What is Iboga, and where does it come from?

Iboga is the powdered inner root bark of Tabernanthe iboga, a perennial shrub native to the rainforests of Central Africa — primarily Gabon, Cameroon, and the Congo Basin. It has been at the heart of the Bwiti tradition for thousands of years, used for healing, initiation, and the direct transmission of spiritual knowledge. In the Tsogo language, the word Iboga means "that which takes care of" — and that's precisely what it does. It takes care of that which needs taking care of, with a tenacity that no other plant medicine quite matches.

Who comes to these retreats, and is this right for me?

People arrive from many different starting points — some are navigating a crossroads, some are carrying wounds that conventional approaches haven't reached, and some are simply ready to know themselves more honestly. What we look for isn't a particular background or a specific problem to solve, but a genuine readiness to look inward without turning away. Iboga rewards sincerity. If you feel genuinely called to this work, that in itself is worth paying attention to.

Do you work with people seeking opiate detox, or treat addiction?

This is one of the questions we receive most often, and it's worth answering clearly. The work we hold is psychospiritual in nature — self-inquiry, healing, and personal transformation in a ceremonial context rooted in the Bwiti tradition. We are not equipped to manage active opiate dependency or medical withdrawal, and for those cases, ibogaine clinics are better set up to handle the complexity involved. However, we do work with active addictions of other kinds — alcohol, pornography, behavioural patterns, and otherwise — where the work is more psychospiritual than medical in nature. And if someone has moved through active opiate addiction and completed a detox process, Iboga can be profoundly supportive for the deeper work of understanding what the addiction was pointing to in the first place. We are happy to have an honest conversation about where you're at and whether this is the right container for you.

Do you serve Ibogaine or Total Alkaloid extract?

No. We do not serve Ibogaine, Total Alkaloid, or any other extract of the Iboga plant. We serve pure, unadulterated Iboga root bark — the whole plant, as it has been used in Central Africa for time immeasurable. There is something important, we believe, in receiving the full spectrum of the plant's intelligence rather than an isolated fraction of it.

What does the experience actually feel like?

Unlike many other plant medicines, Iboga keeps you unusually present and self-aware throughout the journey — it is not a dissociative. It is more direct than impressionistic, more literal than dreamlike. What it tends to do is illuminate: shining a kind of inner light through the structures of the mind, surfacing unconscious processes, habit patterns, and long-buried material with unusual clarity. Physically, the experience is demanding — expect to spend the bulk of it lying still, and plan for several days of rest and integration afterward. A full ceremony in its peak phase can span anywhere from 12 to 18 hours, with the medicine continuing to work in subtler ways for weeks, and sometimes months, beyond that.

What medical screening is required?

A cardiac EKG and a liver panel are prerequisites for working with Iboga — full stop. These are not formalities. Iboga places significant demand on both the heart and the liver, and certain pre-existing conditions make working with the medicine genuinely unsafe. Absolute contraindications include heart arrhythmias, QT prolongation, severe liver disease, and active psychosis. Transparency during your intake process is essential — partial information creates real risk. If your health profile raises concerns, we will tell you honestly, and we will never encourage someone to proceed if the medicine is not right for them at this time.

What medications or substances need to be stopped beforehand?

Iboga interacts seriously with a wide range of substances — opioids, SSRIs, MAOIs, stimulants, and many psychiatric medications among them. Some require a taper of several weeks before a ceremony can safely take place. We review all of this thoroughly during the intake process and will work with you to determine an appropriate timeline. Please be completely honest here. Difficult information is workable; incomplete information is not.

Is there a specific diet to follow before the retreat?

There's no rigid dietary protocol the way there is with Ayahuasca, but arriving in good physical condition genuinely matters — both for how the medicine works and for how your body recovers. Clean, whole foods, good hydration, no alcohol or other drugs?plant medicines, and adequate sleep in the weeks prior are simple acts of preparation that make a real difference. The only other things to avoid the days beforehand are grapefruit and tonic water.

Will I feel nauseous or physically uncomfortable?

Some people do, some don't. Nausea and purging are possible and, when they occur, are generally understood as part of the cleansing action of the medicine rather than something going wrong. Ataxia — a temporary difficulty with coordination and movement — is also common, which is why you'll spend most of the ceremony lying down. The heart works hard throughout, almost as though the body is running a marathon, and fatigue in the days following is to be expected. Our team stays present with you through all of it.

Will this conflict with my religious or spiritual beliefs?

Our ceremonies are rooted in the Bwiti tradition, but Bwiti is not a religion in the conventional sense — it is a path of direct experience and self-knowledge. People from all faiths, and none, participate in this work. In our experience, most people leave with a deepened relationship to whatever they already held as sacred — or with a more honest reckoning with questions they had long set aside.

How is Iboga different from Ayahuasca?

They are genuinely different medicines with different characters. Ayahuasca tends to be indirect, feeling-centered, and impressionistic — it works through the emotional body and often through vivid imagery. Iboga is more direct, more literal, and more grounding. Where Ayahuasca opens a field, Iboga hands you a mirror. Many people come to Iboga after years of work with Ayahuasca, sensing that something more penetrating was still needed. They are not better or worse than each other — they simply work on different registers.

What is integration, and how do you support it?

The ceremony is a beginning, not a conclusion. In the days and weeks that follow, insights continue to settle and unfold — sometimes with surprising force. Integration is the practice of weaving what you've encountered back into the texture of your actual life: your relationships, your patterns, the choices you make each day. We support this process with structured follow-up calls and referrals to practitioners experienced in this kind of work. The medicine shows you; integration is how you do something with what you've seen.

How do I know if I'm ready?

If you're thinking about taking Iboga, chances are the inkling of the call is already there. In our experience, feeling called is itself a form of readiness — the medicine has a way of finding the people who need it, often before those people can fully articulate why. What we look for isn't the absence of fear or uncertainty, but the presence of a genuine intention. If something in you is leaning toward this, that's worth trusting. Reach out — a conversation costs nothing, and we'd rather take the time to explore that together than have anyone arrive underprepared for what Iboga asks of you.