Directory-listed
Novalis
The only currently-bookable center the research surfaced in Madre de Dios, listed on Retreat.guru at $1,200 from Puerto Maldonado. Duration, lineage, and reviews were not captured, so treat everything beyond the listing as unverified.
| Location | Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios |
|---|---|
| Region | Elsewhere in Peru |
| Price | from $1,350 (8-day program; flexible and work-exchange options) |
Novalis is the rare bookable center in Madre de Dios, the southeastern Peruvian Amazon, rather than the Iquitos or Cusco corridors most retreats cluster in. It is a small, conservation-minded operation on a huge tract of primary rainforest near Puerto Maldonado, with treehouse lodging and Shipibo-led ceremony. We reached it through Retreat.guru, AyaAdvisors, and Reddit rather than a personal visit.
What Novalis offers
The main program is an 8-day ayahuasca and plant-medicine retreat, listed at $1,350 on its current Retreat.guru dates into 2026 and 2027, with flexible and work-exchange pricing noted (Retreat.guru listing). Ceremony counts are not fixed in the public listing and depend on the retreat. Included are transport from Puerto Maldonado, shared mosquito-screened treehouses, locally grown vegetarian food, ceremonies, individual plant dietas where chosen, and pre and post sharing circles. Groups are kept small, typically six to eight guests. The setting is genuinely remote: roughly 4 km from the river, surrounded by around 2,000 hectares of primary forest, reached by road and river from Puerto Maldonado airport.
Ceremonies are led by curandero Loyver Yui Lopez, Shipibo from the Alto Ucayali community of San Francisco, who learned through his mother's family line and is also a visionary painter. Alongside the plant work, the center runs conservation and artist-residency projects. On the tier question, Novalis is better documented than a bare directory name, with a working site and years of reviews, but its published program and safety detail is thin.
What people are saying
The footprint is small and consistently positive. Retreat.guru shows 4.75 out of 5 across 16-plus reviews. One verified 2025 guest wrote: "the treehouse was great, the food was excellent and the overall atmosphere is open and peaceful... the ceremony itself has been very authentic and special. I felt looked after" (Retreat.guru listing). A 2023 review called it a "precious place with precious people... honest, caring, dedicated, skilled," saying "you will most certainly feel safe, supported, and empowered." Reddit threads about centers near Puerto Maldonado repeatedly name it as "amazing," "authentic," and "deep in the jungle and beautiful" (Reddit thread). We found no complaints, incidents, or red flags tied to Novalis.
The honest read
The caveats are about verification and remoteness, not warning signs. Novalis publishes very little on medical screening: the listing mentions "individual health consultations, if required" but no contraindication list, no facilitator-to-guest ratio, and no on-site medical staff or emergency access detail. Ceremony counts are not stated upfront, so you will need to ask. The location is deep forest, which is the appeal and also the risk: a long way from a hospital if something goes wrong. The review volume is modest, so treat the strong scores as encouraging rather than conclusive. As always, consult your own doctor before booking, and get the screening and ceremony details from the center in writing.
Novalis vs AyaSelva
Novalis has genuine draws AyaSelva cannot match. Its curandero works in an indigenous Shipibo family lineage, where AyaSelva's tradition is Mestizo, and if Shipibo icaros matter to you specifically, that is real. Its Madre de Dios setting, treehouses, conservation ethos, and work-exchange option make it a distinctive choice for people who want the southern Amazon and a low-key, nature-first stay. Its six-to-eight group size is close to AyaSelva's intimacy.
Where AyaSelva pulls ahead is screening transparency and continuity of care. It caps every retreat firmly at six, publishes its full contraindication list (SSRIs, MAOIs, antipsychotics, cardiovascular disease, epilepsy, psychosis history, pregnancy), and runs a health questionnaire plus a personal intake call before confirming, where Novalis offers a consultation only "if required." It states four ayahuasca ceremonies over seven days at $1,200, so its program is more legible than Novalis's unstated count, and it is family-run and personally vetted by our team. For a first-timer who wants to know exactly what they are screened for and how many ceremonies they will sit, AyaSelva is our steer. For someone set on the southern Amazon with Shipibo lineage and a conservation bent, Novalis is a fair and appealing alternative. Read our full AyaSelva review.
Deciding between the Iquitos region and Madre de Dios? Ask us and we'll tell you honestly which fits your trip, for free and with no stake in it. If you lean Novalis, contact them directly to confirm ceremony counts, dates, and their screening process before you send a deposit.