Aguas Arriba Lodge

Arrival happens by water. Guests board a boat at the south point of Lago del Desierto and cross for fifteen minutes past hanging glaciers and condor nests before reaching the dock, or walk in on foot along a mountain trail for three hours while a crew carries the luggage by boat. There is no road. The lodge sits on a bay on the lake's east shore, sheltered from the northwest wind, within a 900-hectare private property bordering a provincial reserve next to Los Glaciares National Park. It holds five suites only, built from stone and timber salvaged from a burned forest in northern Patagonia, with lenga floors and large windows framed on the lake, the Vespignani Glacier and Mount Fitz Roy. Three Glacier suites face west across the water; two Fitz Roy suites look north to the peak and west to the glacier. Days run on guided trekking through private trails or the national park, and fly fishing for rainbow trout on Lago del Desierto and nearby rivers. Meals are cooked in house and served at individual tables, or on the deck when the wind allows. Evenings are planned the night before, over a map, choosing the next day's route. Phone signal ends at El Calafate.