Ayahuasca is a brew of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and chacruna leaf. The vine contains MAO inhibitors, the leaf contains DMT, and neither does much alone. Together they produce five to six hours of altered consciousness. That interaction is also the reason our medical screening reads like a pre-operative form rather than a booking page.
In Peru this is legal and has been recognised as national cultural heritage since 2008. It is not legal to carry into the United States, which is why the work happens here and stays here.
Our medicine is cooked by the maestros who serve it. We do not buy brew from a third party, and we can tell you which harvest yours came from.
Written for the person lying awake at two in the morning reading about this. Times are approximate and every night differs, but this is the shape of it.
You eat nothing after lunch. Mats, blankets and a bucket are set out for each guest with space between them. The maestros arrange their seats, the physician checks in with anyone they flagged at intake, and phones go into a box by the door.
You choose a mat and stay on it for the night. Nobody speaks much. The integration lead says a short, practical word about what to do if you need help: raise a hand, and someone comes to you.
You go to the maestro, take the cup, and return to your mat. Dose is decided by the maestro from what they have seen of you, not by what you ask for. Nobody is offered a second cup they did not request, and declining is a complete sentence.
Effects usually begin around forty minutes in and arrive as a physical wave rather than a switch. The room goes dark. The first icaro starts, and from here the maestros sing almost continuously for hours.
Between the second and fourth hour is where most of the work happens. Time stops behaving. Guests purge, sit up, lie down, weep, or lie completely still. All of that is normal and none of it is a problem for anyone else in the room.
The maestros move between mats and sing directly to individual guests, adjusting per person. You may have three maestros in front of you at one point and no idea how long they were there.
The intensity draws down. Water is brought. Some guests sleep on their mats from here; others sit up in the dark and think. A physician is still awake in the room and will be until dawn.
The maestros close the ceremony with a final icaro and the room is opened. Light food is available. Most guests sleep until mid morning, and the day that follows is deliberately empty.
Raise a hand. A facilitator is beside you within seconds, every night, and you will not be the first person to do it. Guests can leave the room accompanied at any point.
Most people purge at some point across four ceremonies and some never do. Every mat has a bucket, nobody in the room reacts, and it is treated as part of the work rather than a failure of it.
Physically tired, mentally clear, occasionally raw. No screens, one meal, a plant bath, and a conversation with your integration lead if you want one. Nothing is scheduled.
This is the single biggest reason we do not sell weekend sittings. The maestros asked for four, with rest between them, and the pattern below is what they were describing.
Rest nights are not padding. The night after a ceremony is when most guests actually make sense of it, and stacking ceremonies back to back removes exactly that.
Mostly spent working out how to be there at all. Almost nobody describes this one afterwards, and that is expected.
The maestros have watched you for two nights and adjust per person. This is usually the night guests recount later.
Most weeks this is the calm one. The room knows itself and the maestros work with less noise.
Closing at first light. Guests frequently say the fourth is where the previous three finally made sense.
The vine inhibits monoamine oxidase, the enzyme that breaks down tyramine in food and regulates several neurotransmitters. That is a pharmacological fact, not a tradition, and it is why the list below is a safety requirement rather than a purity ritual. We send a day by day plan and a grocery list written for US supermarkets three weeks out.
| Three weeks before | During the week | One week after | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | None | None | None |
| Fermented foods | None. Aged cheese, soy sauce, kombucha, cured meat | None | Reintroduce slowly |
| Salt and sugar | Minimal | Kitchen handles it | Minimal for a week |
| Pork and red meat | Avoid in the final two weeks | Not served | Reintroduce slowly |
| Recreational substances | None, including cannabis | None | None |
| Caffeine | Taper down, do not quit abruptly | Coca tea only | Your call |
| Sexual activity | Abstain the final two weeks | Abstain | Abstain one week |
| Medication | Any taper planned with your own prescriber | As agreed with our physician | Restart per your prescriber |
If you cannot hold the dieta on the dates we give you, tell us and we will move you to a later week. Arriving having broken it and not saying so is the one thing that genuinely puts you at risk.
A licensed physician reads every application before a place is offered or a payment taken. Screening takes about two weeks. Declined applicants are never charged and always receive the reason in writing plus a referral list.
Two maestros for twelve guests, a physician on site all seven nights and awake until first light, oxygen and a defibrillator on hand, an emergency protocol rehearsed monthly, twenty minutes to a clinic and an hour to a Cusco hospital we hold a standing arrangement with.
These lists are not exhaustive and nothing on this page is medical advice. Send your file and let the physician decide. If your history is borderline, they will tell you that plainly rather than guess.
Three weeks of dieta before, seven nights here, then a year of integration calls with the same lead who read your file before you travelled. Four calls in the first three months, then quarterly, on your time zone, included in the price.
Guests consistently underestimate the first month home. Keep the two days after you land completely empty, hold the dieta one more week, and expect to sleep badly for a few nights. The eight month call is the one people mention most.
Four ceremonies, single occupancy room, dieta kitchen, plant baths, physician screening and on-site care, an optional Kambo session, transfers from Cusco, and twelve months of integration. Payment plans over three or six months.
Five to six hours from the first cup, with the strongest part usually in the second and third hours. Most guests sleep after dawn and feel physically tired but clear the next day.
Yes. It is legal here and was recognised as part of the national cultural heritage in 2008. It is illegal to carry into the United States, which is why the work happens here and stays here.
MAOIs are an absolute stop. SSRIs, SNRIs, lithium, tramadol, triptans and stimulants are reviewed individually, and some require a supervised taper planned with your own prescriber. We tell you which before you book flights, and we never rush a taper to fit a retreat date.
Most guests purge at some point across four ceremonies, briefly, and some never do. It is expected rather than a sign something has gone wrong. Every mat has a bucket and nobody in the room reacts.
Raise a hand. A facilitator reaches you within seconds and a maestro will usually come and sing directly to you, which is the specific tool for that moment. You can be accompanied out of the room at any point, and you will not be the first.
Not here. The maestros asked for four with rest nights between, and a single ceremony is usually spent learning how to be in the room. If a weekend sitting is what you want, we are the wrong center and will say so.
$5,800 for seven nights all inclusive: four ceremonies, a single occupancy room, the dieta kitchen, transfers from Cusco, an optional Kambo session, and twelve months of integration calls. Flights and travel insurance are not included, and nothing is charged until a physician confirms your place.
Yes, and you are screened separately. Couples are placed in the same cohort but never given adjacent mats, because the work is easier when you are not managing someone else’s night.