Keepers of the Tradition

Shipibo Maestro · Foundation Chairman · Community Mayor

Diomar López Silvano

Diomar López Silvano is a Shipibo maestro, chairman of the Shipibo Ayahuasca & Shamanism Foundation and mayor of Santa Rosa de Dinamarca. He grew up within a family of practitioners, including his father, Maestro Roger López Maynas, and was recognized as a shaman in 2001 after initiation and apprenticeship. His practice connects Ayahuasca, Piñón Blanco, plant dieta and live icaros. He describes rama as a spiritual lineage carried through generations and deepened through disciplined plant learning. His relationships with more than fifty plant species are central to that practice: in his understanding, plant spirits are teachers and members of an extended family, offering knowledge, guidance and protection. In 2011, he served as president of the Shipibo Shinan community initiative. His ceremonial and community work reflects a tradition lived within a family and a specific place.

Hear Diomar speak in his own words about plants as extended family, and the place of dieta, ceremonies and plant baths in his life’s work.

Shaman Maestro

Antonio Vasquez Galaretta

Antonio Vasquez Galaretta’s place in Shipibo tradition rests on more than forty years of practice and the knowledge he shared with another generation. He began learning with his grandfather. After marrying Rosa Arévalo Maynas, he continued his training with her cousin, Maestro Guillermo Arévalo, who became his teacher. Antonio studied with Guillermo for more than a decade, undertaking extended dietas with Ayahuasca, Noya Rao, Bobinsana and Chiric Sanango, among other plants. Within this tradition, plant teachings find expression through icaros, prayer and ceremony. His nephews and students include Pepe Franchini Vasquez and Jose Franchini Vasquez, whose accounts of learning with him appear in their practitioner profiles at APL Journeys. These teaching relationships help explain Antonio’s influence beyond a single retreat and the family connections through which this knowledge has traveled.

Shaman Maestro

Rosa Arévalo Maynas

Known as Mama Rosita, Rosa brings more than 40 years of Shipibo traditional practice. She grew up learning alongside her cousin Guillermo Arévalo Valera and is Antonio’s wife and ceremonial partner. Her own experience is an important part of the family’s living tradition, alongside the knowledge shared between generations. Get to know her individual approach and discuss her availability when arranging your retreat.

Shaman Maestro

Roger López Maynas

Roger is Diomar’s father and a Shipibo maestro with more than 40 years of experience in traditional plant practice. He works alongside his son in ceremonies, bringing their voices together through icaros. Their shared practice gives guests a direct encounter with two generations of the same family’s ceremonial tradition. Roger continues to deepen his relationships with ayahuasca and the other plants central to his work.

Curandero shaman

Roger López Silvano

Completed his shaman apprenticeship in 2010 at age 24. His practice includes ayahuasca and chacruna.

Curandero shaman

Antonio Franchini Pangosa

Completed his apprenticeship in 2013 at age 26. His work includes flower baths and a connection with plants named on the retreat’s original profile as Aya Albahaca and Noma Noma.

Curandero shaman

Wicler López Silvano

Completed his shaman apprenticeship in 2010 at age 26. Wicler works with ayahuasca and purification plants and helps oversee flower baths.

Curandero shaman

Rusbert López Vasquez

Completed his shaman apprenticeship in 2020 at age 20. His practice includes ayahuasca and Piñon Blanco, and he oversees plant steam baths.

Shipibo Shaman & Herbalist · Board Director

Dail López Silvano

Dail López Silvano is both a Shipibo shaman and an herbalist. He serves as a board director of the Shipibo Ayahuasca & Shamanism Foundation and leads the herbalist and housekeeping team. He spent ten years learning as a shaman and herbalist under his brother, Maestro Diomar López Silvano, and his father-in-law, Maestro Antonio Vasquez Galaretta. His work connects plant knowledge and ceremonial support with the practical care guests receive throughout their stay. Dail holds CPR certification; this is a first-aid qualification, not a medical degree.