I. The beginning of the Ayahuasca path.
The journey began in Iquitos, the biggest city in the world that cannot be reached by car with a population of 500,000 people. Surrounded by tributary bodies of waters from the Amazon River, it is essentially an island within the Peruvian Amazon . Getting to Iquitos means flying from Lima, Perú’s capital, or sailing through these tributary rivers for 6 days at the least.
Mototaxi
Riding in the Mototaxi
After arriving to Iquitos one soon finds out the uniqueness of this location. The sound of the Mototaxi is ever present since arrival at Iquito’s airport. The people are extremely friendly and it is very easy to stand out as an outsider. Nevertheless, Iquitos does not reject any traveler hailing from any part of the world.
There is a very well-established tourism business for people seeking Ayahuasca. This is a land where psychonauts rejoice. People from other parts of South America, North America and Europe are constantly flowing through this surreal city.
Brazilian artisan in Iquitos
Mamá
It seems that in every corner of Iquitos there is picturesque scene playing in this whimsical theater of life. Be it the stark contrast of social classes in front of an iron building designed by Gustave Eiffel,…
Inequality in contrast
…a street Pieta,…
La Pieta
…or an elderly man defying age calmly walking through a street.
Heavy but happy
In the center of the city, lies Belén Market as a prelude to one of the most unusual communities in the world: La Villa Belén.
Sound recording from Mercado Belén
Belén Entrance
What makes Belén unique is that it is a floating village. People live in houses that float and are subject to the water levels of the Amazon. They have stores, a schools and even a disco. There are accounts of so many people partying on the dance floor, that the floating structure sinks and water rises to their chest.
This incredible habitat is a testament of the adaptability of humans, since life here is on top of polluted water.
Trash River
Calle Belén
But still life and community thrives among the filth. Like lotus flowers, the incredible people of Belén have blossomed for generations. Never depriving you of a smile, they make you remember that poverty is a state of mind.
Belenense
Like Jesus
Generations
Cansada Geometría
While sailing through Belén it is hard to miss all the youngsters playing around in their “front yard”. When encountering this place, it is hard not to reflect on how diverse life is. The humans that inhabit the Earth and their way of making life happen. Begs the question: How would it be to grow-up in such uncanny conditions? One thing is for sure, it is hard to find children pouting.
Belén Flowers 1
Belén Flowers 2
Belén Flower 3
Belén Flowers 4
Belén Flowers 5
Belén Flowers 6
Again, in a place where time doesn’t exist, one doesn’t have to look hard to find reality and fantasy mistaking each other. You seem to find this phenomenon in every slice of everyday life:
A baby reflecting while an old lady fixes an umbrella…
Belén Surreal 1
Doing a backflip at 1pm…
Belén Surreal 2
A traffic jam in the water…
Belén Surreal 3
A pet monkey…
Mono de Belén
This is the manner in which Iquitos welcomes you. With the sound of the Mototaxi, the smell of the market and the mind boggling floating village. One soon realizes that you need a place like this, right out of a fantasy book, for something as magical and outlandish as Ayahuasca healing could exist.
It is a paradoxical beginning to the peace yet to be found in the depths of the Amazon: the wise and time-less jungle created by gracious water flowing down the gargantuan Andes. The lungs of the Earth, the teacher of the soul. The habitat of the mother/teacher of all plants: Ayahuasca.
After this crash course of the 3rd world the journey continues…
La Pequeña Muerte 