Jungle Brothers

Me cleverly pointing at a cute little tamarind

The mega cool "walking palm"

John and I mucking around with a huge "rocket tree"

My first Tapir...he was bigger than expected...maybe 200kgs!

Tarantula coming out of his little hidey-hole

The Amazon Jungle is awesome.




After spending so much time at high altitude, it was great to breathe again!




After yet another luxurious flight with my friends at Air Condor, I arrived in Peurto Maldonado, famous for the "El Jaguar Zoo and Disco" (yup, probably the world's only combined zoo and nightclub)...a couple of hours journey via boat led me to the Eco Amazonia Lodge on the Madre de Dios River (one of the tributaries to the Amazon River), in an area known as Tambopata.



The jungle itself was amazing, there were "rocket trees" (with the big fin like roots) that were bigger than anything similar I have seen...because the soil quality is so poor, most of the nutrients are on top of the ground...as a result of decaying vegetation etc. Thus even these monstrously big trees have roots that only go 1 meter into the soil.



There was also a "walking palm" which grows roots above ground and by killing off old roots and growing new ones manages to "walk" through the jungle to take advantage of available light.



Peru must be home to more epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants...kinda like parasites...but not exactly) than any other country on Earth...There were trees so covered in orchids and bromeliads that one couldn't see the supporting tree. One of the trees, which the locals sometimes call the "tourist tree" peels it's bark like a sun-burnt gringo...thus ridding itself of any epiphytic tresspassers...in some areas they seemed the only variety that wasn't hosting a micro-community of guests.



There were more monkeys than I had thought possible...particularly at the very appropriately named "Monkey Island", ridiculously cute little tamarinds...as well as bigger brown and black capuchin monkeys (which the locals always referred to as cappuccino monkeys...without intending to be funny!)



The Cayman I saw were all pretty small by Aussie crocodile standards, but they were certainly big enough to give one a fright if you came across one at night. (They lie along the river bank and are easliy found by their eyes which reflect bright red when a flashligh is shone on them.)



Tambopata is also home to 700 types of butterfly and 1200 species of bird.



There were parrots, macaws, hawks, vultures...pretty much every bird that one can imagine...and one of my favorites...the carpenter bird, builds hanging nests shaped like tear drops...a single tree can contain many dozen nests...from a distance they look dangling fruit.



There were monkeys and tapirs wandering around the huts, making any trips around the compound have the potential for excitement.



I got to see some snakes and a tarantula...but missed out on seeing an anaconda :(



The incredible noise generated by the local bird population meant that waking up at 05:00AM was guaranteed...but as the generators were switched off at 22:00PM...most nights finished early after a few drinks in the hammocks along the river side...sipping rum and watching the fireflies.



It was a perfect contrast to the mountains and cities of Peru...a trip I highly recommend.

Macchu Picchu

Doorway...the safest place during an earthquake

Llama chiilin' at machu Picchu

Me in front of Machu Picchu...Waynapicchu is shrouded with clouds in background

Frisbee at machu Picchu...outstanding!

Wow!



Machu Picchu was even more spectacular than I could imagine. I arrived at about 07:00 AM, and was unable to see much of anything...except clouds.



(Macchu Pichu is located at a level of elevation known in the Andes as the "cloud forest"...it is above the jungle and the rain forest...but still able to support a forest well higher than the tree line of most other places, due to the moisture in the air...it is about 2500 meters above sea level)



The clouds slowly lifted and unveiled Machu picchu in all of it's glory. It is waaaay bigger than I had expected, there were llamas roaming around adding to the vibe, and fewer tourists than I had expected.



Machu Picchu was built by the Incans around 1450, and due to it's hard to reach location was never discovered by the Spanish during their period of South American conquest. This is particularly handy as the Spanish conquistadors had a habit of destroying any signs of the Incan civilization they came across.



Thus, somehow, Machu Picchu remained unknown to the "Western World" until 1911, when American archaeologist Hiram Bingham "discovered" it.



It was quite a find...the whole area, with its deep valleys and what seems like an endless series of mountain peaks, one behind the other is one of the most beautiful places I have been. It would be well worth the trip, even if there were no Incan ruins.



The ruins were cool, although as the Incans didn't use writing, alot of information has been lost. Their construction techniques were outstanding, using a mixture of naturally occuring boulders for foundations and many sided stone blocks for the upper walls. (One of the stone blocks has 32 corners!)



There is a small mountain just opposite macchu Pichu called Waynapicchu...it only takes an hour to climb and offers an impressive view of the entire complex...definately worth the effort!



My frisbee got a brief workout, with only one (near) injury...sorry Richard!This year it has seen action at Angkor Wat, The Great Pyramid, The Sphinx, and now Machu Pichu. I will be packing it again next year...keep an eye out for the photos.

Peruvian Times

I am finally here!

Peru has been insanely good, and I have not been to Macchu Pichu or the Amazon yet!

Lima is as nice a city of its size as I have seen (9 miilion people). The buildings are mainly old school colonial, lots of balconies and shutters, many made of clay bricks, which are cheap, but no doubt contribute to the exterme damage whenever an earthquake occurs.

The city itself still has some of the remains of a wall built around it by the Spanish to protect the Europeans in case other Europeans attacked (they didn´t!)

Prices are good, $25US secured me a fine hotel and $10US secured me a bottle od Special Reserve Havan Club.

Not a lot to see in Lima, lots of churches...if that´s your thing...it´s not mine.

The main square Plaza Del Mayo is kinda cool, armoured cars on guard in case the people revolt, and statues of people with Llamas on their heads. (apparently the spanish word for flame is the same as the local word for llama and the statues that were to have sexy flaming crowns instead ended up with llama purched precariously on their foreheads.

I have since left the ity and have been hiking the Andes, I have just finished the Lares Track, yesterday was the hardest day, two big passes to negotiate, the tallest 4950 metres which represented a gain of 1000 vertical meters from our departure point, after the first pass we decended about 1300 metres then did another 900 verticle metres...I was dry retching up the second pass...I had planned on avoiding the second pass and thus had neglected to take my pills for altitude sickness.

Camin in the Andes has been made sooooo much easier with the help of our porters, they have been feeding me like a king, supplying me with cup after cup of coca tea and even filling my sigg bottle at night with hot water. (at -5 Celcius and with a stiff wind it is certainly appreciated). These guys are so damned hardcore...they all wear flipflops over snow, scree, water...they are just unstoppable!)

The locals have all been really friendly, and their colourful garb makes my whole experience seem a little surreal...although that may be the altitude!

I spend much of my time time chasing the local wildlife..the llamas and alpacas have been hard to get a hold of, but a did find a cute little lamb that was my closest friend for a couple of hours...I wanted to keep him as a sleeping bag warmer...but alas our relationship had to end shortly after he made a mess on my T-shirt (he is still pretty cute though!)

Tomorrow I head off to Macchu Pichu!

Yup, more D-Style

Daire O’Leary can believe it’s not butter.

Trains stop at a Daire O’Leary crossing.

Daire O’Leary’s laundry sorts itself.

When Daire O’Leary donates blood, he declines the syringe, and instead requests a handgun and a bucket.

Daire O’Leary likes his women how he likes his coffee, in a burlap sack trussed over the back of a donkey.

On his birthday, Daire O’Leary blows out his candles by blinking.

The last digit of pi is Daire O’Leary; he is the end of all things.

Superman owns a pair of Daire O’Leary pyjamas.

Daire O’Leary won a game of Connect Four in 3 moves.

Daire O’Leary does not hunt, because the word hunting implies the possibility of failure. Daire O’Leary goes killing.

Daire O’Leary can delete the Windows Recycle Bin.

Daire O’Leary sometimes sleeps with a nightlight, not because he is afraid of the dark, because the dark is afraid of Daire O’Leary.

Daire takes to the Rockies

Wow! I am finally here. As a Canadian I have always been aware that the Rockies are one of the most picturesque places on the planet...above is a shot of Mount Rundell from my brother Sean's balcony in Banff. (The bottle is a blueberry and raspberry lemonade breezer that I thought would add the the photo composition, the colours have been left untouched.)

My time here has been ridiculously good. It all started with my cousin Jessica and me and a small bottle of Screech...it continued from that moment in exactly the way that I had hoped...sharing time with my family and friends...some of them old...some of them new...but all just outstanding.

Banff was as pretty a town as I have seen, surrounded by mountains and bears and elk and tourists wearing irridescent clothing in pastel colours with more pockets than anyone could ever need, getting excited about squirrels and such. (I am much the same, with more pockets than necessary and getting fired up about the local squirrel population...but have been able to withstand the need to wear lilac coloured polar fleece...so far)

Blogger doesn't seem to want me to upload anymore photos so I will be adding some to my FlickrR site tonight. (clickm on the link in the top right hand corner)

My brother Sean and Megan were married in Nakusp this weekend. The wedding was wonderful, Megan looked beautiful and Sean, well he looked like Sean...except even happier and more handsome then usual.

Our time in Nakusp was awesome, the mountains are smaller than around Banff, but no less attractive, there is a fine lake with a sandy beach that saw a lot of action in the early hours of the evening, and the locals were friendly.

At times it seemed like half of the population of Antigonish was there (ie the good half). As a team, we accomplished many fine achievements, including drinking the bars entirely empty of Alexander Keith's (that is a variety of beer...popular in Nova Scotia...for those not from Canada), and contributing to the highest cash register takings in a single night at the Leland bar in Nakusp.

Megan's folks...Barb' and Wes' are as nice as she is, and welcomed us into their family with fine hospitality anId open arms. They must be made of strong stuff, as they took the invasion of Nakusp by a bunch of O'Learys, Newfies, Nova Scotians, and wild haired mountain-men all in stride and helped everybody feel at home.

My brother Sean is better known as Heddo, aka Head, aka Head 'o Lettuce. It has taken some getting used to as being thought of as Heddo's brother, rather than just being Daire. Some of the locals have started calling me Leaf, as in Leaf 'o Lettuce. I think I like it, I might encourage it.

Daire aka Leaf O'Leary