Rooted in Crisis: How a Bolivian Retreat Center Found Light in a Year of Global Darkness
There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in. Leonard Cohen. It’s been a quiet year here at Pisatahua. The Maloca has been gathering dust and we’ve been missing the faces of new participants arriving at the centre for our programs. For the first time since opening 5 years ago we’ve been […]
Sacred Dialogue with the Jungle: A Father Wachuma Ceremony of Healing and Connection
After four ayahuasca ceremonies that had taken place in the darkness of the night, I was vibrating with excitement to work with a master plant during the day. What would it be like to see the world with Father Wachuma holding my hand through it? With him letting me borrow the lens through which he […]
Integrating Ayahuasca and Psychotherapy: A Holistic Approach to Sustainable Mental Wellness
With the rise in publicity and media attention given to the potential physical and mental health benefits of ayahuasca psychotherapy and other Amazonian plant medicines, increasing numbers of people are travelling to South and Central America seeking treatment and resolution of both emotional difficulties and specific, often long-term mental health challenges. Here at Pisatahua we […]
Bolivia’s Birds
BOLIVIA’S BIG DAY FOR BIRDERS By Shalynn Pack The Big Day – it’s the World Cup of birding, the day in which birders around the world spend all day trekking through the rain, snow, heat, and insects to try to document as many bird species as possible in just 24 hours. Bolivia started participating in […]
Pisatahua: a wildlife lover’s dream
By Shalynn Pack By trade, I am a wildlife conservation scientist – I study species of birds, mammals, and amphibians to understand how we can ensure their survival into the future in this human-dominated world. By soul, I am a spiritual seeker – I search for ways we can deepen our connection to the planet, […]
The strange sense of humor of Ayahuasca
THE STRANGE SENSE OF HUMOR OF AYAHUASCA Even if you’ve tried Ayahuasca before, you never exactly know where she will take you. Every time it’s a journey into the unknown. You could be transported into otherworldly realms beyond time and space, or you may feel no effect at all. After five months of exploring South […]
Searching for Jaguars in Pisatahua & Aquicuana Reserve
SEARCHING FOR JAGUARS By Shalynn Pack, Conservation Scientist The largest and most powerful cat in the Americas. Black panther. Panthera onca. Jaguar. The name “jaguar” comes from the indigenous name “yaguara,” meaning “he who kills in one leap.” A powerful cat and the top predator of Central and South America, the jaguar has inspired humanity […]
Wild Cocoa Fruit
WILD COCOA FRUIT A Story of Wild Cocoa in the Bolivian Amazon Miguel Palomeque is perched on a large, dry, fallen tree trunk on his cocoa plantation, El Paraíso, situated in the jungle close to a tributary of the River Beni, near Carmen del Emero, a community in the Ixiamas district. He explains that last […]
Curiosities of the Amazon
CURIOSITIES OF THE AMAZON Did you Know? The Bolivian hero in War of the Acre was a Tacana Indian named Bruno Racua. Using flaming arrows, he led the retaking of Bahia, nowadays Cobija the capital of Pando, letting the Brazilian troops escape. Did you Know? The first car that arrived […]
Riberalta’s Untold History
THE UNTOLD STORY OF RIBERALTA AND THE AMAZONIAN IDENTITY According to the standard written history of Riberalta, Amazonian Bolivia began after the arrival of rubber prospectors towards the end of the 19th century. Before that, it was an “empty space”. This story effectively erases the presence of the original inhabitants of the Bolivian Amazon. Few […]