Mukuari Retreats

Have you been feeling called to connect with ancestral medicines and indigenous wisdom?

At Mukuari, we create immersive journeys into the heart of plant medicine, ancestral wisdom, and connection with the natural world.

We hold these experiences with deep respect — for the medicines, for the indigenous traditions and wisdom keepers we are privileged to learn from, and for the facilitators who walk alongside us.

The Path of the South Retreat

6-Day Retreat | 17th - 22nd December

Sucumbíos, Ecuador

Entering this retreat is entering a path where the rainforest becomes a living teacher. In the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon, within the ancestral territory of the Cofán Avie Community, we are invited to slow down, listen, and reconnect with what has been forgotten beneath the noise of the modern world. Here, the body is cleansed, the mind becomes clear, and the spirit remembers who it is. This retreat has been created for those seeking real transformation, authentic spiritual guidance, and a return to their roots.

We — Carlos and Sofia — have spent many years walking alongside Indigenous teachers, receiving guidance that has shaped how we hold space for journeys of this depth. Together with Taita Isidro Lusitante, respected elder and keeper of his community’s traditional knowledge, we open a space for experiential learning, healing, and connection with the wisdom of the rainforest. This work has emerged through lived experience and relationships rooted in trust, and is a calling that has shaped our lives.

Alongside the guidance of Taita Isidro, the retreat includes practical workshops on creating natural remedies and perfumes from rainforest plants, as well as classes in Elemental Medicine, offering tools to carry the medicine and teachings of the jungle into everyday life. It is a journey of healing, learning, and connection — not only experienced during the retreat, but carried with you beyond it.

Retreat Investment

€1200/$1350

Places are intentionally limited to 6 participants for this retreat.

"I attended the Path of the South retreat in April 2026. I really didn’t know what to expect, as being open spiritually is very new to me, and despite working on myself for 20+ years, I had spent most of my life hiding this side of myself from everyone to stay protected. It was a big step to take the leap and fly out to a country I don’t know and engage with the retreat, and part of my decision to do so was from talking to Sofia and Carlos. I saw what wonderful, caring people they are. The decision became an easy one as I saw how much love, knowledge, and passion they want to share with the world.  Attending the retreat only reinforced this, and I had a lovely time. I remember Carlos telling me that if I wanted to see real magic, I should come, and the experiences I had delivered far beyond anything I have ever experienced and in some instances, defined the reality I knew. I met a lot of loving people who, despite my lack of Spanish, made great efforts to support, guide, and care for me. The effort and amount of love that went into the ceremonies are incredible. If you’re curious or not sure about the retreat, take the time to talk to Carlos and Sofia and see how you feel. And make the effort to prepare and attend if you feel the call. You won’t regret it. I was already on the path to change my life before my retreat, and since attending, I have become unstoppable."

— Mark Turner

Venue

Cofán Avie Community, Ecuadorian Rainforest

The retreat takes place in the territory of the Cofán Avie Community, located within the Bermejo Ecological Reserve in Sucumbíos Province, in the northern Ecuadorian Amazon. This is a place of living rainforest, pristine rivers, and extraordinary biodiversity — a protected environment where nature remains deeply connected to the life and traditions of the community.

Accommodation is communal, rustic, and in harmony with the natural environment. We will sleep in the communal house or traditional huts, with hammocks and mosquito nets provided for a comfortable and restful stay. The simplicity of the accommodation is part of the experience, allowing us to live more closely with the rhythms of the rainforest and the community.

Food will be local, fresh, and traditionally prepared, supporting the physical and spiritual cleansing that forms part of the retreat. Meals are prepared with the local environment and the retreat process in mind. We can accommodate any allergies or dietary restrictions if you need.

This is a nature-based retreat venue — it is an opportunity to live within an ancestral rainforest territory and experience the simplicity, rhythms, and natural surroundings of the Cofán Avie community. Here, the environment itself becomes part of the journey.

Explore More About the Community We Will Be Visiting & Meet Taita Isidro Lucitante

What Will We Experience During the Retreat?

This retreat is an opportunity to enter into a deeper relationship with the rainforest and the ancestral wisdom carried by its plants and people. Through ceremony, teachings, practical workshops, meditation, and time spent within the territory, we will explore different ways of connecting with the medicine and carrying its teachings into our lives.

Ancestral Medicine Ceremonies
Participate in traditional ceremonies guided by the elders of the community, held with wisdom, respect, and support. We will work with a variety of plant medicines learning about their traditional uses and the wisdom they carry within the ecosystem where they grow and thrive.

Journeys Through the Territory
Walk through the living rainforest alongside members of the community, discovering medicinal and power plants, learning about the biodiversity of the territory, and developing a deeper relationship with the plants within their natural environment.

Natural Remedies & Jungle Perfumes
Through hands-on workshops, learn how traditional remedies and natural perfumes are prepared using plants from the jungle. These practical experiences offer a direct and tangible way to connect with the plant allies and the knowledge surrounding them.

Meditation & Body Connection
Explore practices that bring awareness back into the body and support the processes opened through ancestral medicine. These meditations create space to listen inwardly, observe what is arising, and develop a deeper connection with the body throughout the journey.

Elemental Medicine
Through Elemental Medicine classes, we will explore practical ways to integrate the intentions and teachings of the retreat into everyday life. These practices create a bridge between the ancestral wisdom received in the jungle and the way we choose to live, relate, and move through the world beyond the retreat.

The Word of the Elders
Gather around the fire or in the maloka, the traditional communal house, to listen to the stories, myths, teachings, and worldview of the Cofán people. These moments of sharing offer an opportunity to learn directly from a living tradition and to better understand the relationship between the community, the plants, the land, and the spirit of the rainforest.

The Team

Man wrapped in a blanket sitting near a campfire inside a stone fireplace.

Carlos Esteban Rojas Rondon

Carlos has his roots in the countryside of Venezuela. He is a co-founder of the Mukuari Community Project and the creator of a line of ancestral medicines that integrate plants from the Amazon, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Andes, and southern Chile.

For over 11 years, he has walked alongside Indigenous spiritual authorities, elders, and traditional healers from different territories, who have recognized his commitment, discipline, and clarity to responsibly carry the path of medicine. Through these teachings, Carlos has prepared sacred remedies — including perfumes, ointments, tonics, and medicinal preparations — shared with love and respect, and used to support emotional, energetic, and spiritual healing.

His path has been endorsed by Indigenous authorities, including through formal ancestral governmental recognition. In the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Carlos maintains close relationships with governors and traditional leaders, with whom he continues to learn, serve, and walk in mutual respect.

Carlos’ mission is not to create followers, but to support each person in remembering their own inner medicine. Mukari was born as a vision received along his path and now lives through remedies, teachings, and community work devoted to honoring the ancestors, serving the Earth, and accompanying deep transformation.

A young woman with long wavy brown hair and blue eyes smiling, wearing a red patterned shawl, standing outdoors in front of green bushes.

Sofia Dagg Rojas

Sofia is a medicine woman born in Ireland, bearer of a Celtic lineage rooted in nature and feminine spirituality. She is a co-founder of the Mukuari Community Project, shaped by years of study in intentional communities and embodied healing practices that integrate spiritual knowledge into everyday life.

She teaches about the elements of fire, air, earth, and water as guides for personal development, spiritual awareness, and embodiment. Her work includes books, courses, and workshops offered internationally. Sofia’s training spans several continents, including work with Indigenous healers in Zimbabwe, Irish shamanic lineages, natural birth practices in South Africa, and Yagé traditions in Colombia.

Alongside her ceremonial and community work, Sofia works with oracle and tarot as tools for reflection and remembrance, supporting people to reconnect with the truth within. Through her YouTube channel, she shares channeled messages and teachings that invite deeper listening and self-trust.

With extensive experience holding group spaces and facilitating retreats, Sofia is known for creating well-contained, grounded environments that support meaningful transformation while remaining rooted in everyday life. At this stage of her work, her focus is on anchoring the elemental wisdom she has shared over the past seven years into the lived experience of community through the Mukuari project.

Taita Isidro Lucitante

A wise man of the A'i Cofán people and guardian of ancestral medicine, he is recognized as one of the living bearers of a sacred lineage that has sustained this wisdom for generations. Coming from the Lucitante family, one of the most respected lineages within the tradition, he is the grandson of Grandfather Curaca Elías Lucitante, son of Grandfather Guillermo Lucitante and nephew of Grandfather Esteban Lucitante Yaiguaje, great references and legends of medicine who dedicated their lives to preserving and expanding this knowledge

Formed from the root, in direct contact with the jungle, the spirits of medicine and the advice of the elders, his work transcends the physical, accompanying deep processes of healing, cleansing and expansion of consciousness. In ceremony, its energy creates a field of protection, openness, and truth, where each person is led to confront, understand, and transform that which needs to be seen.

Preparation & Integration Support

Enjoy Our Online Community

We understand that a journey of this depth extends beyond your time with us. To support you in getting the most from this experience, we offer:

  • A group preparation call one month before your retreat

  • Access to group channels where you can ask questions and connect with other people joining your retreat

  • A group integration call two weeks after your retreat

These calls are offered in both English and Spanish. Our online community is available on your desktop and as an app on your phone.

Is This Retreat for You?

This retreat is for you if you are ready to go deeper — to the roots. To the roots of yourself, the plants, the land, and the ancestral wisdom that has been carried by Indigenous communities for generations.

This journey is for those who are ready to go deeper — to:

  • Work with plant allies in the very ecosystem where they grow, learning their traditional wisdom directly from those who have carried this knowledge for generations.

  • Step into a simpler way of living, away from the noise, speed, and distractions of modern life, and discover what becomes clear when you return to what is essential.

  • Learn from Indigenous elders and experience a living culture whose relationship with the land and its medicines holds knowledge that modern society has increasingly lost.

  • Take the teachings home with you, learning practical ways to integrate the medicine, wisdom, and clarity you receive into your everyday life.

This is not a retreat designed around comfort or escape. It is a journey into the roots — one that asks for openness, presence, and a willingness to step outside the familiar.

The opportunity to be welcomed into an Indigenous community, learn directly from its elders, and experience these traditions within their ancestral territory is becoming increasingly rare. If you feel called to make the most of that opportunity — to go deeper, learn from the source, and return home with something you can truly live — this retreat has been created for you.

"I had the honor to do my first ancestral medicine retreat with Carlos and Sofia. I learned so much, and it was quite a gentle trip. I got what I needed to get. I appreciated their knowledge of the medicine and how they took care of me. I would highly recommend doing any type of ceremonies with them. They're very kind, considerate, and compassionate people, and they have a sense of humor; they're both so funny!”

— Terry Christienson

Book a Connection Call

To attend this retreat, we need to ask a few questions before confirming that we can accept your reservation.

The investment for this retreat is €1200/$1350. Places are intentionally limited to 6 participants for this retreat.

 FAQs

  • The Paths of the South Retreat will take place from the 17th to the 22th of December 2026 in the Cofán Avie Community in Sucumbíos Province, in the northern Ecuadorian Amazon. We will be entering the reserve through Colombia.

  • Carlos Esteban guides participants in the preparation of ancestral remedies, jungle plant baths, and the teachings of medicinal plants passed down by Taitas and elders. Sofia leads meditations and workshops on how fire, air, earth, and water support your integration of indigenous wisdom. Taita Isidrio Lucitante will be guiding the ancestral medicine ceremonies and offering insight and stories throughout the retreat.

  • Accommodation is communal, rustic, and in harmony with the natural environment. We will sleep in the communal house or traditional cabins, with hammocks and mosquito nets provided for a comfortable and restful stay.

  • Food will be local, fresh, and traditionally prepared. Meals are prepared with the local environment and the retreat process in mind. We can accommodate food allergies or restrictions.

  • Participants should bring comfortable light-weight clothing, sturdy shoes for walking, a bathing suit for plant baths, a journal for reflections, and personal items for hygiene and comfort. It can be cool in the night-time during ceremonies so it is helpful to bring some layers. Mosquito repellent and wearing long sleeves and trousers is also recommended.

  • This retreat is not recommended for women who are pregnant. The itinerary also requires a basic level of fitness, so it’s important to consider your physical readiness. There are certain restrictions regarding medication, which are managed on a case-by-case basis. All of these considerations are discussed during the connection call to ensure the retreat is safe and supportive for every participant.