Ayahuasca Retreat Conclusion

After disembarking from the jungle lodge we took the riverboat back to Nauta and then vans back to Iquitos.  We arrived at Hotel La Casona, got our rooms, and dropped our things.  Ian took us out for dinner at a nice restaurant, Al Frio y Al Fuego.  What’s cool about this place, aside from the good food, is that it’s a floating restaurant located in the middle of the Amazon.  The street entrance of the restaurant leads you down a set of steps to a dock where you board a boat that ferries you the short five minute ride to the restaurant.

After a week in the jungle, eating a very plain ayahuasca diet, it was nice to go to a place with some ‘real’ food.  However, we were supposed to still maintain a post-ayahuasca diet for 30 days, which means no pork, no dairy, no very spicy food, no fried food, limited beef, no excessive drinking, no drugs, and some other no-no’s, so we still had to watch what we ate.  I had a traditional Peruvian dish, Lomo Saltado, which is beef dish, and I think my body was happy to receive the protein and nutrient density of the beef.  The group all had a beer or two in celebration as well. After only one beer I was distinctly buzzed.  I can’t remember the last time I was buzzed after one drink, if ever.

We headed back to the hotel and most of us hit the hay, still tired from the previous night’s ceremony and the day of travel.

The next day most people were set to go back home.  I, on the other hand, was just starting my journey and decided to stay in Iquitos for a week or so.

Before they left, several people in the group wanted to head to Belen Market to get mapachos, palo santo, agua de florida, and other goods for cleansing of and protection from bad energies back at home.  Ian had agreed to take us to the vendor he uses in the market first thing at 8:30 that morning.

Belen Market is a place to behold.   A massive, sprawling open air market that spans several dozen city blocks.  Streets are lined by stalls of vendors offering just about any good you can imagine.  Most of it is dedicated to foodstuffs.  As such, you better have a strong stomach to enter Belen.  You will see everything from chickens and beef, to turtles, grubs and monkeys for sale.  Being a river city, there is an especially large section dedicated to fish, which makes much of the market have a horrendous rotting fish smell.  Turkey vultures roam the streets looking for discarded fish and meat.  Thieves and pickpockets are on the prowl and gringos are their main victims, so keep a hand on your valuables.  If someone ‘bumps’ into you, be sure to immediately check your pockets to make sure you still have your things.

We went straight to ‘medicine row’ in the market, got our things and quickly headed back to the hotel.  We avoided the rest of market, trying to preserve our freshly cleaned beings from witnessing some of the more tragic sights of a third-world market like Belen.

The rest of the day the group slowly parted ways, each person heading to the airport for their flights home at different times.  We exchanged contact information, hugs, and said bittersweet goodbyes.

Overall, I think the retreat was a huge success for all 18 people in our group, which is astounding.  After spending the following week in Iquitos, I spoke with many people who had participated in ayahuasca ceremonies at other retreat centers, only to have nothing happen in their ceremonies or only have some nausea and vomiting, but nothing further occur.  I don’t know what the hell they were drinking.  On the contrary, every single person in our group had an amazing, albeit difficult, week of life-changing ayahuasca ceremonies.  As far as I could gather, each person in our group made huge leaps in personal growth and freeing themselves from limiting psychic baggage.  On this final day together, every person was glowing with loving, vibrant energy.  The group shared a common radiance that I’ve never seen collectively among a group of people in western society like I saw then.

After parting ways with most of my fellow light-warriors, it was down to just Terrance and myself.  Terrance is a half Filipino guy from California.  About as Californian (think surfer dude) as you can get.  A former football player (I think he was a running back), wrestler, and (contrarily) theatre person, he was now a masseuse and into Qi Gong and meridian theory.  He was one of the most laid back, fun, and good-natured of the group during our week together.  But he had an episode after the last ceremony which I’ve decided not to go into here, but suffice to say it was pretty fucking crazy and a testament to the gravity of what you’re dealing with in working with ayahuasca.  He was advised to stay for another week.  He came back to Iquitos to make arrangements to stay longer and go to a doctor for his foot which he injured during his episode.

We headed out to dinner, and while eating saw Miles, who was apparently still in town staying at another place, stroll by.  We flagged him down, he joined us, then we got some beers, headed back to the hotel, and hung-out until late in the evening.

The next day, Terrance headed back to the retreat center in the jungle, Miles went home, and I was finally all by myself, alone in Peru, without the crutch of the tour group I had enjoyed for the past week.  My journey had now really begun.