Esquel, Argentina

We said farewell to the ladies today, as their whirlwind tour of Argentina concluded in Esquel, a small town on the edge of the Andes. We had a blast with the girls, and were glad that they got to see a large portion of this magnificent country. We stood in the one room terminal at the airport and waved goodbye as they entered the 747, which looked way too big for such a tiny airport.

So now we're left with just La Otra Mujer (the other woman) for the next two months to explore the wilds of Patagonia...

We just returned to civilization after five days of exploring Los Alerces national park, and some of the surrounding river drainages. The emerald green waters of the park are absolutely amazing. The water is ultra clear, and deceptively deep (we both stepped in holes deeper than we wanted more than once)

The water is still running fairly high, so even with waders, our options are limited as the rivers all seem to be fairly large here. Most drop off three to four feet right from the bank, so the biggest challenge is just finding a place that you can get in the water AND have room to cast... Every time we go into a sport shop with a inflatable boat, we eye it and wonder if we could fit it into the van!

All in all though, it's been wonderful, and we're feverishly expanding our fly collection, utilizing more of the local techniques and getting into more fish! We'll spend the next few days tying more fly's, resupplying, and then heading further south, where things really start to get remote...