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

Ayahuasca Manta Retreats (Pacco Ayahuaskari): An In-Depth Review for Ayahuasca Retreats in the Sacred Valley, Peru

Ayahuasca Manta Retreats is not a separate operator. The website ayahuascamanta.com, which calls itself “Ayahuasca Healing Center,” is run by the facilitator known as Pacco or Paqo, with co-facilitator Timo, in San Salvador in Peru’s Sacred Valley, and its footer links to the “paccoayahuaskari” Instagram and “Ayahuaskari” Facebook accounts. It is the same operation we list as Pacco Ayahuaskari Retreats, which we do not recommend. It sells five-day and seven-day retreats combining ayahuasca, San Pedro, kambo, rapé, sananga, temazcal and breathwork for $390 to $500. On Tripadvisor, two separate reviewers, in December 2021 and October 2024, accuse the owner of sexual advances toward female guests during ceremonies; the owner denies the allegations and has threatened legal action. No medical screening, medical staff or emergency plan is published, and the website claims benefits for cancer, diabetes and epilepsy. We list it as not recommended.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: San Salvador, Calca province, Cusco, about an hour from Cusco and 15 minutes from Pisac, with a waterfall a 40-minute walk away, according to the operator’s website. Our earlier profile placed it in the Amazon near Iquitos; that was wrong.
• Approach: Night ayahuasca ceremonies of four to six hours in a maloka, held in “noble silence,” with a 12-hour San Pedro (wachuma) waterfall hike, temazcal sweat lodge, holotropic breathwork, rapé, sananga, massage and optional kambo.
• Suitable For: Not recommended. Anyone still considering it should not attend alone and should insist on written screening and emergency arrangements.
• Costs: $390 for five days (two ayahuasca ceremonies) and $500 for the seven-day “Deep Dive” (three ayahuasca ceremonies), with kambo “by donation,” according to the operator’s website. AyaAdvisors lists $300 to $690 for four-, six- and nine-day programs. The $750 on our earlier listing has no source. No deposit or refund policy is published.
• Overall Assessment: Low prices, small groups and a mountain setting, outweighed by repeated, unverified sexual misconduct allegations against the lead facilitator, the owner’s own five-star posts and legal threats in reply, no medical screening, staff or emergency plan while combining ayahuasca, San Pedro and kambo, several brand names with no legal entity, and claims to help cure serious diseases. Directory evaluation: F.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

The positive picture. Positive reviewers describe the river, mountain and waterfall setting, small and intimate groups, helpful integration talks, earth-house lodging and feeling at home and “very safe”; a July 2026 reviewer on a return visit praised Paqo and Timo and said they felt physically safe. Our earlier profile said a 2023 Quora post praised emotionally cleansing ceremonies with “Rosa,” that a retreat platform praised the jungle setting in 2022, and that a 2021 Tripadvisor review said guests felt safe and supported; no facilitator named Rosa appears in any source, the center is not in the jungle, and the only Tripadvisor review written in 2021 is a one-star warning, so those comments remain unverified.

The negative feedback. A one-star review written in December 2021, also posted on AyaAdvisors, says the owner made sexual advances toward the reviewer and another woman during a ceremony, while they were in a vulnerable state, that consent was impossible, and that he took no responsibility when confronted. A second reviewer, writing in October 2024 about a November 2023 return visit, says the ceremonies had lost their intensity and that the owner directed sexual energy at the female guests, and says she had heard similar accounts from others. A May 2026 one-star post that does not describe a retreat urges others to help bring the owner to justice. All of these are unverified.

Who is writing the reviews. Two of the five-star Tripadvisor entries, from November 2025 and May 2026, are written in the owner’s voice rather than as management responses: one, signed “Paqo,” calls the allegations false, blames a rival center and threatens legal action; the other attributes them to envy and says the listing cannot be deleted. Tripadvisor’s own “About” text for the listing is labeled as AI-generated and describes a pool and programs the operator does not list. The negative reviews sit under the “Pacco Ayahuaskari” name, while the current website uses a different brand. 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 Ayahuasca Manta, Pacco Ayahuaskari, Ayahuaskari Healing Center, Pacco (also spelled Paqo and Pako), Timo and “Maestra Rosa.”

• Sexual misconduct: Two separate reviewers, in December 2021 and October 2024, allege sexual advances or sexualized conduct by the owner toward female guests during or around ceremonies. The owner denies them. We found no police, prosecutor or court record. Unverified.
• Deaths and serious injuries: None found involving this operator.
• Theft and fraud: No complaints found.
• Legal action: No lawsuits or police action found; the owner has threatened legal action against Tripadvisor over the reviews.

Our earlier profile said there were no sexual misconduct allegations against staff, a clean online reputation and a lack of recent reviews; all three are contradicted by the reviews above. It also found no theft or police reports, which still holds.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident with this operator, please report it confidentially.

🔍 Critical Notes

One operator, several names. Ayahuasca Manta, Ayahuasca Healing Center, Pacco Ayahuaskari Retreats and Ayahuaskari Healing Center lead to the same facilitators, village and social accounts. A person booking through the newer site would not see the allegations posted under the older name. See our Pacco Ayahuaskari Retreats profile.

Three medicines with no screening. The programs combine ayahuasca, San Pedro and kambo with a sweat lodge, and the only screening rule is “if you are consuming any medication, contact to paqo before starting the retreat.” No washout periods, heart or psychiatric exclusions, medical staff or emergency plan are described.

Disease claims. The website attributes benefits for depression, anxiety, addiction, diabetes, cancer and epilepsy to the medicines and calls kambo antibiotic and antiviral. None of these claims has medical support.

Peru’s legal picture. Ayahuasca and San Pedro are legal in Peru, which made a reservation for both under the 1971 UN Convention, and retreat centers are not licensed or regulated, according to ICEERS.

Corrections to our earlier profile. The operator trades as “Ayahuasca Healing Center,” not under the name Ayahuasca Manta Retreats, and is in the Andes, not the Amazon. Its facilitators are Pacco and Timo, not “Maestra Rosa,” who appears in no source; a facilitator named Rosa at a different Pisac-area center, Etnikas, was investigated after a tourist’s death, and there is no known link. The current programs are five and seven days, not six and ten; the first day starts at 3 p.m., not 2 p.m.; and the website lists a WhatsApp number, Instagram, Facebook and its village. Yopo and the quotation “Just as the mind is healed, the body is also healed” from our earlier profile remain unverified.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

The operator publishes a strict diet for a week before and after the retreat and asks people on medication to contact Paqo, but no questionnaire, contraindication list, medical staff or emergency protocol. Kambo is given on the first day, with ayahuasca that night and San Pedro later in the week. Cusco, about an hour away, has the nearest full hospitals. ICEERS notes that ayahuasca’s MAOI component makes it dangerous with SSRIs and other serotonergic drugs and that it is contraindicated for people prone to psychosis. Integration conversations are part of the schedule. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a ceremony without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

The operator does not publish its recipe. Ayahuasca usually combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with chacruna leaves, which supply the DMT, as Erowid explains. San Pedro (wachuma) is a mescaline-containing cactus; kambo is a frog secretion applied to small skin burns. The operator says its effects include purging, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating and tremors.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: A rural property near the river in San Salvador, Sacred Valley, with mountain views, a maloka and a nearby waterfall.
• Rooms: Rooms with mountain views and earth-house lodging; post-retreat stays can be booked.
• Style: A blend of Andean and Amazonian ceremony, Mesoamerican temazcal and breathwork in small groups.

Practical guidance: Retreats begin with a 3 p.m. departure to the center on the first day; no airport transfer is described. Meals use vegetables from an organic garden, with vegan options.

Should You Book?

We do not recommend it. Anyone considering a ceremony here should read the reviews posted under the Pacco Ayahuaskari name, avoid attending alone, and ask in writing who will be present during ceremonies, how medications and health conditions are screened, and what happens in an emergency. Read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

The owner, Pacco (also written Paqo; one third-party page gives the surname Soto), says he has Amazonian and Andean Peruvian roots, began learning shamanism at 16 from Shipibo, Ashaninka and Mestizo teachers, and has trained in meditation, yoga, Ayurveda, San Pedro and kambo; in 2026 he claimed about 20 years of practice. “Paqo” is also a Quechua title for an Andean healer. Timo co-facilitates. The operator has used the Pacco Ayahuaskari name since at least 2020. We did not independently verify anyone’s training. Its lead shaman probably ran Shamanic Vida earlier; see our profile of Shamanic Vida.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before any ceremony: Disclose every medication and condition in writing, plan any change with your own doctor, and agree on a trusted contact outside the retreat. After you return: Arrange support from a qualified therapist at home. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any operator.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

The operator advertises flexible dates, booked through its website or WhatsApp. We do not recommend booking. 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.