Indiana Jones and the Search for Historical Accuracy

• What appears to be the Mayan pyramid of Chichen Itza has somehow been transplanted to the Amazon Jungle from its usual resting place in the Yucatan Jungle in Mexico!  (Why not simply use Machu Picchu which is actually located in Peru and equally impressive?)
• The cities of Cuzco and Nazca are apparently one and the same.  Indy arrives by plane in Nazca, Peru, but Cuzco is what is shown onscreen.  Nazca is about a four hour bus ride from Lima, the capital of Peru.  Since Cuzco is located on the east side of Peru, it takes almost a day to get from Cuzco to Lima.  Later, the unmistakable Nazca Lines are portrayed as being located in the middle of Cuzco!  Also, the Nazca Lines are not visible as such from the nearby cemetery (located on a non-existent hill) as shown in the Indiana Jones film.
• There are no man-eating ants, triple- tier gigantic waterfalls (the Iguazu Falls in Brazil / Argentina are digitally inserted), or quicksand to be found anywhere in the Amazon!
• According to the Indiana Jones film, all of the Pre-Hispanic advances made in Peruvian culture are attributable to alien beings!
• Indiana Jones claims he learned to speak Quechua, the language of indigenous people throughout the Andes region, from riding with Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, who, in actuality, spoke Spanish. 
• It’s also interesting to note that that the film that started off the Indy franchise, Raiders of the Lost Ark, managed to be extremely accurate in its portrayal of Kuelap, Chachapoyas, a region of Peru far more obscure than any of those in shown in Crystal Skull.  The opening scene in Raiders in which Indy outruns the boulder takes place in Kuelap, Chachapoyas.   Amazingly, what’s shown on-screen is pretty much what Kuelap looks like!  (We have a couple of tours that visit Kuelap, Peru so if you‘d like to see it for yourself, we can make it happen).
  

Of course, we believe that these locations are worthy of more than just a visit to your local Cineplex.  These are wonders to behold up close and in person, which is why the filmmakers chose them in the first place.  If you have any interest in visiting any of the sites in South America portrayed in Crystal Skull or Raiders of the Lost Ark, Class Adventure Travel can arrange it for you.  We offer several different travel options that include Nazca Lines tours, trips to the Amazon Jungle, Kuelap tours, trips to the Iguazu Falls, Machu Picchu tours, Peru tours in general, and myriad others.

Saludos,
The CAT Travel Team