Bufo Alvarius Ceremony in Barcelona, Spain

I have engaged with Avalon for 3 years to help with a major life event in my mid 20's involving my being seriously sexually and physically assaulted, the resulting police case lasting several years, and the aftermath when it ultimately failed.

I first engaged with plant medicine in 2022 with Arkana in Peru, and while I had a good experience, I was not able to sufficiently trust or submit, and the centre was maybe better geared for other types of people/trauma/experience.

I discovered Avalon as I live in the UK and could not mentally or financially afford to again travel to South America and not feel safe or sufficiently held, and Barcelona was close enough to test out the organisation; I'll be honest that I was not sure you could really provide ayahuasca medicine away from the jungle and had massive reservations.

Over 2 years I first engaged with 3 evening Bufo Alvarius ceremonies spaced 6 months apart, had very powerful positive effects, and each time was served by the same team who got to know me better.

Having gained trust I went for a 6 day Ayahuasca retreat in summer 2025 with my best friend for security. I would consider both my friend and I to be relatively vulnerable, both queer and carrying a lot of complex emotional issues to work on. The experience was so overwhelmingly safe and beautiful, I returned again alone last week to go deeper with the medicine on another 6 day retreat.

I could reinforce all the other 5* reviews re: food, accommodation, quality of shaman (really outstanding) etc. but the best / most important thing I can add is to seriously highlight how Avalon has supported me through the *entirety* of my journey, enabling me to gain a level of trust, so essential to work properly with these medicines on the kind of trauma I experienced.

They care *deeply* about the participants and are willing to stay with you in the long term. I need this kind of interaction and support, there was never going to be a quick one time fix and I was never looking for the "psychonaut experience" per se. The result is that I have gained a level of interaction and teaching from Ayahuasca I couldn't imagine, resulting in changes not just for my mental and physical health, but that of my family and friends - the highest praise I could possibly offer. I now have a life filled with positivity and hope, something that frankly seemed unachievable for years.

I hope this review reaches anyone who is nervous about engaging with a centre because you might feel the trauma you carry to be too exposing, that you have fears about safety and vulnerability or authenticity, or you had less positive experiences with other established organisations; Avalon are the real deal and have hard earned my trust, which ultimately is what's required when engaging with such an intense process. I will certainly be returning when the time is right and feel extremely lucky to be able to do so.

This is Healing, not Recreational retreat, beware!! People who decide to go to Avalon must simply remember that before reserving a seat! This is not to have fun (although you will have fun, but with the other guests and the Avalon Crew) or during one or more of the sessions. Healing, healing: I thought I had nothing to heal, aka "I am in good shape, good health, and no known psychological or physical issue". I went there for discovery, for getting closer to my Real Self, to my Soul, and also to have some fancy travel, to be honest. Well, no "fancy travel in the stars" for me (others participants had that), no, not this time. But, gosh, I had blocks in me that I didn't realize existed, and they were real. On one of the accompanying sessions (Holotropic Breathing), I thought I would go through that part of the retreat as you would try a gadget (went to HB 15 years ago on a 1-to-1 session of 45 minutes: nothing, boring), and well, this happened to be "my big thing" during the retreat. For the first time in my life (I am 70...), I did a real rebirth, or rather a come back to my young teen age, I discovered a sort of "family pattern" that was recurring exactly now in my family and my relation with my beloved youngest son, except this time I am the father, and I suffer. Will not explain further but I am entirely overwhelmed by this since a couple of months, quiet desperated. That was not the reason I went to the retreat though. But exactly at the same age (for my son, now) I had the reversed role issue when I was a teen. And exactly the same unfolding of events (now, in 2026) that when I was 16, long ago. Same duration of each episode. Like a remake of a movie. And I saw my father (he passed already almost...16 years ago) but looking much younger, the age he had when things happend first between he and me. And I realized, suffering myself today, that he probably had suffered a lot, without showing, at the time. And he told me, with moving loving vibrations, that he would help me here, that my son was pretty the same as him: apparently cold or at least not showing emotions ever, but that he, and my youngest son (my father passed few months my son was born) were pretty similar in character (cold, reserved outside, warm inside), and that he knew how to fix it. This session was emotionnaly huge (very) for the flegmatic man I am. This is when I started to lose my ego (day 2 or 3). After that, I for the 1st time could see my aura and my chakras (with the help of some amazing "technology" and of course the appropriate expert from Avalon. And I discover that I had a huge Heart chakra, which I didn't expect but that explained why, often, my analytical and cold Spock-logic would be suddenly put aside by my emotion and empathy. As Mr Spock, I learned not only to accept that, but to welcome it...warmly. At the middle of the ceremony, I thought of quitting or at least, not ingesting the Ayahuasca medicine anymore (terrible taste...beurk...). I talked about that with the boss, Aleyandro; he advised me wisely to "hang on", without insisting or pushing. I have to say that, by then, sleep deprivation (slept barely 2-3 hours a night due to night sessions) was hitting me and my mindset quite hard: I needed to sleep! I feld older (my little anxiety about aging) than when I entered the ceremony ! I felt like I was quickly aging and loosing my energy. How happy (and proud) I am to have followed his quiet and gentle advice. From then, despite my tiredness, I started to learn really, I entered into an internal process of discovery, very profond and meditative. I learned to talk to my body: no, it's not only about daily fitness I am practicing for decades, it's also about sending gratitude to your body, your vehicule for this life. First time in my life, I talked to the "crew" of my body...and got answers: fantastic discovery I say: your body loves you, tries to do its best, even when never getting gratitude_I talked with my body!! And then, finally, another gift I received: love and patience and understanding all the time from the experts of Avalon: at first (the ego fighting period earlier in the retreat) I just thought, as a former manager, "ok they are well trained to smile to you all the time and giving empathy to make you feel comfortable". If that were the case, it would be already great and appreciable. But wrong again I was: I progressively discovered that they had something vey few people have: they give love before receiving it. Not because of a good managerial training, oh no! I discovered their "trick": giving unconditionally love is The way: you just give it to any person you meet. And then you get waves of happiness, perhaps because of the karma thing, who knows. But it works: I tried, awkwardly and after the retreat, and discover I would feel better immediately. Also,during the second part of the retreat, I started feeling myself as a warrior: I'd make it till the end. Happy I did. I want to point 2 additional things to my long post (you want a feedback, you get it): I am not at all impressionable, quite skeptical rather, and also: in no way was anyone in this formidable circle of participants ever harmed by the medicine or the various other sessions. So this is my "cold" opinion, not a naive devotion of flattery of any sort. But the fact is: I have to respect this team of experts because they did a fantastic job, and with such charisma. Was impressed also by the energy of the shaman team, especially this little man from Colombia: little perhaps but more powerful than Arnold Scharzenegger in his younger age. Incredible. Last thing: this is MY experience, don't expect something exactly, or remotely, similar, because each participant receives what he needs, and each person has different needs, wounds to heal, etc. 5 stars, it's not enough. I will come back Avalon.

I came to this retreat because I felt something was wrong with how I was living my day to day life. From an external point of view, everything was perfect: good job, friends, health, active life. However I was stuck in my mind, addicted to my phone, running through the days, looking for people’s validation all the time, and especially scared of really following my passions and dreams.

This retreat changed everything, in the most natural and pure form it exists, through a medicine called ayahuasca, a formidable team of Avalon, and a divine Shaman.

I could go on for hours telling you about the beauty of it, but why spoiling you the surprise? :)

Go for it, my friend, go for it and you won’t regret it!

I attended the Bufo ceremony in Barcelona last week. The location was central and was in a small yoga studio. The facilitators were great hosts. Very safe. Would love to try this in a more 1 on 1 session as everyone got the same dose.

Ness is an amazing human being. She made the whole experience so safe and comfortable. Her presence is divine and l am looking forward to participate her other ceremonies.