When coming to work in the jungle, you are making a commitment to yourself to enter a very deep healing process of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual dimensions of your being. When you come to work here you are coming to a hospital in the jungle where complete surrender and trust is required towards your process and intelligence of nature that is guiding your process. The process in the jungle is one that cannot be fully understood by the western mindset and can only be experienced.

The healer is serving as an extension of nature and the master doctors, which are the plants themselves. She listens deeply to help create balance, harmony, and overall health. She always says that “Everyone feels good in the city, everyone seems healthy. Yet in the silence and stillness of the jungle we get to see what is really inside, and that everyone has problems they are untangling”.

When coming to the jungle, there is a process of de-conditioning that happens. There is no schedule, no distractions, no activities planned. Only the medicine(s), the nature and your own unique inner process. This can prove to be a challenging transition for those coming from a culture where everything is scheduled and readily available at our fingertips. As we surrender into the wisdom of the process, we can find great peace and are carried deeper into our healing journey.

The camp is simple, quiet, & peaceful. There is no electricity, no running or hot water, and there are insects of all sorts, shapes, and sizes. The living structures are simple, we bathe with water from the stream, we are surrounded by the beauty and perfection of jungle. An array of medicinal plants and trees surround the various structures, the daytime is filled with the soundtrack of the different birds singing, and the night time comes alive with the incredible symphony of insects, night birds, and other animals of the jungle.

Dona Otilia, the healer, directs the camp, all the treatments, the medicines, and the overall flow. She is always available to talk with to more deeply understand your process, to help solve problems of your life, and to dissolve any inner conflicts and confusion that may arise. She is very loving, joyful and always available to help.

Dona Otilia has been studying diet and how it works with the plant medicines for over 40 years. All meals are carefully selected and prepared with love. The food itself is medicine – prepared with lots of thought and consideration of the process. To appreciate it as medicine is to receive its healing and the health it provides.

The treatments depend on each individual. The appropriate medicines are given according to each person’s specific needs. The work is very complete, treatments addressing everything from bones, blood, muscles, nerves, organs, skin, energy, trauma, psychological problems, and spiritual problems. As well as treating long standing dis-eases and traumas of body, heart, mind, and spirit.

It is recommended you stay at least 2 – 3 weeks to receive a well rounded and complete treatment. The treatments are not instantaneous and are a delicate processes. The many types of treatments include: anti-parasite medicine, sauna, medicinal baths, massage, bone setting and re-alignment, strong plant medicines, diet, poultices, and salves – as well as specific treatments for your individual needs.

The plant medicines work very deeply and in mysterious ways. They are considered teachers as well as healers and doctors. When you work with them, it is called dieting with the plants. When you diet with the plants all the deep problems of one’s life (physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual) cannot be avoided and start to come up and out to be released. We get to see what exactly is lying under the surface with great clarity and have the opportunity to face ourselves and heal. It is important to respect the plants and the process as well as the guidance of the healers here to help you.

Although this is not an Ayahuasca retreat, you will have the opportunity to work with Ayahuasca as part of a wholistic and complete course of treatment according to the healing traditions of the jungle. Ayahuasca is called “The Medicine” because it works on all dimensions of the being (all bodies, all systems of the physical body, the psyche, the emotions, and at a soul level) and is a master healer and teacher plant.

Ayahuasca brings light to all that’s inside. It helps to unravel root causes of addiction and trauma and to see one’s life clearly. The light it brings can be helpful to gain direction and purpose in one’s life and to help us find what we are looking for; the vision for our life. It is not a magic cure all, it will not heal our life but like a true master teacher and healer, it gives us the tools and resources needed to heal our own lives and create the life we wish to create for ourselves and for the world.

People often come with the expectation that they will automatically receive visions, just because one drinks the medicine does not automatically mean that one will have visions or even a pleasant experience. Each individual receives the exact medicine needed. It helps clean out all incoherent energy, it helps an individual organize one’s life, and find answers they are looking for. To have a beautiful experience there must be preparation and respectful intentions for drinking the medicine.

The work with the medicine in the jungle is unlike any ceremony that one may experience elsewhere, it goes very deep and there will likely be a longer processing time.

All people who come need rest first and foremost. This is without exception. The process cleans out all the old, physical, emotional, mental patterns, it is a cultural detoxification.

Most people are accustomed to doing many activities and distracting themselves from the weight and pain they may carry deep inside. Being here at the hospital in the jungle, all of this has the space to come to the surface and out – your body will feel tired and want rest. Your mind may not want rest but your body will ask for it.

This is one of the most healing gifts that we receive in the jungle. As you relax deeper and deeper it becomes easier to relax. Anxiety and turmoil dissolve and rest becomes easy and natural. This is part of the healing process, to re-learn the art of relaxation, and allow the body to use its innate resources for restoration and rejuvenation.

This also helps create a state of receptivity and calm to receive and hear the subtle teachings and voice of the plants.

When you come, you are coming to heal. This is the purpose of the camp and Dona Otilia´s purpose for serving you; to help people become free of all dis-ease and the weight of the past, to organize their lives, solve their problems, find direction, and live happily. This requires trust and surrender to let go of ideas, habits, follow the guidance, and receive the treatments without expectation of outcome. The benefits you receive will depend directly upon your openness, attitude and ability to accept what you are given with the appreciation that all aspects of your journey are medicine and serving your healing.

If you would like to come, please understand what the camp is, and what the work is.  This is a safe quiet environment to do very deep work. You will receive support, medicines, and treatments depending on your needs. You may always ask for guidance, clarification, help, and more personal support if you need it. Some may want their own space and to be left to their own process, others may appreciate group process and support.

Before you come we will discuss what your intentions are and what you´d like to receive so we can best prepare for you.

The retreat is all inclusive, including transportation once inside Iquitos, lodging, food, treatments, medicines, and translation – as well as preparation and post diet integration.

From the moment you arrive to Iquitos you will be completely taken care of with every detail considered.

The medicine process truly begins the moment you make the clear intention to go to the jungle and do this work. Be open, be receptive, be humble, and appreciate every step of the journey.