Happy Travel Tuesday, everyone!
This week’s (optional) prompt is all about local legends. Instead of picking any from my travels I asked Carlos to tell me about some from Chile, as surprisingly I don’t think I knew any. So, we spent Friday night looking at some different legends on the internet, (rock and roll!) and I’ve picked one to share with you today.
La Pincoya
This myth originates from an island called Chiloé which is located in the south of Chile. I haven’t yet been but would very much like to. One of the images I’ve seen time and time again is of these beautiful, colourful houses by the water. 
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Anyway, back to the Legend. Let me introduce you to… La Pincoya. The daughter of the king of the sea.
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Known for her beauty, her happiness and her long, blonde hair. She is a water spirit who lives in the sea of Chiloé.
The thing about La Pincoya is that the amount of fish and seafood in the sea is all down to her and the way she faces as she dances. If she dances facing the sea then the people of Chiloé will be happy as this ensures that the sea is brimming with fish and seafood. You can bet the fishermen are especially happy at this point! La Pincoya likes people to be happy and cheerful, and if she sees this then she is more likely to dance facing the sea. To keep her happy, the fishermen often fish with their friends, rather than being alone.
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However, if she dances facing the mountains, the opposite happens and the food from the sea will be few and far between as it becomes infertile. The people of Chiloé then call for her to return so that once more they can have fish and seafood to feast on.
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I found this lovely video about the legend here, if you are interested {In Spanish}
I hope you enjoyed learning about La Pincoya, it was fun to write a different type of post and learn something new about Chile!
Marcella xx
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Now, it’s time to link up!
From last week I would like to highlight Natalye from Deutsch, Bitte! for her wonderful post about the famous azulejos that she spotted while in Lisbon. She included so many beautiful pictures of all the colourful, patterned tiles that can be seen throughout Lisbon and got me wanting to visit there, even more than I already do!
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What an interesting story! I’m definitely going to watch that youtube clip as well, to practice my Spanish! Thanks for sharing 😀
Yay, hope you enjoy the video, Lauren 🙂
Cool story… it’s interesting to hear these legends and be able to think to a point in time when people likely came up with them to explain the world around them. I think before the advent of “modern science,” everyone was a bit more creative in their explanations.
So true! I especially like legends that are happy – love that she liked to see the fisherman happy 🙂
Very cool story and I just love those colourful houses as well!
Aren’t they lovely? I really want to visit them!
I think what I’ve realized from this week’s theme is that I LOVE LEGENDS! They feel like my childhood 🙂 Are you fluent in Spanish??
Me too – I have LOVED reading them all 😀 Depends what you mean by fluent?! 😉 hehe. I can have a full on conversation and understand everything but, my grammar is ridiculously bad as I’ve never taken classes. My family-in-law don’t speak any English so I’ve learnt it all from chatting to them. Hopefully I’ll improve when we’re back in Chile.
Chiloe is a magical place to visit. You can stay in a Palafito – the houses over the water. We stayed in one while we were there and it was just fantastic. At high tide you are surrounded by water and at low tide you see miles of seabed. I gave the address of the one we stayed at in my Chiloe post, which I know you have read. I can recommend it but I’m sure there are other Palafitos you can stay in as well. Chiloe has an abundance of myths and legends – magic too – I didn’t know about La Pincoya legend – thanks.
Thanks so much Lyn! I’ll definitely refer to your post in the future. I can’t wait to visit, especially if it means staying in a Palafito 🙂
I love this myth! It’s like a Chilean version of the little mermaid or something. I want to visit Chile desperately!!
It is, isn’t it? Chile is a really amazing country; so much to see and do! 🙂
I really enjoyed reading about the legend of La Pincoya! I think it’s a great reason to gather a group and go fishing together. (Besides, I personally think fishing is a bit boring – much better with friends!)
Haha, definately agree – fishing has never ever appealed to me! 🙂
I’ve really enjoyed reading about all these local legands in this weeks link up! I guess something like this makes sense, we it’s 100s of years ago and you couldn’t explain the differences in the levels of food, then something like a legand/god/ or other thing would make a nice way to understand it. If that makes any sense…
So true, guess they had to find an explanation and so la Pincoya’s dance seemed like a great one 🙂
This is such an interesting read! Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad you enjoyed it Valerie!
Interesting legend. I love how she becomes happier when people are happy, which reminds me of the law of attraction 🙂 Good post
You’re right 🙂 Happiness brings happiness!
What a cool story! I love Chiloe especially Ancud. My favorite beach is just south of town. Miles of uninhabited beach you can drive on with caves and giant rocks. Just spectacular!
Thanks for the tips! I am yet to go to Chiloe but it’s high up on the list for sure!! 🙂
Living in Castro, I had heard of a few of the local legends but this one is the nicest! Some of the others, like the male witches or brujos, are terrifying! Haha 🙂
It’s always nicer to read a non-scary legend, isn’t it? 😀
love all the local myth in chiloe
Thanks! It’s always fun to learn about.