The Maroon Market, sometimes called the herb market or winti market, is one of the most unusual shopping experiences in Paramaribo — a collection of stalls near the waterfront specialising in the traditional plants, roots, bark, and remedies of the Maroon communities from Suriname's interior. The sellers are mostly Maroon women, and their knowledge of the medicinal and spiritual properties of the plants they sell is extensive.
You will find dried herbs for everything from fever to fertility, bark used in traditional Winti religious ceremonies, roots said to have aphrodisiac properties, and seeds used as charms. Even if you buy nothing, the market is worth visiting for its atmosphere and as a window into the Maroon cultural traditions that have survived in Suriname's interior since the days of escaped enslaved people. It operates most days but is liveliest in the mornings.