54 33.52 S 66 21.10W - End of the Road....

Rio Irigoyen, TDF

We left the Rio Grande this morning and traveled about 120 kilometers South to the Rio Irigoyen. We rode the bus down to the turnoff to Cabo San Pablo where Nico from the Irigoyen Lodge picked us up, then drove another 3 hours South along the TDF coast until the road ended. And I mean it just ended. TDF continues another 80 kilometers to its most Southeastern point but there are no roads, no access, no nothing. The end of South America.

Although we are staying right off the beach in a small house, there are no boats, no harbors, no marinas... just a few small streams that are the home of the world's largest sea run brown trout. There are still guanacos scattered around the fields and they seem to thrive here. Long ago the cattle and sheep ranchers killed off any large predators on the island of TDF so the guanacos are safe. We probably saw 100 of them on the drive here.

This is the fifth major ecosystem that we have encountered in Argentina. Unlike the vast rolling hills along the Rio Grande, here there is tundra that borders the ocean, vast kelp rafts along the beach and a tide that rises 26 feet twice a day. There are rolling hills, high bluffs that rise above the ocean, and thick forests bordering the tundra flats. We are here at the end of the summer. The first day of Fall is a week away. It is quiet, no wind, bright sun yet cool outside. We will hit the river and explore starting around 6pm tonight and stay out until about an hour after sunset. We travel in 6 wheeled amphibious vehicles. The tundra and bogs are almost impossible to travel by foot.

Nico and his twin brother Alex are our guides and built this place from scratch last year. The Rio Irigoyen is part of a massive estancia called Maria Luis and has been closed to all fishing for the last 6 years. Nico and his brother wanted to open up this place to just a few people for a few months a year to experience fishing for these sea run browns right at the mouth of the ocean. Our interest is in a conservation study to document a wild place like the Irigoyen and understand the human impact on such a place. More later. Best to all...