I could not have picked a better place to experience Ayahuasca for my first time! When I have the chance to work with Ayahuasca again, I will most definitely go back and work with Jan at Feather Crown – that should say it all! Here are some details that will hopefully help you decide if it is right for you. Don’t be afraid to email or WhatsApp Jan with questions, he speaks very good English and is very helpful.

It is located on the outskirts of the Amazon with just a quick walk from the ceremony space to the Napo river. It is easily accessible by an inexpensive 5-hour bus ride from Quito, an hour bus ride form Tena, or a 2-hour bus ride from Banos. The ceremony space is an open-air gazebo located a 20-minute drive down a dirt road from any sign of civilization, plus a 10-minute walk. It is a very peaceful space. Each mattress was outfitted with a bug net, but we had no mosquitoes at all during our ceremony in mid-June and no one used them. I was told that there are rarely, if ever mosquitoes at the space. There is no known Malaria or Yellow Fever risk in the area. Jan is an excellent shaman who thinks of Ayahuasca and ceremonies as a medicine, and brews it in a way that it is meant to be less visual and more spiritual/inward-looking/healing (Primarily Ayahuasca Vine with a relatively low amount of D. Cabrerena leaves mixed in). With that said, this is still quite strong and many in our ceremony did have very strong visuals. The one participant who had previous experience asked if he could drink twice at the beginning, and Jan happily let him. All others were invited to drink again one and a half hours into the ceremony if they wanted to. One cup was a perfect introductory dose for me, though if I have the chance to go back I will likely drink twice to go deeper. There were two sober volunteers during the ceremony to assist you with anything you needed, such as a walk to the bathroom. The staff were supportive, yet unobtrusive and asked for as silent of a ceremony as possible – an ideal environment to go deep within yourself and let the ayahuasca work. We had 11 people at our retreat, mostly new to ayahuasca, and all felt very comfortable in the environment. The price was very reasonable for a ceremony (and primarily goes towards a rainforest protection fund). I highly recommend this place if you are interested in using Ayahuasca to look inward.