Coca Museum

The Coca Museum in La Paz, Bolivia, explores the history and cultural significance of the coca leaf, its traditional uses, and its role in Andean culture.

Planning your visit

The Coca Museum in La Paz makes an argument that Bolivians consider obvious and much of the world does not: the coca leaf and cocaine are different things, and conflating them has justified decades of destructive policy.

The exhibition covers coca's role in Andean life for thousands of years — chewed against altitude, hunger and fatigue, central to Aymara and Quechua ritual, used in divination and offerings — and its nutritional content. It then traces the nineteenth-century isolation of the alkaloid, its use in Coca-Cola and in medicine, the growth of the illegal trade, and the coca eradication programmes that targeted growers.

Bolivia's own politics run through it: Evo Morales came to power as leader of the coca growers' union, and the country has pursued a policy of legal traditional cultivation against international pressure.

The museum is small, densely textual and genuinely informative.

Bookable options include private tours combining the museum with Moon Valley and the cable car. Current availability is listed below.