Traditional medicine
and Ayahuasca

The Peruvian Amazon rainforest, with its epicenter in Iquitos, is recognized worldwide as a sanctuary of healing and ancestral knowledge. Medicinal tours are not a simple excursion; they are a retreat focused on physical, emotional, and spiritual cleansing, guided by curanderos (healers) and shamans who preserve a lineage of ancient wisdom.

These retreats, offered mainly in specialized healing centers or lodges outside Iquitos, integrate three fundamental pillars of Amazonian medicine: master plants and two profound ceremonial medicines, Kambo and Ayahuasca.

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1. Ethnobotanical Learning: The Jungle's Natural Pharmacy

 

Every medicinal tour begins with understanding the environment. Participants take guided hikes (ethnobotanical walks) to:

• Identify Healing Plants: The curandero (healer) or local guide teaches participants how to recognize and explains the traditional use of key plants such as Cat's Claw (Uña de Gato — an anti-inflammatory), Dragon's Blood (Sangre de Grado — healing and antiseptic), or Chanca Piedra (used for kidney ailments).

• Flowering and Cleansing Baths: Mixtures of aromatic and protective plants are used for energy cleansing rituals, aimed at harmonizing the spirit before the major ceremonies.

• Diets with Minor Master Plants: In longer retreats, participants may undergo diets (a strict regime of food and isolation) using extracts of specific plants (such as chiric sanango or bobinsana) to work on specific aspects of the self or to strengthen their energy.

 

2. Kambo: A Purifying Amazonian Medicine

 

Kambo, the secretion of the giant monkey frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor), is often offered at the start of the retreat as a powerful purge and detoxification.

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Purpose and Effects

 

• Purpose: It is an intense physical process that seeks to cleanse the body at a cellular level. It is traditionally used to strengthen the immune system, treat pain, chronic fatigue, and even clear emotional and energetic blockages.

• Ceremony: A small amount of the secretion is applied to superficial burns on the skin. The effect is rapid and intense (nausea, vomiting, increased heart rate) and lasts between 20 and 40 minutes, leaving the participant with a profound sense of lightness and physical well-being.

 

3. Spiritual Healing Journey: Ayahuasca

 

Ayahuasca is the central master plant of Amazonian shamanism, a visionary decoction that opens the door to the subconscious and the spirit.

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Purpose and Ceremony

 

• Purpose: To seek the profound healing of emotional wounds, trauma, addictions, and mental blockages. It is an introspective medicine that allows the individual to "see" and understand the roots of their problems.

• Ceremony: Sessions take place at night in a maloca (ceremonial house), led by the Maestro or Maestra Ayahuasquero (Shaman). The healer guides the session through Ícaros (sacred songs) and the sound of their shacapa (rattle), maintaining a safe and protected space for participants to undergo their personal process of purging (vomiting) and revelation.

• Integration: Serious centers emphasize the importance of integration, which is the process of bringing the lessons learned from the Ayahuasca experience into daily life through group discussions or individual therapy sessions.

A medicinal tour in the Peruvian jungle is, in essence, a personal commitment to transformation, in a safe environment and in deep connection with the ancestral wisdom of the Amazon.