Peter Ireland

Big Bend National Park and More in 1999

This is the first of several posts that describe our multiple exciting adventures in West Texas. I start with our first trip in March 1999. Janet and I had been married for barely a year and Big Bend had caught our eye. We planned a combination of independent exploration and activities with outfitters. While itContinue reading “Big Bend National Park and More in 1999”

Our Honeymoon in Costa Rica

The highlight of our honeymoon was a Costa Rican adventure. We whitewater rafted, rode in a hot air balloon, visited a volcano, toured a cloud forest canopy, and chilled on a beach. Amazingly, Janet arranged all of this using a rudimentary WebTV set (using dial-up internet and a TV as a screen)! Janet produced aContinue reading “Our Honeymoon in Costa Rica”

Belize with Coral Cay Conservation in April 1995

In my passion project of writing up adventurous activities from my past, the time that I spent in Belize has the fewest records and dimmest memories. I have ten photos, the logs of 27 dives between 3rd and 26th April, and a faded scar on my forearm (it wasn’t a shark!). It was still aContinue reading “Belize with Coral Cay Conservation in April 1995”

Irian Jaya (West Papua) in 1992

One of the great attractions of working in the Middle Eastern desert was the amount of time off. As well as short (2-3 week) breaks every few months, there was an extended time off after about a year. My first “long vacation” was October through December 1992, and I joined a Trekforce expedition to IrianContinue reading “Irian Jaya (West Papua) in 1992”

Exploring the Auyan Tepui in February 1991

Close to Venezuela’s border with Guyana and Brazil lie many table mountains called “tepuis” in the local indigenous language. They are remote, largely unexplored, and inspired Conan Doyle’s “The Lost World.” One of the largest is the Auyan Tepui, whose claim to fame is Angel Falls where water cascades 979m / 3212ft down a verticalContinue reading “Exploring the Auyan Tepui in February 1991”

Hiking the Sierra Nevada de Merida, Venezuela in 1991

After the completion of the Cambridge Columbus Botanical Survey expedition, Mark, James, and I headed to Merida in February 1991 for a backpacking trip in the Andes. Hilary Branch, who had written the No Frills Guide to Venezuela, recommended a hike from Merida to El Morro as it was quite straightforward, following the route ofContinue reading “Hiking the Sierra Nevada de Merida, Venezuela in 1991”

Cambridge Columbus Botanical Study Venezuela 1990

I participated in two amazing expeditions when I was a student. The first involved investigating the effects of oil pollution on the coral reefs in the Gulf of Suez in Egypt and is described by a separate post. This post describes the second expedition where a group of four traveled to Venezuela for a botanicalContinue reading “Cambridge Columbus Botanical Study Venezuela 1990”

Gulf of Suez Reef Survey 1989

This is another catch-up post, written in July 2022, to describe the first post-worthy adventure in my life. In July and August 1989, a team of six SCUBA divers, based at Cambridge University, set out to investigate the effects of oil pollution on the coral reefs of the Gulf of Suez. The results were presentedContinue reading “Gulf of Suez Reef Survey 1989”