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Tourist Dies in Ayahuasca Rite

Ayahuasca is an Amazonia drink that many Peruvian and foreign tourists seek by coming to Cusco. They hope to take it and experience its connection with personal conscience.

The brew is well known by Amazonian and Andean healers. In our city there is a great variety of agencies that offer mystical tourism. They carry out ceremonies with shamans who work with beverages made from master plants such as wachuma (San Pedro) ayahuasca, brugmansia, and the te mascal.

A Shaman from Pucallpa
A Shaman from Pucallpa

To have an experience with these plants, before anything else, you must be prepared physically and mentally. It is recommended that before taking them your stomach much be cleansed. For two or three days beforehand you should not have ingested any meat since it takes its time being digested by your body. Mentally, you should be well emotionally. You should not be thinking of past nor future problems. Instead you should have your mind set on the experience you are about to live. Another recommendation is that whenever you take ayahuasca or San Pedro you need to be in a place that transmits peace and tranquility whether it is a special prepared room or in the open air. You should also always do it with a guide or a papacho as we call them, who is well experienced.

The agencies specialized in mystical tourism offer ceremonies under the supervision of healers and doctors just in case a problem arises among those who take the plants.

Sometimes, people who are about to undergo the experience do not realize they have personal, medical difficulties. This tends to be the cause of problems, including deaths, for which one must be prepared. One should not just take the drink made from these plants as a passing thing. Instead, they should be treated with much respect for them and for the pachamama, the mother earth.

This last Saturday, a tragedy took place after an ayahuasca ceremony in the locale of Taray, Pisac. A Filipino tourist, Ernest Villaroman, died. Media relate that he was 33 and took ayahuasca in the Ayahuasca consultation rooms of Etnicas. It is reported this agency belongs to Mrs. Rosa Rojas Nunta.

The tourist was treated by emergency personnel but arrived without life at the Taray Centro de Salud. His body has been taken to the central morgue of Cuzco where investigations are being carried out. ‘

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3 Comments

  1. Hey there, My name is Sandra and I am a team leader at Etnikas.

    Yes, unfortunately on the 20th of August 2016 a man passed away at our retreat center. The investigation into the death has been completed and etnikas has been cleared of any negligence or wrong doing. The family have requested that we do not publicize the details of the death so I am unable to elaborate on that out of respect for their wishes.

    I can however confirm that Etnikas is most one of the safest retreat center in the world conducting ayahuasca retreats. We have been operating for over 30 years (much longer than other retreat centers) and safety has always been our top priority.

    Etnikas has a multi-disciplinary heath team consisting of a Cardiologist, Psychiatrist, Psychologist, General Practitioner, Emergency nurse who complement the highly experienced native Andean and Amazonian shaman.
    A general practitioner and nurse are on site 24 hours a day during retreats with access to a full range of state of the art emergency medical equipment.
    Staff are trained in emergency resolution on a weekly basis by our specialist doctors.
    We have been certified by the Peruvian Ministry of Health as ‘running safe and authentic ayahuasca retreats’.
    We have a vast amount with over 7200 satisfied guests coming to our center.
    Trip advisor have granted us the ‘certificate of excellence’ for the last 4 years consecutively (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) with over 200 five star reviews.
    https://www.tripadvisor.com.pe/Attraction_Review-g294314-d2459571-Reviews-Etnikas_Ayahuasca_Retreats-Cusco_Cusco_Region.html

    We hope that this information might help to reassure you as to the safety of our service. We have a proud history of helping people transform their lives for the better and will continue this mission into the future with all of our hearts.

    Regards,

    The Etnikas team

    1. Queridos amigos de Etnikas. Les ruego, si fuera posible que vuelvan a escribir el comentario en español y lo manden en la sección de comentarios para el mismo artículo, pero en español, así para que todo el mundo se entere de la buena noticia para su agencia. De antemano les mando un abrazo y mi alegría por el éxito continuo de Etnikos.

      David

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