David ‘Slocum’ Hewson is the owner and founder of Amaru Spirit, a holistic healing center located in the Amazon jungle. Having spent 20 years as an artist, Slocum moved to Iquitos, where he dedicated much of his time to painting subjects from the Peruvian Amazon. Following many years of study with traditional shaman and undergoing extensive plant diets and initiation, he designed and built Amaru Spirit. In addition to creative expression through art, which he feels is greatly enhanced through the use of plant medicines, Slocum believes that a modern understanding of nutrition and physical cleansing can be combined with the ancient shamanic art of healing the body and spirit through the use of plant medicines; and the two are necessary and synergistic.

In order to provide the highest quality of service to our guest’s, Amaru Spirit employs a large number of local staff to support the operation. such as kitchen, laundry, cleaning, maintenance, and grounds staff.