About Us
Allinkana (pronounced Ayinkana) in the native Quechua language of Peru, is the word for benevolent being or essential goodness. It represents that timeless and genuine benevolence that is implicit in all nature and at the core of creation.
We are a team of trained facilitators based in the city of Iquitos. We have all benefited from training with local shamans in traditional amazonian medicine and have witnessed firsthand, healing and personal transformation with Ayahuasca and sacred plant medicine.
Our mission
Plant medicine has proven time and time again to be an efficient way to journey within on a path of self-discovery, understanding, wholeness, growth, and spiritual determination, as it has been for indigenous peoples of different cultures around the world since time immemorial.
At Allinkana we chose to walk that path marked by the traditions of our spiritual ancestors. Those that we bring to current perspectives to be consistent in integrating your experience in a world that changes at a constant and radical rate.
We share a space of dedication where we assist our guests in a safe, supportive, grounded and loving atmosphere, where they may fully open up to themselves in an all natural healing environment in order to get the work they need done.
Our Team
Marco Sarmento
Director/Facilitator
How I got involved with plant medicine at the worst time of my existence, later made me realise how much of a blessing it was to start with. My life seemed to be falling apart after a separation, followed by a divorce that resulted in me having to move elsewhere for work and being away from my 4 year old son, for the very first time. I felt frustrated, depressed and beaten, my life felt like a joke, my self esteem and purpose was gone and before I knew it I was looking up from a deep hole I had dug for myself.
I’ve always been interested in spirituality. As a young man I was constantly researching in books and journals, I eventually became involved with spiritual and esoteric groups. I found refuge in different practices before I crossed paths with the teachings of the East. Vipassana and the Theravada buddhist path was very appealing to me at the time and later in life revealed itself to be a vital part of my experience.
After the divorce I was at odds with my life and moved from Lima to Iquitos with a new position as a Cruise Director for a high end and reputable touristic river cruise company. It was a period of grief and personal turmoil but I was unknowingly stepping into a magic realm that slowly enveloped my entire being and enhanced my personal growth beyond my wildest expectations. It wasn’t easy letting go and being at peace with the past but at this juncture, holding onto the burden was draining me and no longer an option. The Universe was showing me a new opportunity to reinvent myself.
At first this process wasn’t easy, the sense of failure, grief and pain were followed by brief moments of profound joy. It was productive but it wasn’t over. Just when I thought I was done accepting my marital collapse, I found a long string of pearls leading all the way back to my early childhood, relation with family and even the reminiscence of other lives. Every step I took in my training with Ayahuasca and other master plants, helped me to move closer to who I really was. After each realisation, I felt the moments of joy were increasingly more expansive and held space for deeper insights. I’d been blown wide open, the fear and the anxiety around life had subsided, clearing out the noise to live life with an open heart in a free-flowing and expansive maner.
It wasn’t long ago when I finally realised that we already have all the riches and everything we could ever possibly possess or wish for, deeply and inherently rooted at our very core. It is a privilege to be working side by side with Cei-Cei, our staff and every single guest that has crossed paths with us. We are here to learn from you and to help you achieve your own realisation.
Cei-Cei
Life Coach/Facilitator
My journey with Plant medicines started when I moved to Peru in 2016 and then soon after I started working with people by helping them to integrate their experience as they also worked with the plants. Part of what I do is to support people by holding space with them until they are comfortable holding the space for themselves.
My whole life I have focused on personal development and spirituality with a burning desire to learn and expand more and to share it with others. It’s been my main ambition. I have used different tools along this path and prefer the simplest approaches. I find the plants to be just that and so powerful in their simplicity. It’s just magical to see this process at work. My own journey with plant medicines helped me amongst other things to understand emotions at a much deeper level which enables me in this work also to connect with people at a deeper level.
My ambition in life now is to live every moment as fully as I can because I feel that that’s the best way to honour this life. I love this job and what these medicines have shown me. I love the people I work with and I just love working with our guests and watching their process through this stage of their journey.
We are here to answer any of your questions you have about these medicines and to help you find your own answers to your own personal self-development. There’s nothing more satisfying for me when I see that little light bulb light in someone’s eyes and it happens a lot here. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to see it in yours.
Shamans
José Manapú
José is 62 years old and has worked with people from all over the world, he is natural of Pebas and has lived most of his life in Iquitos, he is mestizo curandero and has practiced medicine for over 35 years. He started when he felt the true calling later on in his adult life even though he knew as a young man he had it in him to become a Maestro Vegetalista. He says the plants called him to practice when he was ready and grounded enough to undertake his mission. He sees himself as a Perfumero and Camalonguero which means that among his practices he favors the work with flower essences (perfumes) and camalonga which is a powerful plant used for energetic safety and cleansing, it is also considered a powerful teacher that will guide, teach and keep you safe as you journey in the spirit world.
Matilda Gomez Silvano
Mathilda is a 60 year old Shipibo-Conibo curandera, also known by her Shipibo name Korínbeka. She comes from the native community of Canáan de Cachiyaw. Mathilda started her path into curanderismo at the early age of 15. She trained under her grandfather, who was the community's first curandero and trained her through numerous dietas. After much training she eventually reached a point of proficiency with many teacher plants. She began as a curandera by successfully treating people with energetic, mental and physical conditions at her native community. Most of her insights on which course of action to take in healing people come through dreams, inspirations and mostly during concentration in ceremony. Matilda usually works with her daughter Sara and has also helped countless women with female related issues.
Pedro Panduro Reategui
Pedro is 37 years old mestizo curandero and was first introduced to medicines when he was 8. He was initiated by his father dieting with master plants. He started with Chiric Sanango and Ayahuma, later he was introduced to other plants and continued until he was 12. At this point he felt he wanted to diet Chuchuhuasha in the jungle, this is where he learned his first Icaro. At the age of 17 he met an old aunt of his who happened to be a curandera, she was impressed by the work he had done and told him he could become a good curandero. He wasn’t too convinced and didn’t think much of it until she passed. She came to him in a dream and said he was going to carry on her legacy. In the dreams he was introduced to plants he needed to diet, she transmitted her powers and taught him her icaros. He later had confirmation in a dream, he was ready to hold ceremonies.
