A real life
Jurassic Parkisland might sound unlikely, but did you know there's actually an island that inspired the fantastical tale and it's almost as frightening?
There are, unsurprisingly, no dinosaurs roaming its shores, but Cocos Island, 340 miles off the coast of Costa Rica, would probably make even the most intrepid traveller shake in their boots.
The island is considered too dangerous for tourists to visit, as it's guarded by legions of killer sharks and covered in thick tropical rainforest home to 400 species of insects.
It inspired the hit book by Michael Crichton, which the first Jurassic Park film was based on.
To this day, only a small number of people are allowed to visit Cocos Island under strict safety conditions.
Cocos Island is out-of-bounds as there's a reported billion-dollar treasure hoard buried somewhere for the last 200 years.
Never mind marauding dinosaurs, the story of the Treasure of Lima is so fascinating and intriguing, it could be a movie in its own right.
According to legend, in 1820 a huge haul of treasure was moved from the Peruvian capital of Lima to evade Spanish conquerors.
The treasure trove is said to contain hundreds of silver coins, diamonds, and a gold life-sized Virgin Mary statue.
A British sea captain, William Thompson, and his boat, Mary Dear, were tasked with guarding the haul and ensuring its safe passage to Mexico.
However, Captain Thompson turned out to be not as trustworthy as the Peruvians thought, and he and his officers murdered all the Spanish soldiers and priests on board, and then stopped en route to hide the treasure on Cocos Island.
Captain Thompson and his crew were eventually captured and tried for their crimes and in return for leniency, agreed to return to Cocos and show the Spaniards where they had buried the treasure.
But once on the island they escaped - and to this day the treasure has never been found.
The Treasure of Lima was rumoured to not be the only valuable hoard buried on Cocos. Other gold, silver and gems worth millions of dollars are also said to be hidden there by German and English pirates in the early 19th century.
Unsurprisingly, given these tales, over the years Cocos has become a magnet for treasure hunters, with explorers conducting more than 500 expeditions on the island, but with no success.
The Costa Rican government finally banned entry to the island, and it's now been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, meaning access is even more restricted and controlled than before.
But that hasn't stopped Cocos inspiring a whole host of stories - from Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park novel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.
The only people now allowed on Cocos are the rangers who work there to observe and study the wildlife, and their visits are strictly regulated.
Divers are also loathed to take a chance and visit the island, as it's surrounded by tiger and hammerhead sharks.
One expert, author Genna Marie Davis, from the adventure diving company Undersea Hunter Group, told Forbes magazine she was sceptical but keeping an open mind.
"It's tricky writing about Cocos Island treasures because there's so much hearsay, lore and conflicting information all tangled up that it's difficult to discern the truth," she said.
“The stories are very fun, but you have to take them with a grain of salt. There was even a lot of misinformation purposefully spread by treasure hunters trying to throw other treasure hunters off the track."
But does the treasure actually exist? Many researchers claimed the entire story is just one big fabricated pirates' tale, while others claimed the treasure was located decades ago and there's now nothing left.
But one clue is a carving left on a tree on the island which suggests the treasure may be long gone. It simply reads: “The bird has flown.”
Make of that what you will.
