Welcome to the fourth in our series of bedtime stories from Awasi Atacama, our Relais & Chateaux hotel in Northern Chile. Today, we are going to tell the tale of the Alicanto bird. The Tale of the Alicanto

The legend says that the Alicanto is a large bird that lives among the hills of the Atacama Desert and feeds on gold and silver. Its beauty is magical; it has gold-coloured wings that glow at night with beautiful metallic colours, a head as delicate as a swan’s and eyes that fire strange glares. Its flight is luminous and its body does not cast shadows on the ground. However, when the Alicanto has a full stomach, it cannot fly due to the weight of the metal. When this happens, since it knows that it is very coveted by hunters, it hides without leaving a trace, and only comes out at nightfall. Miners dream they will someday see it so it can guide them towards a vein of gold or silver. Yet, they must be very careful, because if the bird perceives excessive ambition it drags its follower to a cliff edge.

In case you missed our first round of bedtime stories, see here to read about The Treasure of Mount Quimal. Please note that these are traditional oral tales so there are many varying versions.

We usually place hard copies in the suites at Awasi Atacama, if you would like to download and print a copy of the Awasi Bedtime Stories to read away from a screen, then don’t hesitate to email us and we will happily send them over. Hopefully one day in the near future you will enjoy reading the beautiful hard copies in our suites at Awasi Atacama.