Ayahuasca
He prepared his own ayahuasca recipe and, while brewing it, showed each plant in the mixture one by one and explained its role.
In memory · March 24, 2020
Don Antonio Montero Pisco
Healer, master of plants and guardian of the ancestral medicine of the Peruvian Amazon. Those who knew him called him “the Man of Light.”
Our father, our teacher
Monteros Expedition was born from his path. Everything we share with travelers today —respect for the rainforest, knowledge of the plants and the ayahuasca ceremonies— we learned from him.
For more than five decades, Don Antonio devoted his life to healing and teaching. He welcomed scientists, doctors, pharmacists, students and travelers from all over the world, and spoke to all of them about the jungle with the same simplicity and warmth.
He used to say that his grandparents planted knowledge in him like seeds, but that the deepest lessons came from the plants themselves.
— What Don Antonio often told us
His story
Childhood in Lamas
From the age of four he was raised by his grandparents in Lamas, northern Peru. He grew up paddling canoes, weaving nets, fishing, planting cassava and learning the name of every tree in the forest.
Initiation at age nine
His grandfather, the community healer, took him to a giant lupuna tree deep in the forest and left him there for a whole month: on a strict diet, with no salt or sugar, speaking to no one. There he had his first visions of the spirits of the jungle.
Youth between jungle and city
He worked as a rubber-tree scout, which taught him to recognize the shapes of plants, and as a baker in Iquitos. But he always returned to the jungle. Around the age of twenty he began healing and specialized in ayahuasca ceremonies.
Master of ethnobotany
In 1991 he met the American ethnobotanist Dr. James A. Duke, beginning a friendship that lasted decades. He worked with Explorama Lodges and was curator of the medicinal plant gardens of ACEER (Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research).
Gardens that still teach
He created ethnobotanical gardens that serve as open-air classrooms: ReNuPeRu, on the banks of the Napo River, and others in Sucusari, Cahuide, Los Amigos Biological Station and Fondo Concepción. For over twenty years he taught thousands of people there.
His last workshop and his passing
He kept sharing his knowledge until the end: his last workshop was in Iquitos in 2019. He passed away on March 24, 2020. ACEER honored him with its Legacy Award for a life devoted to rainforest conservation and Amazonian plant medicine.
What he taught us
The tranquility bath
With aromatic plants and flowers he prepared a bath that he poured over visitors’ heads, asking the forest for its energy and protection.
The shacapa and the icaros
With his shacapa, a bundle of dry leaves, he cleared negative energy, and with his icaros, the songs of the plants, he guided and cared for each person during the ceremony.
Listen to an icaro by Don Antonio
His own voice, singing to the plants. With his icaros he guided the ceremony and watched over each person.
Memories
Some photos of his life, kept by the family.
The legacy lives on
Today the Montero family follows his path. With the same respect for the plants and for every person who arrives, we share the jungle, the indigenous communities and the ayahuasca ceremonies just as he taught us.
Antonio Montero Jr.
Don Antonio’s son. He grew up at his side learning about the plants and now leads Monteros Expedition.
Gilmer Montero
Don Antonio’s son. He carries on his father’s legacy and accompanies travelers in the jungle.
He is survived by his wife, Asteria Vílchez, and his children Marina, Mercy, Antonio, Gilmer, Nilton, Mileybi and Odiseo.
Experience ancestral medicine with his family
Ayahuasca retreats and jungle experiences in Iquitos, guided by those who learned from Don Antonio.