Ayahuasca Testimonies

"I want to thank you for the amazing experience during the ayahuasca retreat. I found it to be a very enjoyable and worthwhile adventure- and the best value for the money that I have come across for such an experience. And on top if it, to know that much of the cost went directly to support the Quechua community there is icing on the cake. I felt truly blessed being able to be a part of authentic Quechua culture for those 10 days, on the land and staying with shaman don Lucho and his wonderful family. You were very gracious and caring, but during the ceremonies and for the entire time of the retreat. I will keep these memories with me forever."
- Josh, Canada, summer 2009

"Having just done an ayahuasca retreat (my first) with wancho & Feathercrown, I can say unreservedly that it was a fantastic and transformative experience. The shaman gave us immediate confidence with his obvious sincerity, authenticity and spirituality. This was a "real", compassionate and powerful man. I have no doubt at all that he is genuinely interested in introducing "serious" foreigners to the vine and all that that entails, and he certainly worked very hard to do that. The same applies to Wancho, whose organization of, and support during the retreat, which was confronting at times (as it needed to be for it to be valuable), was wonderful: thank you both SO much. As to the cost, I can tell you that it was very, very reasonable by any standard. This was not a commercial set-up at all. My partner and I are already planning a return!"
- A.H., Australia, summer 2009

"Just wanted to thank you for all your effort and all the help we got during the retreat. I'm very happy that I was connected with you and the healer, he is incredible person, very talented, discipline and most of all dedicated shaman. I never thought that I will have a chance to experience a connection with such a powerful soul. Despite cultural differences and the language barrier we felt heartwarming connection with you, the shaman and the whole family. Thanks again and again for all the organizational pain you went through to make it all possible for all of us...."
-Leon, USA, summer 2009

A special thank you goes to Wancho from Feather Crown who looked after us with much love and compassion and we will never forget him. He was our angel. I reflected back on the 10 days in the rain forest and I felt so calm, peaceful and pure and I knew I had been healed from some of my illnesses. It has been thirty days since I left Tena and I have eliminated 2 of my prescription medicines and I have lost 20 pounds. I only eat when I am hungry and I eat healthy foods. I went there to get well and to lose weight and I got what I wanted, thanks to the spiritual retreat and Don Luis. I look forward to returning to Feather crown in Tena again and spending time with the family.
- Nikky, USA, summer 2009

"Since the trip, I feel grounded and eager to live a more expansive life. I want to say an immense "thank you" for all the hard work you're doing in Ecuador in helping the beautiful family, and spreading the healing phenomenon of ayahuasca. I'm grateful for your patience, love and care for us during the ceremonies. Your personality is a natural fit for the work you're doing. The experience with the shaman was life changing. In the beginning of the retreat I couldn't recognize Don Luis during the day because of his humble demeanour. It contrasted to the powerful presence he emanated during the evening ceremonies. The attention and time he spent on each and every one of us individually is the main reason why I feel fortunate to have attended the retreat. I hope to do it again in the future, but for now I'll reflect and linger on my recent experience of it."
-Jinny, Canada, summer 2009

"Last month I spent 10 days with Wancho and Don Luis, who is an extraordinary shaman. His medicine was very powerful. Wancho is a kind, generous and very serious student of the medicine. I have been a student of ayahuasca since December 2000, primarily in Peru. I trust Wancho and I urge anyone interested in the medicine to contact Wancho directly. Don Lucho is a dynamic shaman and spent a great deal of time healing each participant. Don Lucho's retreat is not a "spa" and not for those who are only interested in a resort-style experience. Don Lucho is authentic and not a corrupt shaman."
- Victoria, USA, summer 2009

I was very satisfied with the retreat. I felt very confident about the retreat from the first emails we exchanged with jan wancho. It is important what you expect from it. If you come because of your soul, because of cleansing and finding youself, you go to the right place. Everything on the retreat was prepared very well and the organizers were doing everything possible to make us feel good. You could tell is from the way they were preparing food, how they treated us, how they helped during the ceremonies and translated. I believe that Wancho knows how to find shamans who are clean and have good heart. The program was prepared in a way that there was always something to do, a trip, bathing in plants, painting with natural pigments. After returning from retreat I feel more at peace and my focus is better. I will happily come back soon.
- Ivana P., The Czech Republic, spring 2009

I just got back from Ecuador a few days ago, after having participated in an Ayahuasca ceremony near Tena, organized and facitilated by Jan "Wancho" and the organization "Feather Crown". The Shaman and his family were wonderful hosts, and were very helpful and hospitable throughout the whole experience. Don Lucio is very skilled, experienced, and he spent a lot of time, and effort, tending to each of us with an inspiring healing ritual, he also was very helpful during breakfast(delicious) the next morning helping us interpret our visions and our feelings. Jan, it was a pleasure meeting you, you're a great guy and you do fantastic work. I hope to get down to Ecuador at some point and work with you again. The other people I met, who were also doing the ceremony, were all fantastic as well and it was a very friendly, warm, worthwhile and enlightening experience had by all. This was my 3rd Ayahuasca ceremony(the last 2 were in Peru), and it exceeded my expectations.
-Robert, U.S., June 2009

After working with Jan from Feather Crown for the past two weeks here in Tena, Ecuador, I can enthusiastically recommend him to anyone interested in learning about the shamanic practices here in Ecuador. So far we have had 5 ceremonies with four different curanderos. Jan clearly has very good relationships with these curanderos. As my goal here is to find a curandero to learn from, he has been very candid with me about about what he sees as the good and bad points of learning from each. While not claiming any special knowledge or wisdom, Jan does have a lot of experience with the vine, and has gently offered guidance, suggestions, and a few cautions about how I could proceed on my journey. I have found him to be humble, supportive, with an easy smile and a good sense of humor. He has presented me with a variety of options for learning the traditions here, and different options for possible diets, then sat back and waited for me to ask to do them, with no pressure to make use of his services. I must say I like and admire him a great deal, and am glad I chose to come to Ecuador instead of heading straight to Iquitos. All the curanderos here do a limpia, a cleaning of your energies has part of the ceremony, and with each I have felt the power they had and strength flowing into my body as they worked on me. They have stong medicine here. The ceremonies have mostly been at the curanderos houses, which have been away from the town, and each had a special hut for doing ceremonies and a place for people to sleep afterwards. One ceremony was held in a local cavern. We had to walk through a shallow river in the cavern to get get to the ceremonial space, and spent the night there after the ceremony. That was an amazing experience, with a lot of strong energy.
-Jim, USA, spring 2009

When I started to look for an opportunity to work and interact with the real world, the universe took me to feathercrown site. I was going to travel alone so i didn't want to feel all by myself,especially regarding the healing ceremonies that I wanted to have. Gosh! Feathercrown did it! , they make me feel that I was at home. I been travelling a lot, but this trip to Archidona was a "change of life" trip. They were very proffessional and at the same time very warm and personal. Congratulations for this beautiful job that you are doing for the people. Tons of thanks to the family that I stayed with and of course to you for your experience, knowledge, proffessionalism and cooking. I'am blessed to have this, my new family in Ecuador.
-Olivia G., Mexico, spring 2009

I spent three weeks in the Napo region of Ecuador and feel so thankful and lucky to have connected with Jan and his friends there. I had a fascinating, "off the map" experience with just enough challenges to keep it exciting! I lived in an indigenous village and participated in a number of shamanic ceremonies and feel I got an authentic experience of some of the traditional plant medicine practises of the region. Very few westerners have come to the area to work with the shamans there so Jan is creating new possibilities and relationships and is doing so with a lot of care and respect. The rain forest is full of magic and healing power and I feel very much enriched by my journey there.
-Sonja, Canada, winter 2009

(...) We felt very good about the week we spend in and around tena already espacially the days with you. I´m immensely happy that we met you and did all this memorable things through you, it definitely changed my energies toward the trip and people around me, so I owe you! Janna feels the same way.. I hope you will have the strength to live where your heart is and to help the people in any kind of way to remain there culture.
-Gijs & Janna, The Netherlands, spring 2009

I want to thank you for all your help and guidance.. It has been a wonderfull experience and you helped a lot to make it more comfortable.. You were not only a guide, but a translator, a cook and wonderful friend as well. Hope you continue your work in the Amazone, to close the gap between the Western world and the Indigenous culture of the Amazone, which has so much beauty, wisdom and insights to offer..
-Roger, The Netherlands, winter 2009

"...thank you for being our guide for our experience with the shaman. It was such a valuable and wonderful experience for both of us. It's true that we got many new insights over the following days, and we're looking forward to participating in another ceremony in the future. I'd love to deepen the experience even further.
I know that we wouldn't have had nearly as easy time finding a ceremony and going through one without all your help and support."
-Victoria, U.S., winter 2008

"I had the precious opportunity to spent nearly four weeks in the Kechua Community as a volunteer. Getting into close touch with the way of living of the indigenous people was an inspiration which will definitely have a long lasting impact on my future life. Being part of this community deeply sensitized me to my social and natural environment and thus also prepared an excellent ground for the ayahuasca experiences. Boiling it down, for me the effect of combining the volunteering with the ayahuasca ceremonies was comparable to the one occuring when combining the vine with the leaves! A lot of enthusiastic comments have been written here about the ceremonies with Don Louis which I can confirm with all my heart. Besides his power, knowledge and steadfastness, attributes as humbleness and truthfulness make Louis a trustful healer and a strong ferryman able to help with the navigation even through deep and turbulent waters. Thank you Wancho for opening the door to all these precious experiences!"
-Jim, Germany, summer 2009