Discover the transformative value in making time to fast from food, water, and socializing, and in doing so, enter into deep contact with yourself and all of Nature.

Welcome to the thirteenth year of Vision Quest in Italy, led by Yachay Santiago Andrade Leon and Andrea Calderon. 

Nina Urku is the mountain where we meet, start over, or deepen our direct connection with the nature surrounding us. 

Ultimately the main intention is to lead us to our inner nature.

At the heart of Sumak Kawsay, which means “good life” or “well-being” in Kichwa, is the importance of taking time to get clear on your purpose through your relationship with a community and the natural world. 

To be well in all one's relationships is what brings about the well-being and the rich sense of fulfillment that is habitually postponed or sought after in our modern times. 

Our ancestors realized the need to have a relationship with observation, direct listening, and the possibility of being guided by a purpose that is sincere and clear. 

The purpose is what energizes our desire to engage our own lives and the communities in which we live with renewed vitality and reverence. 

Modernity can be described as the unending "busyness" that clouds our eyes, making it hard for us to lead ourselves and others with a clear vision or sense of direction:

• What makes you come alive as an individual?
• What unlived potential(s) are you being called to from deep within?
• What is the authentic vision I want to lead myself and others towards?

The ancestors and elders that guide our tradition taught us that we find the answers to these and other questions we have in our hearts, by making time to go deep into nature. 

We are indebted to the long lineage of trial and error our ancestors went through to teach us the practice of the Vision Quest.  

They discovered the transformative value in making time to fast from food, water, and socializing, and in doing so, enter into Solitude. 

The Vision Quest deeply connects us to Nature, amplifying our senses so that like a radio tower, our minds can tune into the purpose and instructions for our lives that are constantly being scrambled or interrupted by the noise of the modern world. 

You also connect and re-experience the innate resilience of the human being. You remember that long line of ancestors whose life you have inherited was able to withstand the cold, the heat, the rain, and the silence. 

You discover that you can, too, and this expands your capacity to more courageously tackle life’s challenges, execute your purpose, and most importantly, be more fully yourself. 

The way you lead your life becomes a form of prayer. In taking time to reconnect to yourself and doing so in a deeper relationship with community and nature, your Presence becomes a voice for being at peace with yourself. A gift you can bring back to your community, your work, and a world hungry for increased consciousness.

The National Park of the Nebrodi mountains, stretching for around 70 kilometers, together with the Madonie mountains to the west and the Peloritani mountains to the east, form the Sicilian northern mountain range 

The Park faces the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north and is bordered to the east by Etna Volcano the Alcantara River and the upper reaches of the Simeto River. 

The natural features that most strongly characterize the landscape of the Nebrodi mountains include the diversity in the shape of the landscape itself, the rich vegetation, and the moist, humid atmosphere. Their peaks, which reach a maximum height of 1,847 meters above sea level with Monte Soro, have round flanks that open out into wide valleys that have been sculpted by numerous rivers that flow into the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The Nebrodi mountains are characterized by dense woods, high, verdant pastures, peaceful lakes, and fast-flowing streams which contrast with the popular view of Sicily as an arid land parched by the sun. 

Great areas of interest are the spectacular and impervious limestone rock formations of Monte San Fratello and, above all, Rocche del Crasto, in the region of Alcara Li Fusi and S. Marco D’Alunzio.

It's here, below the Rocche del Crasto, where we'll be during the two weeks experiencing what it means to be in a Vision Quest and go back in contact with our nature.

28-29

28 and 29th June

Check-in is open at 12 am. 

Accommodation in the Camp Area and registration.

30th June 

Opening Ceremony at 9.00 pm

Monday July 1th

9 am - Breakfast

10 am -Preparation of Vision Questers to go up in the Mountain. 

Preparation of the supporter group to bring people to the Mountain.

12 am - Lunch

1 pm - Sweatldodge for Vision Questers & Supporters

3 pm - Walk to the mountain to bring people up

7 pm - Dinner

8 pm - Sunset Song Circle

From Tuesday 2th to Thursday 4th July 

- Sunrise and Sunset songs circles

- Morning Sunrise Purification and cleansing in the Sweat-lodge.

- Voluntary participation in Camp activities 

Friday, July 5th

Sunrise Song circle

- 8 am breakfast

- 9 am preparation of the support goods for people up in the mountain

- 11 am Visit and support of 7,9,13 days Vision Questers. Harvesting 4 days VQ

- 1 pm Welcoming Sweatlodge for 4 days VQ

- Lunch

- Free afternoon sharing experience with 4 days VQ

Sunset song circle

Dinner

Night of songs and traditional music around the fire to celebrate the life of 4 days VQ. 

Music song and instrument instruction, Rattle, and Water Drum.

Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th July

- Sunrise and Sunset songs circles

- Sunrise Morning Purification and cleansing in the Sweat-lodge.

- Voluntary participation in Camp activities. 

Monday, July 8th

- Sunrise Song circle

- 8 am breakfast

- 9 am preparation of the support goods for people up in the mountain.

- 11 am Visit and support of 9,13 days Vision Quester. Harvesting 7 days VQ

- 1 pm Welcoming Sweatlodge for 7 days VQ

- Lunch

- Free afternoon sharing experience with 7 days VQ

- Sunset song circle

- Dinner

10 pm Night Ceremony Sweatlodge led by Andrea Calderon Medicine Woman from Colombia.

Tuesday, July 9th

Sunrise song circle

- 9 am Breakfast

- 10 am Bus leaving for the beach 

- Free day in the Capo D'orlando Beach 

Sunset song Circle

Dinner

Wednesday, July 10th

Sunrise Song circle

- 8 am breakfast

- 9 am preparation of the support goods for people up in the mountain.

- 11 am Visit and support of 13 days Vision Questers. Harvest of 9 days VQ

- 1 pm Welcoming Sweatlodge for 9 days VQ

- Lunch

- Free afternoon sharing experience with 9 days VQ

- Sunset song circle

- Dinner

Thursday, July 11th

- Sunrise and Sunset songs circles

- Purification and cleansing in the Sweat-lodge after sunrise.

- Global participation in Camp activities to prepare the songs and drum for the 13days Vision Questers

Evening: POWER WALK, a traditional pilgrimage to the top of the mountain to sing and make an offering to the spirit of the land 

Friday, July 12th

After sunrise: walking down from the top of the mountain and sweatlodge 

Day of celebration for the offering we left in the mountain.
 

Saturday, July 13th

- Sunrise and Sunset songs circles

- Morning Purification and cleansing in the Sweat-lodge after sunrise.

- Global participation in Camp activities to prepare the songs and drum for the 13days Vision Questers.

Sunday, July 14st

Sunrise Song circle

8 am breakfast

9 am preparation for harvesting 13 days VQ

1 pm Welcoming Sweatlodge for 13 days VQ

Lunch

8 pm Closing Ceremony to celebrate the gathering and the life of VQ, supporters, and Council of Sumak Kawsay. 

Monday, July 15nd

- 9 am Breakfast

Check out and see you next year!