We give 100% support to expert Chilean guides at Los Torreones Lodge in Patagonia Chile!
Local knowledge: Access to Rivers. First and foremost local bilingual guides who are qualified and trained make your international trip something fresh,exciting and ultimately more rewarding. The special private access to the river, the short cut, the invisible hole behind the willows on the far side of the river next to the logs jam, all make a difference as your week unfolds in Patagonia. Meeting the characters living on farms and ranches or in the small mountain villages you pass through can be almost as much fun as moving a big brown. You not only get to practice your Spanish, but you have your own private interpreter to help aid communication.
Supporting the next generation of guides: One reason we all love to travel to another country is to connect in a deeper more significant way to other people. Working with a young Chilean guide helps them pay to continue higher education, improve the quality of life for themselves and their families, inspire future leadership conservation and much more.
Legal: Local guides know the rules and regulations. You return home after a week or ten days. The guides live year round in the tight knit communities of Southern Patagonia. Fishing permits, work visas, trespassing concerns, licences, cultural do’s and don’ts, and all the rest are taken care of to help make the visiting anglers’ trip be a special one. It’s never an “us vs them” kind of approach with an competent local guide. You're part of the larger Patagon family of open hospitality. You feel at home in Chile.
Culture: Chilean culture and the Patagonia experience offer much needed major dose of authenticity to anglers and adventure travelers from around the world A deep understanding of the history, the geography, place names, and the names of wildlife and birdlife in Spanish and English, enhance any trip. For anglers, being with a guide who can read the river conditions and ever changing weather of Patagonia like the back of their hand is a blessing.
Getting acquainted with great Chilean writers like Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral or getting up to speed on Chilean music and food only happens if you stay with long standing residents and Chileans. It’s about authenticity and a nuanced experience.
Logistics: Murphy lives and breaths in South America just like in Montana and Alaska! If things should go awry, due to weather, equipment, lost luggage, or health concerns it is very good to have local folk be able to actually resolve the issue. They know who to call and can read the cultural codes. They speak the language and understand intimately how to go about solving a problem. A visiting guide, however competent he or she is back home, just can’t bring that level of expertise to the table.
Bucket list and new friends: The feel good factor can’t be overstated. Perhaps that is why customers return consistently to Los Torreones Lodge. They feel good. New friends become family and the river remains fascinating, and compelling. Forever calling.
The perspective and life experience of growing up and living full time in Patagonia is unique. Do you really want to travel 7,000 miles to have the same conversation you back home?
When in Rome, fish like the Romans!
(Author's Caveat: I’m coming up on my 25th year living and working in Chile. So though not born in Chile, it has become home and I’m deeply appreciative of the experience.)
Philip Cary