Salty promises at the Salineras of Maras, Peru
In the late afternoon at the end of a very wet rainy season, the tiered pocitos at the Salineras of Maras, Peru are empty of workers. The frequent cloud bursts have kept the evaporation in check that would otherwise coat the hills white.
As we crunch our way along the crystal-covered, narrow footpaths, we imagine people bending to collect the pink-tinged salt crystals that form in the shallow pools, in use since Incan times.
Even though Peru’s Sacred Valley is far, far inland, a wind smelling rich with rain whips across the salt pools and picks up the briny smell of the sea.
![Lone green salt pond, Salineras, Peru Lone green salt pond, Salineras, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/salineras-peru-green-pool-550x412.jpg)
Lone green salt pond at Salineras. That's probably not a pond whose salt you want.
![Sign from the management, Salineras, Peru Sign from the management, Salineras, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/salineras-peru-pigs-and-sign-550x309.jpg)
Sign from the management, who are apparently a pair of cute bunnies.
![Crystals form along a salt water stream, Salineras, Peru Crystals form along a salt water stream, Salineras, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/salineras-peru-salt-crystals-stream-550x550.jpg)
Crystals form along a salt water stream
![A silhouette walks, Salineras, Peru A silhouette walks, Salineras, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/salineras-peru-shadow-walking-309x550.jpg)
Todd casts a shadow walking along the salt pools
![A mound of salty earth, Salineras, Peru A mound of salty earth, Salineras, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/salineras-peru-salt-mound-550x412.jpg)
Salty earth begins to gather into a stalagmite
![Rippled salt pond surface, Salineras, Peru Rippled salt pond surface, Salineras, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/salineras-peru-rippled-salt-surface-413x550.jpg)
The wind creates ripples on the salt pond surface at Salineras
![Storm in the distance, Salineras, Peru Storm in the distance, Salineras, Peru](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/salineras-peru-storm-in-the-distance-550x412.jpg)
Storm clouds gather in the mountains beyond the Salineras salt ponds
I love reading your site, I spent 2.5 months in Peru and I feel like I saw nothing, you keep showing me things I missed!
Thank you so much Ayngelina. We enjoy so much about travel, sharing it most of all! If we can capture something ephemeral, so much the better.
This is really neat. I had no idea this place existed! Did you see any of the salt crystals?
Definitely. The white parts of the yellow-orange abstract photos are the actual salt crystals. We even bought a few packs as gifts on our way out.