Fly Fishing Patagonia, Antonio's, Part 9

When the Patagonia fishing season got rolling in early January I moved from Futaleufu to a fly fishing lodge in a rural area called, Valle des Escales, about an hour and one half walk from town. On transition day, when old clients were leaving the lodge and new ones we arriving, I'd have several free hours to myself. Mostly I fished. Sometimes I'd walk an old ox cart trail along the Caribbean coloured Futaleufu river to one of several corner stores in town to purchase some items. I rarely met anyone along the trail and if I did it was usually a local on horseback. One day I meet a British fellow on a mountain bike but it didn't seem too odd as experience has taught me Brits are everywhere.

As a child growing up in a Montreal suburb I had a small corner store that was a converted garage in a bungalow style home. It was called Tony's and my friends and I biked the short distance there most summer days or after school to get a soft drink or other treat. Tony's had every kind of candy imaginable behind a glass counter. It was a treasure chest of sugar: Sponge toffee; Popeye candy cigarettes; Eskimo pies; Candy necklaces; Licorice twists; etc. My dentist approved. Whatever you selected was put it in a brown paper bag. We would eat it all up before leaving Tony's parking lot.
Futaleufu had several small corner stores and on transition day I would make the long beautiful walk to town for supplies and several milk chocolate Golazo bars. Here is a picture of Tony's in Futaleufu, or what I called Antonio's. Fly fishing is not always about fishing. Often the best part is what happens along the way.

Futaleufu Corner Store