Held by the Vine
Held by the Vine
MFCV+X3V Puritania, Peru
Up to 10 in group
Nov 9 - 16, 2026
Retreat Highlights
- 1 Night of Ceremonial Vine Brew and Orientation.
- 3 Nights of Traditional Ayahuasca ceremonies led by an experienced Shipibo Curandera.
- An intimate group experience in the Peruvian Amazon
- Optional Kambo ceremony
- Cacao and hapé circles
- Reflection and integration practices
- Time to connect with the jungle, the medicine, and yourself
- Preparation and integration support before, during, and after the journey
- Participation in all four ceremonies is optional, allowing each person to honor their own process
About this Retreat
Kate Maranville-Hiser is the founder of Evolving Stardust, a retreat leader, wellness festival producer, certified Kambo facilitator, Usui Reiki teacher, Akashic Records practitioner trained through two lineages, Iboga initiate, integration specialist, folk herbalist, sound healing practitioner, multimodality co-creator, visionary artist, and lifelong lover of nature.
Kate creates intentional retreats, ceremonies, and immersive journeys rooted in connection, remembrance, creativity, and relationship with the land. Her work has grown through years of personal practice, ceremony, study, travel, and learning both from and alongside trusted teachers, facilitators, and wisdom keepers.
Her role shifts depending on what each experience is asking for. Sometimes she leads ceremonies, spiritual activations, sound journeys, reflection, and integration. Other times, she holds the larger vision and creates a grounded, supportive container for local and Indigenous practitioners to lead the traditions and medicine they carry. She chooses her collaborators carefully, honors the people and places holding each experience, and allows the journey to be shaped by the land itself.
Preparation and integration are central to Kate’s work. She supports participants in arriving with intention, feeling held throughout the experience, and bringing what they receive back into their everyday lives. At the heart of everything she creates is an invitation to slow down, listen more deeply, connect with the natural world, and remember the wholeness that already lives within.
Leo is a wielder of the Oracle of Destiny and an initiate of several African traditions and tribes, including the Akan, Dagomba, Ewe, Punu, and Mitsogo. Holding many titles across these lineages, he walks a path rooted in devotion, ceremony, ancestral wisdom, and service.
Married to Mami Wata, Leo is a Bokonon at heart and a passionate Nganga, Motia Priest, Bwiti Priest, Curandero, and Ayahuasquero. He works with Iboga and other traditional plant and animal medicines, guided by deep reverence for the spirits, teachers, elders, and lineages he serves. He is also a devoted servant and guardian of the Kambo frogs.
Leo carries his knowledge not only as a practitioner, but as a teacher, sharing the wisdom, practices, and teachings he has been entrusted with through years of study, initiation, and lived experience. At the same time, he believes that a true teacher never stops learning. He remains devoted to continuing his own education, studying with elders and teachers, deepening within his traditions, and allowing his understanding to continually evolve. His path is one of both mastery and humility, honoring the responsibility to teach while remaining forever a student of the wisdom he serves.
Juanita is an experienced Shipibo curandera from the Peruvian Amazon. She was raised by her grandparents, who began giving her a spoonful of Ayahuasca when she was eight years old. She grew up listening to the icaros they sang and feeling deeply drawn to the medicine. In Juanita’s words, the medicine chose her.
By the time she was 11 or 12, she had begun practicing more deeply and entering into traditional training, a path she genuinely loved. Her grandparents were her first teachers, and she continued learning from many teachers throughout her life. During her teenage years, she began communing with other medicinal plants and expanding her knowledge through traditional plant diets. Juanita has since dieted many plants, building the deep relationships that continue to guide her work.
As a young woman, Juanita had breast cancer. She shares that she healed through working with plants, an experience that further deepened her relationship with plant medicine and helped shape the path she continues to walk today. Juanita believes ancestral plants are medicines for the body and carry the ability to support the body in healing itself.
For many years, Juanita served medicine at foreign-owned retreat centers without realizing how little she was being paid compared with what those centers were earning from her work. After recognizing this imbalance, she began creating her own Indigenous woman-owned retreat center outside of Iquitos.
Her vision is to offer a simple, authentic place where people can experience the medicine within the jungle, while helping ensure that the traditions, leadership, and financial support remain with the Indigenous people who carry this work.
Details of this retreat
Held by the Vine is an intimate journey into the Peruvian Amazon, created for those who feel called to deepen their relationship with themselves, the natural world, and the medicine of Ayahuasca.
Together, we will travel outside of Iquitos to a simple, rustic, and authentic Indigenous woman-owned retreat center. Our time in the jungle begins with a Vine Introduction Ceremony and a non-psychoactive brew of the Ayahuasca vine, followed by three traditional Ayahuasca ceremonies. There will also be daily integration, rest, reflection, and plenty of time to simply be with the jungle. Hapé may be offered by Kate and Leo, and an optional Kambo ceremony will also be available. Each person will be supported in listening to their body and honoring their own process.
Juanita, an experienced Shipibo curandera, leads the Ayahuasca ceremonies and holds the traditional medicine space through her relationship with the plants, prayer, and the icaros she has carried since childhood. This center is the unfolding of her vision, allowing her to share the medicine on her own land while keeping the traditions, leadership, and financial support with the Indigenous people who carry this work.
Leo is Juanita’s student, as well as one of Kate’s teachers. He works alongside Juanita, supports the ceremonial space, offers translation, and helps bridge the language, teachings, and traditions being shared with our group. Leo and Kate may also facilitate hapé during our time together.
Kate holds the larger container for the journey. She supports participants through preparation before the retreat, care and connection throughout the experience, and integration both during the journey and after returning home. She also offers group reflection and facilitates the optional Kambo ceremony, while making space for Juanita and Leo to lead the traditional work they carry.
We will begin at an Airbnb in Iquitos, giving everyone time to land, settle in, and connect before entering the jungle. The Airbnb will remain available throughout the journey as a cozier place to land if needed. We will return there after our time at the center for additional rest and integration before traveling home.
The retreat center itself is not a luxury experience. It is an opportunity to step away from the distractions of everyday life, stay in traditional jungle tambos, sit in ceremony within the maloca, and meet the medicine in the place where it grows. Held by the Vine is an invitation into remembrance, connection, and a deeper knowing of yourself.
Together, we will travel outside of Iquitos to a simple, rustic, and authentic Indigenous woman-owned retreat center. Our time in the jungle begins with a Vine Introduction Ceremony and a non-psychoactive brew of the Ayahuasca vine, followed by three traditional Ayahuasca ceremonies. There will also be daily integration, rest, reflection, and plenty of time to simply be with the jungle. Hapé may be offered by Kate and Leo, and an optional Kambo ceremony will also be available. Each person will be supported in listening to their body and honoring their own process.
Juanita, an experienced Shipibo curandera, leads the Ayahuasca ceremonies and holds the traditional medicine space through her relationship with the plants, prayer, and the icaros she has carried since childhood. This center is the unfolding of her vision, allowing her to share the medicine on her own land while keeping the traditions, leadership, and financial support with the Indigenous people who carry this work.
Leo is Juanita’s student, as well as one of Kate’s teachers. He works alongside Juanita, supports the ceremonial space, offers translation, and helps bridge the language, teachings, and traditions being shared with our group. Leo and Kate may also facilitate hapé during our time together.
Kate holds the larger container for the journey. She supports participants through preparation before the retreat, care and connection throughout the experience, and integration both during the journey and after returning home. She also offers group reflection and facilitates the optional Kambo ceremony, while making space for Juanita and Leo to lead the traditional work they carry.
We will begin at an Airbnb in Iquitos, giving everyone time to land, settle in, and connect before entering the jungle. The Airbnb will remain available throughout the journey as a cozier place to land if needed. We will return there after our time at the center for additional rest and integration before traveling home.
The retreat center itself is not a luxury experience. It is an opportunity to step away from the distractions of everyday life, stay in traditional jungle tambos, sit in ceremony within the maloca, and meet the medicine in the place where it grows. Held by the Vine is an invitation into remembrance, connection, and a deeper knowing of yourself.
Schedule
The schedule for this retreat is fluid and based on the groups needs.
Note: Schedule is approximate and may change
Getting Here
Evolving Stardust, MFCV+X3V Puritania, Peru
Directions
Iquitos, Peru
Accommodation
Guests will stay at an Airbnb in Iquitos on the day of arrival, allowing time to land, settle in, and connect before journeying into the jungle. We will return to Airbnb accommodations after the ceremonies, offering a softer space for rest and integration before traveling home. The Airbnb may remain available throughout the retreat as an additional home base for anyone who needs to leave the jungle and return to the city during our time together. At the retreat center, guests will stay in individual jungle tambos. These simple, traditional structures offer a rustic and authentic experience, with privacy and personal space for rest, reflection, and integration while remaining immersed in the sights and sounds of the Amazon. This is not a luxury resort experience, but an opportunity to unplug from everyday life and connect more deeply with the jungle, the medicine, and yourself.
Retreat Price
Venue & Amenities
Held by the Vine takes place at an Indigenous woman-owned retreat center in the Peruvian Amazon, outside of Iquitos. The venue is simple, rustic, and authentic, surrounded by the sounds, beauty, and living presence of the jungle.
Ceremonies are held in the traditional maloka, while guests stay in individual jungle tambos that offer privacy and space for rest and reflection. This is not a luxury resort experience. It is an opportunity to step away from everyday distractions and connect more deep
Ceremonies are held in the traditional maloka, while guests stay in individual jungle tambos that offer privacy and space for rest and reflection. This is not a luxury resort experience. It is an opportunity to step away from everyday distractions and connect more deep
What's Included
- Seven nights of accommodations
- Meals throughout the retreat
- 1 Vine Ceremony
- 3 Ayahuasca ceremonies
- Translation support during ceremonies and teachings
- Local transportation in and around Iquitos
- Transportation between Iquitos and the jungle retreat center
- Cacao and hapé circles
- Group integration circles
- Preparation guidance before the retreat
- Continued integration support after returning home
- Time in Iquitos and the Amazon rainforest
What's Not Included
- Round-trip airfare to and from Iquitos, Peru
- Travel insurance
- Passport, visa, or other travel-related expenses
- Meals and expenses outside of the retreat itinerary
- Optional Kambo ceremony
- Additional excursions or activities outside of the planned itinerary
- Personal purchases and souvenirs
- Medical care, medications, or emergency expenses
- Transportation outside of the scheduled group transportation
- Gratuities for local guides, facilitators, and support staff
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