I attended an absolutely stunning, wonderous, life-affirming, beautiful, profound, and deeply moving and spiritual 5 day retreat in the Sacred Valley near the town of Urubamba: Sapan Inka Spiritual Retreat Center, managed by highly ethical and loving guides and mentors who approach ayahuasca with tremendous reverence, indigenous cultural respect and reciprocity, and a modern psychology and therapeutic approach.
I did my research to find a Ayahuasca retreat using a variety of sources, and found the review website AyaAdvisors.org to be particularly useful as it has hundreds of first person accounts from visitors who have journeyed at the various facilities in Peru, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Jamaica, and other countries where this medicine is revered and practiced in safe and legal facilities that are overseen by very experienced by guides.
The Sapan Inka retreat center is in the town of Urubamba in the Sacred Valley, about 90 minutes from Cusco the regional capital and center of tourism in Peru. I chose the Sacred Valley for my retreat as opposed to one of the Amazon jungle basin centers which are common near Iquitos and Pucalpa—Ayahuasca comes from the Amazon after all, and the Shaman masters from various Ayahuasquero traditions are all Amazon provenance. However, i personally feel a very strong connection to the Andes and the high altitude air, clouds, expansive vistas, and indigenous tradition of the Inca empire and native and mestizo people of this region.
They say that Ayahuasca “calls you” which for me it very much did, to this place and at this time in my life. I had made my reservation to visit Cusco for the 4th time of my life (i first came in 1993, and have returned several times since—this is my favorite place to visit as a tourist on earth!) and had not originally planned to try ayahuasca. It was only months after I already had my ticket and some of my airbnb and hotels booked, that I felt the call to research and then book a spiritual retreat. It was amazing, the feeling of “oh, this is my calling, i feel it”. Like being summoned by the plant medicine. I know that sounds cray cray, but it is genuinely how it felt.
I stayed 9 days before the retreat in a marvelous Airbnb home in the town of Urubamba. From here I focused on my diet (no meat, no salt, no oil, no spice, no coffee, no sex!) and did a lot of reading, walking, relaxation exercises. I also did day trips to Ollaytaytambo and Pisac, cute as heck towns with amazing Inca archaeological sites.
I did a ton of journaling before, during, and after my journey. This was a fundamental part of the experience, it helped me prepare, reflect, and integrate all of the amazing elements i was shown by the medicine journey.
Here are some of the many vistas from my hikes in the valley in the week leading up to my ceremony. The Sacred Valley and its energy, fresh air, amazing clouds, Inca sites, and general “magical” energy, were a central part of the overall experience for me.
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