Nutrition & Natural Medicine in Peru

Nicole runs this beautiful program! I did the internship + program and can say that both have been amazing experiences for me! I came to Peru hoping to understand how herbs and nutritional remedies can be used to treat illness, as I have had a growing distaste of western medicinal philosophy–I left having witnessed that illness can be severely impacted using natural remedies! In addition to the knowledge gain, I met beautiful beautiful people, and Peru is one of the most gorgeous, spectacular places! Both Nicole and Max are great, and I am so grateful for such an experience, if I could, I would do it all over again! Would highly recommend, do it!

I had an amazing experience studying natural medicine and holistic nutrition in Peru. It gave me a new perspective on the different types of nutrition people study. I learned about the many superfoods, natural cleanses and detoxes, aromatherapy and more. I highly recommend to people wanting to study natural medicine and holistic nutrition. We also hiked Machu Picchu, visited the salt pools and tried many Peruvian dishes.

My experience learning about nutrition and natural medicine in Peru was truly amazing. Through this program I had the opportunity to learn about aspects of natural medicine and holistic nutrition which I have never had the opportunity to learn in school. It was so awesome to get to experience the health culture of this country and learn about all of the amazing Peruvian super foods and herbs used! I have already benefited so much from the information I learned about essential oils, body work, natural and herbal medicine, tradition Peruvian cooking and super foods, and overall holistic health - and it has sparked a desire within me to continue to learn more about these topics! I also loved all of the opportunities we had to hike and enjoy the outdoors - which were many! Every day was filled with fun workshops, delicious food, and outdoor adventures :) Peru is such a beautiful and health conscious place, and I hope to go back again! I could not recommend this program enough!

I was looking for a program that focused on herbalism and a natural, holistic look at life and medicine. I was also hoping to find something that would get me back into a spanish speaking country to practice my fading language skills and support my love of cultural exploration. Nicole's program (and it really is her grown-up brain child) did this for me and provided so much more than I had ever hoped. Nicole is an amazing person and has connected herself to an incredibly welcoming and insightful community. The cost of the program covers delicious cuisine for most of your meals, multiple excursions to incredible sights often featured in National Geographic, and an introduction and entrance into the culture on so many levels. You meet local artist communities, have contact with shamans who live several days worth of hiking up in the mountains, meet Max--our fabulous local tour guide and source of endless stories accessible to people of all spanish speaking levels--explore phenomenal nature and learn the secret local knowledge of how to barter at the markets and who sells the best fruit. Oh my Goodness the fruit. It's worth it if all you do is eat the fruit, but you do so much more as well.

We hiked the mountains that create a backdrop to Urubamba and collected native medicinal plants for a local healer. We gave ceremonial thanks to Pacha Mama in return for letting us collect what we needed from her mountain and used what we gathered to heal people. I summated Machu Pichu and Huayna Pichu in the glorious jungle rain and sat in meditation in the temple of the moon half way down the back side of the mountain. We went to the Salt flats at Maras and spent days just sitting around loving life. We met with Vedic healers who taught us nutritional information and made the best snacks.

Make the decision to go on the trip for yourself, because you will grow so much and learn about yourself and the world in ways you are not expecting.

This program has benefitted my outlook on medicine, nutrition, travel, and my environment in too many ways to count. I came to Peru with little knowledge of nutrition and herbalism, and absolutely no ability to speak Spanish. However, I was immediately welcomed and given the resources to take Spanish classes. I felt encouraged to fully immerse myself in the experience, and through many workshops by people who worked with many types of indigenous medicine, herbalism, and nutrition every day, I learned so much about myself, the earth, and a more wholesome and caring culture in addition to the subjects the workshops were officially about. I learned a great deal of Spanish in a short amount of time, leaving with a determination to continue studying the language, apply what I had learned, and live in a more wholesome and open way connected to my surroundings and community. I cannot thank Nichole enough for the careful planning and love that she clearly put into the program and for the warm and open way she welcomed me and the rest of the members of the program. I made connections that truly changed me and met people I will never forget. This is a beautiful, immersive way to learn and to experience Peru, and I would recommend the program to anyone with even the slightest interest in Peru, nutrition, alternative medicines, or the environment.

My experience with this program truly exceeded my expectations. Nicole, the program director, was so beyond helpful from before the program even started until the very end. I was only there for 3 weeks and I learned so much useful information about plant-based medicine, Peruvian culture, and nutrition. Before going it was not my main goal to improve my Spanish, but after being immersed in the language I left Peru being more motivated than ever to eventually be fluent in Spanish. The opportunities that were presented to the students in the program are not things that you can find anywhere else, it was truly a once in a lifetime experience. The people that I have met through this program are some of the most amazing people I know and meeting them has truly changed my life for the better, if I could do it all over again I would not change a thing.