Jakon bekanwe-welcome to El Centro Inkameraya!
Welcome to Inka Meraya, a Shipibo family-owned ayahuasca healing retreat and community center in the Peruvian Amazon that stands as a sanctuary for the culture, medicinal wisdom and ancestral history of the Shipibo.
Our Name: Inka Meraya
The first word in our name refers to the Inka who gave the medicine of ayahuasca to the Shipibo in antiquity. The second word, Meraya, refers to the most powerful level of a healer in the Shipibo language.
Our vision
Our vision is to create a thriving Shipibo retreat center available to travelers from around the world, as well as to local Peruvians, who seek healing.
El Centro Inka Meraya
We have created an ayahuasca healing retreat center located six miles outside of Puerto Maldonado, Peru, available to travelers from around the world, as well as to local Peruvians. We are offering an authentic Shipibo healing experience through ayahuasca ceremony, master plant dietas, and floral baths for those seeking recovery from emotional, physical and spiritual ailments.
We achieve this by following natural, clean, and safe protocols, and creating a conducive environment that fosters the relearning, regeneration and cultivation of traditional practices shared within the Shipibo nation in Peru and with communities across the globe.
Preserving a Sacred Lineage for Generations
The Shipibo healing lineage through ayahuasca is a living tradition that requires a lifetime of practice and hard work in order to be mastered. Wisdom keepers have trained apprentices from time immemorial and continue to do so today. We are fortunate that the ancient wisdom of countless generations remains intact and available to us. Healing centers such as El Centro Inka Meraya are critical to the survival and dissemination of this ancient wisdom.
The Inka passed down the ayahuasca medicine to the Shipibo people, who are the guardians and wisdom keepers of the Amazonian plants. The vast knowledge of healing and plant medicine held collectively within the Shipibo culture is ancestral, profound and vital for future generations. Supporting this sacred lineage and the preservation of its healing powers is our utmost priority at El Centro Inka Meraya.
As an institution of cultural preservation, learning, and healing, El Centro Inka Meraya trains and empowers healers known as “curanderos” as they progress through increasingly advanced levels of practice. Our center exists to support healers and help disseminate their knowledge within the local community and across the globe.
Our leadership
Manuel Vasquez (Bawan Yoi)
Manuel Vasquez, a 76-year-old curandero, who started his training at the age of 18 in Curiaca, Peru. Throughout his life, he has consistently completed master plant dietas and is now known as an Onanya, meaning “a person of wisdom” in Shipibo. Highly respected in his community, Manuel possesses powerful healing abilities in his songs and visions.
Sergio Vasquez (Inkanima)
Sergio Vasquez, raised in the Shipibo village of Curiaca, comes from a long lineage of Shipibo curanderos. Trained by his father Manuel Vasquez, he is knowledgeable in Shipibo healing traditions. Fluent in his native tongue, Sergio worked at El Centro Nihue Rao for three years, gaining experience in teaching the Shipibo language, assisting in ceremonies, and working with diverse cultures. Sergio finds great joy in sharing his culture.
Robert Morrow (Rono Soi)
Robert Morrow, a renowned violin bow maker, is a curandero in the Shipibo tradition with extensive experience in conducting ayahuasca ceremonies. He has led over 400 ceremonies for participants across the United States. He has completed the traditional apprenticeship and dietas with respected Maestros Ricardo Amaringo and Manuel Vasquez.
A Comfortable Space for your Healing Journey
Tambos are private retreat spaces designed to meet your basic needs and ensure that you are supported during your dieta. These structures are constructed of a traditional thatch roof, mixed wood and screen walls and hardwood floors. A short hallway connects to a spacious bathing platform with a shower, sink, composting toilet, and small stool for floral baths and washing. The main tambo space and bathing facilities are enclosed by mosquito screens. The space and vegetation between tambos allows for appropriate isolation.
The goal during a traditional dieta is to consume no more and no less nourishment than what’s required to sustain oneself. The staples of a traditional meal plan for the Shipibo while on a dieta have been some fish grilled together (while still inside the peel) with a small amount of green plantains. We are providing the three types of dietas, ayahuasca dieta (least restrictions), healing dieats, and learning dietas. We can also accommodate vegetarian diets.
More information on food and other requirements for dieta will be provided as our website grows.
We will meet you at the airport in Puerto Maldonado, Peru and transport you by taxi to the riverside. Once there, we will continue by boat for 30 minutes until we reach the trail to our center. Then we will walk for 15 minutes through pristine jungle and arrive at our center. Your luggage will be carried for you.
Ceremonies will be held in our maloka (ceremonial house) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights at 7 pm. Our curanderos and assistants will guide you in your healing experience during each ceremony.
All guests will receive floral baths (amount varies depending on the length of stay). Floral baths are a lovely healing experience that will supplement your ceremonies and healing dieta.