Amazon Kambo Practitioner Certification: 7-Day Frog Medicine Training in the Peruvian Jungle

The course runs for seven days in the jungle near Iquitos, Peru. Don Gardel leads the training, and his knowledge comes directly from the Matses people — the practice you're learning is rooted in indigenous tradition, not a distilled workshop version of it. That distinction is the point of the week: you're taught by someone who learned it in the culture it comes from.

A big part of the week is the fieldwork. Participants head into the rainforest to find and ethically collect the Phyllomedusa bicolor frog in its natural habitat. You harvest the secretion yourself and craft your own Kambo sticks, which means you finish the course understanding the full chain — where the medicine comes from, how it's gathered, and how it's prepared — not just how to apply a stick someone else made.

Technique training covers dry and wet application, working along acupuncture meridians, and both micro-dose and full-dose protocols. Students practise on themselves and on one another under close supervision throughout. This is the core of the course and takes up most of the practice time; the teaching is hands-on rather than theoretical. Each participant receives a Tamishi vine and a digital guide to Kambo therapy to support continued study after they leave.

Accommodation is at the medicine centre, with private room options — one with a private bathroom, one with a shared bathroom. Meals are cooked for the group and dietary needs are accommodated if you tell the team in advance. Iquitos is the gateway city; full directions and travel guidance are shared once your booking is confirmed, so arriving is straightforward as long as you've arranged your flight to Iquitos.

What makes this different from a Kambo workshop in Europe or North America is the access. You're working with the frog in its own habitat, with a Matses-trained practitioner, and preparing your own medicine. Most trainings can't offer any of those three things. If you want to go further afterwards, an optional week-long plant dieta is available to deepen the work before you head home.

The course suits aspiring practitioners and serious students of plant and animal medicines. You don't need prior Kambo experience to join, but you do need to be genuinely interested in the practice rather than curious about a one-off experience — this is a training, with a diploma at the end, not a ceremony.

What's included

- 7-day Kambo practitioner training led by Don Gardel - Accommodation at Fabrizio (private room options) - Meals cooked for the group, tailored to dietary needs - Rainforest fieldwork: locating and ethically collecting the Phyllomedusa bicolor frog - Harvesting secretion and crafting your own Kambo sticks - Instruction in dry and wet application techniques - Instruction in working along acupuncture meridians - Micro-dose and full-dose protocol training - Supervised practice on yourself and fellow students - Tamishi vine - Digital guide to Kambo therapy - Diploma of Accomplishment

What's not included

- International and domestic flights - Travel to Iquitos - Travel insurance - Personal expenses - Optional week-long plant dieta (available at extra cost) - Anything not confirmed by the retreat leader before booking