Ayahuasca $1,800 - $4,800

Hummingbird Healing Center

Varillal, Peru

The Hummingbird Center is a plant-medicine healing center offering ayahuasca retreats including san pedro, with an emphasis on mastering our thoughts and emotions to create the life we desire. It provides a beautiful safe, and supportive environment for your personal journey with ayahuasca. Located near Iquitos, Peru, we offer ayahuasca retreats in Peru of different lengths to meet your personal needs. Our ayahuasca retreats are designed to free you from limiting beliefs, and catalyze healing and transformation. All of our retreats include at least one san pedro ceremony, the visionary cactus of the Andes that is very complementary with ayahuasca. Our longer stays include a master plant dieta with a plant selected by our shaman depending on what you are looking to heal, address or learn. Ayahuasca retreats at the Hummingbird is an opportunity for deep personal and spiritual growth following traditional healing methods with a curandero of exceptional skill and ability.

If you are truly ready to change your life, if you are finally sick and tired of being sick and tired of the morass of your thoughts and emotions, this is the place for you.

Our Programs

We offer retreats of 9 and 12 days, and also have more intensive programs of 2, 3 and 4 weeks that include dietas with master medicine plants. The longer programs are for those looking to go deeper with the medicine, or wanting to address more challenging issues that need more time with ayahuasca and san pedro for significant, lasting change to occur. We strive to match what people are hoping to address with the appropriate length of stay and do not try to push people into a stay longer than our experience indicates is required.

While not overtly spiritual, our work is centered on Mindfulness and guided by the simple precept “Without self awareness, there is no healing.” We emphasize the importance of increasing awareness and understanding of our inner world, of the interplay between our thoughts, our emotions and our body. There is a 25 minute guided meditation before each ayahuasca ceremony, to help set the tone for ceremony and help develop or deepen this practice of Mindfulness.

Emphasis on Changing our Beliefs

Unique to the Hummingbird Center are a couple of talks about our conscious and sub-conscious minds, our belief systems, how they shape our experience of life, and how we can change those beliefs so we naturally attract events into our lives in closer alignment with our wishes, desires, and aspirations. We strive to teach our clients practical and simple skills they can use in their daily lives to shift their perception of the world and themselves so they can respond to life’s events and their own emotions in a more productive and peaceful way. The plant medicines will only take us so far. Ultimately, WE are responsible for our lives, and it is important to have skills to navigate our inner world and respond to life in productive and loving ways. Mindfulness. Transformation begins and ends with being mindful, with being self aware.

It is the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. – Muhammad Ali

Safe For Women

The Hummingbird Center is a family owned business run by Jim Davis and his Peruvian wife Gina. Our son and daughter in law also work at the center and contribute to its smooth operation in a variety of ways. Our family lives at the center, along with our 9 year old grand daughter, the light of our lives!!

We understand that women have different and valid concerns around safety than men, and ensuring women feel physically and emotionally safe at our center is our #1 priority. Gina´s presence and loving heart, and her easy care of women’s occasional special needs, contributes to this sense of safety and security. Many of our female clients have commented about how quickly they felt safe and at ease, knowing they would be well cared for.

Your Role in Working With Ayahuasca

It is important to understand that ayahuasca and san pedro are not cure alls. They are not going to solve all your problems for you. These powerful and loving spirits can only give us what we are open and willing to receive. An individual’s commitment to their own growth, healing and transformation makes a huge difference in the results they receive. You have to do your part, and that is fundamentally being truly committed to change, and being willing to step into unpleasant experiences if that is what is required for the desired change to occur. Trust and surrender are the keys to getting the most from your time with these medicine plants.

What is clear from over 10 years of guiding people through this work is that the medicine spirits know and understand what each individual needs to bring about the change they are looking for. They guide each person through an individualized process. Your journey of growth, transformation and change will not look like another person’s and there is no value in comparing your journey and experience to that of another. It is clear that under the facilitation of a true ayahuasquero, a true healer, the medicine spirits want to help us and know how to do so. Our job is to allow them to.

We wish we could make some guarantees about outcomes, but we cannot. What we can say, is that if one shows up committed to change, with an attitude of “what ever it takes, I am willing”, enormous change is possible within a very short period of time. Your attitude makes all the difference in what you receive!

Reviews (40)

4.9 out of 5
Overall 4.9
  • lotuswitch
    June 21, 2018 at 2:44 pm

    I have been to the Hummingbird Ayahuasca Retreat Centre twice now, and even more than my first visit, I found the place magically suspended from normal time with Jim, the retreat facilitator, creating a sacred healing space for the magic of mother Aya to reveal herself to all visitors who have the eyes to see. In this space anything is possible, and transformative healing can soothe the soul of all seekers. I will again look to this charmed place whenever I hear the whispers of mother Aya, and recommend this center whole-heartedly with deep gratitude and love.

    Leanne from Canada

  • Alon
    June 9, 2018 at 10:00 pm

    Professional, Legitimate, Safe, and Life-changing

    This center is safe and professional, the medicines are high quality, the Owner and the Shaman are experienced, and the ceremonies were incredibly meaningful.

    Jim, the owner and guide, knows how make people feel welcome and comfortable. He cares about the people he meets, and is genuinely excited to share the gifts of plant and spirit medicine with others. He looks after everyone, guides excellent ceremonies, and has a wonderful singing voice. He has great knowledge, experience, and sensibility regarding plants and spirits. He has a plethora of effective psychological and behavioural tools for rapid and sustained personal transformation.

    Manain, the Shaman and Ayahuascero, is the man. He is a good man. He puts his heart and soul into his work. He conducts ceremonies expertly and lovingly, and plays the flute like a rockstar. I have much love and respect for these two men, as they guided me through an unforgettable experience.

    The books in the common area are FANTASTIC.

  • Kalinka
    December 7, 2017 at 7:52 am

    Absolutely loved it!!! I was there in September for 12 days retreat 🙂 beautiful place, caring staff very safe ( it was very important for me as I was a first timer) my experience was beautiful and nurturing through the whole time I was there. I did stay away a bit from the people as I have decided to go through the journey by myself and didn’t want to be affected by other people stories, I was grateful for being left along when I needed it and cared for when I was ready to communicate. I loved my experience at Humming Bird so much , I’m planing to go back in May, ( Jim if you are reading it, please have a place for me:) I know I can’t ask for hot water in the shower, but I don’t think you will say “No” to making those beautiful orange pancakes:) I loved them!!! I would like to say Thank You to all beautiful people who cared for me on every day basis, who made sure that my bed is clean and freshly made, clean towel is always on the side of my desk and of course whoever cooked for us, meals were delicious! Thanks to all of you for making my experience so great!!!! PS.. I’m very bad at writing, especially in English, hope this review will help to someone to make up their mind to where to experience Aya:) love to all, Yuliya

  • Shamogi
    December 1, 2017 at 3:14 am

    One year on from my stay at Hummingbird and my life has seen numerous positive changes,it would not be an overstatement to say I have been experiencing a transformation in my personality,
    .I was stuck in a rut.The attempts I had made at healing from the decades of alcohol/drug abuse and depression/anxiety,though helpful,had not shifted my life in the direction I wanted to go in.I was still conforming to old patterns of behaviour and therefore coming up with similar results.The years of self abuse had left me chronically tense and fatigued.
    The medicine acted as a magic mirror to my soul,revealing the depths of my inner shadow.It was challenging facing the darkness within but a necessary process to enable me in moving beyond the behaviours and thinking that had been holding me back for most of my life.As a result I was able to see what needed changing,both without and within,and to put that knowledge into practise.I have since remained clean/sober and feel a growing sense of integration after all these years of inner conflict,as the fragmented parts of my soul coalesce and my insight into life grows ever deeper.A sense of clarity and stability is expanding throughout the different facets of my being.
    The ceremonies were truly magical,powerful and humbling experiences,the changes in my life subtler and working out over time.It was subsequently revealed to me that my underlying issue had been a fear of taking responsibility for myself and this had led to a lifetime of toxic dependencies and unhealthy co-dependent relationships.I had been seeking freedom by running from responsibility and,as a result,ended up utterly lost and thoroughly disempowered.I was mentally,physically and spiritually sick.Having built myself a prison for my soul and locking myself in,Ayahuasca handed me the key.It has been up to me to open the door.
    I feel that I can finally say to the world ‘this is me,I am who I am and I am responsible for what I think,say and do,and even how I feel,’ and that is just wonderful.(I have tears welling up in my eyes typing these words).Jim is clearly devoted to his healing mission and Manain (the shaman) is a pure channel for those forces of healing.I was touched by the reverence shown to the Ayahuasca brew,and appreciated the disciplined nature in which the ceremonies were conducted.I felt that Jim was always looking out for our safety and offering one to one guidance where needed,alongside the group talks aimed at helping us get the most out of the experience.
    One has to abide by a restricted diet whilst using Ayahuasca,but this was without detriment to the quality of the meals,which were very tasty,and healthy too.The rooms are comfortable but basic and are cleaned daily.Any washing that needs doing is taken daily also.The staff were helpful and friendly,managed by Jim’s wife,the delightful Gina.I enjoyed walking in the radiant forest,swimming in the pond (with the turtles) and relaxing in the well attended garden.The rainforest is an enchanted place,and the memories of Manain playing flute accompanied by a symphony of jungle creatures,whilst participating in an archaic ceremony,imparted a sense of timelessness,wonder and awe.
    I felt well looked after the entire time and that the centre was a secure place to be,which was important to me,especially coming as an Aya virgin,as Ayahuasca experiences can be harrowing as well as beautiful.The centre’s focus is on healing,rather than catering to those who are after an exotic psychedelic experience.
    If you feel the call to work with this remarkable medicine,then I cannot recommend The Hummingbird Centre enough.My only regret was that I could not stay longer,though i am set on returning next year.This kind of medicine is intensely personal,challenging and requires courage.It is not a universal panacea,neither is it everybody’s cup of tea(sorry,couldn’t help myself there)! Although profound healings are known to occur during one session,for most it involves some hard work.As for the taste,I rather liked it.Surely somebody,somewhere is having a laugh at my expense;the fabled brew was strongly reminiscent of Guinness,my former poison!

    Andy,UK

  • NathalieS
    October 30, 2017 at 9:23 am

    Beautiful and relaxing environment, staff very caring and professional, delicious food, very clean. It is a place where you feel safe which is very important when you drink Ayahuasca. Manain the Ayahuascero and Jim the owner are devoted to assure everybody has the best experience in a secure environment. They even have a comfortable king size bed for couples!

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