My last stop in Peru, Iquitos is the city in the jungle, only accessible by plane or boat. For most, it is the place for jungle tours to see the various animals. However, Iquitos was not in the itinerary previously so I had already done a jungle tour near Cusco. Iquitos was the place for another experience: ayahuasca.
Since I arrived in Peru, I’d been hearing more and more talk about ayahuasca, a spiritual ceremony that seemed to work wonders for most people, no matter how much the experience differed. Some found meaning and direction in their life, others overcame a drug addiction. I was highly intrigued by the wonders it did but was also a bit skeptical to try it. For one, the user tends to vomit or have diarrhea, a cleaning of the body to add to the cleaning of the soul that comes with the ceremony. Also, the plant is a hallucinogenic, hence the importance of shamans to help guide the hallucinations. For over a month and until I was in Iquitos, I was thinking whether or not to try it. I met a friend who told me in detail his experience, everything he knew that finally convinced me.
One of my guides was a native of iquitos and arranged a meeting for me with shipibo vision, a family who did ayahuasca ceremonies at their jungle retreat an hour outside of the city. Soon, I was cramped in a local bus with them headed to the retreat for 2 ceremonies, a 4 day trip. The parents were the shamans of the ceremony, with the 2 eldest sons attending as well since they were training to become shamans.
Once arrived there, I was asked about my lingering cough that I had gotten from the Huayhuash trek. The father immediately went out to their garden to pick some leaves to make me tea. Afterward, it seemed I was coughing more and the next 2 days, got a different tea made with another plant. The mother also gave me a massage with vaporub near the chest area. These seemed to do the trick as my cough had ended once I was headed back to the city. As for the ceremonies, I was going to have them on the 1st and 3rd nights, leaving a day in between to rest. Before each ceremony, I was given a flower bath, a variety of leaves picked from the jungle and mashed with the river water, poured over me, little by little. There was special cabin just for ceremonies, in the dark jungle where the nocturnal insects and animals seemed to be wide awake, making the jungle come alive. For the whole duration, the shamans were singing and chanting, allowing them to guide the hallucinations. They are extremely personal and only felt by the user and the shaman, an experience that is highly emotional as well. On the day off, I did a jungle walk, where they showed me important plants, both medicinally and spiritually. Some were used to treat cancers, another for diabetes. It was interesting to learn about their treatment for so many modern diseases. The treatment of diabetes was by a specific tree’s bark, its bitterness to counter the sugar imbalance. The last day, before heading into the city, I was given one last flower bath, this time with actual flowers for protection for the rest of my trip.
Other than ayahuasca, I also visited a butterfly farm that turned into an animal orphanage located across the river. Gudrun, a native of Austria, had started the butterfly farm as a way to educate locals on the life cycle of caterpillars and butterflies. People started dropping off endangered animals at her door which is how the animal orphanage started. I went with an American and Australian so we had an English tour, given by Gudrun herself. From the tour, it was easy to see how passionate she is about the work she does as well as the love and compassion she has for the animals, each having been brought to her because of difficult circumstances.
From Iquitos, I crossed the Amazon river by fast boat, a 10hr boat ride, to arrive in Leticia, Colombia, ready for the next adventure. Arriving in Leticia and having already seen it from the Peruvian side, I took a flight the next day to Medellin.
