Junin de los Andes
Home to some of the worlds best fly fishing
A week of camping, hitch hiking, and fishing.
Day 1: We were lucky enough to catch a ride with an awesome guy who loves fishing up to lago Huechulafquen. He took us to his ¨special spot¨, which in reality was an awesome spot secluded from everything, on the lake and gave us some good pointers about where to go to catch the big ones. He was a retired lawyer who now spent his days roaming the banks of lago huechulafquen looking for fish.
Unfortunately day 1 was pretty windy and not ideal for flyfishing so we spent the day practicing :)
Day 2: We woke up and started fishing as the sun came up and had great luck. Mike caught the first one and then about 10 minutes later I reeled in the second.
For dinner we enjoyed fresh fish with steamed carrots and onions over the fire, delicious.
Day 3: Wind wind go away, come again another day.
On day 3 Mike and I became official rock hunters, we found some real beauties.
Day 4: Yum yum, atlantic salmon! Mike did an awesome job catching this fish. As he was reeling him in, right as the fish got to the bank of the lake, he managed to get off the hook. Mike dropped his reel and leaped into the water (looking like a crazy man) and successfuly snaged the fish before it swam away. It was a sight to see.
This is our awesome make shift grill for the fish. We found a bunch of wire around our camp and turned it into this. I must say we were pretty impressed with our work.
Day 5: The crazy walk back. On our walk back from our campsite to the main entrance of the lake there are cow and bulls just roaming the roads and trees. I for one am not a fan of bulls, have you ever seen running with the bull? Those things are crazy and not to mention that we are carrying a bright red bag with us (well Mike was carrying the red bag).
For our first group of bulls it took us about 25 minutes to work up the courage to walk past them. I ended up hiding in the bushes while Mike walked past first, after he was clear then I went (yes, i was scared to death).
We ended up passing 3 main groups of bulls chilling on the side of the road, so I ended up with 3 mini heart attacks and almost wet pants.
Honestly, these things were huge and they all had big sharp horns!
After the bulls we got to the main road and hitchhiked back to the city of Junin de los Andes.
Once in the town we enjoyed a delicious meal of fresh empanadas made by Betty.
Best empanadas we have ever had, I think mainly because they were made fresh for us once we arrived.
Thanks Betty you´re awesome and the best cook ever!
Yes, I am obsessed with statues, every city seems to have them. So pretty much throughout our whole trip I have taken a picture with my favorite statue in each city/town. Junin, since it is such a small town, only had one statue so my options were limited.
Fun little story: For those of you who really know me know that I am not a fan of dogs or animals. Yes, I like animals but only from a distance. Along our journy the most preculier thing has happened, every city and town we go to a dog seems to find us, claim us as his, and follow us around for the days that we are there.
Day 1-2 in Junin we explore the city and dog finds us on day 2
Day 2-7 leave Junin for fishing trip
Day 7-8 return to Junin and same dog finds us again and stays with us for 2 days while we are in the town
It was actually really cute, we were in a restaurant eating dinner and we notice a dog walked by. We mentioned that it looked similar to the dog that hung out with us on our fist days in the city. The dog then looks in the widow directly at us and sits down. He waited until we were done with our meal and then accompanied us back to our tent. He further more accompanied us into an internet cafe where he laied down in the store righ next to our computer, to the grocery store, and even to the bank. By the end I fell in love with this mangy mut.
He looks like a great souvenir to bring home with you!:O)
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