Iquitos, Peru
Kesten Rono
Plant Medicine School
The Kesten Rono Plant Medicine School was built after three years of offering the Curandero Initiation Course. It is specifically designed for those drawn to study the ayahuasca tradition of Shipibo curanderismo and embark on profound plant dietas. Built and owned by don Enrique, who leads the courses, it is the perfect place to learn the unique healing tradition of Noya Rao in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest.
A journey from Iquitos brings you there in about 90 minutes, ending with a 45 minute hike deep into the jungle. The school is surrounded by medicinal plants, with don Enrique continuing to cultivate more, including the sacred dieta plants and trees central to the Lopez family lineage, such as the divine Noya Rao tree.
A Shipibo Village in the Jungle
The plant medicine school features is a mini village in a remote part of the rainforest, consisting of small collections of huts spread over a cleared expanse of jungle terrain. Each student hut, or tambo, has a private bathroom with running water. Rooms are furnished with a bed with bedding and mosquito net, a desk and chair, a closet, and a hammock. There are outlets and lights but there is only electricity for a few hours each day. On-site, all ayahuasca preparation, plant baths, vapor baths, and other remedies are crafted with care, strengthening the connection to the healing plants. While accommodations are simple, the profound beauty, power, and peace of the rainforest are ever-present in this extraordinary and sacred place.
Form Follows Function
The heart of the Kesten Rono Plant Medicine School is the maloca, where the ceremonies take place, along with many of the lectures and workshops, and some of the treatments. The smoke bath area nearby is also a hang out for conversations and journaling.
Student Tambos in the Jungle
Every student is assigned a tambo, or jungle hut, on the property. These huts and the other buildings like the dining room, vapor bath hut, and ceremony maloca, come together to form a peaceful little village for the students, surrounded by the energies of the plants.
Basic & Simple Accommodations
The student huts provide the basics in accommodations, a bed, a hammock, a desk, and a closet. Each hut also has a bathroom with running water. The simplicity of the rooms resembles an authentic indigenous hut, with some added improvements in comfort.
Authentic Jungle Environment
Kesten Rono School offers an authentic jungle living experience, far away from the hustle and noise of modern life. It was designed specifically for the Shipibo Curandero Initiation Course. This location has tremendous energy due to the quality and integrity of plant dietas being done here by students of the Noya Rao tradition. It is more rustic than the our other center, but you will feel an amazing connection with the plants instantly upon arrival. Kesten Rono is a place for deep immersion into the world of spirit plant healing. Students quickly recognize that the school and the entire experience during courses is authentic to the indigenous tradition being taught. This is as real a place as it gets.
Photos of Kesten Rono Plant Medicine School
Click to view larger.
