Location
Maras, Sacred Valley, Peru
The Salineras de Maras occupy a steep valley in Peru’s Sacred Valley. Mineral-rich spring water is directed through a network of channels into terraced evaporation pools.
Chapter 03 · Sacred Valley · Elevation 3,380 m
Maras
Maras Salt Pans
The story
An ancient landscape of salt
A multigenerational family tends the salt pools of Maras, sharing the skilled work and inherited knowledge behind this distinctive landscape.
Across the slopes of Maras, thousands of salt pools catch the light in shades of white, pink, and brown. Spring water flows through intricate channels, filling the shallow ponds before the sun leaves salt behind.
For the family featured in this chapter, this landscape is a place of work and inherited knowledge. Tending the pools and gathering salt by hand connects daily life to a system sustained across generations—a meeting of water, mineral-rich earth, and human care.
Environmental focus
Land, climate, and continuity
Water, sunlight, and careful maintenance sustain the salt pans. The chapter explores a livelihood that depends on the physical landscape and the knowledge needed to work with it.
In this chapter
A closer look
The geometry of the terraces gives way to the details of everyday work: guiding water, tending a pool, and collecting salt. Family accounts bring a human scale to this expansive landscape.
The documentary seriesComing October 2026
Get a first look at the six-part journey across Peru.
Watch the trailerContinue the story
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