There are two quick stories from the fly fishing trip that Juanito shared that have really resonated since leaving the river.
1. Juanito mentioned that the Argentinian government has been selling previously undeveloped land along the rivers to be developed and expressed a deep concern about it and how it has been affecting his community. I didn’t get a lot of details about this but I did get a true sense of how upset he was.
2. Juanito also told a story about when the gov wanted to put in a hydroelectric dam right where we were fishing. It obviously would have completely changed the river. Apparently, the people from Bariloche fought hard against it and won. Juanito stated a few times how proud he was of his community for banning together and actually winning in a fight against the gov.
We have heard some stories about possibly selling off portions of the National Parks in the US and we are really upset about it. I know visiting the National Parks out in Wyoming was some of my favorite travel memories from growing up. I hope we all try to protect our parks so just like my uncle took me out to visit when I was young, we can visit the National Parks with our nieces and nephews when Michael and I are back in the states. When the nieces and nephews saw pictures and videos of my big fish, I got four videos in return with all of the kids so excited about how big my fish was, but also hoping to see a bigger one. I want them to have the same access that I have had to do awesome outdoor stuff.
This is where I would post a picture of us horse back riding in the Tetons if I had access to my photos back home. Or me and Bill exploring the “stinky part” of Yellowstone while everyone else refused to get out of the car that was sitting on the sewage drain creating the smell. Instead you get this picture of me trying to do my part down here to not kill this little guy I had caught.
Special thanks to DeMars who called out my photo error earlier. Here’s a picture that is actually from our trip instead of his trip to the Sacred Valley.