Master Plant Dieta Retreats
Sama is the practice of cultivating
conscious relationship with the spirits of plants.
Weaving a living thread of connection through
which their teachings, visions, songs,
and transmissions may be received.
27 August – 11 September (14 days)
Guided by Maestro Rono
Facilitated by Cassandra Sanken Yabi, and Lumi
Price: $2700
13 October – 5 November (22 days)
Guided by Maestro Angela
Facilitated by Cassandra Sanken Yabi, and Ini Biri
Price: $3500
For more info on this retreat: www.samaniwe.com
24 November – 16 December (21 days)
Guided by Maestro Rono
Facilitated by Cassandra and Mathis Arnell.
Price: $3400
Discounts & Pricing Options
Bring a Friend
A reduced rate is available when two participants register together.South American & Low-Income Countries
A sliding scale is available for participants from South American and low-income countries (limited spaces).Early Bird Registration
A discounted rate is offered for early registrations.Last-Minute Booking
A higher rate applies for registrations made within 30 days of the retreat start date.
If you feel the call, trust it.
The plants are waiting..
Each retreat is all-inclusive and offers a comprehensive healing experience, including:Full cost of dieta, including food and accommodation
All dieta necessities (e.g. mapacho, etc.)
Hotel accommodation in Iquitos
Transportation to Mokan Rate/Metsa Kabi
2 onboarding calls
2 post-dieta integration calls
Ayahuasca ceremonies and Master Plant Dieta
Deep physical and spiritual treatments and cleansing
Plant baths, saunas, vomitivos, and jungle plant medicine preparations
Classes on Curanderismo and Amazonian plant wisdom
Daily meditations, breathwork, yoga, and somatic practices
One-on-one therapy and coaching sessions
Private consultations with the Maestro/Maestra
Art therapy, vocal activation, ceremonial song, and creative empowerment
Integration support and sharing circles within a trusted community
Excludes
Meals in Iquitos
International and domestic flights
Visa costs
Travel insurance
Additional hotel bookings
These journeys are for those ready to meet themselves honestly, to listen deeply, and to walk a path of integrity, devotion, and remembrance.
2026 Retreats
Within Shipibo cosmology, the world is animistic.
Nature is understood as sentient,
multidimensional, and alive
a vast field of intelligence capable of
relationship, dialogue, and guidance.
Maestro Don Rono
Mokan Rate is Maestro Don Rono’s personal center — a place of curanderismo, a spiritual university, retreat center, and school of Amazonian healing rooted in the Shipibo lineage.
Maestro Don Rono Lopez, whose life has been devoted to honoring, protecting, and transmitting the wisdom of his Shipibo roots. Raised within this lineage from childhood, his work is informed by deep cosmological knowledge, long-term dietas, and direct relationship with the master plants.
Rono Lopez was born in the native community of Roaboya, son of Don Marcos Lopez Sanchez and Mrs. Zorayda Fasanando Venancino who have now passed in peace. At the age of 9 he participated in a ceremony of his great grandfather, listening to his beautiful and mystical sacred icaros. At the age of 12 he asked his grandfather, that if he wanted to be like him, what must he do? The grandfather responded that If he wanted to be like him, then he would have to diet and Rono accepted his new path as curandero.
At the age of 13 his grandfather gave him a diet of chaikoni rao, an aromatic plant, followed by a long dieta of 6 months, with a break of 2 months, but during this break, his grandfather began to get sick until he lost his life. At the age of 14 and 15 years old, Rono’s body suffered a lot. His uncle kindly offered to help heal his body. Rono continued to diet Ajo Quiro, a very large and powerful tree. At the age of 19 he started to work alone as a healer, and at 30 years old he worked with his brother Enrique in his center. At the age of 31 years, 14 years ago he dieted noya rao for the first time and continues to diet up until today.
Don Rono has been working at Riosbo Center of the Ayahuasca Foundation for over 12 years. He has now shifted his focus to being more present at his own center, guiding dietas for new and old students.
Under Don Rono’s guidance, traditional Shipibo dietas are held with integrity and care. While dieting, participants also receive treatments, teachings, and instruction in icaros, Shipibo language, and the philosophy of Amazonian shamanism.
Maestra Dona Angela
Metsa Kabe is Maestra Dona Angela Lopez personal center, and like that of Rono’s, it is also a dedicated space for ancestral Shipibo healing and apprenticeship with the plant spirits.
Maestra Angela aslo known as (Kene Bensho) in Shipibo dialect, is Don Ronos sister. She carries and honours the ancient wisdom that has been guarded and passed down as a beautiful gift from her Shipibo grandparents and lineage of ancestors. she recognizes her duty and divine purpose as a Curandera, shamanic healer, teacher, wisdom keeper, guardian and advocate of the plant spirit medicines of the Amazonian jungle.
She embodies the spirit of the divine, nurturing mother, who gives her full heart into connecting intimately with each patient and student. She humbly walks the path, with great integrity, giving her compassion and loving care generously.
She guides traditional Shipibo style dietas, connecting with mystical trees and plants of the Amazonian jungle. She will be offering classes on icaros, the Shipibo language and the philosophies of Amazonian shamanism.
Maestra Angela has 22 years working as a Curandera. She worked at the temple of the way of light before moving to Riosbo center of the ayahuasca foundation to become the curandera at the Riosbo retreats. In between her schedule at Riosbo, she offers private retreats at her center called Metsa Kabi in the jungle region of iquitos peru, which means home/space of beauty and harmony. Her center has two old and big Noyas Rao trees on the property, making it a very rare and unique space to connect deeper to the tree itself and the other plants within the family. .
The Lopez family work specifically with spirit of Noya Rao. Noya Rao is considered to be an enlightened being, with a consciousness that radiates peace, joy and compassion.In support of Noya Rao are four other powerful master plant spirits: Bobinsana, Chullachqui, Chiric Sanango & Marusa. Each one holding its own unique powers, frequencies & teachings.
Sama is a shamanic dieta and apprenticeship within the ancestral spirit medicine tradition of the Amazonian Shipibo lineage.
Sama is the practice of cultivating conscious relationship with the spirits of plants — weaving a living thread of connection through which their teachings, visions, songs, and transmissions may be received. Within Shipibo cosmology, the world is animistic. Nature is understood as sentient, multidimensional, and alive — a vast field of intelligence capable of relationship, dialogue, and guidance.
To enter Sama is to step across a threshold. It is a retreat into inner and outer wilderness, into silence, solitude, and sacred restraint. A devotional container is formed to support the emergence of relationship with the consciousness of the master plants — beings revered as ancient teachers and allies.
Sama is a solo pilgrimage of deep self-inquiry and self-exploration. Through prayer, fasting, dreaming, ceremony, and stillness, the dieter listens for what wishes to be revealed. The insights, songs, and visions received are not for the self alone, but are carried back to community — in service of healing, clarity, and remembrance.
This path invites a movement from ego to heart. It offers an opportunity to cleanse perception, soften conditioned patterns, mature emotionally and spiritually, and reawaken intuitive knowing. Sama opens the doorway to a lived experience of a sentient world — to touch the mystery of the living web to which we belong. .
SAMA
Dieting requires devotion, discipline, humility, and a willingness to move beyond familiar limits.
Participants live in silence and isolation in private jungle tambos, abstaining from external contact, unnecessary speech, sexual activity, and stimulating foods. The dieta alimentation excludes salt, sugar, fruits, oils, and spices.
The dieta begins with dry fasting for the first 48 hours, followed by water fasting as guided. Fasting allows the body to become receptive, strengthening the bond between dieter and plant spirit.
The extract of the master plant is taken in cycles throughout the dieta. The spirits of the plants approach the dieter in silence — through dreams, visions, meditative states, and ceremony — offering teachings, protection, and guidance.
Ayahuasca ceremonies are held every third day, deepening communion with the dieta plant and offering space to practice singing icaros under guidance.
Participants also work with Mapacho (sacred tobacco), smoked through pipes crafted from dieta plants. The pipe becomes an ally — a protector and bridge for communication with the plant spirit. .
What is a Treatment?
Patients wanting deep physical, emotional, spiritual cleansing and healing, have the option to do treatments. As a group we will do certain treatments before dieta, to cleanse the body of any obstructions that may prevent deep connection to the Teacher plants.
Patients who would like to continue with treatments, purification and healing with the endless variety of potent medicinal plants that the Amazonian jungle offers, can choose the option of Treatment whilst Dieting. Treatments include a range of powerful medicinal plants, guided by the spirits of the plants themselves and specifically prepared depending on the illness and disease of the patients, whether it be emotional, physical or spiritual.
The first 3 days of “treatment” will consist of certain treatments. Purgatives and Saunas. These saunas release dense energies,addressing traumas, stress, and anxieties. Specific plants,known by Shipibo Maestros, are used for their effectiveness in the healing process.
Plant Purgative
Sangre de Grado induces vomiting, cleansing the body and stomach internally. Purgatives are often given at the outset of a treatment process to cleanse the body in preparation for receiving dieta and other medicines.
Plant Baths
Dieters receive different plant baths for cleansing, protection, and inner illumination, amplifying their connection with their plant they are dieting. The plant baths are another keystone modality for most curanderos. Plant baths and flower baths are generally used to treat conditions that are more energetic and spiritual in nature. In some cases, Plant Baths are done every day or every other day. They also cleanse on energetic, emotional and psychic levels and can lead to profound shifts in health and consciousness all on their own.. .
Master Plants
Noya Rao, otherwise known as Palo Volador (the “Flying Tree”), is a deeply mystical, unique, and enchanted plant spirit—so rare that only a few are known to exist.
The Lopez family have been blessed with several Noya Rao trees on their lands. Also known as the Tree of Light, Noya Rao is said to have leaves that glow in the dark. She enhances intuitive perception and guides the dietero through profound transformation on the path of self-discovery, self-illumination, and authentic purpose.
The mythical Noya Rao has been used by the Mahua lineage for centuries and is renowned as an essential teacher on the path of becoming a healer..
NOYA RAO
CHIRIC SANANGO
Chiric Sanango is a purple, violet, and white flowering shrub, also known as “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.” The word chiric comes from Quechua, referring to a tingling sensation, as ingesting the medicine can activate blood circulation and the nervous system.
This plant is a powerful ally for rheumatism, arthritis, inflammation, flus, and colds. Chiric Sanango teaches lessons of willpower, self-dignity, courage, mental clarity, and belief in oneself.
Chiric Sanango is a highly sensitive plant and requires a strict post-dieta, including the avoidance of certain contraindicated foods. ..
BOBINSANA
Bobinsana is a mesmerizingly beautiful, brush-like plant adorned with pink flowers. She enhances lucid dreaming, amplifies visions, and opens the heart.
Her medicine supports the release of emotional trauma while teaching compassion and self-love. Bobinsana is also traditionally used for purifying the blood, alleviating rheumatism, treating disorders of the uterus, and as a powerful contraceptive.Those who are trying to conceive should avoid working with her.
CHULLACHAQUI CASPI
Named after the legendary trickster dwarf spirit of the jungle, Chullachaqui Caspi has a striking appearance, with sturdy roots growing out of its trunk and raised above the ground.
This is a powerful warrior tree and guardian spirit, known for defending the plants and trees of the jungle. Chullachaqui Caspi grounds the dietero, calms a scattered mind, and imparts strength, protection, firm boundaries, and self-assertiveness.
MARUSA
Marusa is a small, delicate, unassuming, spindly plant with white flowers. Despite her subtle appearance, she is known for her potent teachings and guidance on the path of becoming a healer, or curandera.
She is a very sensitive plant and requires extra care and caution, especially during the post-dieta period.
Marusa is known for activating the nervous system, helping to release blockages, trauma, and grief. She supports the neutralization of masculine and feminine imbalances and assists in healing issues related to the female reproductive system.
Cassandra Sanken Yabi
Plant Medicine Facilitator · Artist · Breathwork & Yoga Teacher
Raised in South Africa, Cassandra has been a dedicated student of Shipibo curanderismo for nearly seven years. Prior to her initiation into the Shipibo lineage through her first Noya Rao dieta, she spent several years exploring the Huni Kuin tradition. This path led her to Acre State, Brazil where she lived for three months immersed in Huni Kuin communities, apprenticing and dieting within their tradition.
Having dieted with the Lopez family — Enrique, Rono and Angela — Cassandra worked as a facilitator alongside Don Angela and Don Rono at Riosbo Center and the Ayahuasca Foundation for two years.
She is a certified 200-hour Tantra Yoga teacher, transformational breathwork facilitator and is currently studying Gabor Maté’s Compassionate Inquiry as well as Alethia’s Advanced Coaching Program. An artist and illustrator, Cassandra also holds containers for art therapy. She is deeply passionate about music and regularly facilitates song circles, sound journeys, voice activation and medicine music circles.
Instagram: @cassandrita_sanken_yabi
Facilitators:
Mathis Arnell
Plant Medicine Facilitator · Musician
Mathis Arnell is a plant medicine facilitator from Switzerland who has dedicated much of his life to traveling and learning from wisdom traditions around the world. With over nine years of experience studying and working with entheogenic medicines, his devotion lies in guiding individuals toward their authentic state of being through embodied and creative modalities.
His work weaves together body movement, sound healing and medicine music. A professional musician for over a decade, Mathis has toured internationally and integrates his original medicine music into ceremonial spaces while also sharing ancestral musical practices that support expanded states of consciousness.
His primary training is within the Shipibo ayahuasca tradition, complemented by studies in the Chavín lineage with San Pedro. Mathis regularly undertakes pilgrimages to sacred sites throughout Peru, deepening his devotion and capacity to guide others through transformative journeys with ancestral medicines.
Instagram: @naughtymantis
Ini Biri
Psychotherapist · Curanderismo Student
Ini Biri has been a student of Amazonian curanderismo for over four years, primarily within the Shipibo tradition and has also studied with the Yawanawa people of Brazil.
She is a licensed psychotherapist and has been in private practice since 2017. In her clinical work as a cognitive behavioural therapist, Ini integrates trauma-focused modalities including EMDR, schema therapy, emotional regulation skills training, mindfulness meditation and guided imagery.
She also offers ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, integration support and group therapy. During her academic training, Ini spent several years working in neuroscience research. Today, her interests are increasingly drawn toward the study of plant medicines and the healing potential of altered states of awareness, bridging contemporary therapeutic frameworks with ancestral knowledge systems.
Lumi
Medical Qigong Teacher · Ceremony Facilitator
Lumi is a medical qigong teacher, ceremony facilitator and devoted student of the natural and unseen worlds. Following a life-altering brain injury and profound personal loss, she was called onto the shamanic path, apprenticing in Shipibo curanderismo for over five years while simultaneously studying Chinese energetic medicine.
Her work centers on the technologies of dieta, dreams and ícaros — pathways of healing, listening and remembrance. Alongside these lineages, Lumi has studied trauma and embodiment with Bessel van der Kolk, trained in the Way of Council and is a student of Zen Buddhism.
Through bridging ancient wisdom traditions with deep attunement and presence, Lumi brings a grounded, relational and trauma-informed lens to her ceremonial and healing work. She supports others in rebuilding trust in themselves and in the intelligence of life, clarifying purpose and remembering their place within the living web. Her work gently invites people into deeper relationship and greater service through the cultivation of radiant love.
Instagram: @whtrabb1t.
Embodiment, sound & spirit
This retreat is an invitation to remember and embody spirit through the human form, and to listen deeply for the unique rhythm of your own becoming. Through the container of dieta, sound, prayer and somatic practice, participants are gently guided into the resonance field of the heart — awakening the heart- mind and its innate intelligence. As the heart softens and opens, perception begins to shift: from effort to listening, from fragmentation to coherence, from survival to soul-led presence.
This work supports the unfolding of one’s dharma — the remembrance of purpose, calling and the singular path each soul is here to walk. By attuning to the subtle cognition of the heart, we begin to sense what is truly ours to carry, to offer, and to embody in this lifetime. As emotional waters are cleansed and recalibrated, layers of unresolved experience held within the body — personal, ancestral and multi-generational — are invited into release. Trauma stored in the cells, in the nervous system and in the unconscious field gently loosens its grip, restoring clarity of attention and reopening pathways of intimacy with self, spirit and life.
In this softened state of presence, we begin to perceive through the heart rather than the wounds of the past. The lens shifts — from trauma-shaped knowing to heart-based knowing. From here, a living relationship with the plant-based spirits can emerge. Participants attune to the mycelial intelligence of the forest — sensing the subtle tendrils, threads and resonance of the plant network, and recognizing themselves as part of this vast, interwoven field of life.
Sound, song and creative expression become tools of integration — anchoring spirit into matter, rooting consciousness into the body and allowing what has been received to take form. Through deepening embodiment, spirit is no longer abstract or distant, but lived, felt and carried through the breath, the voice and the cells themselves.
This is a return to coherence. A flowering of the heart.
A remembering of purpose. A rooting of spirit into flesh.
