Amazon Detox & Deep Renewal Retreat in Ecuador: 8 Days of Plant-Based Cleansing, Temazcal and Rainforest Spa

Day one is mostly travel and settling in. You land at Quito's Mariscal Sucre International Airport, meet the team, and drive roughly three hours through the Andes and into the Amazon lowlands, with a welcome brunch on the way. Check-in at the lodge is 2:00 PM. The first evening is a welcome drink, dinner, and an opening circle with the group.

From there the days follow a rhythm. Sunrise meditation, gentle yoga, breathwork and journaling on the deck, then breakfast — tropical fruit, pressed green juices, broths, Amazonian superfoods, cacao and fresh guayusa. Mid-morning and midday are for the reserve: guided walks with local Kichwa knowledge keepers, cold waterfall bathing, a hike to the caves, a night hike, a visit to Kawana Lagoon, and a tree-planting ritual. One day is given over to white-water rafting with a gourmet picnic on the riverbank. Afternoons return to the spa for the thermal jacuzzi, sauna and pool, or a scheduled massage.

Evenings are ceremonies and circles. There is a Temazcal sweat lodge session with heat, steam and sacred herbs; a cacao ceremony under the canopy trees; Guayusa dawn rituals; an optional ancestral ceremony; and reflective sharing circles around the fire. One night is a five-course wellness gala dinner. The drum-building workshop runs across several days — you hand-craft, stitch and bless a shamanic frame drum using traditional methods, then bring it to life in a starlit drumming circle. There is also an aromatherapy workshop, intuitive art, and Tibetan bowl sound healing.

What separates this from a standard spa detox is the setting and the people running it. Hamadryade sits inside a reserve recognised as an OMEC (Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measure), and the lodge works with the Hamadryade Foundation on reforestation, agroecological production and resistance to mining. The Kichwa knowledge keepers who lead the plant and ceremony work have grown up with these plants. The food is harvested from the property's own garden, often the same day it is served.

Facilitators are drawn from a multidisciplinary team that includes yoga teachers, psychologists, wellness coaches, nutrition specialists, bodywork practitioners and indigenous wisdom keepers, with the programme shaped around the detox theme rather than a generic schedule. Medical pre-screening is required before you arrive, so the team knows what each guest is carrying. The retreat runs several times a year, each edition capped at 12 participants.

What's included

- 7 nights at Hamadryade Lodge in wellness rooms with jungle views - Airport pickup and drop-off from Quito (UIO) - Full board: breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks - Live cuisine: tropical fruits, pressed green juices, broths and wellness dishes - Five-course haute cuisine wellness gala dinner (one night) - Water, tea and coffee served throughout the day - Welcome drink and welcome gift - Daily yoga, acroyoga, guided meditation and mindful walks - Aromatherapy workshop - "Build Your Drum" workshop and ceremony - Guayusa rituals, cacao ceremony and ancestral ceremony (optional) - Temazcal sweat lodge session - Visit to Kawana Lagoon - Visit to the waterfalls - Hike to the caves - Hike in primary jungle and night hike - Spa access on 2 days with 2 treatment sessions per person (includes lymphatic drainage) - Hydrotherapy: access to the natural jacuzzi throughout your stay - Specialised guides, wellness facilitators and support staff throughout - Course manual - Transportation during the retreat - Pre and post retreat support from the team - Luggage storage and parking - Wi-Fi connection

What's not included

- Flights - Travel insurance - Visa fees - Additional treatments - Additional activities not included in the itinerary