Argentina - gonefishinstories.format.com

When my best friend Paul Guernsey suggested I take a three-week trip with him to Argentina, I did not hesitate and said, yes. Argentina always has been on my bucket list.

We explored, fished, ate, drank Malbec, local brews, enjoyed the culture, and made new friends. We started and ended our trip in Buenos Aires, in what another friend, Bill, describes as, New York City on Steroids." I agree because it was initially overwhelming. I am not a city guy. When I calmed myself, I took to the streets for photography.

From Buenos Aires, we flew to St Martin and spent time in Junin de Los Andes and Lanin National Park, which became my favorite place of the trip. We fished for two unforgettable days in summer-like weather and wind-catching and releasing large browns and rainbows with our guide, Gus. On the third day, the winds were blowing gale force, so we asked Gus if he would drive us around to explore the area. It turned out to be a spectacular day fishing for photographs.

A bus from Junin took us on a beautiful, serene ride through the Andes with views of mountains, lakes, and rivers. I wanted to ask the driver to stop every fifteen minutes but did not think the other passengers would appreciate a longer ride.

After three hours, we arrived in Bariloche, a city on a hill overlooking a lake and the jagged peaks of the Andes. Being a former skateboarder, Paul told me I needed to check out the skateboard park on the lakeshore. I was in awe and took photos of the skateboarders, the park, and graffiti, thinking how far the sport has come from the days I made my first skateboard, attaching metal wheels to a board.

Gus and Ernie, two anglers we met in Junin, invited us to their house in the mountains of Bariloche, an exclusive golf and polo club sub-division overlooking mountains and a lake. Gus grilled us a dinner of sausage and a fat rib eye cooked on his custom-made grill in the dining room. Ernie made the salad, and we shared too many bottles of wine from their wine cellar. I was glad we left in a taxi.

From Bariloche, we took a bus to Esquel, and before we arrived, we were stopped by Argentine Federal police, who emptied the bus and lined everyone up on the shoulder of the highway. The leader was masked and wore sunglasses; another officer took a young man with dreadlocks over to their car for questioning. He was later returned to the bus. The police used a cute border collie I wanted to pet to sniff all our luggage. After 20 minutes, we were allowed to reboard the bus. I don't speak Spanish, and later, Paul told me that the police were apologetic for inconveniencing us.

Our young guide in Esquel, Frederico, seemed loved by every woman in town. Frederico led us to rivers and lakes for large brown and rainbow trout in Los Alerces National Park. Federico found great locations to sit for the delicious lunches he prepared and shared his favorite bottle of Malbec. Fishing always improved after our lunch.

We were lucky to be in Argentina for three World Cup Soccer tournament wins.

I will never forget the first Argentine win in Junin, a small town where hundreds of Argentines took to the streets in cars, trucks, scooters, and on foot, clogging streets, singing, yelling, honking horns, and making their vehicles backfire.

The following are photographs and reflections of my Argentina experience.

David Gallipoli

Lanin National Park

Araucaria araucatia the Monkey puzzle tree

Lanin is an ice clad, cone shaped stratovolcano on the border of Argentina and Chile.

Junin de los Andes

A river runs through Junin

I spy a kitty

Licka the hotel dog

Happy hour with Felix

Drift boat days for rainbows and browns.

To the river

Our Guide Gus, and Paul on the Chimehuin River.

Gus preparing lunch

To the lake

Federico

Lunch location

Lunch

Horses on the river

Goats by the river

black-faced ibis

Crested Caracra

The storm clouds subside

fleeting rainbows arc mountains

and sleep on foothills

San Carlos de Bariloche

The Skate Park

Esquel

Esquel is a city with a heart

Los Alerces National Park

Parque Nacional Los Alerces is located in the Andes. It is known for its temperate alerce forest and alerce trees called lahuan by the Mapuche ,the second oldest trees in the world (3600 years old)