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Awakenings Ayahuasca Retreat
A Sacred Journey with Indigenous Roots
Only Retreat Certified by Ecuador’s Ministry of Health | 100% Indigenous-Owned & Operated.
Why Choose Awakenings?
• The only retreat in Ecuador certified by the Ministry of Health
• Located on sacred Tsáchila ancestral land
• 100% Indigenous-owned and operated by the Tsáchila tribe
• Medicine is prepared on-site and you are invited to participate in the process
• Small groups & personalized retreats — you choose your dates
• Your money helps local indigenous and some of the money supports the local elementary school as well; supporting many minorities in need.
Medicine and Ceremony
At Awakenings, we work with authentic ancestral medicines and offer the opportunity to participate in the preparation of Ayahuasca and San Pedro; allowing you to deposit your energy and intentions from the very beginning.
Our healing team includes:
• 4 experienced male Tsáchila shamans
• 1 female Tsáchila shaman (available upon request)
These are four generations of wisdom, born into the sacred path of medicine.
What Makes Us Different
• We live on the land, unlike other retreats that rent properties or hire outside shamans
• We run year-round with flexible dates
• No large groups — we keep it personal and safe
• Confidential integration support before and after ceremonies
• Wi-Fi available, but we encourage you to disconnect and reconnect with Mother Nature
Our Most Popular Package: 8 Days / 7 Nights – $1600 however you can do shorter or longer stays. Every journey is personalized for your needs on your time.
Includes:
• 3 Ayahuasca ceremonies
• 1 San Pedro ceremony
• 1 Kambo, 1 Sananga, and Rapé
• Private accommodations & meals
• Massage, Temazcal, reiki, sound healing
• Cultural immersions, waterfall hike, 1
Massage, preparation of cacao and more.
Additional: Cacao Ceremony, Bufo, Mushrooms, Xanga and Cannabis ceremonies available upon request.
Transport from Quito and laundry service available upon request but are not included on the packages.
Learn More About the Medicines
What is Ayahuasca?
“Ayahuasca” is the Quechua word for both the vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the sacred tea made from it, traditionally combined with Chacruna leaves. It contains harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine. Used by Amazonian tribes for centuries, it opens portals to emotional and spiritual healing. Our vine grows on the property, and we prepare the medicine in the traditional way.
What is San Pedro?
San Pedro (Trichocereus pachanoi) is a sacred cactus native to the Andes of Ecuador. It carries masculine energy and helps us open our hearts and expand our connection with all life. We also grow this cactus on the land, and ceremonies are done with great reverence.
What is Kambo?
Kambo is a powerful healing ritual that uses the secretion of the giant monkey frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor). Applied through small burns on the skin, Kambo detoxifies the body, boosts the immune system, and clears emotional blocks. It’s used for deep physical and energetic purification.
Your Healing Begins Here
We don’t just host retreats; we offer a path to rebirth, in harmony with Pachamama (Mother Earth) and the ancestral spirits of our land. You will not be asked to share in vulnerable settings, and everything is done with respect and care.
You are not here to escape. You are here to remember who you truly are.
Contact Us:
USA: +1 (646) 300-9646
Ecuador / WhatsApp: +593 98 044 0627
Website: awakeningsayahuasca.com
We look forward to walking this sacred journey with you.
You are the medicine. Welcome home.
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NICK CLEMENTS
March 10, 2024 at 7:06 pmThis place is life changing in many ways. Not only are their medicines extremely beneficial and transformative alone. But this whole place has amazing energy. The Calazacon family and all of the Tsachilas are wonderful people. Some of the kindest I’ve encountered. While staying here I was fed amazing food that was all delicious. I was taught about the Tsachilla culture and history. They arranged massages for the guest. We were given Reiki sessions. There was a demonstration of how hard the Tsachilla women work, to make their clothing, cook food, souvenirs to sell, and help with the guest visiting.
We were taken on nature exhibitions, to see waterfalls, medicinal plants. We swam in the river and waterfalls.
We were taught about the fresh harvesting and preparation of coffee, cocobutter, and cacao. And given the opportunity to purchase each. I really cannot say enough good things about this place, and the wonderful people who live here.
John K
February 25, 2024 at 7:43 pmI highly recommend this retreat. This was my first journey with ayahuasca. I must admit that I went into this very cautiously because I’ve heard stories about other retreats giving people bad medicine, or just doing it for the money or the power. I’m not a big risk-taker. I’m a nerdy guy who works really hard at a good job. I’m not wild at all. I’m telling you these things because if you’re like me, you don’t always trust the judgement of free-spirit, hippy-types (I love this type of people but they sometimes trust their feelings too much). I did a TON of research and I decided to go with Aya Awakenings, and I’m so glad I did.
Before I forget, you don’t have to worry about getting bad medicine. You get to help make it so you know exactly what’s in it.
The hosts at the retreat really earned my trust and respect. They genuinely care about everyone. They aren’t doing this for their own benefit; They do it so they can help people.
Juan put in a lot of effort to get to know me. He knows that ayahuasca makes people vulnerable, so he made himself vulnerable with me first; Telling me about painful things he’s gone through in life. That way I would feel comfortable asking for support if/when I needed it.
All of the shamans were very attentive during the ceremonies. They checked on me periodically to make sure everything was going okay. And even though I’m sure they were very tired, they stayed up most of the night so they would be available if I needed them. There was one moment when I was going through a hard time and I asked the shaman for a hug. He gave me a hug, which I expected to last just a few seconds. But I realized that he was going to hug me as long as I needed, until I was finally ready to pull away.
The thing that impressed me the most was when I was the only one there and Juan gave me a solo ceremony. For hours he played various instruments while I laid there experiencing the ayahuasca. Instead of sleeping, he was doing all of this just for me. For my sake. So I would have a more healing experience. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.
I was kind of nervous/insecure about having to rely on my Spanish skills. However, everyone at the retreat was super patient. They waited patiently while I took 30 seconds to stitch a sentence together, and they didn’t get frustrated when I messed up and said something non-sensical. Luckily, even if you don’t speak any Spanish, you will do just fine. Stephanie was almost always available to translate, and Google Translate is an easy solution if she was ever busy.
Healing with the medicines isn’t the only thing on the menu at Aya Awakenings. They have fun activities for you to do, including hiking to nearby waterfalls, and trekking through the rainforest, and making chocolate and coffee. The food is all really good and locally sourced.
If you want to have a guaranteed safe and good experience, know that you are in good hands with Aya Awakenings. (Jeez, I can’t believe how much I wrote. I guess I just want all of you to have as good of an experience as I did.)
splitheads
February 25, 2024 at 9:34 ami chose awakenings after looking through many, many different options – and they struck me as the most sincere, flexible one amidst all the hypercommercial ones out there. I am super glad i chose this, because they were able to really adjust to whatever my needs were, and juan and the other shamans really took time to integrate me and think about what i needed and push me in that direction. Throughout my 4 days there, i learnt a ton about myself, reoriented around what was important, how to operate in the coming days, and reconcile what is happening to me now with what happened to me when i was very young. overall, you cannot go wrong with awakenings if you want a true, sincere aya experience.
Cesariopizarro
February 23, 2024 at 3:53 pmThe Jaguar Wisdom
During my time in Ecuador, I immersed myself in an unseen world where spontaneity ruled, expectations dissolved, and every experience felt refreshingly novel, yet oddly familiar, with numerous synchronicities. It was like journeying through time, where echoes of my origins resonated—the place where a doula welcomed me, where my umbilical cord returned to the earth, where familiar flavors danced on my palate, and where I grew up in Venezuela.
Simultaneously, as part of my training and healing, I had the opportunity to undergo a limpia—a cleansing of hand and spirit—with @manuelcalazacon and @awakeningsayahuascaretreat, both members of the Tsáchila tribe, indigenous people of Ecuador, “Tsáchila” translating to “True People”.
These true people, during the ceremony, guided me on a journey to meet my ancestors. I encountered familiar Andean ancestral faces that I recognized, scattered throughout the Andes, sharing knowledge, wisdom, an original language, and sadly the struggles imposed by the conquerors.
Faces sometimes appear confused, searching for a sense of belonging to a place, adopting a lifestyle that does not reflect our ancestors’ origins, and speaking a language that does not express our true feelings and meanings from the heart.
The heart to honors our ancestors, our origins, and our mother.
Let’s take the Jaguar medicine and explore the unknown…!
Let’s honor our ancestors…!
Let’s speak from our hearts…!
And most importantly… Let’s honor and care for our mother.
May the Jaguar medicine serve as a remedy for the mental traps that confine us to safe territories and prevent us from exploring the unknown.
deepshah
February 18, 2024 at 2:49 pmI had an incredible short and sweet time with Awakenings Ayahuasca. Stefanie, Juan, Manuel, Tiwi, and everyone were so incredibly welcoming, thoughtful, and accommodating. They guided me through ayahuasca and san pedro, and you can tell they truly care about helping you succeed. They truly want to do it the right way and teach others the way of the Tsachila.
I learned to be more present, to begin developing my own voice, and the importance of making room for myself without isolating myself from my community. It’s the start of a new chapter in my life. We all still have to put in the work — you don’t change overnight. But the insights and learnings you get are truly life changing.
If you’re looking to learn more about yourself and make some changes, in a warm, caring, authentic environment with folks who truly have your back — this is the spot for you.