In the most powerful, sacred and wild part of the earth, you cannot be part of the land if you’re not part of the people, and you cannot be part of the people if you don’t allow yourself to be blessed, healed and enriched by them.
Let me guide you to this land and to my people, by translating and sharing a deep understanding of both worlds.
-Julián Katari
The ancient Heart of the Earth
An ancient story and recent investigations speak of an ancient, large, square-shaped territory around Lake Titicaca that had the function of being the “lab” of life. Comprised of four extreme weathers, hot, cold, humid and dry; this land was designed to facilitate the spawning of the most biodiverse region in the world, which in fact, is. According to this vision, life and the rich amount of species are not a coincidence, but a result of work carried out by ancient beings with superior wisdom and powers. Is it a coincidence that the most biodiverse protected area in the world, Madidi National Park, lays inside this square? We believe not.
The earth’s greatest mysteries revealed
Peruvian investigator and philosopher Javier Lajo tells us that in this region, and throughout the Andes, a special energetic alignment has been fixated by ancient people to help the earth keep the precise angle of inclination its rotation axis has in respect to the galactic north. This angle of inclination is what allows the whole earth to have stable weather which is then what facilitates so much biodiversity to thrive.
A journey to the furthest reaches of the amazon rainforest
The concept “heart of the earth” refers also to the most biodiverse hotspot in the amazon rainforest, and this rainforest is as you may know, the world’s largest and most biodiverse tropical forest in the world. In a very real sense, it is the “heart and lungs” of life in the planet.
An opportunity to become part of our ancient cultures
The Journey to the Heart of the Earth takes you not only to this region; it’s a journey that like no other will allow you to learn about, be part of and comprehend the cultures that lie here. It’s a rare opportunity to penetrate into the deep wilderness and deep culture that remain on this planet.
Beyond plant medicine
At Native Journey we believe that sacred plants should not be the main focus of spiritual journeys and retreats. There is so much more to learn, explore and to experience from the sacred lands, the sacred beings, from wise men and women that we like to focus on that. The trip is not designed around a sacred plant ritual like ayahuaska. Activities like these are available and can be arranged in the journey if requested, but we believe that by itself it does not provide the greatest spiritual teaching.
Profound spiritual and philosophical teaching
The Journey to the Heart of the Earth is designed to provide five things: 1) a profound spiritual experience, 2) an opportunity to treat physical ailments through spiritual and physical healing, by accessing the greatest healers available, 3) a life-changing philosophical learning experience, what we call yachay healing or healing of the mind and knowledge; powerful wisdom tools that can heal you and help you grow; and 4) an unmatched wildlife sighting and wilderness adventure, complex logistics to take you to the really wild places and encounter wildlife up close.
The most unexplored locations in South America
The Journey to the Heart of the Earth centers in four main activities, and four main locations. The first, upon arrival, a retreat to an ancient native town called “Place of Rest”. It’s an undiscovered mountain lake jewel, an Andean village that has been reserved to have only real eco-tourism in its community-owned lodge. This beautiful stone lodge, nestled in indescribable surrounding beauty, has been specially arranged to host this five day retreat designed to provide first of all rest, then high-altitude acclimatisation, and finally the most enlightening yachay or mind healing experience with the Andean cosmology workshop carried out in the Inca fountains that are still in place in the center of the village.
Shamanic healing in the remote Andes
This first experience leads way to an expedition into a remote mountain range and village where the legendary Kallaways healers live. There, an opportunity to heal ailments becomes available, through combinations of herbal remedies and shamanic healing, imparted by a Kallawaya healer. If the healing is not needed, then the place itself merits such a trip, as it’s simply unmatched in beauty by any other place on earth, the furthest reaches of the undiscovered Andes.
Support hundreds of rescued wild animals with your visit
Next, we travel to the tropical Andes down the world’s most dangerous road. Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous anymore, but it is a breathtaking experience. For those who wish more adventure, a mountain bike descent can be arranged to get to the bottom of the steep tropical Andean ravines where the Senda Verde animal refuge is located. There, we will be staying in comfortable cabins while we start acclimatising to the hotter weather. Here is not yet so hot, and the warmth is very welcome. You will be getting warmth not just from the weather, but from the volunteers that stay here, a place that attracts very beautiful people that have become conscious of the need to support and protect wild animals and the earth. This is a place where you may leave your mark and experience wildlife up close, too close maybe. More than 700 animals of 65 different species live here, all victims of wildlife trafficking. Your support here is really necessary, and the experience is beyond rewarding.
The most biodiverse hotspot in the world is yet unexplored
The final and most unmissable experience of all, the Alto Madidi Experiential Retreat, takes us to the most remote, unexplored, preserved and biodiverse part of the amazon rainforest. This place is an unmatched biological corridor and biodiversity hotspot where the greatest amount of undiscovered species and where large mammal sightings are at its best. A river rafting trek will take us far from modern comforts and pollution, no lodges here, and we will be in the hands of the great wisdom and skills of our native guides and be supported by the feeding capabilities of the forest (fish mostly). This is the greatest rainforest (jungle) expedition of them all.
Is one month enough to change your life?
An ideal journey is participating in all four activities, but some people may not have the time or the resources for all of them. Hence we have designed them in a way where you may choose which of the four main activities you want to participate in. bonus activities are included such as a ritual and a two day city tour of the city of La Paz. The following optional activities can be included in the trip:
Andean Cosmology Workshop Retreat in Lake Titicaca
Departure date: July 1st
Duration: 4 days
Cost: $389
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Deep Kallawaya Healing, Apolobamba
Departure date: July 6th
Duration: 5 days
Cost: $700
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Volunteering with Rescued Wildlife at Senda Verde
Departure date: July 15th
Duration: 10 days
Cost private cabin: $450
Cost bunk-beds: $390
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Alto Madidi Experiential Retreat
Departure date: August 3rd
Duration: 15 days
Cost: $1450
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On the news today: “THE NORMALIZATION OF DEHUMANIZATION: Dehumanization is what permits genocide, land theft, slavery, segregation, discrimination, etc: Washington Redskins win trademark fight over the team’s name” Is it a coincidence, that I’m about to publish this article?
The following article is an attempt to contribute to the education and awareness inherent to La Senda Verde, from a perspective I happen to be fond of which is that of the ancestral native philosophy.
Everyone that gets involved with La Senda Verde, myself included; that is volunteers, workers, visitors and donors, begin to develop a sense of raised awareness about the meaning and purpose of life, that comes in a series of life teachings. Continue reading “The Human Being in Danger of Extinction”
She is like the mother of all living things, the raised sea, the heart of the continent, of the earth…
The Andean world is very different from many other worlds, it is a vertical world, uphill and downhill, where life is challenged by the constant pull of gravity. Hillsides are washed from their nutrients, the mountains washed from their gold, addicting riches compensate the harshness of producing an organic life, chosen still, by many Andeans. According to them, we live in a middle place, a place between the inner and the outer, the upper and the lower. This is essential in Andean philosophy and cosmology, and is reflected the material cosmos they live in: the longest mountain range in the world.
To them the earth grows sacred as it extends upwards and downwards away from the middle place they prefer to live in. Towards the sky, the cold of snow is the reflection of a land of sky-like sacredness, difficult for organic life to thrive in. Towards the earth, thrive the hidden forces of the planet, powerful inner-like forces that are as deeply respected as sky forces are. Time is perceived in the same way. The present as a middle place, where life strives, and is the axis of twin realities, one past where it all comes from, and one future, of where everything is going. Continue reading “The Meaning of Lake Titicaca”
The Kallawaya (also known as Callahuaya, Kolyawaya, Qolla Huayu) is a culture native from the towns of Curva, Chajaya, Khanlaya, Huata Huata, Inka and Chari, in the surroundings of the town of Charazani, in the Bautista Saavedra province of the La Paz Department, Bolivia. This natural setting is one of the most spectacular, unexplored and unexploited natural regions that remain on the planet. The Kallawayas are the guardians of a practically undisturbed biological corridor that runs all the way from Titicaca lake, up the glaciated peaks and lakes of the Apolobamba Mountains and down the steep ravines into the most remote mountain and flood plain rainforests of the Madidi National Park. Continue reading “Kallawaya Medicine Men”
