Ayahuasca Retreat Reviews — Helping You Stay Safe with 5,000+ Independent Reviews
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!
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arias
April 8, 2025 at 8:47 amI was came for a retreat here but there was a shocking scene when I arrived.
A woman who drank the ayahuasca apparently had a mental break and the facilitators had locked her inside of a room. The woman was screaming loudly, rambling verbal nonsense, banging on things and sounded in a state of emergency.
Another guest told me that it had been like this for days. I couldn’t believe such behavior and madness was occurring next to the ceremony space and the other guest quarters. It appeared outright negligent for the woman obviously in deep distress to be locked up and left alone.
At the time the head shaman was not there and from what I could see the facilitators seriously lacked experience, care, professionalism and insight.
everything I witnessed was unethical and unsafe which prompted me to turn around and leave to find a calming center with better attention towards its participants.
elenamotak
May 23, 2024 at 3:43 pmI can wholeheartedly recommend this center! The entire organization was excellently planned, from the preparation and airport pickup to the introduction to the processes and procedures.
The facilitators are so empathetic and loving, always available for support and advice!
The dieta went very well; I was able to clarify my intentions and the questions that arose during the relatively short stay.
The ceremonies were so beautiful, and the Icaros from the maestros are simply a wonder! I had never experienced such strong, intense healing processes with Aya before!
The experience was unique and truly special!
manu
January 12, 2024 at 1:44 pmI spent 11 days at Nihue Rao as my first experience with ayahuasca, and I feel like I couldn’t have chosen a better place. I went with my partner and we both felt very comfortable there. The facilitators, the shamans, and everyone working there were really nice and friendly.
At the beginning I didn’t know what to expect for the first meeting with Ricardo and it was a bit weird, he didn’t address me directly and I had to have the money ready (I didn’t know that). Overall I don’t feel that took away from my experience, but it’s good to know that at first that is something that they take care of. to set expectations right. After the first few days, and with the ceremonies I felt very close and very cared for, in a place of healing where I could be very vulnerable. Everyone was fantastic and very attentive, and I had the luck of sharing my experience with other passengers that were amazing people.
Overall, I would recommend Nihue Rao for anyone that wants a authentic healing experience, the shamans really know what they are doing, and the facilitators are some of the kindest people I met. I will definitely go back at some point in the future! Being there helped me tremendously.
david.sibylle
January 11, 2024 at 12:56 pmMy experience at Nihue Rao was the most magical experience of my life to date. My partner and I came for an 11 day retreat. It was both of our first time with the medicine and we were taken away by the care, depth and wisdom in which the medicine is practice and received. We were asked directly and clearly on arrival what the reasons were for our interest and work with the medicine and these needs and intentions were clearly and carefully translated to the shamans. We were then prescribed a plant diet during the duration of our stay based on our concerns. The Casa de Medicina was a beautiful place to visit in the morning to receive this plant. We enjoyed equally as much as our work with Mother Ayahuasca as we did the relationships we were able to build with Oje, the plant of our diet. The ceremonies were so profound and each one I developed a deeper understanding and relationship with the medicine and myself. The facilitators, security, cleaners, chefs, locals, and children at the center all added to this magic and complete feeling of safety and good will. It was a joy to be at the center in our down time and there was alway a sweet acknowledgement to be had or kind words to pass along. I am so grateful for my time at Nihue Rao and am looking forward to returning when possible. I would highly recommend visiting this center if you are interested in deep indigenous Shipibo healing and want to learn the power of the medicine and Icaros from a community as dedicated as this one.
Allex
October 3, 2023 at 3:43 pmI have experience with half a dozen shamans/facilitators.
I drank ayahuasca over 100 times in different countries and different retreat centers. So I have abit of experience to have an informed opinion.
In 2019 I’ve discovered Nihue Rao and then never drank ayahuasca anywhere else.
It is not a luxury center (I’ve been to a couple of those) but rather a rustic and full of local people that work there.
Food is excellent while being diet friendly.
There are 24/7 guards and from my experience it is a very safe place for both men and women.
Ricardo the main shaman is probably among best shamans in the world with unspoiled integrity.
I learned during the 3-4 integration discussions more about ayahuasca and how read the symbols in the visions than in my previous 6+ years of discussions and experinces combined.
Recommended if you are really interested in the deep medicine work, how to heal yourself and how to learn the medicine.
Not recommended if you’re looking for a luxury, glamorous retreat where the emphasis is on making the tourist see visions with little understanding or actual healing.