Experimental Farm

Long before Ottawa's Central Experimental Farm existed, where scientists test various crops and farming techniques, the Incan people in Peru were doing similar work.

It is said that the Incans cultivated thousands of varieties of potatoes, with only a few dozen actually edible by humans. They also developed several varieties of corn.

To determine the best growing conditions for various crops, it has been theorized that the Incans created testing grounds, where various terraces saw the growth of various crops in various positions that faced toward or away from the sun, and at different elevations.

Evidence of these experimental growing sites exists today, in the Sacred Valley between Cusco and Machu Picchu. And on our recent trip, we hired a taxi to take us to it.

The Zona Arqueologica Moray was a short distance from the Salineras de Maras, our first stop in the Sacred Valley. Our driver dropped us off at the entrance and then parked a short way away and waited for us to return.

A path leads down toward the lower part of these terraced, circular sites. We walked around the perimeter of two archeological constructs, the height of them being over 3,400 metres in elevation.

Walking down was easy. Walking back up was a struggle for Kid 2, who wasn't coping well with altitude sickness, and me, who has a reduced lung capacity after contracting COVID in 2022.

But we're both glad we saw these marvellous terraces.

From here, our driver took us back to Urubamba, dropping us off at a restaurant that he highly recommended. It was phenomenal.

We then caught another collectivo back to Ollantaytambo, where we explored the ruins at sunset. The total cost of transportation was 174 soles (less than $66 Canadian), which was more reasonable than the 250 soles that the driver for our B&B wanted to charge.

The next day, we caught a 5:00 am train to Machu Picchu. I've already shared some photos from that day but not the photos from my D-SLR.

I'll do that, tomorrow. Stay tuned.