There were many. Probably the most memorable for me would be the fly fishing in Torres de Paine National Park.

Great holiday

Based on my experience, El Calafate Fly Fishing cannot be recommended to anyone with a serious interest in fly fishing, at least if the fishing is organised through a third party like Swoop who clearly have limited experience in this and actively prevent connection between outfitter and client. I would much rather have spent my 2 days with my wife doing something entirely different rather than driving for 4 hours each day to and from small streams, in relatively uninteresting locations, that didn't hold any worthwhile fish. I wouldn't have chosen to fish in similar locations at home and certainly felt aggrieved to find myself there on the other side of the world, in one of the few places that's on most fly fishermen's bucket list. Guides were friendly, but spoke very limited English. Christian turned up an hour late on day 1, after confirming pickup time the night before. The equipment was 3rd rate, which made it harder to fish, very sweaty, and diminished my enjoyment overall. There was no water or food supplied in 6 hours of hard fishing, and then confusion about lunch. I was underwhelmed, but not critical (we couldn't communicate at a high level). He acquired a mysterious injury overnight and was replaced by Maxi for the second day's fishing. Swoop confirmed and reconfirmed that Day 2 was a full day's fishing, despite being advised 6 months earlier, that it would only be a half day's fishing by the Outfitter due to New Year's Eve (they showed me the email after some frustrating communications). To be clear: I would never have booked a half day's fishing trip, especially when that meant only a couple of hours on the water after a 2 hour drive (each way). That was a complete waste of time, although the guide and gear were both better. I caught nothing but the most minute trout I've ever seen, which was the opposite of what was intended and expected, based on Swoop's confidence in the Outfitter "after 15 year's experience working with them" ???. The couple of small Perch caught were poor compensation for lack of decent trout. Also, the one solid piece of advice received from you: that I must obtain the mandatory fishing licence, was wrong, as we fished private waters on both days. I would like the completely wasted US$50, refunded, please. I'd also like some or all of the costs of these 2 days refunded as what I received bore almost no relation to what was promised. Torres de Paine was completely different. Cesar, the guide, looked and sounded like a serious fishing guide from the outset. His English was good and he had a plan for the day, backed by sensible supplies. The gear he supplied was first rate and the fishing was almost everything I'd hoped for in Patagonia. I enjoyed a very successful day's fishing, despite very high winds that made things challenging - as expected.

Organise your fly fishing directly, if you can get responses from local operators! Avoid travelling over major public holidays, unless you have something properly organised for each day. Patagonia closes down in ways not seen, at least in Australia, for many years. High quality, glacier-based treks are fabulous. Standard tourist trips, boats to glaciers etc, are crowded and less enjoyable.

Antarctica was simply awesome. Patagonia is incredible and so immense it requires either a lot of time or excellent organisation, or both, to maximise enjoyment.

The team was always helpful and enthusiastic, but for me the trip was seriously marred by the sun-standard El Calafate experience.

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