5th Amazonian Shamanism Conference: Iquitos, Peru

[shoemaker]

We know it's a long and expensive ride to get to Iquitos... but we always have several people from Australia that make the trip. Many found that buying a Round the World pass was the way to go, but then you have to have the rest of the funds to manage that round the world passage. Regardless of how you can manage it, we love all of you here and you always bring new information that we don't see anywhere else. We really appreciate that.

The 5th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: "the Art and the Heart of Healing" is July 11th - 18th in Iquitos, Peru. Iquitos is in the Peruvian Upper Amazon and basically on the banks of the Amazon river. Population is half a million, 8 thousand three wheeled motor car rickshaw taxi's, 110+ internet cafes and ATM's everywhere. It's a very passive place perhaps because it's an island and you have to fly in from Lima, Peru which is on the west coast.. or you have the option of taking a large river boat here from Pulcalpa.. takes about 5 days and that too is an interesting trip.

If you're flying, just book your international to LIma and we'll book you at the best rates Lima/Iquitos/Lima. The agencies outside of Peru don't get the best rates like we do from here.

The website is: www.soga-del-alma.org/conferencesite that's really looking good this year as the webmaster has discovered another program to manage it. We've got some incredible "Presenters" as well as 15+ of the finest hand picked shamans/curanderos from the Upper Amazon and Andes. We're really pleased to tell you the Tito del Rosa will be at the Conference with his music and his ceremonies. HOpe to see many of you here again. If you have any questions, just write me at: [email protected]

Cheers!

[folias]

Alan, It's not so expensive anymore to get to Sth America from here, people may not know that flights to Sth America (including Lima) can now be gotten at just under $1000AU! including taxes! Say with aerolineas argentinas.

http://www.bestflights.com.au/cgi-bin/212/...aindetails=3061

When a couple of years back, you were looking at $2400 return.

I wanna make it back there soon Alan and believe Natasha is keen to make the conference!

The conference is a very good way to introduce oneself to the paradigm over there and meet a lot of very interesting people from all over the world! Iquitos and Peru are quite an experience to say the least!

Julian.

[Aya]

Under a thousand dollars!? That's great news.

I did the round a world option last year, as a return ticket to Peru was going to cost something a long the lines of 2700 dollars. Also managed to get myself to last years Conference, and it was a wonderful experience to meet so many interesting and loving people from all different parts of the world, and also an excellent gateway to experience Amazonian Curanderismo. Any of the other 4 Australians that were there last year frequent these boards?

[Fenris]

I bought some flights from Perth to Syd to Buenos Aires to lima to Cuzco return, with travel insurance it cost me $4500. Just as well I got travel insurance cause I was meant to leave last friday however after the accident the catheter and plaster cast forced me to cancel the trip.

[mr b.caapi]

I bought some flights from Perth to Syd to Buenos Aires to lima to Cuzco return, with travel insurance it cost me $4500. Just as well I got travel insurance cause I was meant to leave last friday however after the accident the catheter and plaster cast forced me to cancel the trip.

??? WTF ! shit mate , are you ok ? what happened?

[GingaNinja]

Alan, It's not so expensive anymore to get to Sth America from here, people may not know that flights to Sth America (including Lima) can now be gotten at just under $1000AU! including taxes! Say with aerolineas argentinas.

http://www.bestflights.com.au/cgi-bin/212/...aindetails=3061

Julian have you used this site for flights before? Makes going back seem alot more possible

[Aya]

I bought some flights from Perth to Syd to Buenos Aires to lima to Cuzco return, with travel insurance it cost me $4500. Just as well I got travel insurance cause I was meant to leave last friday however after the accident the catheter and plaster cast forced me to cancel the trip.

Man that's rough. Wishing you a speedy recovery and hope you make it over to South America soon.

Take care

[shoemaker]

Fenris... really sorry to hear this... I too hope you have a very speedy recovery.

Julian, that's incredible information on the cost of flights!

YOu'll all be happy to hear some more good news: As of March 7th of this year, all flights going to and coming from Iquitos will no longer be charged the 19% Tax!

If you need assistance with the national flights, just write me at [email protected]

Edited April 16, 2009 by shoemaker

[folias]

Julian have you used this site for flights before? Makes going back seem alot more possible

Yeah, I have, they are about the biggest online travel agency in Australia... therefore they are the wallmart of travel agencies. Support mom and pop if they can do those prices too!

Julian.

[Fenris]

??? WTF ! shit mate , are you ok ? what happened?

A car turned in front of me when neither of us could see each other, I hit my groin on the fuel tank and tore my urethra and broke my thumb, and wrecked my motorcycle, I was in hospital for a week and still in recovery. That put a real dampener on the holiday, I had planned to hike the Inca trail starting today.

I won't be able to reorganise for at least another 3 or 4 months due to prior commitments .

The flight from Sydney to Lima wasn't too bad price wise, it was the Perth to Sydney and Lima to Cuzco returns that pushed the price up. The travel insurance cost $500 as well.

I also discovered that to get anywhere in Peru you have to travel through Lima. My Cuzco to Lima leg when returning home would have been wasted because to get from Iquitos to Cuzco you have to travel through Lima. I would have had to bactrack and waste a day. I believe they fly Lima to Iquitos almost every day, I think it would have been better to organise once I got there.

Edited April 17, 2009 by Fenris

[Slum Dog]

Sorry to hear Fenris... hope your recovery is swift..

Hi all from newbie SD.... I'm going to Guillermo Arevalo's maloca with a friend of mine who is apprenticing under him in November, so the prices are great news... Hopefully the oil prices stay down long enough for more trips soon SD

[DreamingNagual]

Holy Shit Fenris, That sounds Too Painfull! I hope all goes well with the recovery mate.

I am also hoping to make it to the conference this year,

If we get enough people together, Maybe a group booking would be cheaper, More convenient?

Alan, Do you know if there is such an incentive for group bookings in getting there?

Or with any aspect of the Conference itself?

Cheers.

Edited April 20, 2009 by DreamingNagual

[occidentalis]

I was planning to come to the conference, but with the poor Aussie dollar the admission is just too high - I am planning a big SA trip and I can't afford to spend so much of my total budget on one week. It was also quite inconvenient due to the timing of our trip. However, I will definitely be in Peru/Bolivia/Colombia/Ecuador later in the year looking at cacti and coca and undergoing other explorations, so I would love to meet up with any australian ethnobotanists and share some adventures.