Atmosphere

Features

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

Suchipakari Lodge: An In-Depth Review for Ayahuasca Ceremonies near Puerto Misahuallí, Ecuador

Suchipakari, also sold as Suchipakari Amazon Lodge & Jungle Spa, is a tourist jungle lodge with a pool and spa at Pusuno Bajo on the Pusuno River, about 20 to 25 minutes from Puerto Misahuallí in Ecuador’s Napo province, that offers ayahuasca ceremonies as an optional add-on led by a local shaman called Leo and his son, according to its own site and its Tripadvisor page. Lodge packages cost $267 to $544 for three or four days through a reseller, a private three-day ayahuasca tour from Quito lists from $1,250, and the lodge rates 4.2 from 268 Tripadvisor reviews. Against that, there is no medical staff, questionnaire or emergency plan for ceremonies, the owners and legal entity are not published, two Tripadvisor reviews from 2017 and 2018 allege that a guide made unwanted advances toward female guests, and a 2023 review alleges cash went missing from a room (all unverified).

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: Pusuno Bajo, on the Pusuno River about 20 to 25 minutes from Puerto Misahuallí, Tena canton, Napo, Ecuador. The last 10 kilometers are a rough dirt road, about an hour from Tena.
• Approach: A tourist lodge with jungle walks, tubing, rafting, community visits and a spa, selling ayahuasca ceremonies with chants and tobacco as a separate add-on in two to four-day formats.
• Suitable For: Travelers who want a jungle lodge stay; for ayahuasca, only after confirming the shaman’s background, screening, medical cover and an emergency plan in writing. Not suitable for people taking antidepressants or with heart or psychiatric conditions.
• Costs: Lodge packages of $267 to $544 per person for three or four days, per Ecuador Green Travel; a private three-day ayahuasca tour from Quito from $1,250, per TourHQ. The lodge’s own ayahuasca price is not published. A 50% deposit confirms a booking and the balance is due seven days before, per its programs page; no refund terms are published.
• Overall Assessment: An established, well-reviewed tourist lodge, but its ayahuasca add-on has no medical staff, questionnaire or emergency plan, the owners are unnamed, and older reviews allege guide misconduct and theft. Directory evaluation: C+.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

The positive picture. Reviewers praise friendly staff and local guides, night walks, tubing, chocolate making, an animal rescue center visit and the spa. The one ceremony review, from April 2025, says the guest felt safe.

The negative feedback. Reviews mention insects and roaches, damp rooms, no air conditioning, basic food, billing and booking disputes and a rough access road; a 2017 review reports food poisoning in a group of three, and a 2024 review reports power cuts for part of each day.

Who is writing the reviews. Mostly families and tour groups, at an organic pace. Management posted replies to many old complaints in December 2024, the lodge blog runs a first-person ayahuasca story with a booking link and no disclosure, and 2018 and 2019 Clave magazine features carry lodge branding. 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 Suchipakari, Leonardo Aguinda and the lodge’s general manager, Santiago Morales.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found.
• Sexual misconduct: A 2017 Tripadvisor review alleges a guide repeatedly propositioned two female guests and tried to kiss them; in December 2024 management apologized and said the behavior would be addressed. A 2018 review alleges unwanted attention from a guide, which management disputed. Both are unverified.
• Theft and fraud: A 2023 review alleges $180 went missing from a room without a safe; management disputed it, citing camera records (unverified). Reviews from 2013 to 2022 describe a resold prepaid bungalow, cash-only payment despite a stated card option and reserved rooms not provided.
• Legal action: None found.

None of these allegations involves the shaman or the ceremonies.

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

🔍 Critical Notes

Ayahuasca as an add-on. The lodge’s programs page lists no ayahuasca, and a 2018 Clave feature says the ceremony sits outside the all-inclusive packages, yet the site markets two, three and four-day ayahuasca stays. Ceremony guests share the lodge with families and tour groups, and no ceremony group size is published.

Screening and medical support. The lodge’s preparation page warns that MAOI and SSRI antidepressants can be dangerous with ayahuasca and offers a video call about medical conditions, but there is no questionnaire, no heart, blood-pressure or psychiatric contraindication list, no medical staff beyond “first aid” in package inclusions and no emergency protocol. The Misahuallí public health center has an ambulance but no 24-hour emergency service listed, per the Ministry of Health; the 24-hour hospital in Tena is about an hour away, per the Ministry.

Who runs it. No owner or legal entity is published; one 2023 reviewer called it indigenous-owned (unverified). Santiago Morales signs review replies as general manager. The lodge’s 2025 reply names the shaman as “Leo and his son,” and a former BookRetreats teacher page was titled Leonardo Klever Aguinda Shiguango; the link between the two is likely but not confirmed, and no lineage or community is published. The founding year is given as 1998, 2000 or 2005 in different sources.

Legal context. Ecuador’s 2008 constitution recognizes ancestral medicine and no national licensing framework for ceremonies exists, per a secondary summary from Mind Medicine Law; internationally, the INCB says plants containing DMT are not controlled, per ICEERS. No enforcement against retreats in Napo was found.

Corrections to our earlier profile. The lodge is on the Pusuno River, not the Napo River. Its own site lists two to four-day ayahuasca stays, not three to seven days, and no source supports $101 per night (rooms run about $77 to $125) or the $1,900 sidebar price. Tripadvisor shows 4.2 from 268 reviews, not 4 from over 150, and no Retreat Guru listing exists. Our earlier statement that no misconduct or theft had been reported is contradicted by the unverified Tripadvisor allegations above. The shaman’s Kichwa identity, rapé add-ons, the “Ajawaska” name, a 55 percent figure for difficult experiences, integration talks and a 2023 Reddit post about scams at unrelated Ecuador centers remain unverified. The eco-lodge, ayahuasca ceremonies, jungle excursions, rafting, tubing, community visits, occasional power cuts, the lack of medical staff and positive reviews are confirmed.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

The lodge warns against combining ayahuasca with MAOI or SSRI antidepressants and advises consulting a doctor, but publishes no questionnaire or wider contraindication list. 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

Ayahuasca of undisclosed recipe, with tobacco used in ceremony, per a 2019 Clave feature. Ayahuasca combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with a DMT-containing leaf such as chacruna, as Erowid explains.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: Lowland Amazon rainforest at Pusuno Bajo, with a river beach on the Pusuno, a private forest reserve, a pool and a spa.
• Rooms: Thatch and wood cabins with private bathrooms, hot water, fans and screens but no air conditioning, plus scenic suites and a bungalow with a private jacuzzi, per Forever Karen and resellers.
• Style: A family-friendly tourist lodge with local guides and Kichwa community visits, where ceremonies are one activity among many.

Practical guidance: Transfers from Quito cost extra, about $45 to $50 per person shared or $140 per private vehicle, and reviewers report poor phone signal on the final dirt road.

Should You Book?

As a jungle lodge, possibly. For ayahuasca, only after confirming the shaman’s identity, screening, medical cover and an emergency plan in writing. Read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

The lodge has traded as Suchipakari Ecuadorian Jungle Lodge and Suchipakari Amazon Lodge & Jungle Spa, and its Tripadvisor reviews start in 2012 and run to October 2026. Its ayahuasca program was active through at least mid-2025. 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; ask whether your ceremony group will be separate from other lodge guests. After you return: No integration is described; 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

Lodge stays are sold on its own site and through resellers; ayahuasca is arranged with the lodge directly. Best Retreats does not take bookings; learn more about our mission.

Last reviewed November 2026.

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