Get 'On location' in Latin America

Holidaymakers are increasingly being inspired in their choice of destination by the location of their favourite film. Everyone knows that the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed in New Zealand, but what about the many classics and blockbusters whose backdrop was the dramatic scenery or history of Central or South America?

Despite the Hollywood stereotypes of kidnapping, drug trafficking and gang warfare, Latin America’s cinematic contribution goes much further than gun-toting bandidos. Here are some examples of how travellers can put themselves in the shoes of Hollywood heroes in Latin located films:

• Go in search of hidden pyramids and jungle adventures in the Mayan ruins of Central America, the background to Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto.  
• Follow the steps of Che Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries on your own soul-searching road trip across beautiful Argentina, Chile and Peru.
• Retrace Salma Hayek’s interpretation of Frida’s magical artistic journey in Mexico City.
• Create your own teenage adventure on the unspoilt Mexican Pacific coastline discovered in Y tu Mamá También.
• Observe one of nature’s true love stories in Antarctica - the stars of surprise UK box office hit, March of the Penguins.
• Trek amidst the snow-capped peaks and glacial lakes of Peru’s Cordillera Huayhaush, the scene of Joe Simpson’s climbing classic, Touching the Void.
• Pretend to be Robert de Niro in The Mission as you stand below the thundering Iguassú Falls.
• Imagine 007 and Jaws trading punches in Moonraker in Rio’s famous cable car up to Sugar Loaf Mountain.
• Watch out for roaming Jurassic Park dinosaurs amidst Costa Rica’s lush tropical jungle.
• Heroically navigate the Galápagos like Russell Crowe did in Master and Commander.
• Discover Star Wars’ hidden rebel base at the Mayan pyramids of Tikal, Guatemala.
• Salsa to the spontaneous Cuban beat of the Buena Vista Social Club in Havana.
• Envisage Madonna’s Evita singing from the Casa Rosada balcony in Buenos Aires.
• Look beyond the scary spiders in Arachnophobia for stunning views of Canaima lagoon in Venezuela’s Gran Sabana.  
• Finally, did you know that the filming location of Seven Years in Tibet, another true mountaineering tale, is less authentic? Few would have realised that Brad Pitt’s Heinrich Harrer stands little chance of meeting the Dalai Lama, as the breathtaking mountain range featured in the film is in fact the Andes of Argentina, not the Himalayas of Tibet!