Come and join members of Plants and Healers International for a memorable and educational immersion into the mountains and valleys, forests and jungles of Peru, to discover and reconnect to the plants and the healers of this remarkable region.
April 5th to April 15th, 2019
Plants and Healers International is following in the footsteps of botanical explorer and humanitarian Frank Cook, leading plant focused trips around the world.
We organized a tour to Costa Rica in March 2016 and a tour (described below) to the Andes of Peru in December 2016 and November 2017.
The Andean highlands have long been a source and destination for people seeking health and connection to the Mother Earth.
This Spring, you can be one of the few that makes the journey, and brings back the knowledge!
This is a Trip for the Adventure Traveler!
It Will Be A Great Trip… IF…
- you are into hiking
- you like supporting local communities
- getting muddy isn’t a problem for you
- roughing it occasionally is seen as an experience instead of something to avoid
- you are interested in history and archaeology and other cultural studies, along with the interface between them and the rest of the world
We’re often going to have a program focused on studying plants up to six hours a day.
Botany can be a slow process and therefore takes patience and effort.
For those looking for a rapid pace and interested in moving through activities quickly, you may want to choose another tour provider.
This trip is also a form of pilgrimage. We are following in the footsteps of Frank Cook, who is the main inspiration for our organization.
Whether you knew Frank Cook or not, it is important that participants come with a sense of humble wonder and his spirit of reciprocity.
- As much as this trip is about receiving an awesome experience, it is also about giving back to the communities we encounter.
- Some important ways we do that is by helping to document their knowledge, taking pictures of plants we come across and sharing what we have learned.
- This requires that we slow down, take our eye off the clock and listen both inwardly and to what’s going on around us.
- All of this leads to an exceptional journey, quite unlike any trip you have ever been on. If this sounds exciting to you, then we’d love to have you on board.
Feedback from Previous Peru Trips with PHI
Through my many years, I have travelled to numerous places Africa, Thailand, Europe, none compared to my trip to Peru. Every day was an adventure, ruins, studying plants, hiking, rides along cliffs into the Andes mountains, llamas, alpacas, local cuisine, shopping in the markets, awareness circles, camaraderie. Thank you, Marc and Sky Turtle for an amazing trip into the world of the Incas that my wife and I will relish forever. – Mark (Sean) Felton
The Peru trip with Plants and Healers was a huge gift that will remain among my most treasured travel and learning experiences, especially as someone brand new to ethnobotany. The relaxed but clear leadership of Marc Williams and his assembled team of Sky, Chris, and Wither was synergistic and uplifting.
Their combination of enthusiasm, joy, scientific knowledge and spiritual depth of their understanding of botany made the experience truly sacred and accessible, with a well-curated itinerary through the Sacred Valley that grew in depth and wonder.
Their care of us as individuals and as a group was thoughtful and beautifully balanced, not too tight and not too loose, so that we had enough structured and unstructured time to explore, to challenge ourselves or rest.
They attracted a beautiful group of fascinating people of all ages and diverse backgrounds, who resonated with each other through the common desire to learn, explore and connect with the miracles of plant life. We left with a renewed commitment to plant conservation, and also feeling like we had made new friends for life! – Unyong Kim
“My trip to the Sacred Valley with Marc and Turtle was a highlight of my life. As an “earth energies” and consciousness researcher, I loved talking shop with Marc on ethnobotany in general and, in particular, local uses of plants in cuisine, healing, ceremony, and landscape.
Turtle’s love of Peru and its archaeological sites led us down paths I’d never have known to take. Each day included time for lots of freestyle walking, browsing, hiking, observing, reflecting, celebrating. . . seeing places and meeting people in ways that would have been impossible on a bus tour. We ate well, slept well, laughed a lot, and I still miss the camaraderie.” – Bethe Hagens PhD