The Land

The Land: 

Narrative Text for Website: The Spirit of our Land 

A Quilombola Community of Memory and Future

Jornadas de Kura is not only surrounded by history, it is rooted inside it. Our retreat center is located in a living quilombola community, where descendants of African people who resisted slavery continue to cultivate land, culture, and freedom. To be here is to step into a Brazil that remembers and resists — a Brazil where community life, ancestry, and resilience shape the rhythm of daily existence.

The spirit of quilombo is inseparable from our work: it teaches that healing is collective, that freedom is sustained by reciprocity, and that land is not property but kin.

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Food of Minas: Nourishment as Culture

Meals at Jornadas de Kura are not just food; they are part of the ceremony. The culinary traditions of Minas Gerais — cultivated by quilombola families, farmers, and cooks — are a heritage of care. Fresh beans and cassava, slow-cooked stews, wood-oven breads, and fruits from the land come together to nourish body and soul. Each dish carries the flavors of resistance and joy, prepared with the love and patience of generations.

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Music of the Mountains: Clube da Esquina

Minas Gerais is also the birthplace of Clube da Esquina, the legendary collective of musicians who, in the 1970s, transformed Brazilian music by blending rock, jazz, and traditional rhythms into something timeless. To hear these songs in the Serra is to feel the echo of mountains in melody, the voice of freedom in harmony. Music here is not background. It is a living current of healing and belonging.

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Land of Waterfalls, Stones, and Ancient Memory

The Serra do Cipó is famed for its breathtaking waterfalls, crystal-clear rivers, and ancient rock formations. Each trail, each fall, each stone carries the energy of the Earth in its oldest language. This land is also home to archaeological sites of deep human history. It was here that the skull of Luzia, one of the oldest human remains found in the Americas, was discovered , reminding us that this territory has been a cradle of life for over 11,000 years.

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Céu da Divina Estrela: A Decade of Ceremony

Our retreat center is also the birthplace of Céu da Divina Estrela, a Santo Daime church established more than ten years ago. Since then, over 600 ceremonies have been held on this land, under the stars and cedars of Engenho. This continuity of work has made the land itself a sanctuary of prayer, song, and transformation.

Every journey at Jornadas de Kura carries this legacy forward. When we say this is not just a retreat, but a return, we mean a return to a living altar — a space consecrated by more than a decade of devotion and communion.

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The Living Alliance

To join a retreat here is not to escape life but to return to it. In our land, surrounded by the waters, stones, and songs of Minas Gerais, healing is inseparable from memory, ancestry, and the land itself. It is here that Afro-Brazilian, Indigenous, and community traditions weave a living alliance — one that sustains not only those who come, but the generations to come.

There will be no alcohol during the retreat.

✨ The Meaning behind the name of Jornadas de Kura

Jornadas de Kura means “healing journeys.” We write Cura with K to reveal deeper layers of meaning. Cura is not only medical healing, but also cultural, spiritual, and collective healing — a return to balance with self, community, and the Earth. The K honors Indigenous presence: it recalls the Kuripe (sacred used to take rapéh snuff), the Krenak people of Minas Gerais, and the ancestral languages where this letter carries strength.

Our logo brings this vision together: the ayahuasca vine and its leaves, the embrace of community, and the cave paintings of Minas Gerais, symbols of humanity’s oldest memory. Together, the name and symbol remind us that healing is not escape, but a shared journey of ancestry, future, and belonging.

🍲 Food & Nutrition

We serve 100% organic meals, carefully prepared to be plant-medicine friendly and supportive of retreat work.

•   Culinary approach: Our high-skilled local cooks combine traditional Brazilian dishes and spices with mindful adaptations to meet the needs of our international guests.
•   Personalization: Menus are designed to balance nourishment, flavor, and dietary requirements, ensuring every meal supports both body and spirit.

🏡 Accommodations

Our retreat center offers brand-new accommodations designed for both comfort and harmony with nature.

•   Bungalows: Five newly built bungalows provide a balance of modern comfort, safety, and cleanliness, while integrating elements of Brazilian architecture and the natural surroundings.
•   Capacity: We can comfortably accommodate 20+ guests in private and shared spaces.
•   Atmosphere: Nestled among the trees, the accommodations combine the beauty of the woods with thoughtful design, ensuring rest and privacy during the retreat.