Alaska to the Amazon Jungle: A Path to Ayahuasca

This past year has consisted of sporadic and deep life experiences that have changed my entire perspective on life. One thing I’ve always believed is we are more than human, and life has a purpose beyond the perception of the five senses. About a year ago I had a goal that I have now completely lost touch with. It was a goal that revolved around the paradigm of the American dream. It was a dream of building a business big enough to bring my ego satisfaction. I was heading in that direction when a series of events knocked me off the pedestal I was attempting to stand on.

I was hard at work in Alaska when I was informed that my apartment was robbed. The following day I arrived home, and sure enough, it was true. Everything I had spent the past few years building had completely vanished. Everything I owned was gone. My pursuit of the American dream had been demolished, but for a reason I can not explain, I felt a sense of liberation. The far-fetched goal of building and growing my business was not a path that would lead to satisfaction, and I felt this with conviction.

After a few days of pondering why this could have happened, I decided it was time to make the most of the situation. It has always been a dream of mine to travel the world, and at its core, this was my sole purpose of building a business. The difference now was that I had a lot less to be responsible for. Some people might see this as a burden, but I saw it as a gift of perfect opportunity.

At that time, I was working on a remote location in Alaska. The company I worked for provided accommodations while I was working a rotational schedule. If I chose to take time off, I could take a few weeks off a month. I got rid of the place I was renting, and all the other useless things I still had lying around and decided it was time to take advantage of this unique gift I was presented with. It was time to live free and travel.

From that point on, I spent as much time as I could exploring new locations. I went club hopping in Las Vegas, explored the west coast of California, broke my arm in a California skate park, biked down a volcano in Hawaii, and trekked up mountains in Alaska, all while making time for the people I love. I took advantage of every opportunity of free time to explore something new. About three months ago, I decided it was time to take my travels further beyond the United States. I booked a flight to Peru, where I would head deep into the Amazon Jungle to drink Ayahuasca with Shamans of the Shipibo tribe.

Ayahuasca is a plant native to the Amazon that unveils the secrets of the universe. It will take you beyond the five senses and show you things beyond comprehension. I had a one-way ticket booked to Iquitos, Peru. Iquitos is a city in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon that can only be accessed by plane or a five-day boat ride through the Amazon River. I finished a project with my job in Alaska, and it was time to depart to Peru. The day before my flight was scheduled, I was offered another project with the same company. My intuition knew this trip was much more important, so I turned the job down as I took a step of faith into the unknown with no plan of return.

My flight landed in Iquitos, Peru. I stepped off the plane, and onto an unfamiliar foreign land for the first time. I felt alone surrounded by natives that spoke a language unknown to me. As I exited the airport doors, I was greeted by twenty native Iquitos taxi drivers, competing with each other to take my bag and give me a ride to my hotel. The only word I could make out was “Taxi.” I found my driver and we made our way to the hotel. The traffic was hectic. There was constant honking and ninety percent of the vehicles were motorcycles or tuk-tuks. There didn’t seem to be many driving regulations to follow, and nobody gave the slightest attention to the lines on the road.

As I learned on the way to the hotel, pedestrians do not have the right of way here. The cars will speed right past the path of any brave soul that attempts to cross a road out of turn. I looked to my right and saw a family of four sitting on one motorcycle with an infant held in front. Down the road, there was a family of eight piled onto a single seated tuk-tuk. By the time I got to the hotel I was fully aware that I was in a different country.

I familiarized myself with Iquitos during the few days I had before my first Ayahuasca ceremony. The time came to leave Iquitos and venture deeper into the Jungle. I met up with the group of people that would be attending the retreat. We drove two hours from Iquitos where the roads would end at a rustic dock on the Amazon River. From there we loaded onto a small indigenous motorboat to embark on a three-hour boat ride in midst of the jungle.

The sun was harsh, shaded by a palm-thatched roof. We were given a glimpse of the native culture’s reliance on the river as our boat slowly passed through the surrounding villages. As we arrived and boarded the site, we were greeted by the unforeseen beauty of the Amazon Jungle. Blossoming with vibrant pink flowers stood a tree, arching over the entrance of the village, naturally layering a path with its fallen petals. I felt my entire being become lighter with each step into the serenity of the jungle. We continued further down the path as a wooden maloka revealed its majesty in the heart of the village. The maloka stood about thirty feet tall resembling a symbiosis of teepee and gazebo. This is where the Ayahuasca ceremonies would be held beginning later that night.