I booked a last minute trip here in March 2024. I had been to an ayahuasca retreat in Peru a few years before, and had a good experience. I’m glad I had that basis for comparison, because I can speak with confidence when I say that Awakenings is a special place. The medicine there is clean and powerful and embedded within a rich cultural context.

I booked, paid, and made travel arrangements through WhatsApp. When I arrived I discovered that they had hired a translator for me, as my Spanish is not fluent and Stephanie, who is bilingual, had had a baby only days. I was surprised but appreciative—I would have been happy to muddle through and not put them to any trouble, but I was able to learn a lot more with the aid of translation. The road from the Quito airport goes through the mountains and had some detours, so it took about four hours in a car. I arrived at sunset and was able to immediately join in helping Juan to prepare the ayahuasca, splitting the vine and sorting chacruna leaves. He showed me how to layer them for brewing over a stone oven for 16-18 hours. The next day, while it continued to boil, Tiwi gave me a tour of the grounds and showed me how Tsachila men use achiote to style their hair and how both men and women use mali fruit to mark their skin. In the evening, I had my first ceremony with Juan, drinking the ayahuasca still warm from the pot. I was the only guest at that time, and appreciated that they were willing to hold ceremonies just for me, and that I was able to participate so fully.

I had asked for three ayahuasca ceremonies and an additional San Pedro ceremony, but I ended up not doing the third ayahuasca ceremony. The first two nights with ayahuasca (“nepi” in Tsafiki) were strong and deeply healing, and I sensed that I didn’t need to take the medicine again after the second night. When I did my San Pedro ceremony, that medicine complemented the nepi in such a way that I felt my healing was complete. On what was to have been the night of my third nepi ceremony, I had a sauna and plant bath with Tiwi instead, and that was a lovely end to my time there. For the San Pedro ceremony, we were joined by a couple stopping by for the day, who turned out to be delightful companions.

I stayed there as a solo woman and felt absolutely safe. It’s a familial environment; there are kids around and I would enjoy having my own family stay there. The Tsachila community members who run the retreat share a lot of cultural activities with guests. During the week I was there, I visited the Cascaras de las Rocas, learned about various plants and trees, and went swimming in the river with the kids. I prepared the traditional dish of maita and sucked the pulp from fresh cacao beans after cracking open a pod straight from the tree. Tiwi twice gave me a traditional sauna, used by men coming home from fishing in the cold river, by heating rocks and placing them in herb-steeped water in a hole in the ground. He and Juan showed me how to pick guayusa leaves and held a guayusa tea ceremony. I was curious about mayones—grubs harvested from palm trees and eaten raw or roasted—so they kindly arranged to serve mayones asados for my final evening meal. That is a typical response: they emphasize that they want to personalize guests’ experiences and share their culture.

Furthermore, the cultural center functions as more than an educational facility for outsiders. While I was there, it hosted an event at which the governor of the seven Tsachila communities met with local politicians. I was invited to join for the welcoming ceremony, which included a dance and a limpia, and I hung around for many of the speeches that followed (my Spanish is not fluent, but I understood that the speeches concerned environmental justice – unfortunately, the river that adjoins the property is no longer usable for traditional purposes due to pollution). I had also learned by then that the Tsachila communities were preparing for a big gathering a few days after my trip ended; had I been able to change my flight, I would have been welcome to stay. That further put in perspective for me how kind it was of them to have taken my last-minute reservation, in the throes of welcoming a new baby and getting ready for these events.

TLDR: This is a safe, welcoming, and loving retreat. The ayahuasca is strong and clean and guests who wish to do so are able to participate in brewing it, which as far as I know is unique among retreats. The money from the retreat goes into strengthening the Tsachila community, and the ceremonies happen within a rich cultural context. The shamans—ponés in Tsafiki— are kind and knowledgeable. I strongly recommend Awakenings for a powerful and transformative healing experience.