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Atmosphere and feature ratings above are based on Best Retreats research (October 2026). They will be updated if APL Shamanic Journeys submits its own information.

APL Shamanic Journeys: An In-Depth Review for Ayahuasca Retreats in Spain and Peru

APL Shamanic Journeys (also APL Journeys) runs week-long Shipibo ayahuasca retreats at an oceanfront center on Spain’s Atlantic coast in Andalusia and at a lakefront camp about two hours from Pucallpa in the Peruvian Amazon. In Spain it operates through a members’ association, Asociación de Plantas, registered in Marbella, and frames its retreats as private, non-commercial gatherings for members. Its maestros are Shipibo healers led by Noe Lopez, with Sani or Toni Lopez and Pepe Franchini Vasquez, and its founders appear only by first name. A Spain week costs €2,650 to €3,500 for four ceremonies, and Peru from about $2,900. Reviews are uniformly perfect, 5.00 from 44 on Retreat Guru and 5.00 from 49 on BookRetreats, and we found no incidents. The concerns are legal and medical: Spanish police have raided several ayahuasca retreats since 2022, APL’s own pages contradict each other on whether it holds a local permit, it says it is “not qualified to offer medical or emergency care,” and the credentials of its therapists are assigned to different people on different pages. Our earlier profile needs correcting on its location, setting, team and current dates.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: Spain: a “premium ocean-front center” two or three minutes’ walk from a wild Atlantic beach, with olive-forest paths and horse riding, according to APL’s Spain retreat page; BookRetreats lists it in Cádiz province, and Retreat Guru puts it about two hours from Sevilla airport and two and a half hours from Málaga. No town is published. Peru: a lakefront camp reached from Pucallpa by car and boat, with group pickup at a Pucallpa hotel. APL ran a program in Ecuador in 2024 and mentions Mexico, but lists no current dates in either.
• Approach: Traditional Shipibo ayahuasca ceremonies with icaros, four in a seven-day week, plus a flower bath, sound sessions and education sessions in Spain, and master-plant dietas in Peru. APL says it does not combine ayahuasca with bufo, San Pedro, mushrooms or kambo in Spain.
• Suitable For: Travelers who want a structured Shipibo ceremony week in Europe or the Amazon with English-speaking support and a strong online preparation and integration program. Less suited to anyone who needs medical cover on site, legal certainty or refundable bookings.
• Costs: In Spain, €2,650 per person in a shared apartment, €3,300 for a private room and €3,300 or €3,500 for a private apartment (the page gives both), according to the Spain retreat page; BookRetreats shows US$2,973 and Retreat Guru $3,050 to $6,100. In Peru, $3,150 to $4,600 on Retreat Guru and “from $2,900” on APL’s site. An annual association membership fee applies, and the deposit is non-refundable.
• Overall Assessment: An active, highly rated operator with named Shipibo maestros, detailed preparation material and on-site therapists, offset by an association model operating during active Spanish enforcement, contradictory permit claims, no medical staff, inconsistent therapist credentials, owners named only by first name and a non-refundable deposit whose size APL’s own pages don’t state. Directory evaluation: B-.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

Here is how APL rates across review platforms in October 2026:

The positive picture. Reviewers describe a professional, safe and caring team, supportive facilitators, unhurried pacing, language support, good food and a beach nearby, and name Boris, Sasha, Josie, Carissa, Ubi and “Shaman Noe.” A 2022 Retreat Guru review is titled “Life altering.” Our earlier profile also cited a Quora post praising APL’s integration process, its trauma-informed facilitators and post-retreat group chats; that post remains unverified.

The negative feedback. No review below five stars is visible on any platform. Our earlier profile said some guests found the strict diet challenging but necessary; we found no review saying so.

Who is writing the reviews. Every visible rating is five stars, BookRetreats blends imported Google reviews into its count and its listing carries a “Free Gift” badge, and no Retreat Guru review from 2025 or 2026 is visible even though retreats continued. APL also publishes dozens of search-engine articles, including a “10 Best Ayahuasca Retreats in the World 2026” list on its own site. If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms and English and Spanish-language news for reports involving APL, Asociación de Plantas and the people it names, including Noe Lopez, Sani and Toni Lopez, Pepe Franchini Vasquez, Boris and Sasha Slobodin.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found involving APL. APL’s safety page says an emergency “has never occurred,” an unverified claim.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and crime: No reports found.
• Legal action: No police action, raids or prosecutions found involving APL. Spanish police have raided other ayahuasca retreats in recent years, listed below.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident at APL, please report it confidentially.

🔍 Critical Notes

Spain’s legal grey zone, and APL’s contradiction. Ayahuasca is neither specifically banned nor authorized in Spain; DMT is a controlled substance, personal use is not a crime, and supplying it can be prosecuted as a public-health offence, as ICEERS explains. In July 2025 Madrid’s High Court of Justice upheld an acquittal, ruling that ayahuasca under that name is not a controlled substance, as The Local reported. Enforcement continues: police arrested 18 people in a “neo-shamanic” network across Ibiza, Málaga and Madrid in January 2024, as OCCRP reported; three people were arrested at a retreat in Pedreguer (Alicante) in August 2025, according to eNCA; and the Guardia Civil dismantled a “fake clinic” giving ayahuasca and other substances in Sagunto (Valencia) in September 2026, according to Diario de León. None involved APL. APL frames its retreats as members-only association gatherings, and its FAQ says it “holds a permit from the local government,” but its own 2026 legal article says Spain has no permit or licensing system for ceremonies. Ask to see any permit before you book.

Who runs it? APL’s terms and conditions name the operator as Asociación de Plantas, tax ID G16802662, with a registered address in Marbella and an entry in the Andalusian register of associations; we have not checked that register. No owner’s full name appears anywhere. Its pages credit the founding variously to Aleksandr, to Sasha (surname Slobodin, possibly the same person) and to Boris, who is also called lead facilitator, translator and singing-circle lead. “APL” is never explained.

Therapist credentials don’t line up. APL lists therapists in a “non-clinical” support role, but the qualifications it publishes move between people: a US master’s in mental health counselling is given to Lindsay Cray on one page and to Josie Seydel on another, a “Chartered Counselling Psychologist” title with about 20 years’ experience is given to each of them on different pages, and Katie Briggs appears as both a master’s graduate and a doctor of clinical psychology. Retreat Guru’s listing claims a “licensed psychotherapist present throughout each retreat.” Ask which professional will attend your week and check their registration yourself.

A deposit you won’t get back. The terms state: “If one must cancel their reservation, we will not refund your deposit,” with an exception only for medical issues found at intake, and no refunds for lateness, early departure, flight problems or illness. The deposit amount is not stated on the terms, booking page or FAQ; an older HealingMaps listing for the Spain retreat gave a €1,000 deposit, and one for the 2024 Ecuador program €2,000.

Corrections to our earlier profile. The Spain center is on the Atlantic coast of Andalusia, listed in Cádiz province, not in the Segovia and Valladolid area where our map pin sits, and the setting is oceanfront in Spain and lakefront in the Amazon, not a mountain retreat. The price we listed, about 2,650, is in euros. Noe Lopez is one of several maestros, alongside Sani or Toni Lopez, Pepe Franchini Vasquez, Rosa Vasquez and Jose Vasquez. Retreats did run in 2025 and are scheduled into 2027, so our note about missing dates is out of date. Accommodation in Spain is apartments and rooms rather than a villa. The foundation page now links a different donation page from the one we listed. We found no source for the claim that APL protects the Amazon from mining or contributes to scientific studies, which remain unverified.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

Applicants complete what APL calls a 160-question safety form covering health history, medications and psychiatric background, with an optional interview with a therapist, according to its homepage and Third Wave listing. Its preparation guide lists SSRIs and other antidepressants, MAOIs, St John’s Wort, sedatives, decongestants, antihistamines, stimulants, MDMA, other hallucinogens, cannabis and alcohol, to be stopped two to six weeks beforehand after consulting a doctor, and its terms name heart disease, epilepsy and recent chemotherapy as possible exclusions; the retreat is “not suitable for those in acute crisis.” APL’s safety page says it “is not a medical or psychiatric facility” and is “not qualified to offer medical or emergency care.” It cites facilitators on hand, a vehicle always available, a “Red Cross certified” team with no further detail, and “a reliable medical center” a short distance away, unnamed. The Peru camp is about two hours from Pucallpa by car and boat. Integration includes a group call with a therapist about ten days after, six months in the Nectara online community and paid individual sessions. ICEERS notes that ayahuasca’s MAOI component makes combinations with SSRIs and other serotonergic medications contraindicated, and that ayahuasca is contraindicated for people prone to psychosis. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a retreat without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

APL says its brew combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with chacruna or chaliponga, both DMT-containing leaves, which matches traditional ayahuasca as Erowid describes it. The Spain page says no other entheogen is combined with it, though APL’s video library includes a “Kambo Experience with APL Journeys.” Peru dietas use master plants including chiric sanango, bobinsana, ajo sacha, chuchuhuasi and uchu sanango. The Spain week has four ceremonies (three on the six-day version), and dinner is skipped on ceremony days.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: In Spain, a warm Atlantic coastline with beach and olive groves; in Peru, a hot, humid Amazon lake camp with round-the-clock security.
• Rooms: Spain offers shared two-guest apartments, private 25 m² rooms and 60 m² apartments with air conditioning, heating and terraces; no pool is mentioned. Peru has bungalows with private bathrooms, hot water, fans and Wi-Fi, and premium lake-view bungalows up to 97 m².
• Style: Shipibo ceremonies with icaros alongside an online preparation course, sound sessions, therapists and an app community, with optional massage (€80), sound sessions (€70) and horse riding (€80) in Spain. Groups average about 15 in Spain and 6 to 12 in Peru.

Practical guidance: For Spain, fly to Sevilla or Málaga; shared transfers cost about €280 per car from Sevilla and €320 from Málaga, split among riders. For Peru, fly to Pucallpa; a group transfer runs from the Costa del Sol Wyndham hotel, and airport transfers are not included.

Should You Book?

APL may suit you if you want a Shipibo ceremony week in Spain or the Amazon with strong preparation and integration material and English-speaking staff. The trade-offs: legal uncertainty in Spain and a permit claim its own pages contradict, no medical staff, therapist credentials you will need to check yourself, and a deposit you will lose if you cancel. If you go, get the deposit amount, the name and registration of the therapist attending your week, the emergency plan and the nearest hospital in writing, and read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

APL says it has operated since 2017; the earliest dated independent evidence is a Retreat Guru review from November 2020. Its founders appear only as Aleksandr, who claims a master’s in psychology and more than ten years of ayahuasca study, Sasha Slobodin and Boris, whose biographies on BookRetreats are nearly identical. Maestro Noe Lopez is presented as a 47-year-old Shipibo healer from the Pucallpa area with 27 or 28 years of practice and membership of ASOMASHK, a Shipibo-Konibo healers’ association whose existence was reported by Psymposia in 2019; his membership is unconfirmed. Sani Lopez and Toni Lopez are both credited with 28 years of practice, and APL’s Retreat Guru profile for Maestro Sani sits at a web address reading “maestro-toni,” so they may be one person. Pepe Franchini Vasquez says he appeared in the documentary “The Last Shaman”; the film’s credited cast lists only James Freeman and Guillermo Arevalo, as Box Office Mojo shows, though Variety’s review mentions a shaman called Pepe, and we have not confirmed it is the same man. He says he trained under his uncle, Antonio Vasquez Galarreta; his partner Rosa Vasquez and brother Jose Vasquez also work with APL. APL says part of its proceeds funds a completed clean-water project for its maestros’ families on the Ucayali River and a partnership with Bosque Medicinal in Ecuador. We did not independently verify anyone’s credentials.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Complete the safety form honestly, disclose every medication, plan any washout with your own doctor, and follow the preparation diet. Take out private medical insurance, as APL recommends. After you return: The group call and Nectara community are included, and individual sessions cost extra. Arrange support from a qualified therapist at home as well. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any center.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

Bookings are made through apljourneys.com, its Retreat Guru pages and BookRetreats, with association membership and a screening. Upcoming Spain weeks include October 31 to November 6 and November 7 to 13, 2026, New Year weeks from December 28, and February 2027 dates; Peru retreats and dietas are scheduled for March and May 2027. Before paying, confirm in writing the deposit amount, the cancellation terms, who provides medical and psychological cover, and the emergency arrangements. Best Retreats does not take bookings; learn more about our mission.

Last reviewed October 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified medical professional.