Harambe iboga Detox Retreat Centre - Testimonials

As a person suffering from depression and anxiety for many years, I decided to give the iboga treatment a try after all other conventional medications and talking therapies had failed to offer any relief from my symptoms and was not disappointed by it.

First of all, I would like to thank Cathy and Bilal for their great hospitality. Their home is a very welcoming, friendly and family orientated environment which helped me settle in instantly. The food was exceptional and very organic. I had no idea food could taste so good, which was a nice change from all the processed garbage we eat here in the UK. It got to the point I genuinely looked forward to meal times because it was so good!

My depression and anxiety had affected virtually every area in my life from my relationships with other people to my working life. To say I couldn’t connect with other people would have been an understatement. my relationships in general were non-existent and my sense of self was completely diminished to the point of what felt like extreme depersonalisation.

I pursued iboga as a last resort after all other treatments has failed to alleviate my symptoms and what followed was exactly what I had been searching for. The Iboga trip itself and the preparation work involved is very tough however, the benefits are more than worth it. To put things bluntly my trip lasted roughly 24 hours followed by what they call the “grey day” which lasted about 36 hours.

Following the Iboga trip itself I can honestly say my life has done a huge U-turn in all areas that were affected. The first thing I noticed was my sense of self had completely changed. I got up, walked around and couldn’t help but notice everything had changed for the better.

My sense of depersonalisation was gone completely, I could actually feel it when I looked around that things were different. After walking around outside for a bit I began to notice my depression and anxiety were now under my control. I now had the space I needed in my head to control my thoughts and feelings the way I had craved for years. Even the way I experienced my own body was better. my movements and energy just felt more natural. I also had really bad acid reflux and can honestly say the iboga took care of that too. As crazy as it sounds even my appearance had changed, I actually looked healthier and had more of a glow about me. Seriously.

Two weeks on and now that I’m back home things are continuing to improve the way I had hoped they would, following the Iboga experience. The first thing I noticed was my social anxiety had improved drastically. being amongst other people was infinitely easier and has helped improve my relationships with everyone from my family and friends to my work colleagues and even women. I was chronically shy around women and the Iboga has helped me break out of my shyness and actually talk to women with ease. One of the biggest things I have taken from this is the clarity and stillness of mind that I have achieved to the extent that everything from decision making to eye contact is significantly easier. I’m eating considerably more food since the acid reflux has been taken care of by the Iboga which I did not expect to at all. As a practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo and submission wrestling I need a lot of calories to keep my energy up and remain competitive.

To summarise I am extremely grateful for both Bilal and Cathy’s service as I am now enjoying a quality of life that just was not possible through other forms of treatment. If you’re in the same boat as me where other treatments have failed and are considering pursuing iboga then do it. The truth is everyone no matter what their situation is can benefit from iboga. To a certain extent I actually feel sorry for people who haven’t done the Iboga experience as it’s the most liberating and freeing thing you can do for your mind.

If my symptoms were ever to return, I would not hesitate to call Bilal and Cathy and book another session and would gladly go through the tough aspects of the experience again. To quote Bilal “iboga is a miracle cure and at the same time it’s not”. what this means is that yes it will help to obliterate your symptoms however, it is up to yourself to maintain a positive outlook on life and stay away from old habits and negative thought processes otherwise you will be back to square one eventually. Me personally I have taken up meditation and practice gratitude on a daily basis to help maintain the clarity of thought I had been chasing for so long. I still have a lot of work to do in regards to keeping on top of things but can honestly say I’m in a much better place both mentally and emotionally than before I began treatment.

I first heard about iboga quite a few years ago when I was looking for a way to cure my sister’s addiction to opiates and other hard to get off substances. When she was eventually ready to stop, I found Harambe online. I had emailed other websites offering iboga but had not really had a response but Harambe responded quickly and gave me a lot of information. I instantly knew that this was the right place to take my sister. When we eventually got there, we met Cathy and Bilal who were so welcoming and understanding to what my sister was going through. It was lovely to be surrounded by mountains and trees and the food they cook is amazing!

My sister was given two large doses of iboga over a course of a couple of days in which she time travelled and was also able to speak to our father who has passed away. The doses took away all of withdrawals and the majority of her cravings but most importantly, it took away her depression and feelings of wanting to commit suicide which were just as much part of the problem as was the addiction. My sister lost nearly everything because of all of this and now she is gaining it all back. I can really say that she is a changed person and is back to the way she was before the addiction and other traumas of life took her.

A couple of months later I decided to go back to Harambe to do the iboga myself as I was struggling with some issues with anxiety and depression and had been reliant on smoking cannabis every day all day for nearly ten years. If I did not have it I felt like I could not get through the day and I wanted it to stop. Unfortunately, my experience with the iboga wasn’t too pleasant, not because of the hallucinations but because I was very very sick for the whole time and was unable to keep it down. I experienced an emotion that does not even exist and it was a terrifying feeling. When I got home, I had night terrors every night for a week but I think that this was just all of the bad stuff coming out of me. The experience definitely changed something in me as it took away my mind chatter which usually used to stop me from falling asleep for hours and was usually full of negative comments! Bilal said that I would need to come back and do a second dose like my sister did so another month later I came back and did it again.

This time it was a lot easier and I was able to keep it down. I did not have deep visions like my sister did but when it was over, I had the best feeling of peace and relaxation I have ever experienced! A lot of things have changed for me now. I don’t feel anxious and low all of the time. I don’t have social anxiety now. I can sleep so well and so deep now which is amazing! My diet has completely changed as for some reason the experience made me want to go vegetarian and not eat sugar as much as I was so addicted to chocolate and cake but this could have been down to the munchies! Anyway, I have lost weight because of it which is great. I never wanna taste or smell nicotine again, the thought of it makes me heave and I cannot stand the smell at all now. My mind has totally been altered and I just do not feel the same about cannabis anymore. I do not rely on it and the voice in my head telling me I need it 24/7 is gone. I can’t say that I won’t ever smoke it again but I will never let myself become reliant on it again, that much I know.

A couple of months after this my mum decided that she wanted to try it too to see if she could give up smoking 40 cigarettes a day. She did it and she is still free of them now. I cannot recommend this detox enough to anyone. It is not entirely an easy experience but it is so worth it for your mental and physical wellbeing! I will definitely do this again at some point as it has helped me and my family so much.

I really hope that if you are reading this, you make the choice to go ahead and do it. Cathy and Bilal are some of the most interesting people I have ever met and what they are doing is nothing short of miracle work! Whilst I was there, I have seen some very chronic addicts being cured and I never thought I would see my sister live the rest of her life so I cant thank them enough. My whole family has changed for the better because of iboga and Cathy and Bilal and I am eternally grateful for that.

My experience was incredible. I now think of my life as “pre-iboga” and “post-iboga”. You and Bilal were great, the setting was beautiful and the informality and cosiness was very appropriate to the experience. That being said, I despite the informal setting I felt in very good hands.

My feeling, frankly, is that almost anybody would benefit from this experience. Do not underestimate how physically and emotionally tough it can be during the actual session but, conversely, do not underestimate how profound and lasting the impact seems to be. Know what you want to get out of it, go in highly informed as to what the experience involves and follow the preparation advice, particularly regarding fasting, to the letter. If you do that and approach it with an open, relaxed mind, you will find that this is not a punctuation mark in your life. It is the beginning of a new chapter. I would also say that, before you go, you should think and prepare carefully for how you are going to raise your game afterward – diet (very important), exercise, social setting, rest. This is just a lift up. It is up to you to take advantage of the chance afterwards.

Before I explain my experience at Harambe Detox Centre, I would like to provide a bit of background on myself. I’m 25 years old, from the United States but currently living in Berlin, Germany. I’ve been a heroin addict for 8 years, starting at the young age of 16 and continuing steadily through until now.

I first found out about iboga three years ago and since then, I’ve gone to ClearSky in Cancun, Mexico as well as an individual provider in the Netherlands in order to undergo iboga treatment for my addiction. I never managed to fully kick my habit, as I found myself relapsing 6 months or so after each treatment.

As many addicts can relate to, the process of gathering up financial and moral support to undergo something as expensive and complicated as iboga treatment is incredibly difficult. The longer an addict proves to be a problem, the less and less likely family members, friends, and loved ones want to help and support them. I found myself in this exact position recently as I fell into a hole of heavily using and retreating from my support structures. So, when I finally came to my senses and realized that I needed a way out of my life of despair, I reconnected with my parents and friends and attempted to raise the money I needed for these expensive treatments. During this time, I encountered the Iboga Healing House, a seemingly professional looking facility run by Adam ##### and Edyta #####.

Over the course of two weeks, I had numerous skype calls with them, got them a full medical work up and ECG examination, all at my expense and finally convinced my parents to support one last attempt at saving myself by utilizing iboga. Well, life seemed to have a different plan for me and I couldn’t have been better off for this turn of events.

A mere hours before I was to book flights to the Iboga Healing House and pay them their fee, I get a message from them claiming that they no longer want to treat me and that their only reason for denying me treatment was because “they reserve the right to refuse treatment to any patients they feel they don’t want to treat.” I’m young, healthy, and was able to afford it at that moment, but with their refusal to treat me, the financial and moral support that I had worked so hard to get from my loved ones was stripped right out from underneath me.

I was shocked and terrified that people claiming to be “healing providers” would treat a vulnerable addict in such a manner as this, and to this day they have said absolutely nothing in response to my numerous questions regarding why they refused me as a patient. Life had a different answer for me, just when I needed it though. In a frantic search, I came across the Harambe Detox Centre in Valencia, Spain. They were immediately responsive and incredibly accommodating to my needs and scheduling and their fee for treatment expresses their sincere desire to help people, not monetize them. Upon arrival in Spain, I was taken care of in such a caring and understanding manner that I instantly felt at home at this beautiful plot of land in the countryside where you feel like you can honestly connect with yourself and your place within nature. Another thing you should really consider when deciding upon an iboga provider is simply what “kind” of iboga they are working with. Not all are the same and it’s very important to know what you are getting. They work with the strongest total alkaloid I have ever had the pleasure of taking and the results speak for themselves. Highly reliable and quality material which provides the best setting for a proper flood dose.

I cannot express my sincere gratitude for Catherine and Bilal, they are exactly what you want in iboga care providers. They work together in a family home environment to provide a balanced and challenging environment where you are given the best set of conditions and tools to really work through your internal issues surrounding addiction. Bilal pushed me to fight through my weaknesses and forced me to become a stronger person for it; but not in a patronizing or demeaning way, but simply encouraging me to dig deeper into myself and my psychosis with what I believe I need. I initially resisted this advice, but I soon came to learn it’s importance and value in this recovery process. In the three times taking iboga prior to coming to Harambe, there was limited instruction or drive to the care providers. They just wanted us to be happy and didn’t really want to invest in learning about us and pushing us in specific ways about our personality. The environment at Harambe is the perfect place for those who are seeking a true and brutally honest look at themselves and why they are where they are and how to get up from there.

I will be forever grateful to Catherine, Bilal, and the kids. You all have shown me such compassion, respect, and joy that I will never forget the time I’ve spent here.

Thank you.

La primera palabra que quisiera manifestar es GRACIAS ,si gracias por el trato recibido y por ayudarme a salir del pozo de las drogas en mi caso heroína, no sabia nada o muy poco de la iboga pero un amigo me animo a ello, y hay que me plante en valencia, la experiencia tiene para mi dos partes una que podría ser una pesadilla para cualquier humano enfrentarse de modo no se si consciente pues el consciente y el inconsciente se mezclan cuando el espíritu de la iboga se apodera de tu cuerpo y mente, a tus miedos a tus fantasmas a que lo que de algún modo te llevo a brazos de la droga, yo la verdad lo pase muy mal para mi fue una experiencia muy fuerte, bueno menos mal que un mono seguro,pero si me vi de otra manera me limpio de una manera que nada en el mundo puede hacer, me limpio no solo mi cuerpo y mi mente, y de algún modo también mi alma. la segunda parte fue buena o muy buena, Cathy y Bilal se portaron genial zumitos naturales masajes y spa, cuando te vas te quedas con ganas de estar mas tiempo pero la vida sigue y dejar aquel lugar entre pinos a 30 minutos de Valencia era lo que tocaba, me esperaban mi mujer y mis hijos, pero nunca y digo nunca olvidare esta experiencia y mucho menos a los dos amigos que deje en Valencia, gracias una vez mas Bilal y Catherine.

besos a vuestra pequeña

My iboga story – I am a 47 year old man working full time in a demanding and professional job, for the past 12 years I have had an addiction to prescription pain killers namely Tramadol 50mg capsules – Initially the Doctor prescribed these for a trapped nerve in my back that was causing great pain – I also had physio on my back and within a year my back pain had gone, but not my addiction to tramadol! I had found that by using tramadol really helped me feel better generally as well as getting a nice buzz. However, whilst this was fine for a while taking 3 or 4 – 50mg capsules daily – to get the same feeling I started taking 7 or 8 50mg capsules per day, again, this was ok for a couple of years, but once again the need to increase the dose was to strong I was now on 12 50mg capsules per day – more years pasted and now my dose was up to 16 capsules a day. around this time a new law came in to effect in the UK that restricted the use of Tramadol to that of a controlled drug – as such to get them now from my doctor became very difficult as In the past I had never been checked or questioned, now every time I went to get my prescription I had to sign for them and have regular reviews: as such to keep my dose up I had to ask other people to help get them for me asking them to go to the Doctor with nerve pain and need Tramadol – through this I was able to get my dose up to 20 plus 50mg capsules per day: I knew Drastic action needed to be taken:

I came across iboga whilst searching the internet like so many others – however, there was so much information and so many offering to prescribe Iboga it was very difficult to know who to turn to. My major problem was that in all cases it seemed I would need to be away for at least 5 days possibly 7 or 8 days, with a wife and young children that was going to be difficult. Also, most places seemed to be in Mexico or Costa Rica – through extensive research I could not find anywhere in the UK that would be able to help, I found lots of numbers to call but all came to nothing.

I finally came across Harambe in Valencia Spain: after reading the reviews / testimonials I decided to e-mail Cathy: She responded quickly and was very helpful, we agreed a date and arrangements were made and I set about booking my flights. I did not need to pay upfront which when you are going through this is very helpful as in the back of your mind you always think it might be a scam, all I had to do was send Cathy copy of my flight details, and pay a deposit and the rest of the money on arrival.

I arrived at Valencia airport at 20:30 on a Friday night as arranged Cathy picked me up and was great very helpful and encouraging, I felt like I had known her a long time and trusted her straight away which was a huge thing. It was approx. a 30 min drive to their farm-house in the country side on arrival I met Bilal and liked him straight away – we chatted for a while then Bilal give me a magnesium flush to purge me out which for the rest of the night it did: I had to go through that first before the Iboga treatment could start – I was really hoping to start the treatment that evening when I arrived as I had been fasting for 24 hour and only had coco water to drink, so the thought of waiting until the Saturday to start was disappointing: But decided that after everything I had to go through to get here that I was going to take Catherine’s and Bilal’s advice and do what they said.

On Saturday morning I had my first test dose which was fine, after an hour I was given 2 more capsules by this time I had started to hallucinate lots of different images coming into view this went on for a while then Bilal give me another 2 capsules – from here on in I had no idea of time. for anyone reading this – This will be the worst time the day after – Often called the Grey day you feel very down and depressed and time just drags minutes seem like hours you will feel as though the treatment has not worked and that the day will never end – I kept asking Cathy and Bilal for a sleeping tablet at 5 in the afternoon but they said I would have to wait until 10-11pm as otherwise I would be up all night at the time I really resented them for that but of course they were right. – In the coming days you will slowly start to feel better my mind became very clear but my body was still aching I would advise anyone to take up the offer of the massage its 35 euros but worth it.

I did not have any visions or trips I think I was on such a high dose of Tramadol that the Iboga had its work cut out. In hindsight I wish I had stayed a few more days and had the second dose Its now been 2-weeks since my treatment and I haven’t had any cravings what so ever for Tramadol the treatment does work!

My wife and her brother are going in a few weeks for the treatment and I would recommend it to anyone – Just be aware that the Grey day is painful but it does end and if you think of the alternative it’s a small price to pay:

Cathy & Bilal are 2 of the nicest most genuine people I have ever met just listen to their advice and they will look after you and help you get your life back.

My recommendations for anybody who wants to come:
Do your best to follow the recommendations you will be given for preparation.