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Dragonfly Lodge is strategically placed to give an exclusive
fly-fishing adventure and guide service access to a vast virgin
watershed in remote Patagonia, Chile. The local water is home
to abundant resident Brown and Rainbow Trout and the lodge is
hidden amongst sheer forest, temperate jungle, and absolute
wilderness. No roads lead there. Tracks and trails fade into
greenery with the last humble huts, belonging to a handful of
mountain men, well before the latter part of your journey to
The Dragonfly Lodge. One must take to the water and follow the
green depths, clear riffles and rapids of the river, as it meanders
deeper into steep mountains, swathed in an impenetrable green
mantle. The following is an account of how this hidden treasure
was found. As newly weds in the early1980's, José (Chilean)
and Erica (Australian) Gorroño, were looking to get away
from it all. The young couple searched the south of Chile with
a dream, an idealist meld of his "Bonanza" style cattle
ranching and her "Little House on the Prairie" lifestyle.
A chance meeting, drinking "yerba mate" in a Patagonian
kitchen, sent them off on horseback, on an unusually sunny autumn
day, into the road less forests of the "cordillera".
Arrival at their destination took 2 days of riding on a treacherously
muddy horse track and numerous fording of a swift river. The
final leg consisted of rowing a little hand built boat, miles
along a long lake and up another river, before they arrived
at a little shingled hut that would soon be home for the next
two years. Armed with a motley assortment of beef and dairy
cattle, precarious loads on their packhorses, optimism, ignorance
and lots of love, they set off to build their dream.
Despite
their conjugal bliss, as winter stole the sun away and their
cow's ribs began to show like the washboard ruts in the Chilean
roads, a sneaking suspicion grew. Perhaps their steep forestland
was not really apt for cattle. As the poor beasts scrambled
up and down sheer mountainsides and gnawed at cane, ferns
and wild fuchsia, it became increasingly clear that these
creatures would be better off with some flat grassland. One
Godsend during those tough times however, was the abundance
of fish. When their human food supply got low, Jose could
grab his Nescafe tin wound with nylon and a rusty lure, cast
into the neighbouring lakes and rivers and provide a nice
fresh fish for his family (as they were now blessed with a
baby daughter). With the experience and knowledge gained over
two years of observing just what extremes cattle are capable
of surviving, Jose and Erica mounted their horses and bid
farewell to their cold, forested Eden. The fickle finger of
fate found them another property and this was fat-cow paradise.
"Fundo Adelaida" also had a river running through
it, brimming with wild brown trout.
After
ten years of building up a fine herd of Herefords and blessed
with a baby boy, the couple decided to changed themes. Cattle
were cashed in and a 47-foot sailing ketch was purchased with
the proceeds. The boat was provisioned and the two children
(7 and 4 years old) bundled aboard in Chile's northern city
of Arica. "Patagonia" set sail on the assumption
that if they followed the sunsets for long enough, they would
eventually hit Australia. After nearly two years of meandering
through the South Pacific and third baby well on its way,
they did make a happy landfall on the Queensland coast. Blessed
by another son, the family returned to their home in the Patagonia,
cashed in the boat and again purchased a herd of beef cattle
with the proceeds.
Travel,
having broadened their horizons, led them to introduce the
first alpacas into their region. Meeting Mike Michalak of
The Fly Shop led them to create El Saltamontes, the first
established fly fishing lodge in their region. On the fertile
banks of the River Nirehuao, The Grasshopper Lodge has hosted
anglers successfully for eleven southern summers.
Jose
had for many years, considered developing his abandoned first
property for anglers. The logistics of transporting potential
guests in and out of that fishy wilderness were daunting,
in a country where choppers are still a thing of the future.
Enter
young Canadian fly-fishing guide Adam Henderson. Adam's varied
and numerous talents soon had him in position as head guide
at El Saltamontes. A competent bushman, horseman, boat/oarsman,
fisherman, scientific freethinker and nice guy, Adam was invited
to join Jose in an expedition to fish the wilderness property
watershed. By putting two creative, tenacious minds together,
over what proved to be an amazing fishery, the solutions soon
came tumbling in. Over the next couple of years, this dynamic
duo poured their energies into devising and adapting a river
craft and engine combination that would finally prove viable
for use under all conditions, from drought to flood.
With
the transport issue solved, and an enthusiastic young team
of supporters, Jose forged ahead with the planning and construction
of The Dragon Fly Lodge. Every item, from carpenters, to cement,
glass and steel was waterproofed and rafted down the riffles
and rapids of the Picacho River. All the timber was hewn from
the surrounding forest, with nothing but a chainsaw and a
hand winch. The building of El Saltamontes was child's play
compared with the creation of her sister lodge The Dragonfly
Lodge, where dynamite had to be used, just to carve out a
platform to begin with.
An
ambitious architectural design focuses on the spectacular
view of the River Picacho emerging into Lake Copa, surrounded
by forest, mountains and glaciers. Inside the lodge, the focus
is on comfort, with a spacious, welcoming interior, cozy fireside
and individual bed nooks, which make it a unique refuge, in
a virgin wilderness. The Gorroño family, together with
Adam Henderson and their team, now wish to invite a limited
number of anglers to share and experience this fly-fishing
adventure of a lifetime.
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