Visit Native Communities

Often the most memorable experiences of our travels are the human encounters, which is why Kuoda offers the opportunity to take go on community visits during personalized tours of Peru. In the Peruvian Amazon, it is possible to visit two indigenous communities: the Shipibo-Conibo people and the Bora people.

The Shipibo-Conibo people number around 20,000, and live along the Ucayali River. They are practitioners of ayahuasca shamanism, and use ayahuasca, a potent hallucinogenic plant brew in their rituals to provide a gateway to the spiritual world. The Shipibo-Conibo people also produce elaborately painted art and pottery inspired by their drug-induced visions, which are said to visually embody songs.

Visits to the Bora people, who live between the Napo and Putumayo Rivers in Peru, Colombia and Brazil, can also be arranged. The Bora were once a much larger tribe, but the suffering caused by the turn-of-the-20th-century rubber room saw their numbers decline swiftly, and there are now just 2,500 or so remaining. The Bora people believe that there is no division between the material and the spirit worlds. Visitors to their settlements are welcomed with a performance of dances and songs, sung in their native Witotan language.

Trips to these two indigenous groups provide fascinating insight into indigenous cultures that have managed to withstand centuries of colonial encroachment. You’ll also have the chance to participate in Bora dances, or perhaps even pick up Shipibo-Conibo handicrafts and textiles – one-of-a-kind mementos to remember this one-of-a-kind experience.

Contact us today and get your free Peru trip quote.  At Kuoda Travel, all trips are custom and personally designed for you by one of our professional travel experts.