Dr. Juan

Description

Enter the Amazon Before the World Changed

In the early 1990s, long before the Amazon became a global symbol of environmental crisis and cultural transformation, a young anthropology student traveled deep into Ecuador to learn from the people whose lives were intertwined with the rainforest.

This book is a rare and intimate journey through Ecuador told through the author’s original diary entries and fieldnotes from years of ethnographic research, travel, and friendship. Beginning in Quito and continuing into the Amazonian communities along the Napo River, these pages capture the curiosity, uncertainty, discovery, and profound human connections that shaped a lifetime of anthropological work.

Through encounters with the Napo Runa (Quichua) people, readers are introduced to Indigenous traditions, medicinal plant knowledge, shamanic practices, oral histories, and struggles for cultural survival. The book offers a firsthand window into relationships with renowned Amazonian healers, including the Mamallacta family, whose knowledge and stories have become part of the historical record of Amazonian shamanism.

More than a travel memoir or academic account, this is a story about listening—about entering another world with humility and documenting the wisdom of elders whose voices deserve to be remembered. It preserves a moment in time when trust was built face-to-face, when stories were shared around the fire, when the spirit of volunteerism was thriving, and when the forest itself was a teacher.

Dedicated to the memory of Don Casimiro Mamallacta Mamallacta, a respected Napo Runa elder and shaman who inspired generations, this book is a tribute to cultural heritage, friendship, and the enduring power of Indigenous knowledge.

A must-read for anyone interested in anthropology, the Amazon rainforest, Indigenous cultures, shamanism, ethnobotany, and the human stories behind cultural preservation.

“Ayahuasca Diaries is a vivid and deeply human record of ethnographic encounter before the Amazon became a global shorthand for crisis and loss. John Luque writes with humility, attentiveness, and respect, preserving not only the voices of Napo Runa elders and healers, but also the fragile trust through which anthropological knowledge is made. This is an invaluable contribution for readers interested in Indigenous knowledge, shamanism, ethnobotany, and the lived relationships at the heart of fieldwork.” – A.J. Faas, Professor, Department of Anthropology, San José State University

Book length: 273 pages.