listen carefully to what the shaman has to say halfway thru if youre too busy to watch the whole thing and THEN become informed and make your own call.

Be safe and be warned coz you don’t get a second chance , from a sad Dad.

Admin Note: Stuart later added “Most importantly we are NOT anti Aya at all, just anti people not giving a shit…”

I came to Nihue Rao for one week.
I was experienced with Aya and other plant medicine.
I got a very dusty bunk, with holes in the bed sheet, and dozens of dead bugs. That didn’t feel very welcoming. It took over 24 hours to get the room cleaned up.

One of the shamans touched my buttocks during a ceremony.
I informed Ricardo (the head shaman) in the morning. He didn’t bother to respond.
I heard that shaman was sexually violating more women, and was fired at some point. Too bad it took them so long to acknowledge the harmful behavior.
To me, they kept on saying it didn’t happen, that it’s all in my imagination.

On the whole, the energy there felt terrible, very dark, full of ego.
I recommend to go elsewhere, to a place with strong ethics and integrity.
When you are in a ceremony, you are extremely vulnerable. Make sure you go to a safe place – physically, emotionally, sexually, spiritually.
Nihue Rao was none of those.

I want to add some balance to the reviews that are posted here. What follows is my opinion, which is based on my experience of the 12 day retreat at the temple in August 2015.

I chose to attend the temple after much time spent researching and considering the many options that are available. I decided on the temple based on the glowing endorsements from previous clients and the reviews available online. To me, the temple seemed to offer the safest and most reassuring environment to explore the possibilities of working with Ayahuasca. This was really important to me, as I wanted to be in the good hands when trying something that I had absolutely no experience with, in a foreign country I had no real knowledge of and in the middle of the jungle.

So what can I say? I have two points of focus that inform my review. 1. The temple, staff and shamans 2. My personal experience of working with Ayahuasca.

On the first, I found in which the way the temple was run to be very efficient, smooth and organised. The program ran on time, we were Informed when events would happen, what they involved and of any changes that were being made. The food was great, vegetarian and wholesome.

The staff were helpful and a pleasure to talk to. The accommodation was basic but comfortable. It is the middle of the jungle after all, it isn’t the four seasons and I think people have to allow for that. The shamans that we worked with were very kind, warm and respectful. There were five in total, 3 woman and 2 men. They didn’t speak much English, but they were always smiling, laughing and welcoming.

2 My personal experience with ayahuasca has to rate as one of the most awful and terrifying experiences I have endured. Apart from the first ceremony, we attended 7 in total, each ceremony was like going through hell for me. I felt more fragile and vulnerable after every ceremony.

With each ceremony, I just wanted the whole experience to end, I was cast into a place where I had to do everything in my power to remain present and to a embrace what was unfolding. Terror, Panic, Fear, Exhaustion, Isolation this is how I felt. With every trip I felt worse and worse. Yet I was reassured and encouraged that this is what it can be like and that it was in the service of my healing.

In such a state a person is vulnerable, easily influenced and uncertain of their own better judgement. I had travelled a long way, spent a lot of money to get myself to this place and was desperate for healing. I was determined to give the process a fair chance. Yet during every ceremony I found myself saying to myself if I survive this experience, that this will be enough and never again will I subject myself to such turmoil.

And yet, after the ceremony, waking the next day and listening to the incredibly positive experiences of my fellow voyagers and the encouragement of the Temple staff I found myself drifting into the next ceremony with the desperate hope that this one would somehow be different. It wasn’t and they weren’t.

In hindsight, I would have done no more than two ceremonies. This stuff is incredibly powerful and not to be taken lightly. My advice to anyone considering Ayahuasca is to really consider very carefully the implications of what you are agreeing to, hope can sometimes outweigh better judgement as in my case.

Please also keep in mind that for every positive review that you read about ayahuasca there are as many if not more reviews that don’t get written that may have the very opposite opinion. It can seem that when a person begins to research the possibility of attending an ayahuasca ceremony one can be forgiven that it is the hidden solution for all of humankind’s problems. In my experience it is not, I believe it can be potentially helpful for some people and potentially damaging for other people. Consider with caution the use of Ayahuasca.

On a final note regarding the temple of the way of light. I felt like the place was like a business, which is strange because the shamans and the staff were very friendly. I can’t quite put my finger on it other than the place lacked a sense of it being a home, something was missing. It felt like people were working there rather than living there.

In five ceremonies out of seven, there was loud music from the village almost all night long?.and this happens all the time. Additionally during the day there was construction work going on. Not relaxing at all…And not helpful for my healing journey.

A place where I have been served medicine by a gringa facilitator whilst the shaman lady was sitting next to her doing nothing. Unacceptable! A place where you have shamans on a payroll, without any power to make decisions, because it has been taken away from them. I have been told, that I was not allowed to talk to the maestros, because everything needs to go through the facilitator. The owner came into the dining room one day and did not even acknowledge the people who help to make his “vision” come true. No “thanks for being here” or even a hello. A sign of bad manners. Ive also seen him screaming at his staff in a meeting.

During my time there, I did not see the caring and loving environment that has been advertised on the website. They say they work with the divine feminine. I had the feeling that it was all about control and male dominance. You can’t even post in social network sites, without approval. So they clearly want to control everything.

There were dogs on the ground and we have been encouraged to “beat the shit out of them” by some of the staff, because these dogs don’t belong to the temple of the way of light.

I could go on and on, but bottom-line is, if you are looking for a loving environment and personal attention, in a place where you can relax without being disturbed by loud music until 3am and shamans who kept their dignity then the temple of the way of light is not for you.

Its just a well done website with some good marketing behind by a real estate guy from england.
I cannot recommend this place at all. It was very disappointing, a waste of my precious time and my hard earned money.

My experience was a mixed bag. Inez is wonderful…absolutely amazing. There were one or two other shamans that were excellent as well. Half of the female shamans there took every opportunity to insult and mock me. One was yelling at me for not going to the arts and crafts fair they had. Selfish, absurd and wildly inappropriate.

Yes, I can take it but if I want to hear that childish nonsense I can hang out with my puerile beer drinking buddies. They were selling people magic potions for supposedly increasing the ability to attract a mate. In the end it was expected that we tip the shamans and pressured to do so. This was not discussed (as far as I know) on the website. Felt like a trap. The facilitators we had were into silly group exercises and had an arrogance about them. That arrogance that so many in the “helping” professions have where if they don’t feel that they are above you and they get snarky. They need you to need them.

I know someone who did not have any visions there and then went to [REDACTED] where they were able to clear his blocks and then he had wonderful experiences. The facilities are much nicer at [REDACTED] as well. The Temple has no way to secure important items like passports etc and the maloka’s are cramped.

There are much better places.