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Thank you for moving and also for your reply!

I liked the idea of taking the medicine in the Peruvian jungle; instinctively it felt coherent and right to me. However, the more I delved into the matter, the more I realized how little the national border actually matters to the experience.

I took a closer look at AyaMadre. The budget and level of authenticity matched my expectations. I also found it positive that the center is run by a Maestra, as I am generally more comfortable with women than men. Furthermore, I like her approach of not giving first-time users the full dose straight away, but rather administering a low dose of the medicine to begin with. What makes me struggle a little is the overall comfort/ standard of the Healing Center as well as the number of ceremonies. Compared to other centers, two Ayahuasca ceremonies plus one San Pedro ceremony (or alternatively Toé, Tabacco, Piñon Colorado, Mushrooms, Kambo, ...) over the course of 7 days seems quite little to me. I'm probably completely misjudging the whole story, so I'd love to hear your experiences on that topic. Has anyone ever been to the AyaMadre Healing Center and can tell me something about it?

LaWayra is another retreat I came across and about which I read mostly positive testimonials, though unfortunately I also found a few negative reviews. I like that they offer a good balance between hygienic standards/ comfort (& to be fair, this is a matter of wellbeing particularly for my wife) and authenticity - i.e., it’s a pretty high level of comfort and a comparably low level of authenticity… The center is in line with the budget and can be implemented into our travel plans without much adjustment to the itinerary. However, critics have complained that the dosage is comparatively low. I am aware that I am paying for the setting, but of course also for the medicine itself. Consequently, I also expect it to have the desired strength/ effect. The second main component of the experience is the element of integration, which in my opinion is largely based on the exchange with and support of the shamans. Unfortunately, I have read that they were hardly responsive and that (individual) sessions are either not offered or are significantly too short. If anyone has attended the retreat, I would be happy to receive feedback on the following questions:
1) ⁠It will be my first experience with ayahuasca, hence the substance - in whatever dose - will have an effect. The price seems fair, however I would rather spend $300 more and have a "full" experience than receive a half-hearted dose on a low budget. How did you perceive the dose (at best in comparison with other places)?
2) ⁠I’d like to have the option of taking supplementary substances in addition to ayahuasca (e.g. rape, kambo, san pedro). So far I have not seen these options at LaWayra; do they offer any of them?
3) I ⁠think the group size of 20+ participants (especially in relation to only 2 shamans) is too large from my layman's point of view. In general, I also don't feel very comfortable taking psychedelics in the direct surroundings of a lot of unknown strangers. How do you feel about this?

<blockquote data-quote="Nelf" data-source="post: 3957374" data-attributes="member: 67991">Thank you for moving and also for your reply!I liked the idea of taking the medicine in the Peruvian jungle; instinctively it felt coherent and right to me. However, the more I delved into the matter, the more I realized how little the national border actually matters to the experience.I took a closer look at AyaMadre. The budget and level of authenticity matched my expectations. I also found it positive that the center is run by a Maestra, as I am generally more comfortable with women than men. Furthermore, I like her approach of not giving first-time users the full dose straight away, but rather administering a low dose of the medicine to begin with. What makes me struggle a little is the overall comfort/ standard of the Healing Center as well as the number of ceremonies. Compared to other centers, two Ayahuasca ceremonies plus one San Pedro ceremony (or alternatively Toé, Tabacco, Piñon Colorado, Mushrooms, Kambo, ...) over the course of 7 days seems quite little to me. I&#039;m probably completely misjudging the whole story, so I&#039;d love to hear your experiences on that topic. Has anyone ever been to the AyaMadre Healing Center and can tell me something about it?LaWayra is another retreat I came across and about which I read mostly positive testimonials, though unfortunately I also found a few negative reviews. I like that they offer a good balance between hygienic standards/ comfort (&amp; to be fair, this is a matter of wellbeing particularly for my wife) and authenticity - i.e., it’s a pretty high level of comfort and a comparably low level of authenticity… The center is in line with the budget and can be implemented into our travel plans without much adjustment to the itinerary. However, critics have complained that the dosage is comparatively low. I am aware that I am paying for the setting, but of course also for the medicine itself. Consequently, I also expect it to have the desired strength/ effect. The second main component of the experience is the element of integration, which in my opinion is largely based on the exchange with and support of the shamans. Unfortunately, I have read that they were hardly responsive and that (individual) sessions are either not offered or are significantly too short. If anyone has attended the retreat, I would be happy to receive feedback on the following questions:1) ⁠It will be my first experience with ayahuasca, hence the substance - in whatever dose - will have an effect. The price seems fair, however I would rather spend $300 more and have a &quot;full&quot; experience than receive a half-hearted dose on a low budget. How did you perceive the dose (at best in comparison with other places)?2) ⁠I’d like to have the option of taking supplementary substances in addition to ayahuasca (e.g. rape, kambo, san pedro). So far I have not seen these options at LaWayra; do they offer any of them?3) I ⁠think the group size of 20+ participants (especially in relation to only 2 shamans) is too large from my layman&#039;s point of view. In general, I also don&#039;t feel very comfortable taking psychedelics in the direct surroundings of a lot of unknown strangers. How do you feel about this?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Nelf, post: 3957374, member: 67991"] Thank you for moving and also for your reply! I liked the idea of taking the medicine in the Peruvian jungle; instinctively it felt coherent and right to me. However, the more I delved into the matter, the more I realized how little the national border actually matters to the experience. I took a closer look at AyaMadre. The budget and level of authenticity matched my expectations. I also found it positive that the center is run by a Maestra, as I am generally more comfortable with women than men. Furthermore, I like her approach of not giving first-time users the full dose straight away, but rather administering a low dose of the medicine to begin with. What makes me struggle a little is the overall comfort/ standard of the Healing Center as well as the number of ceremonies. Compared to other centers, two Ayahuasca ceremonies plus one San Pedro ceremony (or alternatively Toé, Tabacco, Piñon Colorado, Mushrooms, Kambo, ...) over the course of 7 days seems quite little to me. I'm probably completely misjudging the whole story, so I'd love to hear your experiences on that topic. Has anyone ever been to the AyaMadre Healing Center and can tell me something about it? LaWayra is another retreat I came across and about which I read mostly positive testimonials, though unfortunately I also found a few negative reviews. I like that they offer a good balance between hygienic standards/ comfort (& to be fair, this is a matter of wellbeing particularly for my wife) and authenticity - i.e., it’s a pretty high level of comfort and a comparably low level of authenticity… The center is in line with the budget and can be implemented into our travel plans without much adjustment to the itinerary. However, critics have complained that the dosage is comparatively low. I am aware that I am paying for the setting, but of course also for the medicine itself. Consequently, I also expect it to have the desired strength/ effect. The second main component of the experience is the element of integration, which in my opinion is largely based on the exchange with and support of the shamans. Unfortunately, I have read that they were hardly responsive and that (individual) sessions are either not offered or are significantly too short. If anyone has attended the retreat, I would be happy to receive feedback on the following questions: 1) ⁠It will be my first experience with ayahuasca, hence the substance - in whatever dose - will have an effect. The price seems fair, however I would rather spend $300 more and have a "full" experience than receive a half-hearted dose on a low budget. How did you perceive the dose (at best in comparison with other places)? 2) ⁠I’d like to have the option of taking supplementary substances in addition to ayahuasca (e.g. rape, kambo, san pedro). So far I have not seen these options at LaWayra; do they offer any of them? 3) I ⁠think the group size of 20+ participants (especially in relation to only 2 shamans) is too large from my layman's point of view. In general, I also don't feel very comfortable taking psychedelics in the direct surroundings of a lot of unknown strangers. How do you feel about this? [/QUOTE]