Frequently Asked Questions

A Master Plant Dieta is more than a retreat — it’s a sacred encounter with the plants themselves. Rooted in Amazonian tradition, the dieta opens a doorway to connect with plants as teachers and healers, through solitude, ritual, and a supportive restricted diet. In this space of silence and listening, the plant becomes your guide, offering cleansing, insight, and a deep re-alignment of body, heart, and spirit.

At Templo del Tigre, our master plant dietas are carefully guided journeys of transformation, combining sacred tobacco (Nicotiana rustica) with other Amazonian master plants. Each dieta provides a supportive framework to help you explore patterns, release what no longer serves you, and promote healing on physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual levels.

Tobacco Benefits

• Physical: Supports internal detox, cleansing, digestion, circulation, and overall vitality.
• Emotional: Traditionally, tobacco is used in Amazonian medicine to support emotional clarity and reflection, including experiences related to grief, anxiety, or trauma.
• Energetic & Spiritual: Helps clear blockages, restore alignment, and reconnect with your inner guidance.
• Ancestral & Transgenerational Healing: Supports release of inherited patterns and strengthens connection with your lineage.

These are some of the ways tobacco and other master plants are traditionally experienced — each plant may offer additional benefits, unique to your body, mind, and spirit.

Other Master Plants

After the initial solo tobacco dieta, you may continue with dietas using other Amazonian master plants combined with tobacco, chosen according to your personal needs and intentions, such as:

• Bobinsana: Heart-opening, emotional balance, interconnectedness
• Chiric Sanango: Joint health, vitality, courage, clarity
• Tamamuri: Purifying, protective, ancestral connection

For those drawn to a deeper, long-term path, these dietas can lead into the
Hero’s Journey: Initiation with Tobacco and Trees in the Mamancunawa Lineage, a structured apprenticeship of multiple dietas over time.

Safety and Personalization

Your well-being is our top priority. We carefully screen participants for health conditions such as heart problems, asthma, or blood pressure irregularities, and review medications to ensure safety. If tobacco is not suitable, the dieta may focus on a specific master plant chosen to support your needs safely.

A Sacred, Personal Journey

Every master plant dieta at Templo del Tigre is fully personalized. Each plant, ceremony, and moment is designed to meet your unique physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual needs, providing a safe, transformative, and deeply meaningful experience.

Tobacco (Nicotiana rustica, or Mapacho) is not a psychedelic, but it is profoundly psychoactive. It doesn’t create the intense visual journeys of Ayahuasca, but it guides you through lucid dreams, energetic awareness, and subtle spiritual insights. It can reveal deep personal wisdom, help release outdated patterns, and support emotional and spiritual clarity. If there are no contraindications with tobacco, it will always be included in your dietas. Otherwise, if you diet only other master plants, you might still connect with dreams in a deep way — or you might not.

During a master plant dieta, purging is a natural and beneficial part of the process. Everyone experiences it differently — some may vomit, others may have diarrhea, cry, shake, or release in other ways. Each dieta is unique, and your body, mind, and energy may respond differently throughout the retreat.

Similar to practices in Ayurveda and other ancestral healing systems, purging is not something to suppress — it is a vital cleansing process. These releases help clear physical, emotional, and energetic blockages, making space for renewal, clarity, and positive transformation. Purging supports your alignment and opens the body, mind, and spirit to what is ready to emerge.

If you feel a genuine calling to heal, grow, or reconnect deeply with yourself, it’s a sign that you’re ready to explore this transformative journey. Even for first-timers, the process is accessible with openness, patience, and a willingness to embrace solitude and inner reflection.

Before beginning, we carefully assess your health through a thorough screening. This helps determine the most suitable master plant for your needs. In some cases, tobacco may be excluded due to medical considerations such as heart conditions, high blood pressure, or asthma. This personalized approach ensures your safety and a supportive, deeply healing experience.

Templo del Tigre offers a rare, deeply personal path to healing with Amazonian master plants, set in one of the most biodiverse places on Earth — Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, right on the edge of Corcovado National Park. We are the only center in Costa Rica offering master plant dietas with sacred tobacco (Mapacho), honored in the Amazon as la medicina rey — the King medicine.

Our retreats are intentionally small and intimate, ensuring 1:1 guidance from Negar and Gwendal, curanderos and tabaqueros with over two decades of combined experience. Every dieta and ceremony is tailored to your unique journey, creating a safe, supportive space for deep reflection, growth, and transformation. For those choosing the extended integration week, we offer holistic practices such as yoga, breathwork, sound healing, medicinal plant baths, and feminine wellness support. 

Nature itself becomes part of the medicine: the jungle, rivers, waterfalls, and ocean provide a restorative, immersive backdrop that nurtures every stage of your journey. Each element — the plant medicine, guidance, environment, and practices — is designed to support profound healing, inner clarity, and a deep reconnection to yourself. 

Yes. Many guests return for dietas with different plants, deepening their connection and insights over time. For those interested in full initiation, see our Initiation Path section, which explains the number of dietas typically required to progress through the sacred teachings.

Each dieta is a journey of listening. You are guided into a quiet, simple way of living — close to the jungle, nourished by clean food, and held in daily ceremony. With the plant as your teacher, old patterns may release; dreams may open teachings, uncover memories, bring hidden truths to light, or show the path ahead; and inner strength begins to grow. As curanderos, we protect the container, offer guidance, and help you weave the plant’s medicine into your life when the dieta closes.

A traditional dieta lasts 7 nights and 8 days, with 7 days drinking the medicine and following the dieta, and the 8th day for concluding the diet. In some cases, we may recommend a longer dieta, for example if the participant cannot ingest tobacco or if the initiation process calls for an extended period. You cannot do a dieta shorter than this minimum 8-day period.

We carefully assess your energetic, emotional, and physical state before the dieta begins. We then select the master plant that will best support your personal journey. Tobacco is often chosen as the first dieta for its grounding and purifying qualities, in alignment with Amazonian tradition.

The dieta takes place in isolation at Templo del Tigre, our retreat center nestled in the heart of Costa Rica’s rainforest, near the edge of Corcovado National Park. You’ll stay in either one of our Open-Air Jungle Rooms or the more secluded Casita del Tigre, a private jungle cabin. This solitude supports a deep connection with the plant allies and allows participants to focus fully on their inner process.

Tobacco (Mapacho) serves as a Teacher and Master Plant, guiding and supporting your dieta journey. Its primary roles include:

• Grounding & Protection: Anchors your energy and creates a safe, sacred container for healing.
• Energetic Clearing: Helps release blockages and old patterns on physical, emotional, and spiritual levels.
• Spiritual Guidance: Supports inner clarity, connection to the plant spirits, and self-knowledge.
• Carrier for Other Medicines: Amplifies and structures the effects of other plants when used together.

Tobacco is always used ceremonially, never recreationally, and its effects are fully realized under guidance within the dieta. 

Master Plants are powerful, intelligent allies in Amazonian traditions, often referred to as Doctors or Teachers. These trees, shrubs, and herbs are seen as living entities with spirit and consciousness. They guide participants on journeys of self-discovery, inner alignment, and deeper connection with nature. Each Master Plant has unique qualities and teachings, and at Templo del Tigre, we work with these plants in a sacred, ceremonial context to support personal growth and spiritual insight.

In a dieta, Master Plants act as guides, teachers, and healers. They help participants release old patterns, gain clarity, and strengthen their connection to body, mind, and spirit. Plants such as tobacco (Mapacho), Bobinsana, Chiric Sanango, Chuchuhuasi, and Ajo Sacha are seen as living entities with intelligence and spirit, often called Doctors or Teachers by Indigenous communities. Each plant offers unique lessons and energetic support, facilitating spiritual insight, emotional healing, and deeper alignment with oneself and nature. The curanderos at Templo del Tigre carefully select and prepare the plants to ensure a safe and transformative experience.

The Master Plant Dietas at Templo del Tigre follow the Mamancunawa lineage from the Peruvian Amazon. Our curanderos, Negar and Gwendal, were initiated by Maestro Ernesto García Torres, one of the most respected tabaqueros and curanderos in Peru. This lineage honors sacred tobacco (Mapacho) as the King of Plants and includes a deep tradition of working with Amazonian tree and plant medicines. Through this lineage, participants receive guidance rooted in ancestral knowledge, ensuring that each dieta is safe, respectful, and transformative.

Negar and Gwendal, the curanderos and tabaqueros at Templo del Tigre, bring over two decades of combined experience guiding sacred plant medicine journeys. Retreats are intentionally small—maximum five participants—and each dieta is conducted in isolation with continuous 1:1 guidance. During the dieta, support focuses on your safety, reflection, and personal insights.

For participants who choose the extended integration week, additional holistic practices such as yoga, breathwork, sound healing, and women’s wellness support are offered, creating a nurturing and enriched container for deeper personal transformation.

The word curandero (or curandera) is Spanish for “one who cures,” “healer,” or “doctor.” Curanderos are traditional healers trained in sacred plant medicine, guiding dietas and ceremonies to support deep personal and spiritual growth.

There are different types of curanderos:

• Vegetalistas: Doctors who work primarily with plants, similar to herbalists.
• Tabaqueros: Specialists in sacred tobacco (Mapacho) as a master plant teacher.
• Ayahuasqueros: Guides of the master plant ayahuasca.
• Sanangueros: Specialists in plants like Chiric Sanango.

In some lineages, such as the Shipibo, there are moraya—curanderos who have achieved a high level of mastery and wisdom. Some curanderos may further specialize in women’s health, bone setting, energetic work, or other areas.

A curandero’s role is to hold a safe, sacred container for healing. They guide participants through ceremonies and dietas, offering support for emotional, physical, and spiritual release. While the plants carry the healing power, the curandero ensures the experience is safe, transformative, and aligned with ancestral knowledge.

Becoming a curandero involves years of apprenticeship, prolonged work with master plants, and deep self-mastery. Through dedication and disciplined practice, they learn to guide others safely into expanded states of consciousness, fostering clarity, insight, and profound healing.

Initiation is a sacred rite of passage—a journey of self-discovery and transformation, often called the Hero’s Journey. In the Mamancunawa lineage, it involves retreat, a very simple diet, and working closely with master plants, namely tobacco and trees. Through this process, old patterns are released, sensitivity is heightened, and participants step into a deeper relationship with the plants, themselves, and the universe.

The apprenticeship begins with a tobacco dieta, continues through twelve tree dietas, and concludes with a final tobacco maestría. Each dieta usually lasts 7 nights / 8 days, though some may extend to two weeks for deeper exploration. Between dietas, participants receive integration support to reflect on experiences, process challenges, and embody the teachings in daily life.

During the dietas, participants consume small amounts of simple, plant-based food (free of oil, salt, and spices) and take the plant medicine daily. This supports a process of cleansing, learning, and inner growth while cultivating a strong connection with the plants.

The maestro curandero is present throughout the process, holding space, guiding the student, and helping interpret experiences. While each initiate must walk their own journey, the maestro provides tools, teachings, and guidance to ensure safety, learning, and spiritual growth. Integration support between dietas helps participants reflect on insights, navigate challenges, and apply the teachings in their lives.

The apprenticeship is challenging and transformative. It involves periods of isolation, dietary simplicity, purging, self-inquiry, and daily work with the plants. The journey calls for patience, commitment, and openness, offering profound inner growth, resilience, and spiritual insight.

There are fourteen dietas in total: one tobacco, twelve trees, and one master tobacco. The minimum time is roughly 21 weeks, typically spread over 1–3 years, though it can take 1–10 years depending on the participant’s pace and integration process. Costs align with individual dietas, and a 10% discount is offered after completing six tree dietas.

The program is for anyone drawn to deepen self-knowledge, healing, or plant work. Participants include seekers, therapists, bodyworkers, teachers, and anyone wishing to learn the path of the curandero and traditional healer. Some join for personal growth, while others aim to eventually hold space with plants and continue the lineage.

 We offer two transformative paths:

• 9-Day Master Plant Dieta – A focused, private dieta with one master plant, daily one-on-one ceremonies, and full guidance in the rainforest.
• 15-Day Healing Immersion – Includes everything in the 9-day dieta plus six days of embodied integration with yoga, breathwork, sound healing, plant baths, nature experiences, optional excursions, and nourishing plant-based meals.

Whenever possible, we recommend the 15-day Healing Immersion. It provides space to rest, integrate insights, and deepen your connection with the plants.

If a longer stay isn’t feasible, we suggest spending a few extra days nearby—Dos Brazos, Matapalo, or Carate—before traveling. This gentle transition helps you carry the medicine forward calmly.

Retreats are small and intimate, with a maximum of five participants. Each dieta is conducted in isolation with continuous 1:1 guidance from our curanderos.

Retreats include daily ceremonies, personalized plant protocols, guidance through preparation and integration, jungle accommodations, access to the yoga shala, private river access, and nourishing organic plant-based meals. The 15-day option also adds holistic integration practices such as yoga and breathwork, nature experiences, and optional add-on excursions for a deeper, immersive journey.

Yes. It’s possible to do multiple master plant dietas in succession, with at least 2–3 days of rest between each phase. After completing your series of dietas, you can choose to extend your integration period to support your transition back to daily life. We’ll work with you to design a custom schedule that aligns with your unique journey.

1. Contact us to schedule your free consultation.
2. Receive personalized guidance to choose the master plant medicine best suited for your healing journey.
3. Reserve your spot by submitting the 30% deposit as instructed in the confirmation email from Templo del Tigre and begin preparing for your retreat.

Note: Please do not purchase any travel arrangements until your retreat reservation is fully confirmed. Confirmation is given after your application is approved, the deposit is paid, and the screening and preparation consultation are complete.

You can view all our retreat programs on our Retreats page. A ✓ indicates that spots are still available for that retreat; an X means the retreat is fully booked for those dates.

Prices start at $2,100 for the 9-day Master Plant Dieta and $3,000 for the 15-day Healing Immersion (9-day dieta + 6-day integration).

Choosing the Casita del Tigre instead of standard rooms adjusts the price to $2,500 for the 9-day dieta and $3,600 for the 15-day option.

Since our retreats are highly personalized, any adjustments to your unique program may affect the price, and you’ll be notified before reserving your spot.

All pricing is all-inclusive, covering lodging, meals, ceremonies, embodied practices (yoga, breathwork, meditation, gong and sound healing, women’s wellness), some nature activities (waterfall hikes, ocean swims), taxes, fees, and transportation to/from the Puerto Jiménez pick-up location.

Retreat pricing does not include:

• Flights to Costa Rica or domestic flights to Puerto Jiménez
• Any accommodations outside of Templo del Tigre during your Costa Rica travels
• Optional add-on excursions, such as visits to Corcovado National Park or dolphin/whale trips in Golfo Dulce

We can assist in arranging these excursions during your integration week, but you will be responsible for the costs of the activities and related transportation.

We kindly ask that you bring your remaining balance in clean, new bills (USD or Costa Rican colones). This will be collected on-site before your dieta begins.

Yes, couples are welcome, and many find it profoundly transformative to do this inner work side by side. During the master plant dieta, each person follows their own private process in their own space, without interaction, allowing the medicine to guide each individual fully.

After the dieta, if participants remain for the extended integration week, they may reconnect and share experiences while continuing to abstain from sexual or sensual contact. The emphasis is on respecting each other’s process, being gentle with energies, and supporting personal growth. Couples have separate accommodations during their dieta to maintain privacy and focus.

Women are welcome to participate during their moon cycle. Simply inform the curandera or curandero so they can accommodate and support the natural energy occurring during your dieta.

Yes! You can deepen your connection with nature and your own process through optional experiences. Some activities are included in your retreat price, while others—such as visits to Corcovado National Park or dolphin and whale boat trips—are additional.

Optional nature-based experiences include rainforest hikes, hidden jungle pools and waterfalls, birdwatching, and wildlife spotting. Holistic practices are also available to support integration, such as yoga, breathwork, meditation, sound healing, and women’s wellness rituals like yoni steaming. 

All activities are offered mindfully and in alignment with your retreat container. Some can be arranged with local guides or partners to enhance your journey.

 To ensure comfort and ease during your stay, we suggest bringing:

Essentials:

• Biodegradable toiletries (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, mosquito repellent). During dieta, avoid external products to connect deeply with the plants; afterward, continue with biodegradable options to protect the land.

• Notebook and pen/pencil for journaling dreams, insights, and reflections

• Lighting: A headlamp or torch with spare batteries

• Rain protection: A lightweight poncho or umbrella

• Waterproof bags for electronics and valuables

• Footwear: Flip-flops plus sturdy sandals or waterproof boots

• Clothing: Light, breathable layers; long sleeves and pants for dawn and dusk

• Mosquito protection: Netting is provided, but covering up helps

• Swimming gear for rivers, waterfalls, or ocean dips

• Travel towel (onsite towels are provided)

• Yoga mat if you prefer your own for practice

Optional items to enrich your stay:

• Creative supplies (drawing, painting, music, crafts)

• Reusable water bottle

• Binoculars for birdwatching and wildlife

• Hammock or travel pillow for rest in nature

What not to bring:

• Non-biodegradable or scented products (perfumes, strong soaps, aerosols)

• Unnecessary electronics: The dieta process invites disconnection from screens

• Restricted foods or supplements: You’ll receive full guidance before arrival on what to avoid during preparation and dieta

Bringing these items helps you stay comfortable while honoring both the retreat container and the surrounding rainforest.

Templo del Tigre is in the heart of the Osa Peninsula, next to Corcovado National Park, one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. Our retreat is in the small jungle village of Dos Brazos de Río Tigre, surrounded by lush rainforest.

Daily visitors include toucans, macaws, morpho butterflies, and other tropical birds. The property has private river access, and nearby you’ll find waterfalls and a natural swimming pool, all nestled in untouched jungle.

The Pacific Ocean and Golfo Dulce are a short drive away, which can be explored after your dieta or during the integration week. Puerto Jiménez, the main town on the Osa Peninsula, is the closest hub for flights and travel, making Templo del Tigre accessible while remaining secluded in nature.

Templo del Tigre has a tropical rainforest climate—warm and humid year-round. The dry season runs from December to April, and the rainy season from May to November. Rain is part of the jungle’s natural rhythm, nourishing the lush surroundings.

Yes, we have a fast Starlink internet connection. However, during your dieta, internet use is strictly prohibited to ensure a deep, uninterrupted experience with the plants. There is also no phone signal inside Dos Brazos.

Integration is the process of taking the insights, experiences, and lessons gained during your retreat and applying them in your daily life. This may involve shifts in habits, relationships, personal goals, or awareness of your thoughts and actions. Integration begins during the retreat and continues afterward, supporting lasting growth and transformation.

For those participating in the 15-day Healing Immersion, additional support through holistic practices—such as yoga, breathwork, sound healing, and nature experiences—helps you fully embody and integrate the lessons from your master plant dieta.

Preparation & Integration at Templo del Tigre
A master plant dieta is not only about the time spent in ceremony—it is a sacred journey that begins before you arrive and continues long after you leave. At Templo del Tigre, we provide personalized 1:1 support at every stage, ensuring that you feel prepared, held, and guided throughout your process.

Preparation
Before beginning a dieta, it is essential to purify the body and mind to ensure safety and deepen receptivity to the plants. In accordance with Amazonian tradition, participants must follow strict preparation guidelines.

Initial Consultation
Every retreat begins with a free 30-minute consultation (longer if necessary). During this call, we:

• Answer your questions and discuss your intentions
• Review your health history, medications, and personal needs
• Provide clear guidance on dieta food and lifestyle preparation
• Determine whether additional Amazonian cleansing processes may be necessary before beginning (e.g., in cases of antidepressant use, street drugs, or certain medications)

If extra preparation time is required, we will discuss adjustments to retreat length and pricing to ensure the dieta is safe and effective.

Physical Preparation
At least two weeks before the dieta, participants are asked to eliminate:

• Alcohol
• Meat (especially pork)
• Processed and fermented foods
• Stimulants such as caffeine, marijuana, and other recreational substances
• Sexual activity

A clean, plant-based, and alkaline-leaning diet is essential to detoxify the system and align your energy with the subtle frequencies of the plants. These guidelines are not optional—they are a matter of spiritual, energetic, and physical safety.

Mental & Emotional Preparation
Beyond physical cleansing, preparing your heart and mind is just as important:

• Clarify your intention while remaining open to unexpected teachings
• Slow down, reduce distractions, and create space for reflection
• Release expectations, and approach with humility, honesty, and trust

Integration
The dieta is only the beginning. Integration—carrying the teachings of the plants into your daily life—is where the healing truly takes root. At Templo del Tigre, we offer two pathways of post-dieta support:

Option 1: Standard Retreat Integration
After completing your dieta, you will remain for an additional half day before departure. This time is dedicated to:

• A 1:1 consultation to address any questions or themes that may have arisen
• Dream interpretation and reflections with your guide
• Personalized recommendations for diet, lifestyle, and practices
• Ongoing support through continued contact after you return home

We also strongly recommend giving yourself several quiet days of rest in the Osa area (such as Dos Brazos, Matapalo, or Carate) before boarding a plane. Depending on the plant you dieted with, this may be 3–4 days or even up to a week, to avoid disrupting the healing process with long travel and overstimulation.

Option 2: Extended Integration Retreat (Recommended)
For those who choose to stay longer (from day 9 through day 15), we offer a full week of immersive integration in the jungle. This includes:

• Daily embodied practices (yoga, breathwork, meditation, sound healing)
• Plant baths and traditional cleansing practices
• Nature walks, river and ocean time, and activities in the surrounding jungle
• Optional add-on excursions in the Osa Peninsula to connect with land, ocean, and wildlife
• Expanded 1:1 support and guidance each day
• Group sharing circles for community and reflection
• Women’s wellness support, including Yoni Steaming rituals

This extended option provides a gentle landing and the most supportive way to weave the dieta into daily life. For those who can dedicate the time, we highly recommend it.

Deposit
To reserve your retreat at Templo del Tigre, we ask for a 30% deposit. This deposit secures your space and is non-refundable, but it can be transferred to a future retreat within 12 months if you need to postpone.
We recommend finalizing your travel plans only after your application is approved and your space is confirmed.

Final Payment
The remaining 70% balance is due upon arrival at Templo del Tigre and can be paid in cash (USD or CRC).
If you prefer the convenience of settling in advance, the balance may also be completed up to 45 days before the retreat. Payment instructions will be shared with you by email.

Cancellations

• More than 45 days before retreat start: Your deposit is transferable to a future retreat within 12 months. Any additional payments made will be refunded (minus a small administration fee and transaction costs, if applicable).

• Within 45 days of retreat start: Payments are non-refundable. In some cases, we may allow you to transfer part of your payment to a future retreat.

Disclaimer
Templo del Tigre is not responsible for travel costs, flight changes, or other personal expenses related to attending the retreat. We recommend purchasing travel insurance to protect your trip.