I had the pleasure of joining a 6 day APL ayahuesca retreat in the south of Spain in July 2021. There were 11 of us in total - from a mixture of countries, genders, ages, goals - but all united by a common purpose: to find healing for past or present traumas, and direction for the future. I had a wonderful experience with the “medicine” as it’s known by its practitioners and users. I made new friends and friendships, enjoyed sunny Spain (in truly idyllic surroundings - with a palatial villa, large grounds, and beautiful pool), and acquired greater clarity and insights on some of the sticking points in my life as regards childhood, relationships, personal habits and life philosophy; as well as gaining greater resolve to unblock these issues. In addition it was a physically cleansing experience - which for me having a lifelong and at times debilitating autoimmune condition - offers some hope. But it is really in the realm of the mental that I feel ayahuesca offers the most promise - to achieve in days what traditional therapy might require decades. Before embarking on such an intense experience I did my research. I spoke with more than 7 retreats across Europe and Latin/South America (I certainly did my due diligence!!); and I’m really glad I chose APL. It’s a truly exceptional team, and requires a real team effort to make it all happen - whether the lovely Danielle (the queen of the kitchen who works wonders in turning the strict ayahuesca “dieta” into a palatable menu), Monica (who when she isn’t helping cook up a storm in the kitchen provides amazing massages), the room cleaning/gardening staff, and of course the core ceremony and integration team: Boris, Amanda, and the Ecuadorean Shaman, Roman. All are super smart, caring, knowledgeable and astute individuals - driven to this work out of a love of helping others (some retreat organisations I felt appeared much more commercially driven), and wanting to see results and improvements in others’ lives. So much so that sometimes I felt Amanda wanted to see results even more than I did! My only recommendations to make the retreats (even) better would be to consider having longer daily yoga sessions with extended shavasanas, and to consider offering non-ayahuesca retreats with other plant medicines (psilocybin, San Pedro etc.). To sum up I definitely recommend trying ayahuesca (it’s a unique experience with amazing potential), and if you do decide to take that step - you‘re in the best of hands with APL. Thank you Boris and the APL team!