Central Highlands, Sri Lanka

This scene is an original illustration set in Central Highlands, Sri Lanka. It lies in equatorial latitudes, where the climate is oceanic — mild, wet through the year.

Neatly clipped tea bushes form contour rows across every slope. Pluckers with shoulder-slung sacks dot the distant rows, small and seen from behind. Cool bright air sits above a misty valley, and the hills fold away in receding layers.

Why is tea planted along the contour instead of up the slope?

Planting along the contour rather than up and down the slope slows runoff and keeps the topsoil in place — essential on steep ground with heavy rain. Tea wants exactly this: warmth, high rainfall, good drainage, and enough altitude to give cool nights, which is why it climbs to the highlands in the tropics rather than staying in the lowlands.

Terpano is a free daily geography puzzle. You study one original illustration, place a pin on a borderless terrain map, and see how close you were. There is no account and no sign-up; progress stays in your own browser. It plays in 11 languages.