Moray

In south central Peru, near the city of Cusco and in a valley of the Andes Mountains, there is a deep hole in the ground.

This is what is left of the Moray agricultural laboratory which was built and used by the Incas in the 1400’s. It consists of a series of circular steps used for planting various crops. The deeper the steps go the warmer the air and the soil. Each step represents a micro-climate that allowed the Incas to grow crops that would normally not grow at this elevation in Peru. Most notably; cocoa.

Six hundred years later it is still intact. Stone walls, placed by hand, hold back the hills and create flat surfaces for growing. Small stone ladders are built into the walls and would allow workers to move from one growing section to the next.

“How could they figure this out,” I wondered allowed? A fellow traveler responded, “because they were f___ing geniuses.”