Disney lovers will find Columbia to be the perfect vacation destination in 2022. Disney’s newly-released Encanto tells the fascinating story of the Madrigal family and their magical gifts.
The Madrigal’s live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, where travelers find magic around every corner. Encanto tells the tale of an extraordinary family, a magical house, a vibrant town, and a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto.
Some of the real-life locations that inspired the film include…
- Coffee Cultural Landscape (Colombian Western Andes)
- The UNESCO protected Coffee Cultural Landscape was one of the major inspirations for the film. The area is full of traditional Colombian haciendas, which inspired the style and silhouette of the Madrigal family home. One property that inspired the animators is Hacienda Bambusa, a luxury hotel in the region where travelers can live like the real Madrigals (see this IG post). Fun fact: it took nearly two years to design the final Madrigal residence for the movie.
- Cocora Valley (Colombian Western Andes)
- Cocora Valley is home to the tallest palm trees in the world, the wax palm, reaching up to 200 feet tall! The trees, which are also the national tree of Colombia, can be seen in the movie when Isabela and Mirabel have their musical sequence and make up from their argument.
- Caño Cristales (Colombian Amazon Orinoco)
- The waters of the Sierra de La Macarena National Natural Park give way to Caño Cristales, where all of the colors of the rainbow seem to have been descended from heaven to earth. This natural wonder is also known as the river of five colors, as the water is illuminated with shades of yellow, blue, green, red, and black due to the Macarenia clavigera plants on the riverbed. In the movie, the family can be seen crossing this river near the beginning of the plot.
- San Basilio de Palenque (Colombian Caribbean)
- San Basilio de Palenque is an amazing place to observe Afro-Latino heritage, as it was one of the first free towns for Afro Latinos on the South American continent. Located just 34 miles from the Cartagena airport (another site of inspiration for the movie), it’s a great place to tour after flying nonstop from NYC or Miami. It was inscribed to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008, and inspired the many Afro Colombian characters in Encanto, as well as the town of Encanto itself.
