It’s been about two weeks since I left the Light of Shipbo and I’m confident that the decision to visit that magical place on the Amazon was the best I ever made. This was my first experience in Peru and with Ayahuasca so it was impossible to know what I was getting into, but I had a good feeling about the Light of Shipibo as soon as I discovered it on Aya Advisor. My confidence grew after my wonderful hour-long video chat with Ivan, a resident there and the logistics coordinator. He asked me really good questions about what I was looking for and what was drawing me to Ayahuasca. I left the conversation confident that I was headed in the right direction, both in my search for Ayahuasca and my selection of a location.

I traveled to Cuzco and the Sacred Valley before arriving in Iquitos so I became aware of the Ayahuasca culture that exists in the former region, and in my experience, there is nowhere else better to do Ayahuasca than in the Iquitos area. This POV is shared by many who live in Peru and have experience with Ayahuasca. Ayahuasca, and the Shamans who are most experienced with it, are from the Amazon basin, go where it originated, it won’t be the same anywhere else.

Ivan helped to coordinate my pickup from the airport and drop off at my Iquitos hotel, which was much appreciated. After two nights in Iquitos I was picked up by Cristian, one of the facilitators and taken to the docks where I met up with the other retreat guests and we set off down the Amazon. The vibes were good right off the bat and continued once arriving at the retreat center. Our group was warmly welcomed by the staff and shown to our rooms which are simple and perfect for the occasion. You feel completely immersed in the Amazon jungle, the sounds of the birds, frogs, and the insects will be with you forever after.

Cristian and Lady, the other facilitator took great care of us as we prepared for our first ceremony and introduced us to the two shamans with us for our week (some guests two). One shaman was male and one was female, which was absolutely ideal. While the other guests and I shared a low key anxiety about our first night of Ayahuasca, (only one of us had done it before), we all felt that we were in very good hands.

The following 6 days are hard to summarize in a review like this, but the ayahuasca ceremonies were better than I could have ever imagined. If you feel called, I recommend not being scared, it truly is a medicine for the body and the mind. I will be returning to the Light of Shipibo and I hope to see you there.