Takiwasi Center
Tarapoto, San Martin
Therapeutic community in Tarapoto founded in 1992 by physician Jacques Mabit that treats addiction with Amazonian plant medicine, including ayahuasca, alongside psychotherapy. It also runs master-plant retreat/diets for visitors and is the main site of the ATOP outcome study.
Details from the centre's own website and independent sources, read 28 Sep 2026.
The legal position in Peru
In 2008 Peru's National Institute of Culture declared the traditional knowledge and uses of ayahuasca by native Amazonian communities Cultural Heritage of the Nation. The declaration protects traditional use and contrasts it with decontextualised commercial use; it does not license retreats. No authority inspects retreat centres, so standards vary between operators, and legality says nothing about safety.
The sources for this
- Resolucion Directoral Nacional No. 836/INC (Instituto Nacional de Cultura, June 2008, published in El Peruano) declared the traditional knowledge and uses of ayahuasca practised by native Amazonian communities Cultural Heritage of the Nation. (Agencia Peruana de Noticias Andina (state news agency), 12 Jul 2008; Ministerio de Cultura del Peru, Centro de Recursos (hosted academic article), 2012)
- The resolution aims to protect the traditional use and sacred character of the ritual, as distinct from "usos occidentales descontextualizados, consumistas y con propositos comerciales" (decontextualised Western uses that are consumerist or commercial). (Agencia Peruana de Noticias Andina, 12 Jul 2008)
- Internationally, neither ayahuasca nor the plants used to make it are controlled under the 1971 Convention (INCB 2010, para 284). (International Narcotics Control Board, Mar 2011)
The law and every listed centre in Peru
Programmes and cost
| Programme | Nights | Sessions | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retreat/Diet with Master Plants PEN (S/. 5,000 Peruvian soles), payable in USD or EUR at the day's rate; 8-day diet in the botanical reserve inside a 12-13 day programme; includes one ayahuasca ceremony, a purge, and four psychologist interviews | 7 | 1 | S/ 5,000as published on 28 Sep 2026 |
| Addiction treatment (residential) Costs on admission page; length not recorded here | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Prices and formats as published by the operator on the date shown. They change, so confirm directly before budgeting. We never estimate a price that is not published.
Also offers
- Master/teacher plants (dieta)
- Purge/vomiting plant
Peyote.com lists this centre for ayahuasca only: we have not assessed these offerings, and they are not part of this listing.
Screening, as the centre describes it
Applicants send a Health Form, Motivation Letter and Registration Form; "Takiwasi's Medical Director, Dr. Jacques Mabit, will review your health form and motivation letter." "Consumption of marijuana or other drugs should be suspended as it is incompatible with the intake of master plants and ayahuasca." Participants starting allopathic or psychotherapeutic drugs after registering must notify the centre. No explicit MAOI/SSRI statement or ECG found on pages read.
The cited ayahuasca safety facts to check it against
What a ayahuasca retreat involves
The typical shape of this kind of programme. Use it as a checklist to ask against, not as this centre's timetable.
- Before arrivalMedical and psychiatric screening, and a dieta, commonly restricting alcohol, recreational drugs, pork, fermented foods, salt and sugar, and sexual activity. SSRIs and MAOIs must be resolved with a clinician well in advance.
- Day 1Arrival, orientation, one-to-one consultation with the healers, intention setting. No ceremony.
- Ceremony daysLight plant-based breakfast, integration workshop mid-morning, light lunch, rest and fasting through the afternoon, pre-ceremony yoga around 6:30pm, ceremony from roughly 7:30pm running several hours.
- Rest daysCeremonies alternate with rest days: group sharing circles, flower baths, healer consults, bodywork, and time to do nothing.
- Final dayClosing circle and integration planning. Most centres advise against flying the same day.
- AfterIntegration support varies enormously, from a single follow-up call to a year of community access. This is the single biggest quality differentiator and the least advertised.
Sources for this profile
- Dates and cost - Retreat/Diet · Centre's own site, read 28 Sep 2026
- How to apply - Retreat/Diet · Centre's own site, read 28 Sep 2026
- Ayahuasca Treatment Outcome Project (ATOP): One-Year Results from Takiwasi Center (PMC) · Research, read 28 Sep 2026
- Protocol for Outcome Evaluation of Ayahuasca-Assisted Addiction Treatment: The Case of Takiwasi Center (Frontiers in Pharmacology 2021) · Research, read 28 Sep 2026
Also in Peru
- Temple of the Way of LightNear Iquitos, Loreto
- Arkana Spiritual CenterNear Libertad (Iquitos), Loreto; also Sacred Valley, Cusco
- Nimea Kaya Healing CenterNear Pucallpa, Ucayali
- Blue MorphoNear Iquitos, Loreto; also Sacred Valley, Cusco
- DreamgladeMoralillo, Iquitos-Nauta road, Loreto
- EtnikasSan Salvador, Sacred Valley, Cusco (also Manu programmes)
- KapitariNear Iquitos, Loreto
- La MedicinaNear Tarapoto, San Martin
- Nihue Rao Centro EspiritualSan Juan Bautista, near Iquitos, Loreto
- Refugio AltiplanoTamshiyacu River, near Iquitos, Loreto
- SpiritQuest Shamanic SanctuaryRio Momon, near Iquitos, Loreto
- The Ayahuasca FoundationAmazon rainforest, Peru (Riosbo Retreat Center)
All ayahuasca retreats in Peru, and the legal position there