Ayahuasca Foundation

The journey to the Ayahuasca Foundation starts at a hotel in Iquitos. From there a bus runs to a small riverside village, and a boat carries participants deep into the jungle, away from phone signal, to the Riosbo Retreat & Research Center.

The Foundation was founded in 2009. Its work rests on a family lineage: the Lopez family, whose multi-generational healing tradition centers on a tree called Noya Rao, also known as the tree of Light. Shipibo healers lead every program, and the pages say elements of the Shipibo tradition are taught on each one.

Riosbo stands in the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve on the Nanay River, and most of its staff come from the nearby Mishana community. The property has ayahuasca vines about thirty years old and a medicinal plant garden in the courtyard. There are eight guest rooms with private bathrooms, opening onto a shared balcony over the river. The grounds also hold a yoga and meditation studio, a hammock lounge, massage and consultation rooms, and a screened maloca for ceremony. A white sand beach on the river is a one-minute walk away, and trails lead into the reserve.

The retreats run ten days, with five ceremonies, or eighteen days, with eight ceremonies and a plant dieta with Noya Rao or Bobinsana. A women's retreat is led by a Shipibo maestra. Daily plant treatments, including plant, vapor and smoke baths, sit alongside yoga, meditation, breathwork, cacao ceremonies, and art and music therapy. For those who want to study the tradition, four- and eight-week courses teach the curanderismo of the Shipibo through lectures, workshops, dietas and ceremony.