Ayahuasca Retreat Reviews — Helping You Stay Safe with 5,000+ Independent Reviews
Our Program
At Arkana, we create the space for you to get in touch with your truth, opening your path for deeper meaning and greater fulfillment in your life. We work with ancestral medicines such as Ayahuasca, San Pedro, Bufo Alvarius, Rapé , using the traditional practices of the indigenous cultures of the Peruvian Amazon. We currently operate two centers in Peru, one in the Peruvian Amazon and a second one in the Sacred Valley (close to Machu Picchu), and one in Mexico, the choice is yours.
With great respect for the plants and the knowledge and healing that comes with them, our lineage of Shipibo shamans set the stage for truly deep and profound healing. Awaken your inner power through their sacred and powerful icaros (healing songs), and discover your connection to all things by exploring some of the 2.2 million hectare Pacaya Samiria National Reserve which is our backyard. Nourish your body and soul with fresh, clean, delicious meals that promote your Ayahuasca experience, and integrate healthy habits into your routine with our yoga classes and extensive selection of gym equipment for all levels. We believe the health of physical body sets the foundation for the health of the energetic body – Often ignored in this type of spiritual work, we find this to be an important part of the healing process, so you can begin implementing the healthy habits that will carry this work with you into your life back home. Finally, relax your mind and spirit with sound baths, meditations, breathwave sessions, and OM circles, or simply enjoy the tranquil views of both sunrise and sunset from our front porch on the banks of the Ucayali River, surrounded by lush biodiversity and the mesmerizing sounds of the jungle.
Arkana’s exceptional team of highly-trained Shipibo Master Shamans represent an unbroken lineage of plant medicine work. With a combined history of over 70 years of experience working closely with Ayahuasca and other master plant teachers of the jungle, our compassionate healers lovingly share their teachings, healing songs (icaros), capabilities, and knowledge with integrity and honor. We strive to maintain the traditional practices passed down through thousands of years of indigenous Amazonian culture, in order to continue to promote the true purpose and nature of plant medicine work.
Experiencing the medicines with us is a transformative personal journey, and so much more. We also work closely with our local community, the Amazonian village of Libertad, to ensure that our Center can benefit and give back to the people who have so generously let us into their homes and hearts. We create employment opportunities, teach free English classes, provide a space for the ladies to sell their handmade crafts, and assist in construction projects, among other things. Our latest endeavor is outfitting the entire village with free solar panels, so every house can have light and electricity. When you join us, you are helping the rainforest and the Amazon communities that live here.
Guests that come to our Center often say they feel like “part of the family” with us – that’s no coincidence, as we are one big family at Arkana! The people that are with you throughout your experience can simply facilitate your own healing journey or become an integral part of it. Our experienced, loving, and professional team of caregivers welcomes you to join our tribe, where we strive to make you feel at home and at ease, supported and cared for with all the love and compassion that is at the core of the plant medicines and people we work with.
Ayahuasca is a powerful medicine that offers us the opportunity to understand our true nature, by shining a light onto our darkness, and holding a mirror up to our fears, negative thought patterns, and self-limiting beliefs. We provide the environment and expertise of a team of highly skilled, warm, compassionate Shamans and facilitators to guide you through the process of awakening, of choosing differently, healing, and expanding. It is a slow but steady path towards freedom – from fear, from illusion, from self-constructed boundaries – resulting in a lighter, brighter, more authentic self, and the full experience of love. It is our honor to help you on this most fulfilling of all journeys: the journey back home.
We look forward to having you with us!
Lots of Love,
The Team
Add Review
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
CCandemir
March 22, 2017 at 10:52 amI got back home on the 11th of February after three weeks here. My time and experience here was by far the hardest and most beneficial thing i have ever done for my own personal growth and progression. I learnt in three weeks a life times worth of knowledge and wisdom. Living in such high vibration was the most incredible thing i have ever experienced, especially coming a background of constantly reading about the nature of reality and how all is one etc etc but to feel the presence of god, source, higher intelligence how ever you understand it, is beyond words. I can honestly say i have sat in the presence of god and been dragged through the depths of hell and both were equally as beautiful.
This place gave me EVERYTHING i came here for! Every answer in some way shape or form. EVERYONE that works here is truly amazing, from the shamans to the cleaning ladies and everyone in between. I would recommend Pulse at the drop of a hat to anyone thinking of going to try ayahuasca, as I KNOW for a fact everyone here has your best interests in mind.
Part of why it took me so long to write this review was coming back to the “real world” and still being so energetically open i could ‘feel’ ALL the energy around me and it literally felt like id walked into a room of smoke and was choking/drowning. After being exposed to such love and purity, transitioning back is literally where the real work began. Ayahuasca will not change your life, but she will show you how.
This place gave me the tools to change and better my life in every way and for that i am so deeply grateful. This is an experience i will never forget. Every time i think of my experience here i smile and remember all the amazing people i met, all the laughs we shared, all the vomiting that was done. It felt like home…
With all my heart and soul,
Thank you
PaulAyre
March 21, 2017 at 12:34 amI attended two retreats – one after the other and both for a week. Pulse was about 1.5x the cost, but upon arrival it was very clear where that money went.
The centre itself makes you instantly feel safe – not something I experienced from the first centre, which – whilst great – was a little lackluster on the more practical sides of safety.
They had a very obvious set of structures and boundaries – so you feel prepared, and there are so many staff there – available at all times that it feels a lot like a community looking after you.
Everyone there had their own way to contribute to your experience – sound baths, jungle tours, general camaraderie etc. They went out of their way to let their availabilities known to you, and it’s really only my own politeness that would keep me away from asking for more attention – which I ultimately did anyway.
I had a particularly rough time in my week here – and I found so much support from Val and Craig in that time – and additional support from one of the shamans – and a lot of guidance from Dolan. The guide that ran the jungle / river tours was also exceptional. Visiting the local village was really eye-opening too.
To be honest – I think centres like this – and the other like it around Peru – deal with people in their roughest possible states. They’re dealing with genuine fear, distrust, abuse, torment etc – the kind of emotions that you need to go into the jungle in Peru to deal with. So its not surprising that the reviews can be so varied (yet largely positive). They’re dealing with crises of the psyche (whether you knew that going in or not) and I think it’s a truly valiant effort from everyone at the centre (and the one I attended before).
It’s a scary thing to do, in a scary place (not so scary when you’re there) – and these guys do a stellar job of being a safe place amidst it. You’re looked after from the moment you’re picked up and there are no hidden costs or additional things to buy for the stay. There are options to buy art work or things from the local community – but there’s no pressure – and to be honest I appreciated the opportunity and I suggest taking $200US to do so – there might be something that moves you.
I’ll be back again in 6 months / a year for a fortnight.
Paul (33yo / Sydney)
ryguy007
March 16, 2017 at 1:18 pmThe Ayahuasca Adventure Centre is AMAZING. The entire package is just so well done. Everyone is so professional and so talented at what they do. The Shamans are amazing and filled with wisdom. Tatiana and Tamara run the operation impeccably. Dolan and the entire team of facilitators brought the competency of an entire medical team to the centre. I went there very skeptical and left so grateful for the amazing experience. If you are thinking about doing Ayahuasca for the first time or looking for a new centre to explore your journey with the medicine, THIS IS THE PLACE! I will go back, I will send friends and family and will maintain a connection with this place. I have no desire to try other Ayahuasca centres because I feel so comfortable with this one.
Thanks again to the whole team for the Jishten (awakening)!!! What a wonderful experience!!
universalenergy
March 14, 2017 at 2:46 pmI had an amazing experience with the crew at Pulse. The center was well built and safe. The people that worked at the center (everyone including kitchen staff, tour guides, facilitators, shamans) were kind, approachable, supportive, and created an a comfortable environment for self exploration. Pulse also seemed to have attracted a great mix of people from around the world looking for ayahuasca experiences (novices to people returning to Pulse for more exploration). In addition to the ayahuasca ceremonies were floral baths, sound baths, group share, all of which helped me get in the right mindset for the ceremonies. I learned a lot about myself and my relationships to family, friends, the world and the universe. I highly recommend this center, and I am interested in returning. Unforgetable experience.
Eric
March 13, 2017 at 5:07 pmI just got back from the 21 Day Total Human Transformation trip at Pulse Tours. It was amazing! This review will not be able to do it justice. The center is far away from Iquitos, which allows for a healing process undisturbed by the hustle and bustle of a city. The facilitators are all wonderful and kind people. There for us 24/7 which borders on sainthood considering the amount of trauma and pain that is healed during each ceremony. The shamans are three of the most powerful people I’ve ever met. To sing for hours on end four times a week for no other reason than to heal us is astounding. The ayahuasca. Pure magic. It works differently for everyone and the way it works for me is that it’s mainly emotional. I saw the trippy, psychedelic colors in the first week, but then they stopped, and that’s where the real work began. The feeling of being unburdened and cleaned afterwards is impossible to describe. It can only be experienced. As for the more… terrestrial aspects of Pulse. The place is cleaned everyday. The food is really good.The jungle activities are fun and the tour guide and boat driver are really nice people. And there are plenty of bathrooms.
I went there last summer for the Machu Picchu trip and after that experience it didn’t ever occur to try another center. Pulse is a loving and most importantly, safe environment for what is a very intense experience.