Description
Location: Napo, Ecuador
Duration: 9-14 days
Start Dates: Project is ongoing, and you can join at any time, depending upon availability
This program is a custom-designed, guided learning experience. You will be accompanied by a translator for most activities, ensuring deep understanding and meaningful connection with local healers, farmers, and artisans. Each day blends cultural exchange, hands-on learning, and guided reflection to create an immersive journey into Amazonian traditions and ways of life.
Introduction
The Amazon rainforest is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, with over 40,000 plant species! Also, many species of Amazonian flora and fauna have medicinal properties, and about 25 percent of pharmaceutical drugs are derived from the rainforest. The main indigenous group in the region, the Kichwa nation, is known for using natural healing and plant medicine to treat everything from colds to chronic illnesses and wounds.
Step into the vibrant heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon for an immersive journey rooted in ancestral healing, Indigenous knowledge, and deep connection to nature. Guided by midwives, shamans, and healers, you’ll explore the sacred uses of medicinal plants, participate in traditional ceremonies, and live in harmony with the rhythms of forest life. Whether you join us for 9 or 14 days, this is more than a trip — it’s a transformative experience of cultural exchange, learning, and reconnection.
Itinerary Snapshot:
Arrival & Orientation: Land in Quito, travel to the Amazon basin, and visit vibrant markets and farms.
Immersive Plant Medicine Learning: Connect with local healers, visit sacred gardens, and take part in wellness rituals.
Cultural Immersion: Immerse yourself with an Indigenous family and deepen your understanding of community-based healing.
Ceremonial & Reflective Time: Participate in forest meditation, optional fasting, and a powerful shamanic ceremony under the stars.
Mountain Retreat & Integration: Travel to highland hot springs, enjoy nature hikes, and reflect before returning to Quito.
Daily Life
Amazonian Plant Medicine: Identify, harvest, and prepare traditional remedies with local midwives and herbalists.
Ceremonies & Spiritual Practices: Participate in guayusa rituals, floral cleansings, guided fasting, and a powerful nighttime ceremony led by a shaman.
Cultural Exchange: Join cooking classes, chocolate making, and farm-to-table meals while learning about food as medicine.
Natural Wellness: Enjoy mud massages, steam baths, cacao facials, and volcanic hot springs in alignment with Indigenous traditions.
Regenerative Community Projects: Engage with women-led cooperatives, family farms, and initiatives that preserve forest culture and biodiversity.
Travel & Accom.
The best airport to fly into is Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO) in Quito, Ecuador’s capital. You will need to arrive to Quito no later than the night before the program begins. Quito is only 4 hours from Tena, the main city in the Napo Province. Our team will help coordinate your trip and ensure you have clear instructions for arrival.
Accomodation is included in the program cost and is split between a hostal in Tena and staying with a local, Kichwa host family in a more rural community. Although the host family stay is optional, it is highly encouraged as it presents an opportunity for deeper cultural learning and immersion and to practice your Spanish.
Requirements
Participants are expected to finance their own travel costs.
Not included: International flights, mandatory travel insurance, personal expenses, a few meals on your own, and optional tips for local guides.
Other requirements include:
- Full travel & medical insurance
- Necessary vaccinations
- Necessary visa costs
Costs
9-Day Amazonian Medicine Jouney– $2,150
Includes all workshops, ceremonies, accommodations, most meals, and local transport. Ideal for those seeking a rich yet concise immersion into Amazonian healing and cultural practices.
14-Day Amazonian Medicine Journey– $2,450
Includes everything in the 9-day trip plus deeper immersion with your host family, more plant medicine workshops, additional ceremonies, and greater time for language practice, cultural exchange, and integration. (Ask us about options without a homestay.)
* Currency conversions are approximate. Use xe.com for up to date currency conversion rates
** All payments incur a 5% bank transfer fee
*** Places are confirmed with a 1 week deposit.
What’s Included:
- Accommodation and most of your meals
- Program activities, workshops, ceremonies and transportation to them
- Guided pre-departure preparation
- In-country orientation that addresses risk management, cross-cultural adaptation skills, history/culture
- 24/7 emergency support
- Network of doctors, therapists, Spanish tutors in-country
- Access to network of experts and information databases for research support
- Exit interview and end-of-program reflection
What’s not included:
- Costs of flights and visa
- Costs of vaccinations
- $15 per day for food during orientation training
- Personal transportation or transportation to/from Tena
- Any other activities outside of scheduled program activities (white water rafting, yoga, workshops, guided jungle hikes, etc.)
Full assistance will be provided in getting all these arranged if you choose our Premium Support.
Premium Support Upgrade
We understand there’s a great deal to plan and organise for your trip. When booking a Placement, many of our participants choose to purchase our Premium Support Upgrade to benefit from the expertise, knowledge and experience of our Project Coordinators. We can provide the personal advice you need to ensure your trip is organised with excellence and planned with efficiency; ensuring the very best experience possible. Read more about how we can help you.
Note: Map coordinates are approximate
