Marcel Sijnesael

The Fly Fishing Dutchman. After a successful career in the Dutch shipping industry, Marcel decided to change his life dramatically. Bought a ticket to South Africa, travelled the world with a backpack, a tent and a fly rod for almost two years and eventually ended up in Chile. That is in now over 20 years ago. And see what happened.

In the those 20 years he built up Patagonian BaseCamp to one of the most successful fly fishing lodges in South America and still just loves it. His love for Patagonia and fly fishing for trout is contagious. Be careful for him. But he already found a new challenge, the “Escondido Project”: a combination between a conservation and outdoor-experience project. For the next 20 years or so, he will be busy. Very busy.

But there is another challenge arising, turning his daughters Elena (9) and Isabel (5) into the next generation of fly fishing guides. A big challenge, because for now their lives are about pink ballet dresses rather than large trout from the Palena river.