LICANCABUR

• volcanos

Legend has it that Licanbur was a young and strong warrior. His father was Láscar, the great lord. Licanbur had a brother, Juriques, as brave and handsome as he was. Licanbur was fascinated by the young Kimal and was reciprocated by her. But his brother Juriques was also in love with the young woman and tried to seduce her. When Licanbur found out about this, he became mad with jealousy. With one of the rocks that came out of his eruption of anger, he hit his brother, leaving him headless. Other versions say that it was Lascar, the father, who beheaded his own son (In kunza language, Juriques means the beheaded one). Lascar did not want to tolerate the dispute between his two sons: furious, he had the beautiful Kimal banished to the opposite end of the Salar de Atacama, in the Domeyko mountain range.

Just the same. Licanbur found a way to be reunited with Kimal. The winter solstice is the longest day of the year in the southern hemisphere. And in the first dawn that follows the solstice, the shadow of the Licanbur volcano lengthens and reaches to be projected on the Kimal hill. This is how the bodies of the two lovers manage to meet again for a short period of time year after year, century after century.

The greatness of Licancabur is not only in the legend that tells a story, in the Kunza language, the dialect of the Atacameño people, Licancabur means mountain of the people and is a sacred mountain for the Atacameño culture.

The ascent to Licancabur is exceptionally physically demanding. In addition to the altitude that reaches close to 6,000 meters, the climb is steep and requires acclimatization from other mountain treks and good physical preparation.