Description
THE TRADITIONAL DIETA EXPERIENCE
If you are searching for a profound physical and spiritual experience, and/or you would like to deepen your relationship to Ayahuasca and other plant teachers, then the Dieta is an incredible vehicle for deep personal growth.
This voyage is in every way an initiation, and to some degree, changes your life. It requires self-discipline, self-reliance and entails a certain level of discovery on both physical and psychological levels that will take you out of your comfort zone. It also reaps huge rewards.
This medicine has been practiced for thousands of years by the Amazonian people. Ayahuasca is considered a master plant teacher, and one that kept jun- gle communities healthy and spiritually sound. In our case, this experience is a community-minded experience.
This voyage requires a healthy respect for self, others, the teachers, the staff and the environment. It requires self-autonomy, too. Having a clear sense of inten- tion is most beneficial. What is it that you wish to heal?
Whatever date you choose to arrive in Peru, you’ll need to be in Pucallpa, our starting and finishing point, by December 1 in the evening, which will be spent at Don Jose Campos’ guest house.
After our first night in Pucallpa, we have a group breakfast, and set out for the Munay Dieta Retreat Center in the Amazon on December 2 by van.The ride is uncomfortable and takes us over bumpy roads. Dress comfortably, have a water bottle and sun protection. We have about 3-4 hours on the highway and coun-
try roads, a short river shuttle, and after more road travel, a 45-minute canoe ride on the Ucayali, a tributary of the Amazon river. Depending on the water lev- el ( whether the river is high with rain or low during dry season) an additional 30- minute walk to Munay Dieta Retreat Center may be required. In all, the voyage takes the better part of a day.
Upon arrival, we will have a communal lunch, settle into our tambos, the individ-
ual huts that serve as your jungle home. The Tambo is a small screened-in jungle cabin and contains a desk, a chair, a hammock, a storage cabinet, candles, a 5-Gallon Water tank, and a double bed with mosquito netting. Each tambo has an outdoor composting toilet. Most of the tambos are not within site of one another for maximum privacy. There is no electricity, no running water, and no telephone. There is no internet connection either.
Our last communal meal will be the same evening of arrival , and on that last evening, organizers will speak about the dieta, make suggestions about how to live it to the fullest. After that, meanls will be brought to your Tambo and we will not eat together again until we break the diet after the 5th and final ceremony ten days later.
The food served during the diet is purposely bland (salt and sugar free) and consists of a vari- ety of offerings that can include: quinoa or brown rice or potato, green plantains, steamed car- rots, cucumbers, avocado, river fish and the occasional chicken or boiled egg. Meals will be served twice a day, and on ceremonial days, served early enough to be digestion-free when entering ceremony. It is not unusual during a dieta to drop a few kilos.
We will be in the secondary forest, meaning that the presence of man is fairly minimal. During our stay, an indigenous staff member will bring our meals and daily medicinal plants directly to our huts. These medicinal plants, are served as infusions to be sipped throughout the day and help to regulate hormonal activi- ty. They have other therapeutic actions that are assigned to each participant based on their history, their needs and their intentions. Filling out the medical
form with accuracy is of great importance so you get the support you need. Dur- ing the Dieta you will also be drinking one or several other plant teas or cold infusions that will be
The on-site staff is discreet, loving, kind and highly experienced. They also bring us leaves every morning, which we then soak in buckets of water we fetch from the river. These leaves are used for personal washing and hygiene and re-
place soap and all cosmetic and chemical products which are suspended during the entirety of the dieta