Atmosphere

Features

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

TamboWasi: An In-Depth Review for Ayahuasca Retreats near Panama City, Panama

TamboWasi is a private ayahuasca retreat brand run by a facilitator known as Tambo, listed as Mauricio Tambo, that holds one and two-night ceremonies for groups of up to six at a lake estate and his own mountain home in the Cerro Azul hills outside Panama City, and at a coastal house in El Salvador, from $600 for one night, per its Retreat Guru page. It offers very small private groups and claims training in the Putumayo yagé tradition since 2013. Against that, it has no reviews, publishes no contraindications, medical staff or emergency plan, an earlier program combined ayahuasca with bufo (5-MeO-DMT) and kambo in three days, and its lineage claims and listings are unverified and inconsistent.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: A lakefront estate in Cerro Azul and Tambo’s private home in Los Altos de Cerro Azul, Panamá Province, per its Mountain Home program page, and a coastal residence in Costa Azul, El Salvador; addresses are given only after booking.
• Approach: One or two night-time ayahuasca ceremonies in the yagé tradition with preparation and integration conversations; other medicines such as kambo, bufo, rapé and xanga are “considered individually”.
• Suitable For: Experienced adults wanting a short private ceremony near Panama City who can screen themselves. Not suitable for people taking antidepressants or with heart or psychiatric conditions.
• Costs: $600 for one night at the mountain home and $1,750 for two nights at the lake estate or in El Salvador, per its Lake Estate program page; an older three-day program with bufo and kambo was $1,700. Retreat Guru pages show the deposit refundable until a day before and full payment until five days before, but the operator’s own booking pages show no refund policy. Airport pickup costs extra.
• Overall Assessment: Very private, short ceremonies at modest prices, offset by no published medical safeguards, past bundling of ayahuasca with bufo, no track record and unverified lineage. Directory evaluation: C-.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

TamboWasi has no reviews on Retreat Guru, is not on BookRetreats, and no reviews were found on Google or Tripadvisor. 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 TamboWasi, Tambo, Mauricio Tambo and Medicinas Ancestrales in Panama and El Salvador.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and fraud: None found.
• Legal action: None found.

The facilitator uses a nickname and no other team members are named, which limits this search.

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

🔍 Critical Notes

Who runs it. Tambo describes himself as born in El Salvador, initiated in the Putumayo jungle of Colombia in 2013, and founder of Medicinas Ancestrales in 2016, working with ayahuasca, kambo, bufo, rapé and xanga, per his teacher profile (unverified). A second Retreat Guru profile, “Taita Tambo”, that appears to be the same person claims apprenticeship with Inga taitas of the Chasoy family and adoption by the Inga people, per that profile (unverified). Contact is through a Gmail address and a Panama mobile number, and no company is named.

Screening and medical support. Each guest goes through an application and evaluation, but no questions, contraindication list, medical staff or emergency protocol are published. The older three-day program combined two ayahuasca ceremonies with bufo and kambo. The mountain home has no public transport, and the distance to a hospital is not stated.

Listings. The lake estate program is described as one night, two nights and two days; group sizes vary from four to six; medicine is listed as included although Retreat Guru notes its payments exclude it; and one gallery image filename refers to an AI image generator.

Status. Bookable for flexible dates as of November 2026, with a related Medicinas Ancestrales retreat in San Salvador in February 2026.

Legal context. No Panama law or ruling specific to ayahuasca was found; Panama’s drug offenses carry prison terms of up to 25 years, per La Prensa, and natural materials containing DMT are not regulated under the 1971 UN convention, per Wikipedia’s summary.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

Combining ayahuasca with bufo, a serotonergic drug, in a short retreat without a published contraindication list or medical staff is a serious concern. 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

Yagé served by Tambo; its source is not published. Ayahuasca combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with a DMT-containing leaf such as chacruna, as Erowid explains.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: Tropical forested hills with lakes and waterfalls above Panama City, and a Pacific beach house in El Salvador.
• Rooms: Private rooms in a lakefront residence or the facilitator’s home, booked for one private group at a time.
• Style: Colombian yagé-style ceremony led by a Central American facilitator in private homes.

Practical guidance: Fly to Panama City (PTY) and arrange the paid pickup; there is no public transport to the mountain home.

Should You Book?

Only with caution. Ask in writing for Tambo’s full name and the teachers who trained him, the screening questions and contraindication list, whether bufo or kambo will be offered and with what gap, who on site is trained in first aid, the emergency plan and nearest hospital, the refund terms, and the legal entity you are paying. Read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Tambo says he began working with yagé in Colombia in 2013 and now holds monthly ceremonies in Panama and El Salvador. We did not independently verify anyone’s training.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Disclose every medication and condition in writing, plan any change with your own doctor, and decide in advance which extra medicines you will decline. After you return: Arrange support from a qualified therapist at home, since post-retreat support is not described. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any center.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

Programs are listed on Retreat Guru. 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.