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Ayahuasca retreats

DarthMom

DarthMom

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 4, 2003
Messages
10,151
Location
Central Florida
I was wondering if any bl'ers had any first hand accounts with these. I am currently looking into this one http://www.chinchilejo.yage.net/

Some of you may be familiar with Alan Shoemaker, he was arrested a few years back, one of the only aya arrests in the country. he runs the tours, his wife is the director....Anyway, I would *love* to talk about this, any experiences any of you had and any advice on how to be better prepared. Also, any other tour groups or shamans you are familiar with. I will be taking my husband, so want a tour atmosphere, I don't know if he would be ready for anything else. But I do not want to choose a company that is in it for the money, and not sincere....i have heard quite a few bad things about Heart of the Initiate. 4k for a week in peru, give me a fucking break. I spent 2 months in QUito for less than that. 8( and i heard a few horror stories about their treatment of people.

Anyway, tia, looking forward to any responses.


note, mods, I thought this may be better suited in SO but I am looking for the exp only found in this forum, so if you don't mind, I would really appreciate it staying here. Besides, I am interested in talking about the aya exp in itself, so that can keep it in on topic for this section :)
 
I'm fine with this thread staying here. :)

I'm interested in this topic also, because my little brother is talking about going down to Peru for one of these ayahuasca retreats. I dont know which one(s) he has been looking at, but I'm interested in knowing more about them.
 
Paul theroux, one of my favorite authors, went on an ayahuasca retreat a year or so ago and wrote about it for the guardian.

Here is a link to a forum where someone reposted the article. ^__^

It went pretty much how I'd expect. I imagine its a bunch of poor misguided undeveloped-country folk trying to make money off the plant and ignorant rich folk- not necessairly out to take advantage of them, but out to make money for sure. I mean, every curandero I've ever met has been pretty much the same as an american fortune teller, so like always, its what you make of it.
 
Ayahuasca is not the most social of trips. I dont think it matters who is there.
 
The appeal, for me, is to finally have a guided trip. Guided, as i believe, being the way these things should be done.
DarthMom, i'll more inclined towards bluemorphotours as posted above, mainly due to the national geographic article that can be found in "drugs in the media".
 
I get your drift but surely the ayahuasca itself knows more about guiding you through the trip as opposed to some guy who hardly knows you who'se there for the money.
 
Hate to be the devil's advocate, but my two cents is that this is a pretty distasteful example of the commercialization of what is an ancient, indigenous practice for the delight of Western tourists.
 
wow id be totally down for this, dunno if theyd accept my ignorant american ass on the retreat.
 
Putingrad said:
Hate to be the devil's advocate, but my two cents is that this is a pretty distasteful example of the commercialization of what is an ancient, indigenous practice for the delight of Western tourists.
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So because something has been done for an eternity, means that those like us who wouldn't normally be able to experience it shouldn't? I have no problem parting with a little bit of money to get to do that. and I don't think the Vine cares who she talks to, as long as you are sincere.

Though I agree that those that take advantage of the experience like my example in my OP, a tour charging 4k for it, not necessary, and I wouldn't be surprised if hardly any of the money gets to the surrounding families that need it most.

as for why go this route, and not just brew some up at home, I would think it is obvious. frankly, no offense, but if you don't get why, my explaining why wouldn't really make you understand either.

Besides that, I really enjoyed my time in south america, and would love to go back. I didn't get the chance to experience the amazon at the time, even though i prepared myself with quite a few painful shots :(

I would do this without the aya.
 
darthmom and wood, let's do a bluelight only retreat sometime next year ;)
 
From what I've heard its really hard to find a retreat that hasn't commercialized, or turned to crap because of the caliber of people who've come before.
 
L2R said:
darthmom and wood, let's do a bluelight only retreat sometime next year ;)
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meet me in peru in september =D.



INtoxo, i know, i have assumed that, and realized that too in my little bit of research too, which is why i thought i would throw up this post here, for any advice.

frankly, what i like about the one i listed in the op...notice they say in their site that you are a part of the world, not the center of it, and you are going to the villages and doing what they have done for centruries, and to be prepared. I don't wanna be coddled. and those who are there to make the money off the hedonistic tourists are not going to have that attitude, they would be more like these tours that are in a beautiful resort hotel and don't ever leave it, drinking in rooms, and not in huts or around a fire in the jungle. i prefer the latter.

yeah, i say that now, until i am breakfast lunch and dinner for the skeeters, i may begin to think i should have gone the trendy route.
 
ive always wanted to visit maya, aztec, and inca ruins.

and i dont think this is commercialism. its not like some family of four is going to stop by and have a gulp of ayahuasca and shoot the shit with some natives while galavanting around the country with their tour guide.

i think everyone deserves the right to experience dmt. ive only come across it maybe 3 times, and only 1 out of those three times was worth mentioning, two werent full experiences due to improper intake.

an dyeah like darhtmom said, i wouldnt go there just "to do drugs." id go to take in an experience in an environment ive never been in before. its healthy and productive to the development of a well rounded and sound mind. if people have a problem with me just wanting to explore the 4 corners of the world, than thats just as ignorant as someone taking advantage of commercialized drug experiences.
 
Unfortunately, I only know of one ayahuasca retreat and cannot vouch for its legitmacy, so instead I'll just throw in my two cents. I think that humility and respect is the key here is (as in most things) humility and respect. Hell, maybe you can show these people that not every american is fat, ignorant, and self-righteous. Although, truth be told, some of us are a bit big around the waist.
 
wood, I think people are referring to rich new agers (kinda like the way some witches call some other wiccans "fluffy bunnies")who don't really appreciate the depth of the experience, but who are we to judge others or their intentions?

I could care less about the people I go with, I am more worried about the tour guides themselves, and the so called shamans....i want a guide that would be doing this even if us kooky americans with too much money weren't there.
 
The guy who played Benjamin Horn in Twin Peaks said he did one of these on the S1 dvd and he said the cleansing aspect had stuff coming out of both ends.

mmmmmm sounds like fun ;)
 
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