This is Steve’s narrative of our trip to Argentina. You can tell he writes to a different audience than I do. I will add pictures to the post.
Our next trip was to Argentina where I fished the Chimehuin out of Tipiliuke Lodge near San Martin de los Andes on Feb 26, 27, 28 and then after a stay in Villa Angostura, the Traful and Limay out of Estancia Arroyo Verde near Bariloche, March 3-7.
Tipiliuke (tipiliuke.com) is a beautiful old lodge in a very large estancia, with the Lanin volcano, over 11,000 feet and snow capped, visible in the distance. 
There are 2 rivers, plus a constructed spring creek, but I fished the main draw, the Chimehuin, all 3 days. My guide was Adrain, a very experienced and knowledgeable guide and fisherman, who is captain of the Argentine national team. The Chimehuin is a good sized river with deep pools, fast runs,and broad riffles, crossable at this low water season. The water temperature was 60-62 and the river was very clear. It is populated with wild rainbows and browns, with some huge browns taken, especially in April. the weather was beautiful every day-cool mornings that warmed to around 60 by the time we hit the water around 10 am, and peaking around 75-80 in late afternoon. It was breezy, but nothing like Chile. The fishing day was 10 am until around 2 pm, then a great lunch back at the lodge and a siesta, followed by an evening session from around 6 pm until dark, which was close to 9 pm even this late in the season. Dinner was at 10 pm. On February 26 I fished the El Cardinal beat and caught 12 rainbows and 2 browns in the first session, with the best a 17 ” rainbow . Most came on Adrian’s fullinguista nymph, a spartan Spanish perigon nymph of thread and UV cement with a copper bead. For the pm session, I fished the Whitestone beat and caught 13 rainbows and 3 browns, none over 13″. Fishing was fast and furious during the last half hour of daylight swinging a yellow mayfly nymph in a fast riffle.
On February 27, I fished the Anquendo beat for the am session and caught 14 rainbows and 1 brown. I caught 2 on the PMX, one on a fly I tied, and most of the rest on another Euro nymph, the blue and orange. (Linda’s comment is “the blue and orange, not to be confused with the orange and blue”) Three fish were 16-17.75″ and three others were 13-14″. For the pm, I fished Andres’ pool and Cormorant Island, and caught 9 rainbows and 2 browns. One rainbow was 18″. Again the yellow mayfly nymph was hot, but I also caught 3 on the dun, a size 8. The hatch lasts only 20 minutes but it’s great fun.
On February 28 I fished the same beat as the prior pm, just a lower section. I caught 18 rainbows and 2 browns in the am session, most on another Euro nymph called the Superman because of its red and blue colors. I also caught 5 on small dries. Again, my largest was an 18′ rainbow. 
For the evening I convinced Linda to go out for the yellow fly hatch. 
She caught 3 swinging the nymph in fast waster, one a hard fighting 16 incher, and she was briefly attached to a really big fish. This time we have both photo and video evidence, thanks to Adrian.
Adrian had me use his Euro nymphing outfit, a 10 foot, 3 weight rod with a tiny reel spooled with monofilament. I quickly caught 8, none large, in a nice run, then one more on the yellow fly nymph,giving me 30 for the day and 86 for the 3 days on the Chimehuin. I loved both the river and Tipiliuke Lodge, and would like to return some day. Adrian was a superb guide, both enthusiastic and knowledgeable.
Starting on the evening of March 3, I fished the Traful on the property of Estancia Arroyo Verde. estanciaarroyoverde.com.ar. Both the river and lodge are justly famous for their beauty and ambiance. 
Fernando Gonzalez was my guide for the entire stay. Like Adrian, he is very experienced and knowledgeable. 
On this first evening, I caught 2 7 inchers on a PMX. The next morning, March 4, was cool and windy and we fished the upper 2 pools where landlocked salmon are often found. We sighted 5, which I cast to hundreds of times, with no action. In the pm session, I fished some gorgeous water downstream and caught only 3 small fish on the PMX. The water was slow and extremely clear, and a bit too warm, which could explain the lack of good fish showing . I asked Fernando what he thought and he said, “I have many excuses. I just don’t know which one is right”. But I knew going in that the Traful is moody and difficult, with few fish but also some really big ones. 
March 5 started well. It was a beautiful sunny toning, cool and calm. I caught a 19″ brown on my first cast at the head of a small side channel on a PMX and caught 6 small rainbows on dries. 
We also saw 3 very nice browns in a willow lined side channel, and marked their lies for the evening session. 
In the evening I caught only 1 15″ brown on a Fat Albert . The others we saw in the morning did not show.
On March 6 I floated the Limay from 12 Miles upstream of the reservoir down to its entrance. 
The Limay is big water, even this late in the season. Wading is not really an option. It has a mixture of small to medium sized rainbows and browns that can exceed 10 pounds. The rainbows take insect imitations but the browns eat meat, especially a crab called a Pancora, which is very common. It is 1-2 inches long and very dark. We used a PMX or chubby Chernobyl on a 6 weight and pancora imitations on a 7 weight with a fast sinking tip. The fish were widely scattered, with the best fishing in the shallowest, fastest water. Deep runs and pools simply did not produce, although they do at times produce big browns. I caught 5 browns and 7 rainbows for the day. The rainbows were 10-15″, and only one came to a dry, although I missed 2 nice browns on the PMX. All of the other fish took the pancora or an articulated leech. One of these was a very thick brown, over 21″ that Fernando guesstimated at 2.5 kg, or about 5.5 pounds. 
But the star of the day was a very fat 18 inch brown that was as beautiful as any I’ve caught. 
All of the fish that took the pancora or leech crushed it. 
On March 7, we again tried for salmon in the 2 uppermost pools below the lake outlet. The first had no fish visible, but 3 were sitting on a shallow gravel bar in the second pool. 
After many casts, I was able to hook and land a very nice 24 incher on an ugly bug nymph. I was very disappointed with the fight, mostly head shaking and a few short runs. Later, I caught a small brown and a small rainbow, giving me the grand slam for the Traful. In the evening, we again went hunting for big browns, but I caught only 4 smallish rainbows on the PMX. However, that evening another guest, Dennis Hall of Calgary, who has fished the Traful for years, caught an incredible 29.5″ brown on a big streamer, besting the 28″ brown he’d caught a few years back. 
The prior evening, in response to my commenting that the fishing was slow, Dennis remarked “Yes, but always remember that on this river your next cast can produce the fish of a lifetime”. This is why I want to return to the Traful. Fernando emphasized that April is best, when the water cools and the browns begin their spawning run, both from the lake above and reservoir below. Likewise the Limay gives up its best fish then.
Overall, I caught 32 during my 4.5 days of fishing at Arroyo Verde, and 118 for the trip.
I hope that you enjoyed Steve’s trip report and my inserted pictures!
I forgot to show you this wooden bird carving of a KingFisher. It was in the sun room.
Tight lines to you Fernando! Steve told me a very funny story that Fernando told him. He was fishing with the famous singer of Margaritaville fame. The gentleman had a big fish on, and then lost it. He was bitching and swearing. Francisco told him “be quiet and cast now!” Well, he did, and caught and landed an even bigger fish! The moral of the story is to shut up, stop sulking and get your line in the water!
Here I am with all my Argentinian friends. On the left is Marcel P, next is his Father Marcus, Moi, Tomas son of English, and then English. I just googled the P family and they are good friends of the father of Maxima, the Queen of the Netherlands! Now if only the internet was fast when I was in Argentina! This turned out to be quite the royal connection vacation after all!
Here I am with Katrina. I think that this is as close to a Tiara as I will ever get! Katrina has a double last name also. I think that means that she has a serious family background! She was telling us at dinner about one of her friend’s houses that she stayed at back in the day. There was a Renoir on this wall, a Van Dyck on that wall, a Ruebens here, you know the type of house I am talking about don’t you? Or rather, castle! 
Steve and I took another walk before our car service was going to pick us up. We headed toward the pond. 
Here it is! 
Have a Labrador with you on a hike, and there will be a swim in the pond!
I could get big money with this picture, couldn’t I?
I think the other picture is nicer, don’t you?
We headed back to the Estancia over the grates. Horses and cattle don’t like going over the grates, that’s why there are the grates. 
We went to settle up our bill. Here is Steve with a condor feather! They are huge! 
One last peek in our room, to make sure that we have everything. It is amazing that I never walked into that pole on the way to the bathroom at night! Speaking of forgetting stuff, we ended up having to bring back the ipad of one of our new friends from the South back to the States, so we could mail it to him. I was petrified that at security they were going to make me turn it on. It was an iPad and thankfully the bad guys don’t make iPad bombs yet. 
Here I am saying goodbye to Marina, one of the daughters of Meme, the original owner. 
Good bye Marina! I hope we come back again! I hope you don’t sell the Estancia! Steve says that they probably have investment bankers come by every week to make an offer. The fishing when it is right is tremendous! 
This is a picture of the type of fish that is possible in April. That is a beautiful fish!
Here we are at the gate. Good bye Arryo Verde! Did you know that Jeff Bezos was going to come here? His security staff didn’t think that it was safe enough for him, so he didn’t come. 
This is the river that Steve took the drift boat along. I didn’t go. It would have been pretty, but trapped in a boat for seven hours is not my cup of tea, or glass of pisco! 
We stopped near Barliloche for a picture. 
Isn’t that view gorgeous? 
Look at my mouth! It looks like I need a cap installed ASAP! Plus, I must weigh an extra 100 pounds in my gut! That’s what that Patagonian wind will do for you!
Everytime I see a bunch of luggage lined up, I am so happy that we are on a private trip. We never have to wait for anyone else. We can go and do whatever we want to do. 
I don’t know what this billboard says, but it has my name on it, so it must be good! 
This man was sitting across from me in the airport. I think that he spends a lot of time on his looks. The hair was disheveled just so, but the mustache was on point! 
This guy had the point shoe and tight jean leggings. Aren’t you thankful I didn’t do a frontal view? 
Good bye Bariloche! Next stop Buenos Aries!
I actually had something different, two eggs scrambled with bacon! I don’t have a picture of Steve’s breakfast, he either had scrambled eggs also or an omelette. 
Here we see the trucks all lined up ready to drive the fishermen far and wide. 
Steve did a little bit of stretching of his back, and then he was ready to go with his guide Fernando. You can tell how cool it is outside as Steve is still wearing his Pattagucci Nano Puff.
I took a walk while Steve was fishing. I took the fork in the road that headed to the cabana. I wasn’t someplace I was really going to walk to as it is a five minute drive away. I won’t walk that far on a stroll. If I did, this is where I would have ended up.
This is a view of the Cabana overlooking Traful Lake. We could have stayed there, but it was a little bit too isolated for my taste. Meals would be taken in the main Estancia and we would have been shuttled back and forth. As it is, I am usually left by myself all day and this just would have been too much isolation for me. I prefer to be able to be where all the action is. 
So instead I had a lovely walk along the dirt road. 
Here is a lovely panoramic of the valley. It was so beautiful and tranquil! 
Soon it was time to have lunch. We started with prosciutto with melon. Always a favorite of mine!
Every meal had the main course served buffet style. I think the Senora though I was a bit crazy with all my pictures! 
Wiener schnitzel, red cabbage and French fries. Katrina, the manager hated the job of menu selection. I can see getting sick of that part of the job. 
A lovely salad on the side, and I got my healthy requirements under my belt for the day!
We had a fruit salad for dessert. I know you are thinking where is the cake and cookies? Not at today’s lunch!
I took another walk later after Steve had gone fishing. This is a closer view of the statue by the pond. It is by Henri Bouchard. He was a French sculptor, born in 1875 and died in 1960. The owners of the Estancia had four girls, I am sure that the statue had such special meanings to the family.
This is a view of the Estancia from the pond that I had wandered to. The patio on the right is where I met Mr. and Mrs. Smith for the first time. We had a good laugh when I told them about my suppositions about their being famous! The middle area is the sun room. I sat here often on the white couches typing my blog up, waiting for the wifi to load all my pictures. On the left under the big tree is where we sat for the Asado. Behind the two white chairs is the dining room where we had our meals. Sprinklers were always going to water the lawns. 
I walked down to the stream again. You can see here how wide the stream bank gets during the spring. It was very late summer, the stream was warm and quite low. You can see all the brush that got carried along the stream, hurled in one place, and stopped by the rocks. 
Here is a better closeup. 
This is as far as I got before I turned around. My walks weren’t long, only about 20 minutes. I had lots of blogging to do! 
On the way back to the Estancia there is this little grove, with a shrine to The Blessed Virgin Mary. 
I am not sure if I showed you what the set up for tea was like. Every afternoon there was hot water, tea bags and usually something sweet to eat. As if i needed to eat some more!
It was our last dinner, and we had two tables set up for dinner. That is Mr. Smith standing by the door. 
Here we have the view looking toward the fireplace. Every night we had a different napkin arrangement. I sat at the seat at the upper left. Mr. Smith sat to my right. He was busy talking to Steve who sat across from him. English sat to my left, but he was busy talking Spanish to Marina Larivière one of the four daughters of the original owners. I was a little bit grumpy that last night. 
This was the salad that we started with. 
Looks like dinner was out of focus chicken and rice. Always a favorite! 
Marina and Katrina must have noticed that I was grumpy and gave me the button to clear the table and bring out the dessert. Remember how I told you how hard it is to be the host or hostess? You have to constantly sweep you eye over the table, and keep note of who is talking and who is not. You need to gently move the conversation along if you determine that there is a table hog monopolizing the conversation. This needs to be done in a subtle manner, you don’t want to insult the guest so that they don’t come back. 
This was our last dessert. It looks chocolatey and creamy!
I started my day with my normal breakfast of scrambled eggs with two slices of bacon. 
Steve opted with his usual mushroom omelette.
Here is my guide, of course I have forgotten his name. He is from France, and had a delicious accent. You can see here how big the rocks were that we had to scramble over. 
In the spring time the water levels really rise, you can see some of the sticks and brush that have accumulated up the banks of the river.
It was very interesting to see the erosion of the rocks due to water over thousands of years.
This is a close up of the fly box the guide had. And Steve will tell us what the flies are when he edits this post for me. Jump in here Steve! editors note: clockwise from upper left : Zonker, Foam Beetle, Fat Albert, Prince nymph, Parachute Adams, Argentine mystery fly.
I had enough traipsing over the rocks by now, and I suggested we head back to the Estancia. 
Soon it was time to have lunch and look at another pretty place setting. Looks like ham rolled around some kind of spread, with fresh tomatoes. 
Katrina had to go into town to get her Toyota truck an oil change and service. I was granted the honor to push the button to notify the wait staff that we were ready for the next course! You can only imagine how thrilled I was to push the button. I am being serious here. Those that know me, know that I am thrilled by the simplest things in life. I may like to go to exotic places and meet interesting people, but give me a chance to be the hostess and push a button -Whoa!
Here is a picture of our lunch. I can identify the salad, carrots, a grilled onion, and what appears to be a piece of mystery meat.
This was a great place to sit and blog and read. 
After Steve went fishing in the late afternoon the dogs joined me on a walk. They were very protective of me.
We went over a stream and guess what happened? 
Yes, The Labrador’s ditched me to go for a swim! 
Soon it was time for me to return to our suite. This is where all the trucks are parked when the guides are back from fishing. No one is back but me! 
Soon it was evening and time for some canapés. These little hot dogs were difficult to skewer! 
These guys were much easier to pick up and eat!
Soon it was time to sit down for another elegant meal. By this time Katrina had returned and I lost my spot taking care of the buzzer! 
Here is a closeup of the first plate, it shows flies used to catch the fish here.
This is the dinner plate. They were all hand painted and were from 1953!
Dinner is served! Looks like we had potatoes, salad, tomatoes and salmon. 
We needed a scrumptious dessert, and here it is! 
Cheesecake with strawberries!
I was also envisioning buying it and inviting our friends down to stay for a week next year. Then I came to my senses, as Steve and I have problems getting our friends to visit us in Lake George. How in the world are we going to get them to take a 10 hour plus flight from NYC to BA, plus another flight to Tipiluike? No way that was going to happen. Well, I wish Mr. and Mrs. Smith good luck on their adventure next year. Perhaps, they may have friends visit them after all.
We continue where we left off. The Asado at Arroyo Verde. 
English was kind enough to pour me a Pisco Sour. It was very strong so I kept adding ice cubes to it. 
Doesn’t that look refreshing! Si! Mi gusto mucho! 
The Asado started with these chunks of cheese melted over the fire. Yummy!
Next we had these interesting appetizers. What do you think is inside them? 
Inside was sausage. They weren’t too peppery for me. 
It was time to eat, so guess who got to the buffet first? Me, of course! I’m not really sure why this guy looked so grumpy. I am actually quite nice! 
Of course everyone knew that I was documenting our trip, so someone was kind enough to take my picture. I’m really not that fat, I look about four months pregnant in this picture! 
Remember when I said “Guess what’s in the pot?” It was steamed potatoes! 
There was a lovely green salad with tomatoes on the table. 
Another salad on the table was cole slaw. 
Meat and potatoes, you can’t get a better meal than that I managed to jump up and get a snapshot of our table. Starting at the 12 going clockwise are Steve, then Dennis from Canada, Katrina, Tim, Sarah, Charlie, Kathy, English, Marcus and then Marcus’s son. I sat between English and Marcus. 
Here is the view from over Steve’s shoulder. I really should bring a professional photographer as this lighting is terrible! We had very stimulating conversations, but no talk about polo or tango.
Here were the desserts. Flan with Dulce de leche, and quince jelly over cheese. 
After lunch was siesta time, and then I went for another walk. 
The views were incredible, so calming. 
Here is a panoramic view from my walk. 
There were quite a few woodsy areas on the estancia. Here we have a grove of pine trees with lots of pine cones on the ground. These pine cones weren’t anywhere as large as the cones by the fireplace in the dining room.
This is the beautiful fuchsia bush by our suite. I am used to hanging pots of fushia back home. This is what they look like growing naturally! 
It’s time for canapés and dinner again! 
How any guides and guests can you fit in the bar area? Two guests, and three guides!
It was time for another candle lit dinner party! You can see all the gorgeous silverware pieces on the hutch on the back wall. 
Here was dinner. I can’t remember much about it. I can identify that we had carrot soup, salad, something with a cream sauce and then possibly scalloped potatoes?
The rest of the guests had been talking yesterday morning about Katrina’s choice of eggs at breakfast. Here is is. Toast, raspberry jam, a fried egg and then ketchup. It didn’t look good, but she loves it. To each their own!
I blogged and read for while, and watched four of the nine dogs hanging out in the sun.
Today we were going to have an Asado-barbecue. I had noticed this concrete platform on my walk yesterday. Now I found out what it was for.
There will be lots of pictures and some video of the Asado today!
While the Asado preparations were underway I decided to snoop into the kitchen and prep areas. This is where the four styles of china and glass ware were kept. 
You can see into the dining room from here.
This is where the cooking of all the meals happened.
I am sure it got quite hot in there, cranking out all those meals. That is one old stove!
Back to the Asado. The gaucho put the lamb on the rack. 
I went back to the Estancia and took a picture of this magazine for you. This is the monster brown that a guide caught here. You never know when the fly you cast might lead you to a beauty like this one! I couldn’t read the magazine as it was written in Spanish.
The lamb continued to cook.
Here is the gaucho chef, who was monitoring everything. I think his expression is “You looking at me?”
Back to more wandering. For some reason I thought the front door of our suite was photo worthy.
I got a picture of the rainbow from the sprinkler. Do those rainbows count? I am not sure that Leprechauns could find this place!
Here is another view of our building. I loved seeing all the bright green. Back home we were having snow storms!
Another view of the Estancia. The dogs must have gone off to follow Katrina, Kathy and Sarah on a horse back ride.
Here is a better view of the bench where the anglers sat to take off their waders before they came inside.
We were going to eat outside today for the Asado. There were going to be three new guests today. Two were cousins, and one of the cousins brought his son who was on break from school. In the next few days, another son would come from the other cousin and then the wife and daughter would come of the cousin who was here with his son. Are you confused yet?
More food was brought out to cook. More types of meat, some cheeses in the pans, and then something in the big pot. You’ll have to wait to see what is in the pot. I did! ps. It’s not lobster!
I decided to have a Pisco Sour with Angel. Everyone called Angel, “English”. He got this nickname when he was a little boy, as he always acted like a “proper little English gentleman”. He went to boarding school at Gordonstoun, where Prince Phillip and Prince Charles went to school.
Doesn’t that look refreshing? More about the Asado later!
This is the outside of our building. The entrance to our suite is under the overhang. Back in the day this part of the building held the tack room and some stables. There are other rooms in the building for family and also for the guides to stay in. We are a good ways from civilization so the guides stay here instead of going back to their families. Being a guide is tough on families. You work during the season, any time you have off means no income and no tips from the clients. Winter is time to be with the family, or have a different job.
There was a beautiful tree on our walk to the main building for breakfast. I have no idea what is was. The nice part of traveling to the Southern Hemisphere during our winter was seeing all the flowers, the warmer temperatures, and the longer period of daylight. My favorite day of the year used to be the day the clocks were turned so that I could get more sleep. Now it is the winter solstice as I know the days will stop getting shorter. 
At breakfast there was a gorgeous sterling silver bee caddy for honey. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was going to appear in my blog!
I went for the scrambled eggs and bacon our first morning. Charlie, one of the guests, here ordered three fried eggs with one piece of toast. The kitchen staff couldn’t understand the order and he always got three pieces of toast. We would all have a laugh in the morning wondering if he was going to get his three eggs and three pieces of toast. He always did, no matter how many times he said three eggs and one piece of toast!
Breakfast was at 8:30, and after that Steve would meet Fernando and they would go off fishing. I would stay back at the Estancia and read, blog or walk around. Here is a beautiful rose bush on property. 
The Estancia was well known for its gardens, and in the past garden clubs would come to tour the grounds for the day.
Here you can see a traditional garden bed planting of lower plants in the front, higher plants in the middle, and bushes in the back. I never saw anyone weeding. I think the plants are so well established that they only have to do minor weeding.
There was a man made pond near the main house, with an Henri Bouchard stature of a young girl with a fawn. What a great view!
Here is one of the Estancia’s dogs, joining me on my tour of the gardens. I think there were nine dogs in all!
This is the view of the back of the Estancia. There were four bedrooms on the right, the left part of this picture shows the sun room with the white chairs. On the patio outside were different groupings to sit on; couches, chairs, semi recliners, and mesh chairs. I think there might have been a hammock also.
This was the other side of the building where Steve and I stayed. On the left was an office for Martina, and other apartments for family and staff upstairs and to the right.
I probably wasn’t supposed to peak in, but I couldn’t resist! This is Martina’s office.
I liked the compass in the patio. When we first moved into our current house in Poughkeepsie we had a sundial stamped into the concrete. I was quite excited about it until I realized that the metal guide had been broken off. I think it was too dangerous, and people were tripping on the metal guide!
It took me a while to figure out what this picture is of. (It’s been two and a half weeks since we left Arroyo Verde!) This is the view of the front of the Estancia. The bedrooms are on the left, and the fluffy brown dog in in the center of the picture. The family originally stayed here, now guests are in the four bedrooms.
I took a couple of walks the first day, getting the lay of the Estancia. This is as far as I got on this walk. This road leads back to the main road, some 15 kilometers to the main gate. Cattle and horse don’t like to cross the cattle guards. If someone is going riding, they will go through the gate on the right.
While in our room, Steve and I would hear a humming at times. This was caused by the generator on property. You did know that a well documented blog includes a visit to all available places, didn’t you?
This is the dog kennel. I was happy that I wasn’t a visiting dog.
This is where some of the horses hung out. This is not all of them, I forgot how many Katrina said the Estancia had. There was a very old mild mannered mare that was going to be my horse to ride. I said “Maybe next year!”. Katrina said “She may not be alive next year!”
No, this picture is not about my manicure, or how wrinkled my hands are! Steve was having problems with his hands getting cold, and was afraid that he would lose his wedding ring. I told him instead of putting it in the suitcase, I would add it to my ring collection. The big honker of a diamond is my fake travel diamond that I got at Home Goods. I lost one of the trilliants on the side at some point on our excellent adventure. Looks like I’ll have to get another ring before our next vacation. This center stone is 3 carats. I think I’ll try for a 5 carat next time!
Soon it was time for lunch. We had canapés on the patio.
Tomatoes with mozzarella balls. I think this is such a great canapé to make. Just cut your grape tomato in half and skewer it to a mozzarella ball. Sprinkle with parsley to make it festive. Voila, you appear to be quite the hostess!
Charlie asked for a cold beer. I think this mug was kept in the freezer. I don’t drink much beer, but this one looked particularly attractive! There was only one mug. I think one of the guests needs to gift the Estancia. Do you think I could get a free week if I bought some next time? I don’t think so.
We had a lovely salad for lunch.
The entree was rice with some kind of meat. I can’t figure out if this is chicken or pork!
Dessert was fried dough dusted with confectioners sugar.
This was so tasty, it gets its own close-up!
The road kept going, but I headed back to the Estancia. Somewhere ahead lies the stream and across the way Ted Turner’s La Primavera and the mean guard. Steve and Fernando had stepped foot on La Primavera, and the guard told them to get back onto the correct side of the stream! 
This was a panoramic view of the valley that I took.
This part of the picture is on the mid left part of the picture above. You can see how wide the valley is.
Tonight we had the brown china at dinner.
We had a different arrangement of flowers at dinner. You can see the candle reflections on the table also!
I loved the way the napkin looked like a rose. Katrina said the staff would give me napkin folding lessons. I thought about it. I knew it would be great for my next candlelit dinner party, but thought I would forget how to do them. I was on vacation after all, no lessons of any kind for me!
Dinner started with a vegetable soup. Almost as good as Stella’s soups!
Our entree was spatzle and pork cutlets. There was lots of paprika on the side for those who liked to add more spice to their food.
Salad was iceberg with sliced red beets.
Dessert was a berry mouse. It was nice and light. Katrina was in a bit of a tizzy at dinner. Tomorrow a bunch of Argentinians were coming to stay for a bit. She said they were a crazy bunch. Hmmm, I couldn’t wait to meet them!
It was time to head back to the Estancia for lunch. We all loaded into our respective pickup trucks, some a little faster than others! Would you be surprised if I told you that I am always first in the buffet line, when my table is called? I have one eye on the room, and one eye on the person I am talking to, waiting for the signal to belly up to the bar. I also try to listen to two conversations at once. You never know who might have the more interesting conversation. I have tried to be like Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and have my thoughts only directed at the speaker in front of me, but that is too hard and nowhere near as interesting!
We got back to the Estancia and toured a wee bit before we were called into lunch. Most of the guests stay at the main house. There are four bedrooms sleeping two to a room. Outside the main house there were benches and deer sheds (antlers) for the anglers to hang waders. 
Here is a close up picture. “Those are some racks you’ve got there!”
First thing you see in the entry way is this magnificent brown trout. 15.5 pounds! The biggest trout that Steve ever caught was 8.5 pounds in New Zealand. This fish is why people come to fish here, well the scenery and the people of course too! 
There is a beautiful bar where you could take a nip whenever you desired. Arroyo Verde like Tipiluke, included booze and wine in your fee. Some places we have been to charge extra. Some people get quite annoyed when they have to pay for booze. Those people are likely to really drink. A lot!
This is the living room. There are lots of family pictures on the bookshelves. This was,and is their family get away place. Arroyo Verde is very comfortable, and cozy. It’s not pretentious at all. We once stayed in a lodge in New Zealand that although it was lovely, the owners were so full of themselves that it was horrible. We couldn’t wait to leave. Here, like at Tipiluike, we wanted to stay and stay. Not to get Delphi in the Bahamas feeling unloved, we love to stay there also!
There are interesting knick knacks covering the tables. No one smokes inside of course. This might be a great dish for candy, but then you wouldn’t see the fish! 
They even had President Eisenhower come fishing for a day! President Clinton stayed at La Primavera on the other side of the Rio Traful when he visited with Ted Turner and Jane Fonda.
This is another professional photo of the living room. I would often sit on the white chairs and couches in the sun room and work on my blog or read. There is a round table to the left of the white chairs, and I would blog there also. 
Let’s go to lunch now shall we? All our meals were in the dining room. There were beautiful porcelain birds on the mantle. I looked but didn’t touch. 
Even at lunch the silver, tablecloths and fine china were brought out. One of the staff made beautiful flower arrangements that changed every day. I think that there were four or five different china patterns. 
Lunch and Dinner were buffet. There was plenty to choose from. 
I had a little of everything! 
Here is another photo of the beautiful birds. The painting of the ponies was interesting. At nighttime it was difficult to see the head of the black pony, his face is so dark. Talking about the painting would generally set Katrina off on one marvelous story after another. She has been a guest at a number of friends homes in the UK. They would often be castles, where the art work on the walls was priceless, with a Rafael here, and a Rembrandt there! 
Here is a close up of the silverware waiting for dessert! 
Dessert was warm apple crepes. Aren’t you hungry just looking at them?
Here is a close up of the humongous pine cones by the fireplace. 
There was always a hot pot of water for instant coffee or tea in the bar. 
The bar ware was lovely. 
I’m not sure which ones I prefer. 
There were lots of dogs here. I think there were three black labs, two mutts and a very poofy brown dog. There were lots of cats also to keep the rats away. 
We headed back to the room for a siesta. Steve would be going out fishing at five or so, and fish until dark. Dinner here would start with cocktails and canapés at 9:30 and dinner at 10! 
After Steve left to go fishing I wandered back to the main house to blog and read. Katrina was in the meadow working her horse. What a delightful view! 
I had a sliver of cake and then hung out the rest of the day. Kathy and Sarah took a horseback ride.
We came back for dinner and were treated by the guard Labradors. 
Salad first. Dinner was by candlelight so most of these pictures will be lousy. 
Roast Chicken.
Here are the glazed carrots and whipped potatoes. 
Here is my dinner all nestled on my plate ready to go down to my tummy!
Dessert was delicious. In fact, I would love a slice of that cheesecake now.
This is the view of the cabin above Lake Traful. This, of course is a professional photograph from the Arroyo Verde’s website. 
Inside the cabin was a bedroom. Look at the difference between a professional photographer and my photo! 
Looks like I better not quit my day job!
This is the posed picture from where I shot my video! 
It’s not exactly like I was having a bad hair day, the wind there is fierce!
Here is my Titanic pose! I am such a good sport!
Here is a picture of Fernando taking a picture of four other guests that were staying at the Estancia while we were there. Tim and Sarah, Charlie and Kathy, are from Raleigh, NC. Sarah and Kathy asked if I fished and I told them no, I read and worked on my blog while Steve was out and about. The ladies were going to go riding while their hubbies fished. I decided not to ride at this ranch as the nearest hospital was over 2 hours away. I didn’t like the idea of not being able to get medical help quickly. Kathy, it turns out is a successful author, however, as she does not write romance novels or erotica, I had not heard of her. You can order her book here, 
Let’s go in the cabin. Here we have another lousy picture, but this was the kitchen. No meals are cooked here, guests go back to the main house for all their meals. 
This is the view from the living room out toward the lake.
This is another view of the living room. 
There were four bunk beds, so six people could stay in the cabin. The cabin was designed for the Lariviere family, two parents and four girls! 
There was also a small bathroom, including a bidet! 
Here is Steve talking to another guest, from Canada, who you can’t see because Steve is so big. He has been coming to Arroyo Verde for several years, staying several weeks at a time, and coming more than once during the year! This is definitely one of his favorite places to fish. Why? Because there is always a chance for a really big fish! Small world that is is, this gentleman knows a guest that we met at another fly fishing lodge. They live in the same development in Calgary! It also turns out that Gianni and Lalla who we met in Tipiluike also have been to Arryo Verde!
So how did we find out about Arroyo Verde? First of all, for someone like me who can’t roll her r’s it is horrific to pronounce. Also, the Argentinians replace the Y with a J. So this estancia has a name pronounced as follows: A-rrrrrrrrrrow-joe Verrrrrrrrr-day. It means green creek. I think Arroyo Verde sounds much better, don’t you?
We were greeted by Katrina, who is the manager of the ranch. The ranch is now owned by Meme Lariviere and her four daughters. Katrina is from Scotland and has wonderful stories to tell. It was fascinating to hear of her excellent adventures! Steve and Katrina are outside our 1 bedroom suite. Katrina is telling Steve where the main house is. 
This is the outside. Originally this was the stable and tack room. It was renovated a very long time ago!
Would you like to come inside? Of course you would!
Steve has already brought the bags in, I had better get those pictures taken quick before the room gets all messed up. 
This is the view from my side of the bed. There was a big post in the center of the room. I was nervous each night that I would run into it if I had to go to the bathroom. I was lucky and missed it every time. The striped chair is where I would sit and try to do my blog posts. It took a long time due to the wifi. Once again we had no cell service. The phone plan that we had was a waste of money. However, if we didn’t get it, we likely would have had cell service and accidentally run up humongous roaming charges, not realizing we had our phones on! 
Here is Steve unpacking, I prefer to live out of my suitcase. 
Here are the set of ram’s horns that were used as a hat rack. I get a headache just looking at them!
The bathroom was quite large. We had a toilet, a bidet, and a tub with shower. There was plenty of hot water for us. 
We were quite pleased that there were American style outlets to charge our devices. No problems with trying to find our converters.