The lower Rio Grande is larger than the waters
40 to 50 miles upstream and anglers encounter nickel-bright sea-run
browns in these pools. Access is strictly controlled by the ranch,
so beats are assigned to our guests and the river is monitored to
ensure that there is adequate water.
The lodge is situated in one of Patagonia's
biggest and oldest working estancias. It has four spacious,
perfectly furnished bedrooms featuring a cozy dining and living
area, as well as a bar, well stocked with local spirits. Our chef
takes charge each evening, offering a selection of local and
international cousine accompanied by the best Argentine wines.
The origins of our lodge can be traced back to
the pioneering days of Patagonian History. The "estancia" (ranch) on
which the lodge is located, was carved out of the wilderness in the
last decades of the nineteenth century by an ancestor of the family
that stills owns it: José Menendez - a man who, having started out
in life as a penniless Spanish immigrant to Argentina at the age of
thirteen, came to be known, by the time he was fifty, as the "king
of Patagonia". His "reign" had no political connotations. The term
was coined by the local population as a tribute to the impact of his
presence in the region, the scope of his interests and initiatives,
and the sheer quality of his tireless entrepeneurial spirit. There
is one aspect of his many achievements which is of particular
interest to us for a very special reason.
The manager of José Menendez´s estancias,
where Villa Maria is located was an Englishman: John Goodall. He was
a remarkable man in many ways, and had all the qualities required
for a position of responsibility in a pioneering enterprise which
was far more demanding than mere farming. But there was another
aspect of Goodall´s life to which we owe a debt of gratitude. He was
a passionate angler, with a preference for trout, who worked (and
lived) in an area of the planet where trout did not exist.
Encouraged by Menendez, Goodall took the only logical step: he
sailed to England and returned with an adequate supply of trout
eggs. We like to think that by introducing the "catch and release"
philosophy to Patagonia in 1984, and by continuing to promote it,
Menendez´s great-grandsons, Jorge and Fernando de Las Carreras, are
preserving the work of a man who, perhaps, died without being aware
of the dimension of his legacy to anglers who come to Villa Maria
from all over the world every year.
