Peru Ayahuasca experience 2017 Chapter 2.

I arrived in London to spend the night with friends before flying to Peru the next day. I was looking forward a catch up and a pleasant evening. Well, that was the plan anyway. As the afternoon approached I decided to have a nap so I opened my carrier case containing my sleep apnoea mask. The mask was missing one tiny magnetic clip, so it would not close and make a seal. For fuck's sake man! Now? Why? I went out on a desperate search starting at the chemist, Nothing, except the advice to go to the nearest hospital. Nothing, "try another hospital" so, I crossed London and went to the emergency department of the Charing Cross hospital which is not in Charing Cross. Two lovely doctors tried to help but the masks were different fits, so I returned with masks which have I believe since been used as fancy dress at a Comic Con. My friend, a bit of a handyman found his gaffer tape and "stuck" my mask together. This managed to last the entire three weeks I was away. 

Pleasant evening not entirely ruined I saw my friends and had an early night.

Leaving early, I caught my train to Gatwick taking a selfie on the way to remind me how utterly miserable I was.

I had a direct flight on BA to Lima and it was a comfortable enough journey of twelve and a half hours.

I was met by my arranged pick up and driven to the Healing dog hostel (Kaclla) in Miraflores. A super hostel with a nice bunch of people staying there. I sorted my stuff and settled in quickly. My mask had also developed a small split in it so was leaking air badly. I had some spare gaffer tape so could patch that up as well. the mask by now was literally being held together with tape. good enough for Apollo 13 so good enough for me. Even if I looked like Darth Vader’s poor relative!

The next morning after a pretty good night's sleep (there being a six-and-a-half-hour time difference) I had breakfast. Muesli and coca tea. Later, I went for an orientation walk and found it easy to get to the Kennedy Park and all the shops and restaurants. I did not venture far and rested a lot.

On the morning of the second day I was pretty settled and with no real evidence of jet lag I joined a walking tour of the city. Quite fun and informative I met some nice people and hung out with a Scottish woman insistent in talking about the Anunnaki, Illuminati and Jesus while visiting the San Francisco cathedral and looking at the catacombs and all the neatly laid out bones. Well, it was Interesting, oh and we picked up a waif who we ended up buying a jug of Pisco sour for his entertainment. I was not drinking alcohol as I was preparing for my retreat in the jungle. A rare moment of self-control.

The next day I flew to Pucallpa, a town situated on the edge of the jungle to meet the rest of the gang going to Nimea Kaya. As I sat in my seat a child began to scream so I turned to the chap sitting next to me and said nonchalantly "that's all we need" only to be admonished by two different women getting on the plane. One with the words "that was you once" and the other saying "compassion!" I chuckled to myself hoping they were not people I would be spending time with. They weren't, luckily for them.

The flight was only an hour and we all soon met up and our facilitators were there ready to meet us. Sixteen in total we were split into two's and taken by a motorbike rickshaw. By chance I shared the journey with another South African. 

Ten minutes or so and we had arrived. We entered a big gate and followed a wooden path to a small cluster of buildings. We were shown our accommodation and I was paired with an Australian. We had a large hut and a decent large bed each with a mosquito net and our own fan. We had a desk each and a large bottle of water. The toilet was just behind the hut and the showers were a minutes’ walk away. All well-made and comfortable. I had a power point for my machine, Sorted!

We all met for lunch and began getting to know one another. We gelled straight away. There were South Africans, an Australian, Italians, a Trinidadian a Canadian, a Finn and Americans. A nice mix.

Time passed, evening came. Supper, bed.

I woke up fresh having no jet lag. A cold shower was a nice start as it was already over thirty degrees and we all met for some yoga in the Maloka (meeting place). I'm glad intention counts as I felt horrible and out of shape. I did feel better for doing the session though. 

We had a good breakfast and then I loafed about. Today we were going to have our first ceremony. We were pretty much left to chill out being told that we would have a light lunch and then nothing as we needed an empty stomach to take the medicine.

At about six thirty I went to the Maloka with my water bottle, head torch and blanket. I forgot my pillow which was a mistake I regretted later. I sat next to the Australian on the one side and an American girl on the other. I was surprisingly calm. I tried to imprint my location in my brain as it was going to be pitch black except the light from one candle. I did some meditation and cleared some space using Reiki. I was near the passage which led to the toilets. I thought myself clever, but it made no difference I would soon find out. We were asked to knock three times on the floor if we needed help. 

The ceremony began by the facilitators handing out mapachos (a cigarette the shaman use to cleanse during the ceremony) I declined. They came around again and as they approached us we stood with outstretched arms and they swept the front then the back of us with smoking herbs, sage I think. Then we sat back down. The Owner Casey came in and he dosed out the medicine and this was brought to us with the facilitator wishing us a pleasant journey.

The little glass of thick brown liquid was carefully placed in my hand. I set my intentions and downed the medicine quickly. I knew it was going to taste bad from all the research I had done, and it did. Sorry mother Aya but it was not pleasant. I don’t know, molasses and cinnamon but rancid, thick and bubbly.

I sat back and waited, bucket close by. We all had buckets. The medicine already within minutes started making me queasy. Relax Richard, breathe. Eugh, burp! Breathe! After about ten minutes the Aussie threw up and I followed suit after a few seconds. It was not like some gentle rejection of a bit too much rich food but more like the wrenching of your arsehole through your mouth. The deepest gut wrenching sounds came from inside me and then the general cacophony of everyone else started. That is the last point I had any reference of anyone else as I was suddenly in another realm. I found myself being ushered along a dark corridor made of green, purple, orange and red joyously bulbous machine elves with massive white toothy grins. They kept happily jostling me along this corridor with big fumbling hands with no possibility of turning around until I was spat into the void.

I was then being repeatedly, like a kid on a water slide sent through a birth canal. Again, and again and again until I said, "not again, please, not again". Again, again! How many more times must I be reborn? I felt ageless, there was no time just repetitive rebirth. As I resigned myself the scene it changed, and I was on a white plate of pure white light. I was waiting for God and I was ready to die if I had to, but this was my last stop so come what may I was ready. I was a bit cocky thinking to myself, Pah, this manor is a bit Naff. Don't think much of the decor then suddenly God arrived and said "Hi". Not scary, like the idiotic depiction we've been sold but all powerful and cool at the same time. Hey God? I want to be like you and Jesus and the Buddha. I'm tired of the games. Use me or kill me 'cos I ain't going nowhere. "Come over here mate" God said. We floated to a wall separating a city. The city was distant and as I looked over the wall God said "So, STILL want to be like Jesus and the Buddha? As I heard this I realised all the work has been done already and the teachings are there to be followed if we choose to. I understood Christ and Buddha consciousness as I was now seeing all imperfection fall into a bright light dissolving as it neared the centre. There is only one truth and it is love. I was experiencing this directly. So powerful and beautiful.

The spirit of Aya told me that my first experience was just an "overview" and there was much work to be done. I'd only seen the tip of the iceberg.

She left. Quickly I felt myself returning to my body and my mind and I returned to normal although I felt better inside than I had before.

I slept in the Maloka hearing others as they navigated their journey. As the light grew I picked up my belongings and returned to my hut.

After a quick nap It was time for Integration where we all shared our experiences. We were given a piece of the Ayahuasca vine to hold as we spoke. There were sixteen of us in total and after the first ceremony I felt we were all one.