Disney’s Encanto is based on real-life towns in Colombia, where travelers can experience the magic for themselves.
Bougainvillea spills over colonial mansions painted in vibrant tropical pastels guava, papaya, and tangerine.
Toucans chirp as they swoop overhead.
Credit: Courtesy of Disney
Slender palm trees tower over a riot of velvety green.
Here’s where to experience and savor key elements from the movie that capture Colombia’srealcinematic enchantment.
I fell in love with the local delicacy: hormegasculonas (big leafcutter ants).
Courtesy of Disney
Howard and Bush also gracedEncantowith the effusive flower-bedecked balconies and pastel-colored exterior walls ofCartagena.
Seeing real butterflies in Colombia couldn’t be easier: the country is home to 3,642 species!
Colombiaisa tropical menagerie teeming with astonishing wildlife.
Courtesy of Disney
For a treehouse experience, head toReserva Natural Tanimboca, near Leticia, in Amazonia.
Wherever you are in Colombia, the birding (with some 1,920 species) is sure to astound.
To spot them, sign up with a reputable birding guide or tour company, such a Quindio-basedPenelope Birding.
Hummingbirds zip past, like the green flash of sunset.
And toucans hop about the silvery yagruma trees.
I’ve even spotted Andean condors overhead here!
TheFundacion ProAves, which operates the reserve (and 25 others), is a good resource.
Cumbia… guaracha… joropo… merengue… vallenato…plus salsa and other contemporary sounds.
“It gets ratcheted up to the Nth degree when you add Carlos Vives' vocals.”
Germaine Franco’s score forEncantois infused with cumbia, considered the most quintessential of Colombian musical genres.
Cumbia is performed inEncantoby Mirabel’s uncleFelix, an Afro-Colombian costeno (Caribbean coast dweller).
Magic is everywhere inEncanto, including in the kitchen and (spoiler!)
the disastrous dinner scene when Mariano proposes to Isabela and everyone is served ajiaco.
InBogotait’s featured on most restaurants' menus.
Foodies with guidebooks in hand flock to the hole-in-the-wallLa Puerta Falsa, in the heart of cobbled La Candelaria.
As to warm, freshly-madearepas, you’ll discover dozens of types on a culinary adventure around Colombia.
Crisp arepas boyacenses from theBoyacaregion are stuffed with cheese.
Flowers
Encantois a veritable tropical Eden.
The Madrigal home and village of Encanto are awash in bougainvillea and other flowers.
That strangely pink river where abuela Alma and Mirabel sit and make-up after the house collapses?
Check it out at Cano Cristales, inParque Nacional Natural Sierra de la Macarena, in Los Llanos.
The day prior, be sure to visit a flower farm in nearby Santa Elena.
