4 Day Healing and Cleansing Retreat with Ayahuasca in Santa Marta, Colombia
Healing Retreat with Ayahuasca in Colombia
This listing has the most popular offer available in Colombia
Experience 4 days of healing and cleansing with Ayahuasca, interaction with the indigenous community, and so much more in the Sierra Nevada. Join them for an immersive experience in the jungle of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Colombia. Together, you will heal through sacred ceremonies, yoga, meditation, massage, and more.
Meet the instructors
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Highlights
- Yoga and meditation
- 2 sacred Ayahuasca ceremonies including Rapé ceremony
- Waterfall tour
- Relaxing or chiropractic massage
- 3 nights accommodation
- All organic meals included (vegetarian option)
Skill level
- Beginner
- Intermediate
Simón Bolívar International Airport (US$ 30 per person)
Accommodation
Facilities
- Shopping
- Swimming pool (outdoor)
- Temazcal
- Air-conditioned rooms
- Café
- Dining area
- Environmentally friendly
- Garden
- Kitchen
- Lobby
- Meditation garden
- Multilingual staff
- Picnic area
- Restaurant
- Smoke-free property
- Special menu request
- Terrace
- Beauty salon
- Conference room
- Dry cleaning
- Free bicycle
- Free parking
- Free Wi-Fi
- Hair salon
- Internet access
- Laundry
- Meeting room
- Parking lot
- Tour assistance
- Outdoor shower
You will be in a wonderful place surrounded by nature, river, and colorful macaws. Accommodations include shared or private rooms.
Program
Welcome to their house of medicine. They are a family made up of Carlos and Jennifer, their son Juric and Giovanni, a family friend. Keep in mind that you will be in a family environment, feel at home. They also support some people, like the lady in the kitchen, if you want to buy water, smoothies, juices, and cookies that she prepares.
The ceremony is conducted by a Taita (shaman) Carlos and his assistant Giovanny, who follow the tradition of the Putumasyo indigenous people called the Siona. The ceremonies are focused on the participants doing mental work with the Ayahuasca with an intention to heal themselves or their past, understand or change their life, clean their energy and their body.
Thus, the ceremonies don't involve singing or dancing all night, but are more calm, letting the people focus on their thoughts and healing with yagé. However, the Taita and his assistant will do some singing and play harmonica, also use incense, to aid the people in their thoughts and clean the energy of the people and the place.
Preparation
- Let them know if you take medication or have a history of mental illness;
- No alcohol or drugs during the week before the ceremony;
- Avoid sexual relations on the day of the ceremony;
- Pack extra warm and wear comfortable clothes (you may feel chilly when taking yage, also it might cold at night, as the finca is in the mountains);
- Get a good rest the night before and try to rest on the day of the ceremony (or you might feel tired during the ceremony);
- If you’re a woman on your period, let them know beforehand
Ayahuasca
Yagé or Ayahuasca consists of banisteriopsis caapi and chakruna, two plants, which together have cleaning abilities. Ayahuasca works on three levels: the body, the soul, and the spirit.
It cleans the body (you might vomit or have diarrhea), gives visions (you might see colors or other beings, be more sensitive to light), and gives you clarity of thought (you might realize or understand things more deeply, feel deeper emotions). The experience is different for everyone and it might be that you get all these experiences, just some of them, or that you feel nothing.
In any case, Ayahuasca is working and doing the necessary healing to aid you in whatever you need. Thus, don't worry about purging or try to hold back any experience you might have, but let yourself be guided and be open to whatever it might bring you, as the plant is here to aid you. If you have any questions or worries, always ask Carlos or Giovanny, they will be there for you at all times.
It’s also important not to have expectations about the ceremony. The most important work during the ceremony is your internal process. Thus, don’t focus yourself on what’s happening around you, but focus on your own thoughts and growth.
It’s also important to note that different Ayahuasca ceremonies follow different traditions, which is why this ceremony might not resemble another ceremony in another location you’ve been to.
The ceremony
A few hours before the ceremony (7-8 pm), people gather at the ceremony area/circle to get acquainted with the Taita and the other participants and relax. You can apply mambo (the medicine of coke leaves to give energy and nutrition to the body) or rapé (a medicine of tobacco and plant powder that cleans thoughts and emotions).
Everyone gets a hammock or a mat and a blanket. You can also bring your own comfort items, a candle, essential oils etc. Dress comfortably and have extra clothes to stay warm during the ceremony.
It’s also good before the ceremony is to set an intention, with which you take Ayahuasca – whether you want to heal or understand something, leave something in the past, find your calling etc.
At 9 pm, the Taita prepares and hands everyone a cup of Ayahuasca. Usually the effect of the medicine starts after half an hour to an hour after drinking the medicine and lasts for around 3 hours.
After this, for 1-2 hours, the lights are dim and everyone contemplates their thoughts and lets the yagé do the healing in the body and the mind.
Every two hours, the Taita asks if you want to take another cup (or third or a half, however much you want). You don’t have to take anything, just try to understand how you’re feeling. If you still feel the effects of the Ayahuasca, wait an hour or two. If you want to have a stronger experience, you can take more, but be aware that with every cup, the effect is stronger due to the medicine already being (and accumulating) in your body.
During the night, try to stay in the circle / maloca or at the bathrooms, but don’t go wandering off by yourself. When you feel that you have done enough work with Ayahuasca, you can go away from the circle and talk to other people (but don’t talk in the circle to let other people concentrate). If you feel tired, you can sleep in the hammock or the mat or, after informing the Taita, go to your room.
If you will also have an energy cleaning, the Taita will do it towards the end of the ceremony, around 3-4 o’clock. You will be asked to take off your shirt (for women to be with a bra) and to sit on a chair while the Taita and his assistant will use tobacco, incense, sacred water, waira, and songs to clean your energy.
The main important thing is to not be afraid, but to trust the Ayahuasca, be open to the experience and let it guide you to heal your body and mind. It is a special experience and the first step on a journey of inner healing with this medicine.
They hope you will continue your healing journey - with or without Ayahuasca - and put your experience into practice also after the ceremony in your daily life.
Itinerary
Day 1
- Welcome
- Consult with shaman
- Rapé ceremony
- Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 2
- Breakfast
- Free time / rest
- Lunch
- Yoga and meditation
- Dinner
Day 3
- Breakfast
- Waterfall tour
- Lunch
- Free time
- Soundhealing
- Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 4
- Breakfast
- Free time / rest
- Bath with plants
- Check out
Included excursions
Their excursions include:
Waterfull Tour
Instructors
Jennifer Rueda
Jennifer was born in Colombia. She is the founder and director of the Sierra Ancestral ceremonial center. She is also a holistic psychologist, and has worked in different branches of social psychology. Her spiritual journey and learning began 10 years ago with the sacred medicine Ayahuasca. She then decided to do an apprenticeship with indigenous communities in the Colombian jungle. She works performing women's circles and rapé ceremonies, and has an apprenticeship in plants. She is the mother of a small child and the wife of shaman Carlos Estrada.
Shaman Carlos
Shaman Carlos is a traditional healer from lower Putumayo, Colombia, who was interned in the jungle with different grandparents who were knowledgeable about different indigenous communities, including Ziobain or Siona and Kamentsa. He learned about traditional Yagé-Ayahuasca medicine and many more plants of the Colombian Amazon. He has worked with medicine for 10 years, has been recognized within the Siona and Kamentsa communities as a traditional healer, and in recent years, has traveled to share medicine in various countries and cities to help patients and cure diseases.
Location
They are located at La Tigrera kilometer 7, on the road to Minca. You must reach a state called La Quebrada or Jamonacal and along that road enter approximately 1 kilometer.
Food
The package includes typical Colombian meals with vegetarian options.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Water
- Tea
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Organic
Things to do (optional)
- Rapé, mambo, sage, natural medicine, jewelry created by indigenous people and much more
- More excursions and experiences available for an extra fee.
- Option to stay for longer if you would like to
What's included
- Yoga and meditation
- 2 Ayahuasca ceremonies
- 1 Rapé ceremony
- Sananga circle
- Waterfall tour
- 1 massage
- 3 nights accommodation
- All meals and drinks
What's not included
- Transportation from the airport or any area of the city, people must arrive at the farm
How to get there
Recommended Airports
Simón Bolívar International Airport
10 km
Transfer available for additional US$ 30 per person
Arrival by bus
When you’re at Santa Marta, take a bus from Mercado Publico to Minca and come off at Tigrera at km 7 on the way to Minca (the bus costs 9.000 MXN). At the roadside will be a green sign that reads “7” and another sign “Eden”. There will be a little road going up the hill. Walk that road for 5 minutes and you reach a big gate with a yellow sign “Sierra Ancestral”.
Arrival by taxi
It’s also possible to reach them with a mototaxi from Santa Marta (costs around 15.000-30.000 MXN) or Minca (costs around 15.000 MXN).
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 50% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid on arrival.
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