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Killa Raymi Tour
A Ten-Day Journey of Discovery in the
Ecuadorian Andes and Amazon
September 19-29, 2022
Hosted by Matthew Blau
Is this tour for me?
It really depends on what you’re looking for.
If you’re looking for a vacation where you get some nice sunset photos, drink frozen coconut drinks and have everything return to normal when you get home, this may not be the tour for you.
This is more of a change-your-life forever kind of tour. The kind where you come home with so much more than you left with, that it’s hard to even put into words. If you are like me and most people I have worked with over the years, you are seeking something larger. A more multidimensional way of living that is based less on who you are in your personal identity, and more on what you actually are and the miraculous thing you’re a part of.
Read the full itinerary below and I encourage you to reach out for more information about this and other tours we offer. This is big stuff and you should have all your questions answered before making a decision.
Itinerary for September 19 - 29, 2022
Arrive in Quito. Stay the night at a first class hotel near Mariscal Lamar International Airport.
Day One:
After breakfast you'll be picked up by private transport from your hotel and driven through the scenic countryside to our amazing jungle lodge, overlooking the Amazon as far as the eye can see. We’ll settle in, get to know each other, explore our surroundings and talk about what to expect, what we hope to engage and otherwise prepare for our first round of work with the sacred mushroom. This will be a day of relaxing, swimming, walks, massages, connecting with nature, enjoying healthy meals and other nurturing activities in this one of a kind spot at the very edge of the modern world.
Day Two:
After a light breakfast, we will gather in our medicine space overlooking the jungle and settle into a journey of self and universal exploration with the help and guidance of the mushroom and our wonderful facilitators. There will be full support for all participants. We will be accompanied by music and the sounds of the forest, as we travel in the heart of this jungle womb we’ve created together. We’ll take our time to slowly return to this dimension. The rest of the day will be devoted to relaxation and just being with whatever is showing up. I and the other facilitators will be available for support, help in integration, or just for conversation.
You can enjoy the spa, book a wonderful massage, have a swim or a soak in the hot tub overlooking the jungle. We’ll meet again at 5pm for an integration circle, where we can share any of our experience we want, receive support from one another and bring our journey of the day to a conscious close. We’ll then enjoy a wonderful dinner together with more connected conversation and relationship, and then drift off to a dream filled sleep, overflowing with the magic of the day .
Day Three:
We will come together for a hearty breakfast at 8:30 and then board our private coach for a trip across cultures and centuries, from the lush tangle of life in the Amazon to the rich and storied cultures of the Andes. The wood huts and warm breezes of the jungle will slowly give way to the crisp winds, blue skies and the mud brick and terracotta houses of the mountains. We travel South and West, climbing higher into the sierra and back in time until we arrive at the UNESCO world heritage site that is the city of Cuenca. Cuenca is an amazing, safe and diverse Andean city where our host Matthew has lived with his family for the past 6 years. We’ll settle into our first class, 100 year old hotel in the historic center of this European city and have some time to explore. We’ll share dinner together and then relax and enjoy what this special city has to offer.
Day Four: Sightseeing in Cuenca
This will be a day to relax and explore the city and surroundings together and adjust to the change in elevation, as Cuenca is at about 8500 feet. There will be an easy hike in the morning for those that wish, in the miraculous Cajas National Park, a half hour from the city. We’ll wander through the soft fields of the Llaviucu wilderness area, surrounded by mountains, streams, llamas and wild horses. We’ll have a snack on the hike and a warming lunch after. Then it’s back to Cuenca for more exploration, relaxation or whatever you’d like. There are two other optional activities for the day. Those who wish, can get a limpieza, a traditional cleansing/healing, done with herbs, plants and many other mysterious things by local Andean women.
The second option is a late afternoon trip to a spa in Baños. 30 minutes from the center is a town with thermal waters. We will go to a lovely Andean spa with lots of soaking in hot volcanic pools, eucalyptus steam, contrast pools, and more. There will be dinner and drinks there as well.
Day Five: The Danza
After a very leisurely morning, we’ll board our trusty coach again and drive a very easy 2 hours, south to Saraguro, the center of Andean shamanism in Southern Ecuador. We’ll arrive in Saraguro, steeped in rich tradition and ancient custom, in time for a beautiful lunch at the world renowned ShamuiCo restaurant. There we’ll be joined by Taita Angel Japon Gualán, who will give us a deeper understanding of the history and customs of Andean shamanism and cosmology. Then the Taita will take his leave of us, as he will need to prepare himself to lead the Danza that night.
At about 7pm, we will convene with others from all over South America at the site of the Danza. There may be as many as 100 people dancing that night. This is a dance that has taken place four times a year, for hundreds of years, occurring at the solstices and equinoxes. It is a dance of gratitude and prayer for the gifts of the planet. In March we dance for the tilling of the soil. In June we dance for the planting, in September for the harvest and in December for putting the fields to rest.
We will be offered rapé (a ceremonial snuff of the Andes and Amazon), and then sit in a traditional temazcal (sweat lodge), men with men and women with women. After an hour or so of this, we will begin the Danza, where we will dance in four lines (again, men and women separated), buoyed along by the spirit of the grandfather San Pedro cactus. There will be four, 1.5 hour dances with a half hour of rest between. The dance will be punctuated by four helpings of San Pedro, cañaso and traditional Andean music played all through the night by a variety of mostly female musical groups from all over Ecuador. The sun rising over the mountains and illuminating our circle will signal the end of the dance. We will reconvene in the temazcales for a closing round of sweat and song and then………we eat! All 100 of us will join together for a pampamesa (traditional picnic) provided by the hosts of the dance. The food we will feast on will be cooked underground in a pachamanca (traditional earth and brick oven, buried in the ground).
Please remember that all elements of this experience are completely optional. If rapé or the heat of the temazcal feels wrong for you, you are welcome to skip out of those elements. If you are exhausted from dancing, step out of the circle and relax. We will have a tent on site for those who wish to lie down and take it easy. This experience is for you and you are meant to find it rewarding, engaging, fulfilling and enjoyable.
Day Six: Vilcabamba
With no sleep at all and energized/exhausted from a very full night, we’ll drive another 2 hours south from Saraguro to Vilcabamba. This is the Sacred Valley of Ecuador, where people historically live into their 90’s and 100’s. It is easy to understand why when you’re there. Considering the convergence point of many energetic vortices, you will immediately feel the magic of this valley. Pure drinking water, great weather and powerful positive energies make this valley, covered in waterfalls, birds and flowers a spectacular spot to recharge. We will be staying at the amazing Izhcayluma resort and retreat center. A very special spot in this very special valley.
Day Seven: Unwrapping the Heart with Cacao Ceremony and Breathwork
After traveling together for almost 10 days, between cultures and landscapes, from the ancient to the modern, we come together once again for a day of cacao and breathwork.
After a day of rest and recharge, we begin day 7 with gentle yoga and stretching and then we offer our last round of medicine work together. We will be working with two powerful medicines, cacao and your own breath. Ecuador produces the world’s purest and most sacred cacao, and this heart opening ceremony has been practiced in South and Central America since the time of the Inca and Aztec. Jaffe will lead us in this ancient ritual with ceremonial grade Ecuadorian cacao, as a way to open our spirits, connect with this ancient tradition and feel the heart of the group. We will then get back on our mats and using only our breath, evocative music and focused bodywork, we explore another potent non-ordinary state of consciousness. Matthew has developed this form of breathwork after years of work with Stanislav Grof and others.
When we’re done, we can find a place to bask in the sun, eat some food, lie in a hammock and listen to the birds or anything at all. We’ll circle up again at about 4 in the afternoon for our integration/sharing circle and then have dinner together. Then with hearts full and open, we settle into relaxation and sleep.
Back to Cuenca
After a delicious breakfast, we say farewell to the sacred valley and head back to Cuenca for a day of more leisure, relaxation and unstructured time. As heart medicine can have the tendency to be rougher the following day than other medicines, this may be just the day to lay around with your journal and a pot of tea. You may want to park yourself in a cafe and watch the world go by. Whatever your needs are for that day, we urge you to respect and honor them. We will do whatever is necessary to support you in this.
In the event that you are feeling energized, we can go eat a great dinner at one of Cuenca’s world class restaurants or even take a private open air bus tour of the city.
Back to Quito.
With tears of joy and sadness (at least from Matthew, as crying is his superpower), we will say goodbye to all of you and disband for now our amazing group to put you on a 1 hour flight from Cuenca to Quito. From there you’ll be picked up by private transport and returned to the hacienda where it all started in what will feel like a lifetime ago. Time to relax, shop for gifts and really honor what you have experienced. It is also a time the group you joined hands and hearts with will take to say farewell for now to each other and connect around how you are going to take this with you and make it manifest in your daily lives. Our commitment to you doesn’t end when the tour does. We will continue to be an ongoing support system for you as you need.
Cost:
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$3490 USD per person/double occupancy
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$3790 private accommodations
What is included?
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All air and land travel within Ecuador.
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All meals (unless you’re on your own).
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All medicine journeys including facilitation, preparation, integration and support.
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All accommodation within Ecuador.
What isn’t included?
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International travel.
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Any purchases or gifts
Safety and support:
The only way for you to have a meaningful, transcendent and productive journey is when not even one percent of your consciousness needs to focus on your own safety or the safety of the group. You need to feel confident that you are held in a completely safe and impenetrable container, to really travel to the places you need and want to go. Your facilitators and retreat hosts have been doing this for many years and are committed to keeping the integrity of that container and to giving you the attention you need to feel safe, supported and protected throughout the entire experience.
Contraindications:
We will ask you to fill out a medical history form, but in general, any unmanaged serious heart conditions, epilepsy, and certain other conditions and/or medications may be contraindicated to this work. We will discuss any relevant medical history with participants individually.
COVID-19:
You will be required to show proof of vaccination and a negative PCR test to enter the country of Ecuador. We will also ask that you bring a rapid test along with you, to use before we begin our journey together. If we follow these protocols, we will be free to engage with each other without worry.