Most centers list three medicines and let you pick. We sequence them, because the order changes what each one does. Ayahuasca is the week. Kambo prepares the body two days before it. Bufo, if it is offered at all, comes last, and roughly three guests in four are never offered it.
The short answer: you are applying for four ayahuasca ceremonies. Kambo and Bufo are included in the same price whether you take them or not, which is deliberate. The moment a medicine carries its own line item, someone starts selling it.
Four ceremonies, five to six hours each, held by two Shipibo maestros from Ucayali working mat to mat. Nights two and five are rest and one-to-one sessions , we do not run consecutive ceremonies, because the day between is where the work consolidates.
A single application on the morning of day two, a full day before the first ceremony, never on a ceremony day and never within twenty four hours of one. Guests who take it describe the following night as clearer; guests who skip it sit exactly the same four ceremonies.
A short individual session, one facilitator beside you, offered only when the physician and the integration lead independently clear you. Most guests are not offered it and that is the expected outcome, not a shortfall. You cannot request it in advance.
This is one full week on the Osa, hour placement included. Nothing here is negotiable for scheduling convenience, because the gaps are load-bearing.
Transfer from the airstrip, physician intake, the long first conversation with your integration lead, first dieta meal. No medicine.
Optional, morning only, with a full day of rest after it. Skipping it costs you nothing and changes nothing else in the week.
The first two ayahuasca nights, back to back by design. By the second the maestros have adjusted what they sing for you specifically.
No medicine. Plant baths, one-to-one sessions, sleep. Guests routinely call this the most useful day of the week, which surprises them.
The closing two ceremonies, then integration planning for the twelve months ahead before anyone books a flight home.
Final morning, individual, brief. Then the transfer back. If you were not offered it, you fly home having had the full retreat.
The combinations we refuse: Kambo and Bufo in the same week. Kambo on a ceremony day or within twenty four hours of one. Bufo before ayahuasca rather than after. A fifth ceremony because someone feels they need one. And any medicine at all for a guest still tapering a contraindicated prescription, however close that taper is to done.
Including the columns that cost us bookings: how many guests actually take each one, and what each is not for.
| Ayahuasca | Kambo | Bufo · 5-MeO-DMT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When in the week | Nights 3, 4, 6 and 7 | Day 2, morning only | Day 8, final morning |
| How long | 5 to 6 hours | 30 to 45 minutes | 15 to 25 minutes |
| Who is with you | Two maestros, two facilitators, physician on site | A trained practitioner, one to one | One facilitator, one to one |
| Guests who take it | All of them, four times | Roughly half | Roughly one in four |
| Can you request it? | It is the retreat | Yes, subject to a separate screen | No. Offered or not, never requested |
| Extra cost | Included | Included | Included |
| Separate screening | The 34-question application | Cardiac, blood pressure, hydration | Two independent leads must clear you |
| What it is not for | A fix, a diagnosis, or a substitute for treatment | Detox claims , we make none | A shortcut past the four nights |
Participation figures are our own, across the weeks we have run on the Osa since 2019. They move a little season to season; we publish the range rather than the flattering end of it.
Clearing the ayahuasca screen does not clear you for the other two. Each has its own exclusions, read by the physician, and a yes to one is not a yes to all.
MAOI medication, diagnosed schizophrenia or bipolar I, uncontrolled hypertension or a cardiac event within twelve months, epilepsy, severe liver disease, pregnancy. SSRIs and SNRIs require a supervised taper, not a decision you make alone.
Cardiac history, low or unstable blood pressure, current diuretics, Addison’s disease, pregnancy or breastfeeding, and any recent surgery. Dehydration on the morning defers it, and that call is made on the day, not in advance.
Everything the ayahuasca screen excludes, plus how the four nights actually went. Either lead can decline for any reason, including one they cannot fully articulate, and neither decision is appealable.
None of these medicines is a treatment for any condition, and we make no medical claims for any of them. Ayahuasca may not be brought into the United States. Participants report lasting change; we cite the peer reviewed research with its limitations rather than around them. No list on this page is exhaustive and nothing here is medical advice. Send your file and let the physician decide.
The structure described on this page, and the right answer for a first retreat. Four ceremonies, optional Kambo, Bufo by clearance, twelve months of integration.
For guests who have sat with us before. Five ceremonies, a longer dieta, and two extra integration days on site. We will decline a first-timer for this one.
Both prices include the airport transfer, a private room, the dieta kitchen, every medicine you are cleared for, and twelve months of integration calls. There are no add-ons to decline at checkout, because there is no checkout. See how we screen and price.
No. Ayahuasca is the week; Kambo and Bufo are optional and neither costs extra. Most guests sit four ayahuasca ceremonies and nothing else, roughly half add Kambo on day two, and about one in four is offered Bufo on the final morning. Declining either changes nothing about your week or your price.
Because it belongs to preparation, not to ceremony. We place the optional application on day two, a full day before the first ayahuasca night, so the body has recovered and rehydrated. Kambo is never applied on a ceremony day, never within twenty four hours of one, and never on a guest who is dehydrated or has not eaten.
Only in that order, only on the final morning, and only if the physician and the integration lead independently clear you. Bufo is short and extremely intense, and it lands very differently after four ayahuasca nights than it does cold. If either lead has a reservation you will not be offered it, and we do not negotiate that decision.
Kambo and Bufo in the same week. Kambo on an ayahuasca day or within twenty four hours of one. Bufo before ayahuasca rather than after. Any fifth ceremony beyond our four-night structure. And any medicine at all for a guest still tapering a contraindicated medication, regardless of how close that taper is to finished.
$5,800 for the seven-night Origins retreat, all inclusive: airport transfer, private room, the dieta kitchen, four ayahuasca ceremonies, optional Kambo, Bufo if offered, physician screening and intake, and twelve months of integration calls. The January Deepening retreat is $6,400. There are no add-ons and nothing is charged before a physician confirms a place.
The clearest practical argument for four is that the maestros adjust what they sing per guest by the second night , and a single ceremony gives them nothing to adjust from. We do not offer one-off or weekend ceremonies, and a center that offers you one has told you something about how it works.
Deeper protocol detail sits on each medicine’s own page: Ayahuasca, Kambo, Bufo.
Apply and a physician reads all thirty four answers. We either offer a place on a named week, suggest one of our Peru houses instead, or explain plainly why we cannot proceed. Nothing is charged before that answer, and there is no follow up you did not ask for.