Welcome to our Amaru Spirit
Amaru Spirit is a family owned natural medicine healing center located in the Amazon rainforest, half an hour outside of the city of Iquitos. In 2008 we began our mission with a single intention: to create a safe holistic community suitable for the restoration of mind, body and soul. This work is our passion and calling.
Our purpose built facility was designed to ensure maximum comfort to our guest’s, who travel from all over the world specifically to address dis-connectedness, dis-harmony and dis-ease.
Nutrition
”The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.” - Thomas Edison
”Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” - Hippocrates
Plant Medicine
"It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life". Joseph Campbell
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” Krishnamurti
Cleansing
“If you bring forth what is within you, what is within you will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what is within you will destroy you.” – The Gospel of St. Thomas
Retreats
Your stay, your way
Unlike most retreats, we know that one size doesn't fit all. Let the Amaru Spirit in with a customized individual retreat to help you get the most out of your time with us. Or choose one of our tried-and-trusted (by many) retreat packages for an intensive program of maximum healing. Dare to transform!
Slocum's Paintings
Greetings from the jungle
Hello All,
I trust everyone has been adapting to the situation as we all have. There were many days I felt like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, fortunately, I focused my energy on drawing and painting which helped keep my sanity.
It looks like we will be opening the center the first week of January as long as there is interest. It has been challenging to keep things going, we have kept two guards to protect and maintain the grounds, it is amazing how rapid the jungle can overtake things when not using the spaces.
Know About Us
Who are we?
David ‘Slocum’ Hewson is the owner and founder of Amaru Spirit, a holistic healing center located in the Amazon jungle. He lives on the property with his wife and two children.
Having spent 20 years as an artist, Slocum moved to Iquitos, where he dedicated much of his time to painting subjects from the Peruvian Amazon. Following many years of study with traditional shaman and undergoing extensive plant diets and initiation, he designed and built Amaru Spirit. In addition to creative expression through art, which he feels is greatly enhanced through the use of plant medicines, Slocum believes that a modern understanding of nutrition and physical cleansing can be combined with the ancient shamanic art of healing the body and spirit through the use of plant medicines; and the two are necessary and synergistic.
In order to provide the highest quality of service to our guest’s, Amaru Spirit employs a large number of local staff to support the operation. The Amaru Spirit family includes our live-in shaman and his wife, as well as kitchen, laundry, cleaning, maintenance, and grounds staff.

The modalities in use at Amaru Spirit include
What we provide?
- Detoxification with body clay, cleansing and reinvigoration with plant and flower baths.
- Detoxification and cleansing of the energetic body with herbs and master plants.
- Cleanses and flushes for detoxification and rejuvenation with top-quality Western supplements.
- Balancing the physical body with a healthy and nutritionally focused diet consisting of organic produce and Superfoods.
- Clearing and healing of the soul with a variety of herbs and medicinal plants.
At Amaru Spirit, we know that one size doesn’t fit all. This is the underlying principle in our approach to health, rejuvination and system balancing. As such, we will explore and identify the different dimensions of your own process. We work closely with all of our guests to ensure you receive the highest level of attention possible.

Why choose Amaru Spirit?
Why choose us?
- We are an informal, family owned center with no fixed-date programs.
- We will provide a prompt and detailed response to the submission of your inquiry or booking form.
- Prior to arrival we will advise you how to prepare yourself before your visit.
- Our English speaking staff will transport you to and from the airport or your hotel.
- On arrival you will have a consultation, so that we can ascertain your intentions and aspirations for personal growth.
- Our private and apartment style accommodations are mosquito resistant and include Western style bathrooms are furnished for your relaxation and introspection.
- All common areas are mosquito resistant with adjoining Western style bathrooms.
- All of our meals are delicious, healthy, and nutritious, comprising of fresh organic produce and Superfoods. We serve a vegan and vegetarian menu, with local wild fish optional.
- Throughout the center, including the showers and sinks of all the houses, we have really high quality, purified water.
- We include comprehensive energetic readings which will be discussed with you, and will ascertain the methodology that matches your individual requirement.
- We explore a range of different holistic modalities, including Western & eastern style detoxification. We also offer master plant diets to expedite the detoxification process, and advance your internal process and development.
- Following the completion of your stay, if you need any help or advice regarding your integration process, we remain at your service.
- At Amaru Spirit, we know that one size doesn’t fit all. This is the underlying principle in our approach to health, rejuvination and system balancing. As such, we will explore and identify the different dimensions of your own process. We work closely with all of our guests to ensure you receive the highest level of attention possible.
Our Available Retreats
What you need to know about Amaru Spirit and our programs:
All programs can be booked at any time, there are no fixed-dates and programs can be extended on request.
Note that there are some weeks during the year that we are closed, and there are some weeks where Slocum or Nicky are not available (please check the Calendar page).
All services are included in the cost of the program (with the exception of transport to/from the center and laundry).
We provide very comfortable mosquito netted jungle huts (tambos) with adjoining Western style bathrooms.
Meals are made with high-quality fresh and organic produce and include a superfood diet to support cleansing and healing.
One-on-one attention and consultations are provided to support your specific healing goals.
Plant dietas (for example, tobacco, bobinsana, chiric sanango) for the customized retreat are available on request and are usually only undertaken by guests who have previous experience with plant medicines.
Please let us know if you are interested in doing a plant dieta as these can only be done when Slocum is available.
To apply for any retreat, please complete our questionnaire/booking form.



This workshop is not for beginners. To do this workshop, you need to have a capacity to profoundly look at yourself, your personalities/sub-personalities. archetypes, shadow aspects, control dramas, and so forth. This is a powerful shamanic/spiritual transformation though Amazonian plant medicine and initiation, fused with the Native American medicine wheel. This workshop is designed to challenge belief systems of reality, illusion, dream and truth.
Please note that this is a minimum of 14 nights. Also, we can only do this extra work with you once we have met you.



Please note that during the master plant dietas you will be in isolation. Also, you will not be allowed to have any cell phones, ipods, etc. so there will be no phone or internet connection during the dieta period(s). We would usually ask you to give us any of your electronic equipment to hold for you during the isolation period.
Plant dietas for the customized retreat are available on request and are usually only undertaken by guests who have previous experience with plant medicines. Plant dietas can only be done when Slocum is available (please check the Calendar page)

Some part of benefit us
Coca Ceremony/Medicine Wheels
A Coca Ceremony always varies for the individual and is always one-on-one.
Divination with Coca and the teachings of the North American Indian Medicine Wheel.
This part explains what the Medicine Wheel is and how to maintain balance by looking at opposites.
Establish Universal Order through balancing the chakras for grounding, centering and inner peace.
Shamanic Journey to meet power animals and spirit guides.
Opening up the spirit door for ancestors and guides to come in and complete the energetic work
by whatever process is needed, for example, soul retrieval, soul release, trance postures.
Spend Time In Amazonian Jungle
Unlike most retreats, we know that one size doesn't fit all. Let the Amaru Spirit in with a customized individual retreat to help you get the most out of your time with us. Or choose one of our tried-and-trusted (by many) retreat packages for an intensive program of maximum healing. Dare to transform!