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

Aslepay Shamanic Center: An In-Depth Review for Yagé Retreats in Mocoa, Colombia

Aslepay Shamanic Center runs 11- to 12-day yagé (ayahuasca) retreats at an eco-hotel near Mocoa in Colombia’s Putumayo department, the heartland of Indigenous yagé medicine. It was founded by Antonio Siano, an Italian former entrepreneur, and is managed in Putumayo by Francesco Pariset, an Italian medicine musician, with ceremonies led by Inga, Cofán-trained and Siona taitas and a mama, some held at the healers’ own malocas. Its most famous name, the Cofán elder Taita Querubín Queta Alvarado, died in February 2024 at 110, although our earlier profile and several directories still present him as leading ceremonies. Aslepay publishes no price; a directory lists $2,500 to $2,700. The center has only five public reviews, all five-star and posted within 12 days in August 2022, and we found no incidents. The concerns are its terms and its safety transparency: it never refunds payments, only credits them, takes the balance in cash euros on arrival, publishes no contraindication policy beyond pregnancy, names no medical staff and has no published emergency protocol for a jungle site with patchy phone signal. Our earlier profile needs correcting on the taita, the price and several reviews that remain unverified.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: The “ECO-Hotel Samawe,” a five-hectare eco-resort with a river and waterfall near Mocoa, Putumayo, according to Aslepay’s retreat pages; no address or coordinates are published. One or two ceremonies per retreat take place at the taitas’ own malocas in Villagarzón and Pepino. Guests fly from Bogotá to Villagarzón, about an hour away.
• Approach: Five or six yagé ceremonies led by Indigenous taitas, with an optional cacao ceremony, the founder’s “Ego-Transcendence” and “Comprehension Therapy” sessions, art therapy, a day learning to prepare yagé, live music and excursions to a wildlife park, waterfall and the Mandiyaco Canyon.
• Suitable For: Travelers who want a long, structured Putumayo yagé retreat with several Indigenous lineages and comfortable eco-lodging, organized by Europeans. Not suited to anyone who needs refundable bookings, medical staff or a well-documented track record.
• Costs: Not published on Aslepay’s site. AyaAdvisors lists $2,500 to $2,700 for 12 days, with private rooms and suites extra. Bookings require a 25% deposit online and the balance “in cash on arrival (euro only),” according to the center’s FAQ. Villagarzón airport transfers, vegetarian meals, excursions and local transport are included.
• Overall Assessment: Traditional yagé with real, traceable Indigenous healers and a comfortable venue, offset by a no-refund, cash-on-arrival payment model, a thin and possibly solicited review record, no published screening, medical staff or emergency protocol, night ceremonies off site, no visible legal entity and outdated marketing of a taita who has died. Directory evaluation: C+.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

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

The positive picture. The five AyaAdvisors reviewers, from stays in 2021 and March 2022, praise the organization, facilities, food, strong healers and the integration therapy, and one describes a third visit. Testimonials on Aslepay’s site speak of unconditional love and feeling reborn. Our earlier profile cited a 2023 Quora post saying Taita Querubín’s ceremonies healed deep trauma, and guests on Aslepay’s site praising the eco-hotel and vegetarian meals.

The negative feedback. No negative review was found. Our earlier profile cited a 2022 Tripadvisor review saying support was good but integration felt rushed; that review, like the Quora post, remains unverified.

Who is writing the reviews. All five public reviews were posted within 12 days, shortly after Aslepay’s 2022 “grand opening,” which fits a solicited batch. The site also runs an ambassador program, an annual raffle and a lifetime €100 return discount, and a related blog announced the opening as “our center.” If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms and English, Spanish and Italian-language news for reports involving Aslepay, Antonio Siano, Francesco Pariset and each named taita.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found involving Aslepay. Taita Querubín Queta died of natural causes at home in Orito in February 2024, aged 110, according to Blu Radio. In the wider region, a 19-year-old British tourist died near Mocoa in 2014 after a yagé ritual advertised by a hostel, as Colombia Reports covered; it is not linked to Aslepay.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found against Aslepay or its people. In December 2023 a man in Orito, Putumayo, who posed as a spiritual leader was jailed for sexually abusing victims after giving them yagé, according to Noticias RCN; he has no connection to Aslepay.
• Theft and crime: No reports found.
• Legal action: No police action or lawsuits found.

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

🔍 Critical Notes

No refunds, cash on arrival. The FAQ states: “We do not refund or reimburse payments made towards the retreats in any case.” Reservations cancelled before arrival receive a credit toward a future stay. After a 25% deposit online, the balance is paid in cash, in euros, on arrival in Colombia (the FAQ elsewhere says “a few days before”). Carrying large sums of cash to a remote area is itself a risk.

A taita who has died. Taita Querubín Queta Alvarado, the revered Cofán elder of Orito, led private ceremonies at Aslepay’s 2022 and 2023 retreats. He died on February 3, 2024. Aslepay’s later retreat pages no longer list him, but Retreat Guru and AyaAdvisors pages, and our earlier profile, still describe him as a living 109-year-old. His name has been used commercially before: an academic paper records that documents a Spanish organization said he had signed were declared false by Cofán representatives and by the taita himself. Current Aslepay retreats are led by Mama Ana Jamioy, Taita Gavino Garreta Chindoy and his nephew José Gildardo Garreta (Inga), Taita Humberto Díaz, who trained for more than 25 years under Querubín, and Taita Victoriano Piaguaje Yaiguaje (Siona).

Who runs it? Aslepay’s site names no company or tax number, and no Colombian registry record surfaced. The site says the center has operated “since 2017,” while a June 2022 post announced its “grand opening” with an inaugural retreat that October. Its retreat calendar shows four or five retreats in 2023 and one or two a year since; the latest dated retreat ran from September 28 to October 8, 2026, and no 2027 dates are listed. The manager, Francesco Pariset, also appears on a separate organizer’s Mocoa retreat in February 2027 with the same taitas.

Corrections to our earlier profile. Taita Querubín Queta died in February 2024 and no longer leads ceremonies. We found no source for the price of 1,899; AyaAdvisors lists $2,500 to $2,700 and Aslepay publishes none. The setting is Amazon foothill jungle with a river and waterfall, not a mountain retreat. Sessions are in English, and the 2025 retreat page says translation, including Russian, is not included. “Strict medical protocols” overstated the case: the center asks guests to suspend medication for two weeks, with exceptions cleared by an unnamed “medical coordinator,” and publishes nothing more. The medicines are yagé and an optional cacao ceremony; we found no source for replanting ayahuasca or for donating income to reforestation, though a directory says the center invests in local reforestation. “Mama Fanny,” named in our earlier photo captions, does not appear on Aslepay’s pages.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

Aslepay’s FAQ asks guests to “suspend (if possible) all medications/supplements at least two weeks prior,” with exceptions “cleared by our medical coordinator,” and strongly recommends that pregnant women avoid the retreat. It describes no medical questionnaire and says nothing about SSRIs, MAOIs, heart conditions or psychiatric history. No medical staff are named, and no emergency protocol is published; the FAQ notes the center is “inside the jungle” with limited phone coverage. One or two night ceremonies per retreat take place at the taitas’ own malocas, which adds transport and supervision questions. Integration takes the form of the founder’s therapy sessions, for which no clinical credentials are stated. 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

Aslepay’s FAQ says its yagé combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with chacruna, which it calls “the only traditional recipe,” matching ayahuasca as Erowid describes it. Each taita brings their own preparation, and guests spend a day learning how yagé is made. Recent retreats include five yagé ceremonies and an optional cacao ceremony. No kambo, bufo, rapé or San Pedro appears in Aslepay’s programs, although the founder’s personal Retreat Guru profile lists kambo and bufo among the medicines he works with.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: Five hectares of Amazon foothill jungle near Mocoa, hot and humid, with a river, waterfall and natural pool.
• Rooms: Eco-bungalows shared by three or four guests, with private rooms and suites at extra cost; Retreat Guru lists air conditioning, a pool, spa, sauna and hot tub.
• Style: Traditional Putumayo yagé ceremonies with Inga, Cofán-trained and Siona healers, wrapped in a European-run eco-resort program of therapy sessions, art, music, an outdoor cinema and a closing gala dinner. Meals are vegetarian, with produce grown on site.

Practical guidance: Fly from Bogotá to Villagarzón, where staff collect guests; book the domestic flight and any Bogotá hotel yourself. Bring a way to pay the balance in euros in cash, or confirm alternatives in writing first.

Should You Book?

Aslepay may suit you if you want a long Putumayo yagé retreat with traditional healers and comfortable lodging. The trade-offs: no refunds under any circumstances, a cash balance in euros, very few public reviews, no published screening or medical staff, off-site night ceremonies and an uncertain schedule. If you go, get the price, the payment and credit terms, the names of the taitas for your dates, the medication rules and the emergency plan in writing, and read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Antonio Siano, born in Naples in 1973, describes himself on Aslepay’s story page as a former entrepreneur and founder of a renewable-energy company who now leads retreats, talks and coaching. Francesco Pariset, the manager in Putumayo, is an Italian artist and medicine musician who says he first worked with ayahuasca in 2014 and moved to Putumayo in 2015. Taita Humberto Díaz grew up in the Cofán reserve of Jardines de Sucumbíos and served as Querubín Queta’s yagé cook; Taita Gavino Garreta Chindoy trained with Cofán masters including Querubín; Taita Victoriano Piaguaje Yaiguaje is the son of the Siona taita Laureano Piaguaje; and Mama Ana Jamioy is an Inga healer described as having more than 50 years with yagé. Aslepay also runs events abroad as “Aslepay in Tour.” We did not independently verify anyone’s credentials.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Disclose every medication and condition, and plan any change with your own doctor rather than the retreat’s coordinator. Ask whether your ceremonies will be on site or at a taita’s maloca and how you will travel at night. After you return: Aslepay offers post-retreat follow-up. 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 aslepay.com and by Instagram message, with a 25% deposit. The latest listed retreat ran from September 28 to October 8, 2026, and no 2027 dates are shown. Before paying, confirm in writing the full price, the credit-only cancellation terms, the cash payment arrangements, which taitas will lead your retreat, the medication rules and the emergency plan. 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.