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

Ayahuasca Onixobo: An In-Depth Review for Shipibo Ayahuasca Ceremonies and Dietas near Pucallpa, Peru

Ayahuasca Onixobo is a small Shipibo-Conibo family center near Pucallpa, in Peru’s Ucayali region, led by a healer known as Don Julio, who claims more than 30 years of practice, with his partner Lastenia and their daughter Paty, who guides guests in English. It offers ayahuasca ceremonies and master plant dietas, described in detail on its website, with a recommended dieta of three weeks. Ceremonies take a maximum of eight people. Its only independent footprint is an unclaimed AyaAdvisors listing with two five-star reviews from November 2019; one reviewer places it in “the small town of san francisco,” most likely the Shipibo community of San Francisco on Lake Yarinacocha. No surnames, prices, medical screening, medical staff, emergency plan or legal entity are published, its website claims the dieta helps “in some cases of cancer” and lists toé, a toxic plant, among its dieta plants, and we found no evidence of activity since 2019. We found no incidents.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: The San Francisco native community on Lake Yarinacocha, about 20 km from Pucallpa, Ucayali, which the family’s website calls the oldest Shipibo community, with more than 2,000 inhabitants; it says guests are met at Pucallpa airport for a drive of about 30 minutes. The exact site within the community is not published.
• Approach: Shipibo ceremonies with icaros and master plant dietas in a family home and farm (chacra), with purgative plants, thermal baths and Shipibo massage before a dieta, according to its website.
• Suitable For: Travelers seeking a quiet, traditional family setting for a dieta of two weeks or more who can confirm in advance that the family is receiving guests.
• Costs: No price is published. A reviewer called it “very reasonably priced,” and the family describes it as “small scale and affordable.” The $795 on our earlier listing has no source. No deposit or refund policy is published.
• Overall Assessment: An authentic, very small family setting with English-speaking guidance and warm reviews, offset by no verifiable activity since 2019, no surnames or legal entity, no published medical screening, staff or emergency plan, an unsupported claim about cancer, and toé among its dieta plants. Directory evaluation: C.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

The positive picture. The two 2019 reviewers, who stayed two weeks and about a month, describe strong, “heart opening” medicine, a spacious and clean room, Paty’s English and guidance, quiet surroundings with birdsong that helped them integrate, a fair price and a “truly life changing” experience. Our earlier profile also said a review called Don Julio’s icaros powerful for emotional healing, and that Quora users described a cozy, familiar atmosphere in San Francisco and praised Paty’s English; the San Francisco and Paty details appear in the AyaAdvisors reviews, and the other comments remain unverified.

The negative feedback. No complaints are visible. Our earlier profile said some guests noted basic accommodations; the only reviews found praise the rooms, so that comment remains unverified.

Who is writing the reviews. Two reviews posted three days apart in November 2019, when the listing’s photo was uploaded, make up the whole public record. 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 Onixobo, Don Julio, Lastenia and Paty.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found involving this center. In October 2023 a different Shipibo healer, Don Pedro Sinuiri of the similarly named Oni Xobo center in Nueva Betania, was stabbed by a guest, who was arrested, according to DoubleBlind; that case does not involve Ayahuasca Onixobo.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and crime: No reports found.
• Legal action: No police action or lawsuits found.

Our earlier profile also found no theft, sexual misconduct or crime and described a clean online reputation. Without surnames, and with so little online record, the absence of reports says little.

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

🔍 Critical Notes

Not Oni Xobo. Oni Xobo (onixobo.org) is a separate Shipibo organization led by the Sinuiri family in Yarinacocha, with a dieta center in Nueva Betania. It also cites a maximum of eight patients. Check which family you are contacting.

Health claims. The family’s website says the dieta can help treat depression, anxiety, trauma, phobias and addiction and increase self-confidence, and that “it can also help in some cases of cancer.” No evidence supports ayahuasca or plant dietas as a cancer treatment, and no one should delay medical care for one.

Toé. Among more than 20 dieta plants, the website lists toé, the Amazonian name for Brugmansia, which contains tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine and can cause dangerous delirium and poisoning. Ask whether it is ever used and refuse it.

Is it operating? Nothing dated after November 2019 shows the center operating. The family’s WordPress site carries photos from 2014 to 2018 and two videos of Don Julio.

Peru’s legal picture. Ayahuasca is legal in Peru, where the traditional knowledge and use of ayahuasca by Amazonian native communities was declared national cultural heritage in 2008, as Andina reported; retreat centers are not licensed.

Corrections to our earlier profile. Our earlier profile said the center had no official website, yet linked its WordPress site, which confirms the bungalows, kitchen, drinking water, Wi-Fi zone and the preparation and dieta rules summarized below. Its “Quora” citations match the AyaAdvisors reviews. The $795 price and the “sustainability” of the chacra remain unverified.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

No medical questionnaire, medical staff or emergency protocol is published. The family’s website lists cardiovascular problems, schizophrenia and epilepsy as contraindications, asks pregnant or menstruating women to wait, and asks people taking “any anti-depressive medicine or other pills” to make contact first; our earlier profile added that “other very potent medicinal plants” are offered to those who cannot take ayahuasca. No washout periods for SSRIs or MAOIs are given. Hospitals in Yarinacocha and Pucallpa are within about 30 minutes to an hour by road. 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. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a ceremony without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

The family says it has worked “for many generations with the sacred plant Ayahuasca” but does not publish its recipe. Shipibo ayahuasca usually combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with chacruna leaves, which supply the DMT, as Erowid explains. The healer chooses a dieta plant for each person from more than 20, including piñón colorado, renaquilla, marosa, bobinsana, ayahuma, sanango, chiric sanango, tamamuri, shihuahuaco and toé, according to the family’s plants page.

The dieta, as the family describes it. On arrival, a private interview with the healer; then a first ayahuasca ceremony, the master plant, and a closing ceremony at the end, with icaros throughout. During the dieta: isolation and no salt, sugar, oil, spices, alcohol, drugs, sex or sun, with meals of rice, lentils, quinoa, oats, potatoes, green banana, yuca and sometimes fish or chicken. Before arrival: two weeks without alcohol, drugs, marijuana, red meat or pork, and one week without sugar, salt, soft drinks, spicy, fatty, fried or dairy food, coffee or sex. Afterward: two to four weeks of restrictions, including a month without alcohol, drugs, pork or spicy food, and avoiding surgery, dental work, chemical medicines and cold food. These rules are from the family’s diet and preparation page.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: A family home and farm in a lakeside Shipibo community near Pucallpa, described as green and quiet with birdsong, sunsets and stars.
• Rooms: Private bungalows with mosquito nets, shower and toilet, a kitchen, drinking water and a Wi-Fi zone, according to the family’s website; reviewers describe spacious, clean rooms.
• Style: Traditional Shipibo family healing with icaros and dietas, for at most eight people per ceremony.

Practical guidance: Pucallpa is about an hour’s flight from Lima, and the family says it meets guests at the airport for the drive of about 30 minutes to San Francisco. The community has a pottery museum, a craft fair ground and a port on Lake Yarinacocha.

Should You Book?

Only after confirming the basics. Ask for the healer’s full name, the exact location, the price and refund terms, how health conditions and medications are screened, and what happens in an emergency, and do not rely on a dieta to treat a serious illness. Read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Don Julio is described as a Shipibo-Conibo healer “with more than 30 years of medicine,” from a family that has worked with ayahuasca “for many generations.” His partner, Lastenia, attends ceremonies, prepares remedies, purges, thermal baths and Shipibo massage, and makes traditional embroidery; their daughter, Paty, speaks English, Spanish and Shipibo, translates and organizes the dieta, according to the family’s About page. A 2011 travel blog describes a Shipibo weaver named Lastenia in San Francisco de Yarinacocha whose husband is a curandero; whether it is the same family is unknown. We did not independently verify anyone’s training.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Disclose every medication and condition in writing and plan any change with your own doctor. After you return: Arrange support from a qualified therapist at home. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any center.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

Bookings are by email to Paty; no dates or prices are published. Before paying anything, confirm that the family is receiving guests and get the price, refund terms and emergency arrangements in writing. 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.