The Witches' Market

The Witches' Market, also known as El Mercado de las Brujas and La Hechiceria, is a popular tourist attraction located in Cerro Cumbre, a mountain clearing in La Paz, Bolivia. Merchandise sold in The Witches' Market, run by local witch doctors known as yatiri, includes potions, dried frogs, medicinal plants like retama and armadillos used in Bolivian rituals. The yatiri can be easily identified by their black hats and coco pouches containing amulets, talismans and powders that ensure luck, beauty and fertility. Most famous of all the items sold in The Witches' Market are the dried llama foetuses. These llama foetuses are buried under the foundations of many Bolivian houses as a sacred offering to the goddess Pachamama.