Casa del Sol Vilcabamba

Casa del Sol sits in the San Pedro Valley outside Vilcabamba, in Ecuador's Loja province, a valley its founders call the Sacred Valley of Longevity. It is a family sanctuary in the plainest sense. Co-founder Ximena Morales Gamarra, born in Peru, has called Vilcabamba home for 26 years. She has lived beside rivers and mountains since she was 21 and raised four children here, a role she describes as her most sacred initiation.

Ximena is the guardian of the place. She is initiated as a Pampamisayoc, an Andean priest, within the Q'ero cosmovision and the Turpo lineage, the guardians of the relationship with Apu Ausangate in the high Peruvian Andes. She also walks the red path of the North Native traditions as a Sun Dancer and Vision Quester. The retreat's FAQ says she is certified as a shaman by the Ecuadorian government. Visiting allies share their own lineages, among them Yana Bartova and Mira Jempe, both from the Czech Republic, and Mateo Buki, whose training includes more than two years of study in Nepal.

Ceremonies are held in malokas, open-air bungalows used as prayer spaces. The San Pedro Maloka sits on the backbone of the valley, in a native San Pedro forest. The Ayahuasca Maloka sits beside the river. Ayahuasca nights begin between nine and midnight and run to sunrise, with prayer and live traditional music. San Pedro days run from about nine in the morning to six in the evening and close with an offering to Pachamama. A sacred fire burns throughout, tended by a Keeper of Fire. The Temazcal, a dark dome lodge, moves through four stages of heated stones.

The retreats run 6 and 10 days and are limited to 13 participants. Time outside ceremony is given to sharing circles, nature immersion, bodywork and silence. The kitchen draws on the Saturday organic market in the valley and cooks vegan, vegetarian and omnivore meals. The calendar runs monthly from December 2026 to March 2027, and a separate 9-day pilgrimage travels to Cusco, Peru.