Acknowledgments

A striking mosaic of light browns, pinks, and whites dazzles visitors—at times with intensity, at others, not so much, depending on the whims of the powerful Andean sun or the thick, billowing clouds so typical of the highlands. The salt mines of Maras, located 50 km (31 m) from the city of Cusco and 3,200 m (about 10,500 ft.) above sea level, are a spectacle not to be missed.

Leaving the main highway, we travel for a few minutes along a dirt road before they suddenly appear, arranged like steps climbing up the mountainside: thousands of little ponds with whimsical shapes, fed by water flowing from an underground spring that is then channeled through a network of small irrigation ditches.

Little by little, the water contained in roughly 4,500 shallow pools with a surface area of about 5 m² evaporates, leaving behind salt crystals. The community members of Maras and Pichingoto harvest during the dry season, between June and November, making use of age-old techniques and knowledge that salt farmers learn from a young age, passed down by parents and grandparents from one generation to the next. “There are different qualities of salt,” explains Nelly Ortiz, a salt farmer from Pichingoto. “The salt from the top level is used for human consumption, while the second and third layers are used for crop fields, animals, etc.”