How to prepare for an iboga retreat

Preparation has a natural order. You walk it together with the team, from the first conversation to the day you leave.

1. Setting your intention — begins the moment the plant drew you to it. The facilitators help you bring your intention into its most useful form.
2. The initial interview — a video session with a team member who has been through the initiation. We speak freely about your life, challenges, past experiences, medication and patterns.
3. Confirming your spot — if there is a good fit, you pay the deposit and book your own flights.
4. Physical and spiritual preparation — the diet, medication to taper under guidance, preparing the mind (sections below).
5. The last week — documents, ECG, packing.

There is no strict "iboga diet", but the cleaner you eat, the less your body has to detoxify during the ceremony. In the weeks before:

• Organic, minimally processed foods.
• Meat and seafood from natural or wild sources.
• Plenty of fruit, vegetables and nourishing plant foods.
• Grounding foods: root vegetables, bone broth, soups and stews.
• Minimal or no sugar; cut fizzy drinks and sweet beverages.
• Cut alcohol 7–14 days before.
• Reduce caffeine (max one coffee a day, to avoid headaches on ceremony day).
• Drink plenty of filtered water — 3–4 litres a day or more.
• Cut ultra-processed foods, preservatives, artificial colours and flavours.

When working with iboga, stopping most medications is recommended.

Not permitted: antidepressants (SSRIs), sleeping pills, barbiturates or recreational drugs. Their interaction with iboga can be dangerous.

Any change to medication should be made only after consulting your doctor. Certain conditions and treatments can contraindicate participation — which is why the interview and health screening are mandatory.

Medication is only half of it. Iboga reacts with whatever else it finds in your system, and some of those combinations are dangerous rather than merely unpleasant. For the night to be safe and therapeutic, your body has to start from its own baseline: at least 7 days clear before the ceremony, to clear and to recover.

That means stopping, without exception:

• Alcohol and cannabis, edibles and THC-containing CBD products included.
• Stimulants — cocaine, amphetamines, methamphetamine, MDMA / ecstasy.
• Opioids — heroin, morphine, oxycodone, tramadol, codeine.
• Benzodiazepines and sleeping pills — alprazolam, diazepam, zolpidem and the rest.
• Ketamine, GHB, kratom and synthetic substances sold as "legal highs".
• Psychedelics — LSD, mushrooms, DMT, ayahuasca, San Pedro.

With alcohol, benzodiazepines and opioids, stopping abruptly carries its own risk. If that is where you are, the taper belongs with your doctor and not with you alone — and if you are on substitution treatment (methadone, buprenorphine), tell us at the interview: it is not an automatic no, but the timeline is set individually, with the team and with your doctor.

For some people this is the hard part of the preparation, especially when dependence is the very reason for coming.

It is a commitment we make together, for the safety of the night and for how much you can take home from it.

Reduce time on TV, computer and social media. The more detached you are, the less iboga has to "travel through" to reach the essence of what you want to receive.

Recommended documentaries

• Hamilton's Pharmacopeia — S03E04
• Journey to the Edge of Consciousness
• The Wisdom of Trauma
• Independent Lens — S23E12, Glimpses of Consciousness
• Neurons to Nirvana — Understanding Psychedelic Medicines
• How to Change Your Mind
• Dosed (2019 / 2022)
• In Waves and War (Netflix)

A few minutes of preparation now save you a lot of stress at the airport or on the plane.

Required documents

• An ordinary electronic passport, valid for at least 6 months from entry (temporary passports are not accepted).
• Mandatory local medical insurance (since 1 Oct 2024): done online at visitzanzibar.go.tz, $44/person, regardless of any other insurance. Required at boarding — show the barcode.
• Romanian citizens do not pay a visa on entry (if you are asked for $50, show your passport again).
• An ECG (electrocardiogram) taken within the last week. After the interview you receive a complete guide for preparing your ECG and the required medical documents.

Health and safety

• "Africa" vaccines are not mandatory for Tanzania. Recommended: mosquito repellent (tropical Autan), light long-sleeved clothing, possibly prophylaxis agreed with your doctor.
• A small medical kit: hand sanitizer, tablets for stomach/fever/allergies/pain, rehydration salts.
• For the ocean and excursions: sea-urchin protection footwear + your own snorkeling gear (hygiene).

Money

• Bring new dollars, issued after 2007 — older ones are not accepted in Zanzibar.
• Cash for personal expenses, tips, souvenirs.
• An internet SIM ~$15 (12.5 GB) in Paje; the same SIM costs $40 at the airport.

What to pack

Mandatory: passport, Zanzibar insurance, recent ECG, cash (new dollars), swimsuit, light breathable t-shirt and long trousers, an open mind.

Recommended: sunscreen, sunglasses, insect spray, sun hat, after-sun gel, flip-flops/crocs, reusable water bottle, toiletries, a good book, journal and pen, headphones, sleep accessories (earplugs, eye mask), healthy non-perishable snacks.

Pack essentials in your carry-on (medication, swimsuit, a change of clothes) — luggage is sometimes lost. Zanzibar uses UK sockets, bring an adapter. If you have room in your checked bag, bring clothes you no longer use — they are donated locally.