Nihue Rao Centro Espiritual

Llanchama, Peru

We are an ayahuasca retreat healing center, operating as a lodge in the Amazon rainforest. We are located 90 minutes outside of Iquitos, Peru near the small village of Llanchama along the Nanay River.

We provide traditional Shipibo medicine services wich includes: healing and learning diets, master plant medicine, and traditional Shipibo ayahuasca ceremonies.

Once you are here, you will meet with our shaman master healer Ricardo Amaringo, and with the asistance of a profesional translator, you can explain him your intention for the healing procces.

Your treatment will then be tailored to your personal needs, often including further treatment with a master plant. Furthermore, in traditional style, you will then adhere to a strict healing diet developed to promote the healing work of the curanderos and our medicinal plants.

Once on the diet, you will be invited to participate in ayahuasca ceremonies four times a week, for further ceremonial healing under the guidance of Ricardo and his assistants shamans. In ceremony, you will be further treated by the curanderos through the traditional healing song, called icaros.

The day after every ayahuasca ceremony, with the exception of Fridays, there is a group discussion led by Ricardo to review experiences in the ceremony and the progress of all of our participants, apprentices and visitors.

In some cases, further treatment techniques are also indicated, including healing plant preparations for bathing and vapor treatment, or cataplasm.

Traditional treatment requires time, so visitors are encouraged to visit us for one week or more. Group programs are often designed for 10 days or 2 weeks and more advanced treatment can take one/two months or longer.

For particular individuals, we also offer traditional diets for learning under the guidance of Ricardo. This level of training is best discussed in person with Ricardo himself.

We charge an all-inclusive daily fee for our services, which covers transport from the Iquitos airport, private room, modern bathrooms and showers, diet meals, laundry service, electricity, wifi internet, traditional medicine and experienced international facilitator staff support.

If you are interested in visiting, please email us to establish contact and verify availability at our center. From that point, we can plan your visit!

Reviews (144)

4.7 out of 5
Overall 4.7
  • RISIN
    September 11, 2025 at 12:26 pm

    Best 3 weeks of my life. First time consuming the medicine and the Maestros/facilitators/staff allowed it to be a seamless process with great communication and organization. Facilitators Rodolfo, Zara, and Bill were top notch, very attentive and approachable. They addressed any and all concerns in a timely manner that made my first visit to the Amazon a very pleasant one. Met facilitators Martinez and Marques during my last week and they also went above and beyond for everyone. Ceremonies were very organized. My overall experience was transformative, therapeutic, enlightening, and simply perfect. I received everything I was looking for and so much more. I’m grateful to the universe and everyone that recommended Nihue Rao to me, I was blessed enough to experience this gem of a center for my very first experience. Will definitely come back here in the future.

  • Soshua
    August 24, 2025 at 5:40 pm

    Just finished my first 7-day retreat and my experience at Nihue Rao was amazing. The center is such a beautiful and special place, surrounded by nature and filled with an atmosphere of peace and safety. The team really creates a space where you feel deeply cared for and supported throughout the entire process. The medicine and ceremonies are super powerful. If you are seeking authentic work in a safe and loving environment, Nihue Rao is a place I definitely recommend. Thank you to the facilitators Rodolfo and Zara (both so cool and kind), all the entire staff, including security and lovely kitchen ladies, and especially Maestro’s Ricardo (he’s the real deal, a very pure and sweet man), Miguel, and Oscar.

  • flogoette
    June 24, 2025 at 4:02 pm

    Nihue Rao is my favorite Ayahuasca retreat in the world. I came here back in 2014 and the Ayahuasca experience absolutely changed my life in many aspects, such as my diet, my spirituality, my sexuality, my relationships, my work, my passions, and many more. It’s been the most transformative experience for me, and I am very grateful for Maestro Ricardo, his co-founders Joe Tafur and Cvita Mamic, as well as maestros Miguel, Felacio, Oracio and Oscar. Ricardo has earned his reputation as one of the best shamans in Peru through his hard work, his dedication and passion. His ceremonies are legendary, especially when you have a “bomba”. Having spent many months and over 100 ceremonies in Nihue Rao, it feels like a home to me and one of my favorite places on earth.
    Nihue Rao stands out of the many Ayahuasca centers due to being run by native Shipibo curanderos, offering a vast variety of master plans that are mostly grown in their own perma-culture garden, providing special facilities for long-term dieters, and supporting the local community and environment.
    The retreat has the dimensions of a small village, with different facilities such as the magic maloca (where magic happens), a medicine house, the art maloca, a yoga & gym area, a dining & kitchen area, a hammock area, a traditional massage area, a laundry house, tambos in the jungle for long-term dieters and many more. I love the many animals in the retreat, the dogs, cats, parrots, chicken and frogs. It’s a wild place which makes it so special and authentic to me. I was told that they no longer keep animals in cages and take better care of the animals now.
    Nihue Rao offers a wide range of services that you don’t always get in other retreats such as a vomitivo on arrival (enjoy ;), personalized icaros according to each passenger’s intentions, daily group integration meetings, flower baths, master plants, massages, jungle tours and even private ceremonies.
    The place feels very safe being guarded by powerful shamans and plants, and 24/7 security on site to protect the passenger’s from outsiders, and even some insiders who go crazy on the powerful medicine. I trust in Ricardo and the team of Nihue Rao, and am looking forward to my next dieta.

  • SaschaK
    June 12, 2025 at 4:40 pm

    I’ve been traveling to Nihue Rao for about 10 years now. Some shorter diets, some longer. I’ve had the opportunity to experience a level of healing I have not found anywhere else in the world. My experiences at Nihue Rao have helped me integrate the effects of pre-verbal trauma, finding meaning in becoming a licensed psychotherapist, and uncover an incredibly rich and nourishing spiritual reality. I’m forever grateful for the hard work of everyone at Nihue Rao.

  • Sunseeds333
    June 4, 2025 at 5:36 pm

    If you're looking for a safe space that's well held and maintained with great support and a true authentic traditional master plant diet, Nihue is the place. I wouldn't recommend any other place. My experience has been very profound and the team at the retreat center is committed to make it better and better each time. And Maestro Ricardo is a powerful healer with a lot of integrity. The integration circles are also very beneficial. And they remain true to their doctoring lineage. If you're looking for deep healing and transformation, this is the place!

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