Explore the Herbs of Peru

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Machu Picchu in the fog. Photo by Steven Foster

The best way to appreciate Peru is to cultivate an appreciation for complexity. Occupying a large chunk of South America’s western side, Peru has been home to some of the world’s oldest known civilizations and is now a representational democracy working to establish itself economically and politically. People live and work in buildings constructed by their pre-Columbian ancestors, yet in 2010 the Republic of Peru had one of the world’s fastest-growing stock markets and was making rapid gains in its gross domestic product. And throughout the country, individuals continue to respect age-old wisdom based on the use of herbs in medicine, food, cosmetics and clothing.

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Though less than twice the area of Texas, Peru’s altitudes range from sea level to more than 20,205 feet above, and its climates range from scorching desert to cloud forest to year-round ice and snow. With such a wild mix of conditions, it is no great surprise that the Convention on Biological Diversity calls Peru “one of the world’s 10 ‘megadiverse’ countries,” adding that 4,400 flora species “have known properties and are used by the population.” Herbs rank high among this celebrated flora.

Former capital and heart of the Inca Empire, Cusco and its surroundings in the inland south-central part of the country remain a core of culture. One place to see herbs in their traditional uses there is in the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco (CTTC), a few blocks from the heart of town. Like Dorothy stepping from her monochromatic home into Oz, visitors pass through an unremarkable storefront into a riot of color. Bright, richly hued textiles cover the walls. Weavers in traditional clothing sit on the floor in customary fashion and create products on back-strap looms, the design of which predates the Incas. In another room, an informative little museum displays the history and contemporary role of textiles in Peru.

The CTTC owes its existence to Nilda Callañaupa, one of the few in the textile world who might well lay claim to rock-star status. And this remarkable woman owes that status in no small part to herbs.