Start now
The sooner the better
Flights, hotel and insurance
Your flights, all of them, are yours to book
You're heading to Villagarzón, Putumayo. Fly into Bogotá (BOG) first from wherever you are, then take a domestic flight on to Villagarzón (VGZ). We pick you up at the Villagarzón airport and drive you in, and that transport is included.
Watch your preferred airline for the best time to buy the international leg, those fares move a lot. The Villagarzón leg is different: Satena flies small planes with limited seats, and they fill up. Book that one early.
Book with SatenaA recommendation, not a rule
I'd really encourage a night in Bogotá before your flight to Villagarzón, and another night after you fly back into Bogotá. If this work is new to you, take both.
Coming in, it protects you from a missed connection and you arrive rested instead of rushed. Going out, it gives you somewhere soft to land before you fly home. Trust me, you won't want to step off the medicine and straight onto a long-haul flight.
Where to stay in Bogotá
I stay at Hotel Habitel Prime, right by the Bogotá airport. It's comfortable and easy, and simple to get to and from your flights. There are plenty of other good options nearby at every price point, anything close to the airport will do fine.
Book it sooner rather than later, and refundable where you can. You won't need a hotel in Villagarzón, we meet your flight and take you straight to Jungle Paradise.
Please invest in travel insurance
Buy it when you buy your flights, not later. It's inexpensive and it covers what none of us can plan for: a delayed or canceled connection, lost luggage, getting sick, or something at home that means you can't travel after all. Given how far you're coming and how remote we are, it's one of the wisest small investments you'll make.
Places people have used and been happy with. I don't have any affiliation with any of them, compare and pick what fits you.
- World Nomads, built for adventure travel and remote destinations
- SafetyWing, inexpensive, monthly, easy to set up last minute
- Allianz Travel, solid all-around trip cancellation coverage
- InsureMyTrip or Squaremouth, comparison sites if you'd rather shop around
Two things worth checking on any policy: that it covers trip cancellation for medical reasons, and that it includes emergency medical evacuation, since we're a long way from a hospital.
Start now
From the moment you said yes
Begin creating inner ease
The medicine begins working from the moment we say yes. Not when you land, and not when you drink the first cup. I've watched it a hundred times, in myself and in the people I bring. Something starts moving the day you decide, and it usually doesn't ask permission.
So whatever comes up between now and the jungle, the excitement, the fear, the old thing that surfaces at 3am for no clear reason, that's not you doing it wrong. That's the work already underway. You're not waiting for your retreat to start. You're in it.
What I'd offer between now and then is this: start building some ease inside yourself. Not perfectly, and not all at once. Just begin, so ceremony isn't the first time you've practiced turning toward something uncomfortable instead of away from it.
Let your body get a word in
Your body knows things before your mind gets around to explaining them. This is most of what I work with, and it's the piece almost nobody prepares.
Try this: think about getting on that plane, then notice what happens in your body. Chest tighten? Stomach drop? Shoulders climb? Jaw set? You don't need to fix any of it. Just start noticing. That's the same skill you'll use in ceremony, and it's easier to find now than at 2am in the maloca.
Learn what actually settles you
Everybody has a few things that bring their nervous system down a notch. Slow breath with a longer exhale. Feet on the ground. Cold water on your face. Humming. A walk. Being outside.
Find yours now, while it's easy, and use them often enough that your body recognizes them. Then they're already yours when you need them, and you're not hunting for them mid-ceremony.
Self-love and grace, which you'll need more than you think
Be gentler with yourself than feels natural right now. Things will come up before you travel and they won't come up tidily. You might get short with people. You might cry at something small. You might suddenly wonder what on earth you signed up for.
All of that is normal. Grace is what lets you meet it without turning it into one more thing you're failing at. If you notice yourself getting hard on yourself, that's worth naming out loud, in the group or to me.
And if something on this page stirs up a question or a fear, please don't sit with it alone. That's exactly what I'm here for. Send me a message and let's talk it through.
Intention, not expectation
Start turning this over now. It isn't a task for the final week, it's something that needs time to settle. These two words look alike and behave nothing alike. An expectation is a picture of what should happen. An intention is a direction you face. One closes the door on whatever else shows up, the other leaves it open.
Expectation sounds like
- I'm going to see visions
- I'll finally be healed of this
- I'll understand why it happened
- It should feel like it did last time
Intention sounds like
- I'm willing to see what I've been avoiding
- I come to listen
- Show me what I need, not what I want
- I'm here to soften
Let it live with you over the coming weeks, write it down before you travel, and then hold it loosely. So often people receive something they didn't ask for and wouldn't have thought to ask for, and it turns out to be the thing they needed.
Right away
Join your people
The WhatsApp group
We keep a private group for everyone traveling together. It's optional, and I really do encourage it. It's where questions get asked and answered, where logistics get sorted, and where you start to feel the people you'll be sitting beside.
Every thought, question and reflection is welcome there. Nothing is too small and nothing is too tender. Most people find that by the time they land, they're not arriving among strangers.
Join the WhatsApp groupRead now
Gather as you go, pack the week before
What to pack, and how much cash
Worth reading early so you can pick things up over time instead of in a rush. The jungle is warm, wet and alive. Pack light and simple. You'll wear less than you think and wash things in the river.
Bring
- Light, loose clothes you can move and sweat in
- Long sleeves and pants for evenings
- A warm layer, nights can turn cool
- Rain jacket or poncho
- Sandals plus closed shoes for walking
- Swimsuit, for the river
- Headlamp or flashlight, and spare batteries
- Natural bug spray
- Refillable water bottle
- Journal and a pen
- Any medication, in its original bottle
- Quick-drying towel
Two you might not think of
A hammock with a bug net. This one matters. You'll use it more than you expect, for resting, for ceremony nights, for the long quiet afternoons. Make sure it has a net built in.
Tall rubber boots. Essential in the jungle. You can buy them in Villagarzón on the way in, which saves both money and space in your bag. The center also keeps a range of sizes, so you can borrow a pair if you'd rather not buy.
Leave at home
- Heavy perfumes and strongly scented products
- Alcohol and recreational substances
- Anything valuable you'd hate to lose
- Expectations of comfort
Ceremony clothes are simple, comfortable and light in color. Nothing you need to buy, just something you feel at ease in.
Cash to bring in
In Bogotá, cards work almost everywhere, so your hotel and meals along the way are easy. Where you'll need cash is once you're with us: there's no card payment and no ATM.
Plan on roughly 200 to 400 USD in cash, for tips for the team and for anything you buy from the market of goods brought in to us, crafts, textiles and medicine made by the families and communities nearby. A lot of people wish they'd brought a little more.
Your remaining retreat balance is separate from this, and it's paid on arrival in USD or Colombian pesos, whichever is easier for you.
Change money at the Bogotá airport or pull pesos there. If you're carrying USD, bring clean unmarked bills, torn or written-on notes often get refused.
Read now
Begins one week before
The dieta, simply
Read this early so nothing surprises you, and so you can ease in gradually instead of stopping everything at once. The dieta isn't a punishment and it isn't a test. It's how you begin to make room. Part of it is physical safety, and part of it is a quiet signal to yourself that something's coming.
Start caring for your mind, body and soul at least seven days before the retreat.
Why some of this is safety, not tradition
Yagé works as an MAO inhibitor, which means certain foods that are perfectly fine on any other day can interact with it. That's why aged, fermented, cured and smoked foods come off the list, along with a few specific fruits and vegetables. It isn't fussiness. It's the same reason anyone on an MAOI medication follows a low-tyramine diet.
Set aside
- All alcohol, especially red wine and beer
- Red meat and pork
- Aged and strong cheeses, and anything unpasteurized
- Cured and processed meats, salami, pepperoni, bacon, hot dogs, sausages
- Smoked or cured fish
- Fermented foods, soy sauce, miso, tempeh, sauerkraut, kimchi, fish sauce, vinegars and pickles
- Yeast extracts like Marmite or Vegemite, and some sourdoughs
- Garlic, onions, leeks and paprika
- Heavy sauces, processed and fried food
- Dark drinks, coffee, tea, cola and chocolate
- Dairy
- Citrus, and overripe fruit, especially bananas and avocado
- Dried fruit, raisins, prunes, figs and dates
- Fava and broad beans, and snow peas
- Lots of salt and refined sugar
- Protein powders and supplement shakes. Whole food is the safer source this week, since most powders are dairy-based or fermented and often carry aged flavorings or stimulants
Lean toward
- Mostly plants, simply prepared
- Skinless chicken or turkey breast
- Mild white fish, sole, tilapia, trout, halibut, snapper, bass, boiled, grilled or lightly sautéed
- Eggs
- Fresh beans, lentils and chickpeas
- Plain tofu, not fermented or aged
- Raw unsalted almonds, walnuts, chia, flax and hemp seeds
- Brown rice, quinoa, oats, millet, whole grains
- Most fresh vegetables, steamed or raw
- Berries, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, apricots
- Plenty of water and herbal tea
- Walking, rest, real sleep
- Quiet, and time outside
Hydrate well all week. Coconut water or a zero-sugar electrolyte drink helps if you need it.
Timing, and a few firm ones
- No other hallucinogens for at least 15 days before the retreat.
- No sexual activity for at least 3 days before, during, and after the retreat.
- Women don't sit during their moon time. Please count your cycle carefully, and don't take anything to shift it around the retreat.
- Traditionally, pregnant women don't sit with yagé. If you're pregnant, or your partner is, please tell us.
These last two aren't arbitrary. The ceremonies are held in an ancestral way that keeps them safe and in harmony with everything around us, and we go on caring for those forms.
Living in tranquility, the week before
This is good advice for life in general, and it matters especially now. For at least the week before, try to live in tranquility. Accept life as it is in this moment. Meditate at least once a day, by bringing yourself into presence.
It doesn't have to be sitting still. It can be an active meditation, something you love doing that brings you into presence in your own life. In the mornings, step outside, receive the light of the sun, and be grateful for your life.
And once you're with us
The dieta continues through the retreat, but nobody goes hungry and nothing is bland. You'll be fed well, with healthy food from different regions of Colombia. Traditional dishes, typical breakfasts, salads, soups, fresh fruit, hot and cold drinks, and snacks. If you have food restrictions or allergies, tell us ahead of time and we'll make sure you're well taken care of.
Real plates from the retreat kitchen and the dieta at home. Simple doesn't mean sad.
The dieta isn't only food
This is the part most people miss, and honestly it may matter more than the food. Everything you take in becomes part of what you carry into ceremony. Not just what you eat, but what you watch, hear, read, scroll and absorb, and who you spend your hours with.
So be mindful of your inputs the way you're mindful of your plate. Heavy or violent shows and movies. Music that agitates instead of settling you. Endless news and scrolling. Conflict, gossip, draining conversations, people who take more than they give. Even too much of a good thing, if it keeps you from getting quiet.
None of this is about being pure, and it isn't a rule to get right. It's just this: the less noise you carry in, the more clearly you can hear what the medicine has to say.
Prescription medication is different. Never stop anything on your own. Please tell us about any medical condition you have and anything you take, including the dose, well ahead of time. We'll talk it through together and let you know whether it's safe to pause it in the days before ceremony. This one genuinely matters.
Take the dieta with you
A printable version you can stick on the fridge, or keep on your phone for the grocery store.
3 weeks
Before you travel
Mind, body and soul
The inner work you started at the beginning now gets some practical support. Nothing dramatic. Small things, done consistently.
Mind
Turn the volume down. Less news, less scrolling, fewer new commitments. Leave your work in a state you can actually set down for the days you're gone.
Body
Sleep more than usual. Move gently, walk, stretch, swim. Start easing off caffeine and sugar so your system isn't in withdrawal when you get here.
Soul
Make some quiet. Time outside, prayer if you pray, journaling if you write. Notice what keeps coming back when nothing's distracting you. That's usually what you're bringing.
2 weeks
We gather before we travel
Save the date
Your group preparation call
January 2027 group: Thursday, January 7 at 7:00pm EST
We gather on Zoom about two weeks before we travel. This is where we walk through everything together, answer whatever's still open, and meet each other before the jungle. Come as you are, camera on or off. I'll send the link by email and drop it in the WhatsApp group.
1 week
Bringing it in to land
The week before you fly
This is the week it gets real. Here's what I'd be doing, roughly in this order. Not a test, just a way to keep your head clear so you're not doing any of it at midnight the night before. Check things off as you go.
Practical
Inward
If this week feels emotional, or strangely flat, or you catch yourself picking fights, that's common. Something in you knows what's coming. Let it be, and reach out if you want company with it.
The night before
Before you leave home
The night before you fly
Keep it simple and keep it quiet. You want to leave home already settled, not already spent.
Before you sleep, take a few minutes with yourself. Hand on your chest or your belly, a few slow breaths, and read your intention back to yourself one time. Then let it go. You don't have to carry it, you just have to bring it.
And if you don't sleep well, don't make it mean anything. Almost nobody does. The jungle will take care of that.
You've already done the hardest part. You said yes.
Whenever you need me
You don't need a good reason, and you don't need to wait until it feels important enough. A thought, a worry, a logistics question, something you can't quite put into words yet. All of it is welcome.