This is completely normal. Ceremony can bring up deep emotional purges. You will never be alone. Nihue Rao’s experienced shamans hold the room, and there are always facilitators there to give additional support if you need physical or emotional assistance. Wessel and I are also right there in the maloca on our facilitation nights to support you.

Absolutely. This is your journey, and honoring your body’s limits is a core part of the process. If you are feeling under the weather, energetically full, or simply need a night to rest and integrate, you are completely free to skip a ceremony. You can also choose to sit in the ceremony without drinking medicine at all to soak in the healing icaros (songs), take a micro-dose for a mild meditational space, or even just dab a drop of medicine on your skin. There is zero pressure—we and the shamans will fully support whatever pace your system needs.

The Dieta works in two stages:

1. Before We Fly (Pre-Retreat Prep):

About 2–3 weeks before traveling, you will begin scaling back on specific foods like salt, refined sugar, red meat, alcohol, caffeine, and processed items. These food restrictions prepare your physical body and energetic system for the Ayahuasca ceremonies, making space for the medicine to work deeper with less resistance. During our 1-month pre-travel prep, we will give you a clear, easy-to-follow guide so you feel confident and supported.

2. During the Retreat (Master Plant Dieta):

Beyond Ayahuasca, your center fee includes a custom Master Plant Dieta prescribed specifically for you by the Shipibo shamans upon arrival. These are non-hallucinogenic medicinal plants and trees native to the Amazon that you will ingest daily during your stay to heal, strengthen, and ground your energetic field. The clean, simple food provided at the center creates the exact energetic environment required for these master plants to anchor into your system safely and effectively.

Jungle vaccines and health requirements take time to organize. Once you join our group, we will share the exact checklist and timeline we used for our own travel to Peru so you can review it easily with your local Travel Doctor. Vaccines are not compulsary and your travel doctor will recommend to you what is absolutely essential to take vs. precautionary.

Nihue Rao has decades of experience hosting international guests. The center staff and shamans are well-equipped to support common jungle ailments (like stomach bugs or heat exhaustion), and they can provide medication or traditional herbal remedies and hydration support. In the event of anything serious, the center has established protocols for medical transport to Iquitos.

In our experience and opinion, contracting Malaria at Nihue Rao is exceptionally rare, and neither of us took malaria medication during our own month-long stay at the center. While preventative tablets are an option, some guests find their side effects can interfere with ceremony work. If any symptoms ever come up while in the jungle, the center has decades of experience and will immediately take you to a local medical clinic for testing and prompt treatment. We always recommend speaking with your Travel Doctor so you can make the choice that feels right for your body.

Yes. While 14 days is our highest recommendation to allow time for resting and integrating between ceremonies, Nihue Rao offers 7-day ($1,600 USD) and 11-day ($2,100 USD) options. If you choose a shorter stay, you will arrive with our group and depart earlier. We will still provide you with full access to our 1-month post-travel online integration!

Item dWhile we strongly encourage joining live to build trust and connection with the group, we know life happens! All Zoom sessions will be recorded and uploaded to a private group portal within 24 hours so you can catch up in your own time.

A Vomitivo is a traditional cleansing ritual performed on your first morning at the center. It is prepared using a traditional, pureed or scraped plant root mixed with water, which you will drink under the care of the center staff to initiate a physical purge.

While the idea of purging might sound intense, it is a deeply therapeutic Amazonian practice designed to flush out physical toxins, clear digestive heaviness, and reset your stomach. Energetically, it opens up your channels and cleanses your system so your body can absorb the Master Plants and Ayahuasca with far less physical resistance and discomfort during ceremony.