At Chacruna: The Virus, Ayahuasca, Grief, and Hope

Chaikuni Witan

As the whole world grapples with coronavirus, I have the peculiar fate of being deep within the Peruvian Amazon. I’m an hour outside of Iquitos, a city of three hundred thousand people, reachable only by boat or plane. The city is hot, noisy, and bustling, the last outpost of “civilization” before a great expanse of jungle. Travelers come here as a hopping off point for sport fishing, jungle tours, or, like myself, ayahuasca and plant medicine... continue reading.