Aya Healing Retreats

KAMBO PRACTITIONER PROGRAM

Overview

Are you interested in experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime transformation? If so, we have the perfect opportunity for you at Aya Healing Retreats. Our Kambo training program is led by authentic Matsés MAESTROS, who are revered guardians of this ancient Amazonian medicine. You can trust them to guide you every step of the way, providing an unforgettable and authentic experience.

During your stay, you will participate in a unique learning program that centers around the Matses family from the Nuevo Paujil community in Peru. They are deeply committed to preserving and honoring their indigenous culture, and you will have the privilege of learning from them. You will immerse yourself in Kambo ceremonies, talk with Matses elders, safely acquire medicine, learn bow hunting techniques, and even learn how to safely serve others with Kambo.

But that’s not all! Our program also includes an exploration of Nunu, a traditional tobacco snuff, that you can integrate into your own offerings or use for personal use. The comprehensive approach of our program, including both Kambo and Nunu, is guided by the authenticity and expertise of the Matses family. What are you waiting for? Join us for an unforgettable and transformative experience and become a Kambo practitioner.

Program Highlights

Your Experience

Your Experience

What to expect on your retreat?

Training Program
  • Kambo ceremonies, performed by Matses family
  • Talks, lectures and education from the Matses family and elders
  • Safe and harm-free medicine acquisition
  • Bow hunting
  • Self-application techniques
  • How to safely serve others with this medicine, including screening and application processes
  • Kambo workbook which will assist you during your time with us, as well as after the apprenticeship
  • Two Kambo sticks each and the opportunity to purchase more directly from the Matses family
  • Workshops on working with Nunu (tobacco snuff) – including harvesting, roasting and application
  • Rapé (Hapé) Kuripe for self application
  • Agua de Florida use
  • Shambira (natural fibres) workshop
  • Making tinctures workshop
Comfort
  • Breakfast Lunch Dinner (2-3 meals/day)
  • 12-Days accomodation in a private jungle Bungalow (a Tambo)
  • Washing and Laundering of clothing
  • Transportation from Iquitos (and back)
Grounding
  • Fascinating group lectures that reveal the sacred traditions of the Matses traditions, language, and knowledge
  • Learning and working with Kambo in a ceremonial setting
  • Night-time excursions to meet and connect with the frogs
Integration
  • Dedicated Integration Groups with time for sharing
  • Integration workshop
  • Facilitators trained in Trauma Informed Plant Medicine Facilitation
  • Full translations from Spanish or Matses to English
  • Private follow-up integration sessions with Cristina
  • Access to our Private WhatsApp Group
Optional Activities
  • Guided hikes through the epic Amazon rainforest, learning about local plant and wildlife
  • Swimming at the near river
  • Musical Instruments, Art Materials
$ 3400
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  • Preparation and Integration sessions
  • Master Plant Dieta included
  • Transfer & meals included
CHECK DATES

Interested in our payment plan options? Speak to our program coordinator today or email info@ayahealingretreats.com

*Prices are in USD.

Is this the Kambo training you have been searching for?

The Practitioner Program is for people who have experience with Kambo and knowledge of working with plant spirits. It’s best for those who know what to expect, but if you have any questions, you can contact our team.

The program has certain dietary and behavioral guidelines that need to be followed to show commitment to change, growth, and healing. These guidelines involve giving up certain foods and activities while participating in the program. Sacrificing these things shows the plant spirit that you are dedicated to healing and are open to receiving guidance, protection, strength, and special abilities from them.

Do you want to move forward with Kambo?

We’re also delighted to share that a portion of your tuition will go directly to a new project in the Matses community with a vision to unite and bring cohesion within the many Matses communities, to share elders’ stories, preserve songs and plant medicine wisdom as well as the creation of medicinal gardens on their sacred land.

Our experience

kambo practitioner holding a giant leaf frog

Transform

Receive the deep healing you deserve

Nestled along the Amazon river lies El encanto de Chullachaqui, our retreat center, where you will find a tranquil setting which inspires change, facilitates healing, and will help you realize your full potential

CHECK DATES

Schedule

5 Ayahuasca ceremonies and 11 days of profound healing in the wonderful tranquil center, El Encanto De Chullachaqui, ran by Don Miguel of the Shipibo tribe and his family. Open your heart and connect to a truely transformational medicine. Are you ready for a one of a kind healing experience through plant medicine?

Although we do not adhere to a strict schedule, here is what you can expect each day.

Day 1: Arrival

11.30 am: Departure from a designated location in Iquitos
1 – 2 pm: Check In & Orientation
2pm: Lunch
5 – 7 pm: Group Intention Setting Workshop
6 – 7 pm: Dinner
7 – 8 pm: Noya Rao Night Walk
9 pm onwards: Silence

Day 2: 1st Ceremony

8 am – 10 am: Breakfast
9.30 – 12.00 pm: Individual Consultation with Maestro Don Miguel
12.00 – 1 pm: Lunch
2 – 4 pm: Individual Consultation with Maestro Don Miguel
4.30 – 6.30 pm: Ceremony guideline
7.30 pm onwards: 1st Ayahuasca Ceremony

Day 3: Master Plant Ceremony & Fasting

9 – 10.30 am: Breakfast or fasting
10.30 – 12.00 pm: Group Sharing/Integration Circle
12.00 – 2 pm: Lunch or fasting
2 – 5 pm:  Working with Ayahuasca and Master Plant workshop
6.00 – 7.00 pm: Dinner or fasting
7.30 – 9.30 pm: Master Plant ceremony
9.30 pm onwards: Silence

Day 5: Master Plant Ceremony

8 – 9.30 am: Breakfast 
10.30 – 12.30 pm: Group Sharing / Integration Group Circle
12.00 – 2 pm: Lunch 
2 – 5 pm: Individualized plant treatment + Vapour Baths
6.00 – 7.00: Dinner
7.30 – 8.30 pm: Master Plant Ceremony
9.00 pm onwards: Silence

Day 6: 3rd Ceremony

8 – 9.30 am: Breakfast
10.30 – 12.00 pm: Group Lecture with Don Miguel
12.00 – 2 pm: Lunch
2– 5 pm: Vapour bath & individualized plant treatments
5 – 7 pm: Break & Rest
7.30 pm onwards: 3rd Ceremony

Day 7: Master Plant Ceremony

9 – 10.30 am: Breakfast
10.30 – 12.30 pm: Group Sharing Session
12.30 – 2 pm: Lunch
2 – 5 pm: Shipibo Market 
6.00 – 7.30 pm: Dinner
7.30 – 8.30 pm: Master Plant Ceremony
9.00 pm onwards: Silence

Day 8: 4th Ceremony

8 – 9.30 am: Breakfast
10.30 – 12.00 pm: Mucura Treatment
12.0 – 2 pm: Lunch
2 – 5 pm: Love bath abundance treatment
5 – 7 pm: Rest & Regenerate
7.30 pm onwards: 4th Ceremony

Day 9: Closing Arkana & 5th Ceremony

8 – 9.30 am: Breakfast
10.30 – 12.00 pm: Post Dieta requiremnt & Arkana with Don Miguel
12.00 – 2 pm: Lunch
2 – 5 pm: Love bath abundance treatment
6 – 8 pm: Rest & Regenerate
8pm onwards: Closing Arkana & 5th Ceremony

Day 10: Integration Day & Celebration

9 – 10.30 am: Breakfast
10.30 – 12.00 pm: Group Sharing
12.00 – 2 pm: Lunch
2 – 3 pm: Flower bath
3  – 5 pm: Integration Workshop 
6.00 – 7.30 pm: Dinner
7.30 – 9 pm: Celebration and Dance!

Day 11: Closing

8 – 9 am: Breakfast
9 – 10.30 am:  Closing & Group Photos
10.30 am: Departure to Iquitos

Team

Legendary Shipibo Healers, Caring Facilitators

Meet the team

leaf
maestro matse, Shipibo master curandero

Don Wilder

Maestro Matsé

facilitator kris portrait

Kris

Lead Facilitator

Real tradition is integral to us, we deeply immerse ourselves in it.

Learn about Kambo — a powerful healing practice with physical, scientific, mystical, energetic, and spiritual aspects. Our training teaches you how to apply this knowledge in modern society while respecting the traditional foundations. Gain the knowledge and tools to become a Kambo practitioner, while also learning from Matsés teachers who will share their wisdom throughout the process. This is a world-class training that fuses ancestral wisdom with contemporary understanding, and offers a unique and enriching perspective on this powerful practice.

Availability

leaf

Embark on your journey​

Our Kambo Practitioner Retreat Prices

  • $3400
    Bungalow with Private Bathroom
  • $3100
    Early Bird Bungalow (4 spots)
  • $2800
    Central and South American residents (3 spots)
$ 3400
  • 10 Days Private Accomodation, 2-3 Meals Per Day
  • Kambo ceremonies, performed by Matses family
  • Full Training Program
  • Workshops on working with Rapè (tobacco snuff)
  • Follow up calls
  • World Class Safety Standards
CHECK DATES

What to Know About Kambo Treatment

More and more people in recent years have become interested in the administration of kambo, a traditional healing treatment native to South America. If you are one such person, you probably have some questions along with your interest, either because it is a relatively new treatment without a long history of literature behind it, or because some of the published information on kambo is confusing or contradictory, making it difficult to know what is what. Indeed like many alternative healing modalities, particularly those which have only recently come into peoples’ awareness, kambo is a subject which many people are interested in learning more about.

Kambo (also known as Sapo or Vacina-do-Sapo in Brazilian Portuguese, which translates to frog medicine) is an alternative health treatment from South America. Despite only becoming well known worldwide in recent years, kambo is a long-used treatment modality with a history dating back hundreds and perhaps even thousands of years among native peoples of the Amazon.

 

What Exactly is Kambo?

Kambo refers to the process of extracting, drying, and administering the secretions – liquids – from the skin of the giant leaf frog, Phyllomedusa bicolor, which grows native in the tropical forests of South America, including Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela.

Kambo contains a number of potent peptides – short groups of amino acids – that act in various ways when they enter the human body. Most notably, kambo contains opiate peptides, specifically dermophin and deltorphin, as well as the vasodialator sauvagine and the antimicrobial dermaseptin. It also contains the peptide caerulein, which stimulates smooth muscles as well as biliary and gastric activity. Deltorphin in particular has an above-average penetration of the blood-brain barrier.

 

How is Kambo collected?

The secretions of the giant tree frog are gathered humanely in a way that allows the frog to continue living undisturbed after collection is finished. The frog is captured and is then stretched out with its arms and legs secured to sticks which are staked into the ground, or otherwise secured in such a way as to not harm the frog physically in any way. The secretions are then gently collected from the frog’s skin and put aside to dry into a more solid form. The frog is released back into the wild and, apart from a short period of stress, is left undisturbed by the entire process.

The kambo dries on a wooden stick and yields a white resin-like substance. The dried kambo can then be saved until it is time to be used. These kambo sticks are then used to administer the dried substance transdermally, that is, through the skin.

 

How Is Kambo Administered?

Kambo administration is traditionally performed in a ceremony, also referred to as a kambo circle. There is always at least one traditional curandero or shaman who holds the space of the kambo circle and administers the kambo to one or more people who receivet the kambo treatment. Kambo circle participants often have a mat or other comfortable tapestry to sit or lie down on during their time in the kambo circle.

Kambo is traditionally administered by purposefully making small burns in the skin using a smoldering stick. The small burns are normally made in a line of and are either made on the arm, leg, or shoulder. The dried kambo is then reconstituted with water into a paste and is dabbed onto the surface of the burned spots on the skin, where it uptaken into the body’s blood and lymphatic systems.

 

What is the Kambo Experience Like?

Kambo has traditionally been administered by healers of South America to dispel negative energy; in other words, as a physical and spiritual purgative. Many participants report that after the kambo circle is finished and the kambo effects have subsided, they feel a sense of peace, calm and euphoria.

Some participants say that they feel lighter, clearer, and notice increased mental acuity, attention, and clarity of thought. Others say that they feel stronger in their bodies, with an increase in physical energy.

Consider The Source When Using Kambo

As with any alternative healing modality, it’s important to always consider the source of your Kambo and the practitioner you entrust with administration and education. AYA Healing Retreats is proud to work with the Matses family, a multi-generational family made up of traditional healers and kambo practitioners from the Nuevo Paujil region of Peru. The Matses family has maintained reverence and stewardship of their native land and its native life for many generations.

Testimonials

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$3400
CHECK DATES
maestro matse, Shipibo master curandero

Don Wilder

ayahuasca vine

Maestro Matsé

Wilder is the son of Andrés and Juana, originally Matses from Brasil, founders of the community El Paujil, at the basin of the Galvez river, in between Brasil and Perú, where he lives currently with his family.
He was raised learning traditional medicine and leadership from his father, what lead him today to be the chief of his community and legal representant of the Matse community with the goverment.
His people lives in harmony with their enviroment, surviving from fishing, little agriculture, and hunting, activity from what they are highly skilled and proud.
They also create beautiful artisan crafts that will be for sale at the market during the retreat.

maestro matse, Shipibo master curandero

Don Wilder

ayahuasca vine

Maestro Matsé

Wilder is the son of Andrés and Juana, originally Matses from Brasil, founders of the community El Paujil, at the basin of the Galvez river, in between Brasil and Perú, where he lives currently with his family.
He was raised learning traditional medicine and leadership from his father, what lead him today to be the chief of his community and legal representant of the Matse community with the goverment.
His people lives in harmony with their enviroment, surviving from fishing, little agriculture, and hunting, activity from what they are highly skilled and proud.
They also create beautiful artisan crafts that will be for sale at the market during the retreat.

facilitator kris portrait

Kris

ayahuasca vine

Facilitator

Kris has been living for seven years in the Peruvian Amazon. Originally from Barcelona, she followed a calling to be of service to the indigenous elders. As soon as she arrived, Kris deeply immersed herself in the traditional knowledge of the rainforest.

She was an on-site facilitator and administrator for an Ayahuasca retreat center for five years. Her role enabled Kris to work closely with Ayahuasca and other plant medicines, facilitating Ayahuasca retreats and plant medicine dietas. She helped participants integrate and process their experiences and made sure the retreats ran smoothly.

For the past six years, Kris has forged a deep and very close relationship with the Matses tribe, who initiated and taught her how to work traditionally with Kambo.
During her time in the rainforest, Kris has worked and collaborated with many powerful curanderos from different lineages and tribes, giving her a broad depth of knowledge about Amazonian plant medicines.

Those experiences ignited a passionate love for Amazonian herbalism, and she has dived deep into plant medicine alchemy for the past seven years.

Kris currently works at Aya Healing Retreats, facilitating the groups and establishing a deep connection with the local Shipibo community.
She also offers Amazonian Herbalism training courses and has started her apothecary creating pure essences from these Amazonian plants and Master Plants.

Kris is a solid bridge keeper between the indigenous cultures and practices of the Amazon, and the West, bringing a unique perspective from her direct experience.
Kris is a strong jungle medicine woman with a kind heart that is always ready to help those in need; she is a faithful caretaker of the forest and the indigenous traditions.

facilitator kris portrait

Kris

ayahuasca vine

Facilitator

Kris has been living for seven years in the Peruvian Amazon. Originally from Barcelona, she followed a calling to be of service to the indigenous elders. As soon as she arrived, Kris deeply immersed herself in the traditional knowledge of the rainforest.

She was an on-site facilitator and administrator for an Ayahuasca retreat center for five years. Her role enabled Kris to work closely with Ayahuasca and other plant medicines, facilitating Ayahuasca retreats and plant medicine dietas. She helped participants integrate and process their experiences and made sure the retreats ran smoothly.

For the past six years, Kris has forged a deep and very close relationship with the Matses tribe, who initiated and taught her how to work traditionally with Kambo.
During her time in the rainforest, Kris has worked and collaborated with many powerful curanderos from different lineages and tribes, giving her a broad depth of knowledge about Amazonian plant medicines.

Those experiences ignited a passionate love for Amazonian herbalism, and she has dived deep into plant medicine alchemy for the past seven years.

Kris currently works at Aya Healing Retreats, facilitating the groups and establishing a deep connection with the local Shipibo community.
She also offers Amazonian Herbalism training courses and has started her apothecary creating pure essences from these Amazonian plants and Master Plants.

Kris is a solid bridge keeper between the indigenous cultures and practices of the Amazon, and the West, bringing a unique perspective from her direct experience.
Kris is a strong jungle medicine woman with a kind heart that is always ready to help those in need; she is a faithful caretaker of the forest and the indigenous traditions.