Go where the wild things are on a safari to Kenya that caters to families.
The 11-day tours, offered year-round, visit Tsavo National Park, the Central Highlands, Masai Mara National Reserve, Mombasa and Nairobi.
Children “get to pet a rhino, feed a giraffe and play with baby elephants,” said Karin Jones, who designed the trip.
Families also stay in the area where research was done for the Disney movie “The Lion King.”
Participants will have opportunities to view herds of zebras, elephants and giraffes as well as large predators, including lions, leopards and cheetahs.
Lodgings include a working ranch in the Laikipia region of the Central Highlands, where park rangers take the kids to see wildlife or plant trees. Guests also stay at a luxurious Alfajiri villa in Mombasa on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Guests staying at the villas are attended by butlers, nannies and a chauffeur.
Cost: $5,245 per adult and $3,150 per child (and up, depending on the season), including airfare from Los Angeles, internal airfare, lodging, meals, unlimited green fees, massages and private car and driver during three nights at an Alfajiri villa.
Contact: African Travel Inc., Glendale; 800-421-8907 or 818-507-7893, www.africantravelinc.com.
Explore the culture capital on an eight-night spring theater tour to London with Pasadena City College.
The tour, which begins April 14, includes five shows, shopping on Oxford Street, museum hopping and tours of Leeds Castle and the historic Globe Theatre.
The group has a day at leisure to explore sights such as the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Buckingham Palace.
Cost: $2,415 per person, double occupancy ($730 single surcharge), including airfare from Los Angeles, hotel accommodations, daily breakfast, show tickets, bus pass and airport transfers.
Contact: Michelle Banks, Pasadena City College Theater Department, Pasadena, 626-585-3148.
Build a trail and take a hike on a working vacation to Patagonia on March 18.
The nine-night excursion, sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service in conjunction with Chile’s park service, includes two days of leisure to explore Torres del Paine National Park and two nights touring in Santiago.
While in the park, participants perform trail work from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. most days, with an hour off for lunch. They stay in a hostel with hot showers at the park.
Cost: $2,500 per person, including round-trip international airfare to and from Santiago from Los Angeles, internal airfare, hostel lodging, boat transportation and meals.
Contact: Richard Tobin, director of Conservation Partnerships, Los Padres National Forest; 805-961-5748. Or the Patagonian Foundation, San Francisco; 888-570-1122, www.thepatagonianfoundation.org.
New Orleans is hoping the tourists come back for Mardi Gras later this month to celebrate the event’s 150th anniversary as well as the city’s survival, six months after Hurricane Katrina.
More than two dozen parades, with costumed marchers, floats and bands, are scheduled to roll between Feb. 18-28. They include the Endymion parade, Feb. 25, 3:30 p.m., with Jim Belushi and Dan Akyroyd as grand marshals; Bacchus, Feb. 26, 5:15 p.m. with celebrity monarch Michael Keaton; and Proteus, Feb. 27, 5:15 p.m., followed by Orpheus.
Mardi Gras Day, on Feb. 28, begins with the Zulu parade, 8 a.m., and Rex at 10 a.m., considered the grandest of the old-line parades. They will be followed by two parades, Elks and Orleanians, with more than 100 elaborately decorated trucks filled with families.
Hundreds of the city’s restaurants are also back in business. Try a po-boy at Felix’s Uptown, Johnny’s Po-Boys, or Maspero’s. For jambalaya and gumbo, go casual at Mother’s or The Gumbo Shop. For fine dining, enjoy Galatoire’s, Begue’s, Ralph’s on the Park, Muriel’s on Jackson Square, the Grill Room at the Windsor Court or Arnaud’s.
There’s plenty of nightlife as well in the French Quarter, Bywater and Warehouse Arts districts.
Details at www.neworleansonline.com or 504-524-4784.
For decades, the Eurail train pass has been a standard way for country-hopping Americans to experience Europe.
Now Cathay Pacific Airlines is offering an airline equivalent for Asia – the All-Asia Pass, which allows travelers to visit any or all of 18 destinations over 21 days. The pass price begins at $1,499.
The pass includes economy-class travel from Los Angeles; New York; San Francisco; Vancouver, B.C.; or Toronto to Hong Kong. The other destinations in the deal are Bali, Jakarta and Surabaya, Indonesia; Bangkok, Thailand; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Fukuoka, Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo, and Tokyo, Japan; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Karachi, Pakistan; Kuala Lumpur and Penang, Malaysia; Seoul, South Korea; Singapore; and Taipei, Taiwan.
Departures covered by the pass must occur between now and May 18, or between Aug. 21 and Dec. 6. Summer travel and extension options up to 90 days are available for an additional fee.
Although the All-Asia Pass must be purchased through a travel agent, you can get a $200 discount by registering with the Cathay Pacific CyberTraveler program at www.cathaypacific.com/us.
Due to dry conditions and lack of snow, the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort was unable to open in time for the start of Flagstaff’s Winterfest and neither cross-country skiing nor snowshoeing was expected as part of the festival at the Flagstaff Nordic Center.
But the city’s annual celebration of winter will go on, snow or not.
Winterfest 2006 began Feb. 1 and continues through the end of the month with a variety of events.
Every Friday and Saturday in February, a “Winter Foodfest” will take place at Main Street Catering, 16 E. Route 66, with different menus each week. Reservations are recommended at 928-774-1519.
Ongoing exhibits include “Stories on Stone,” about the symbols and images in ancient rock art, at the Museum of Northern Arizona, and the Coconino Quilt Guild show at the downtown Flagstaff Library.
Concerts include a three-day jazz festival featuring student bands from around the Southwest, Feb. 23-25, at the Northern Arizona University campus, and a “Cowboy Campfire” with Western music, tall tales and even cowboy poems at the Weatherford Hotel on Feb. 24.
For more information, visit www.flagstaffchamber.com or 928-774-4505.
Destin, Fla., took first place for best beach town/beach resort in the South in Southern Living’s annual readers’ survey.
The magazine’s 2006 Readers’ Choice Awards, announced in the February issue, also named Walt Disney World and Orlando as No. 1 in the family vacation category.
Three destinations in Georgia won top spots: Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain for best garden in the South, Atlanta for best shopping, and Lady &Sons in Savannah for best family restaurant.
In the scenic drive category, the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville, N.C., took first place, while Asheville was also voted the best mountain destination. Asheville’s Grove Park Inn Resort &Spa won for best resort/hotel top spot.
Best small Southern town in the survey was Beaufort, S.C. Best Southern city was Charleston, S.C., where two eateries also took top honors – Magnolia’s Uptown Down South in the “splurge restaurant” category and Hyman’s Seafood.
Citizens of Denmark, Finland and the United States enjoy the greatest freedom to travel without needing visas, the results of a new study show.
According to the report, compiled by Zurich-based firm Henley &Partners AG, found that Danes, Finns and Americans can travel to 130 countries or territories without the need for a visa. These three are followed by a host of European countries, including Germany, Ireland and Sweden – whose citizens can visit 129 countries without a visa – then Britain, France, Italy and Japan on 128.
At the end of the list, Afghanistan came in last place, with its citizens allowed free travel to just 12 countries. Internationally isolated Iran was next at 14, followed by Iraq, Myanmar and Somalia at 15.
Visit Alaska in spring and get nearly $200 off a package deal that includes overnight accommodations at Glacier Bay Lodge, an eight-hour Glacier Bay tour, all meals and hotel transfers from Gustavus Airport. From May 21 to June 6, the first person pays the usual rate of $395 per night and the second person pays the discounted price of $199. Taxes are $54 per couple per night. Info: 888-BAY-TOUR, www.visitglacierbay.com.
Get a $500-per-person discount on a 10-night cruise between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Value World Tours (800-795-1633, www.rivercruises.net) is offering the deal, starting at $1,099 per person double, on the June 9 cruise from Moscow aboard the Kronstadt. The deal also includes several shore excursions.
Viking River Cruises is offering two Valentine’s Day savings packages on select cruises: $399 round-trip fares to Europe or China, or $400 savings per couple on five European cruises. Also, a dozen red roses are free when booking any discounted cruise. For example, an 11-night Berlin-to-Prague package, with four nights’ hotel and a weeklong cruise, is $2,299 per person double after the discount, plus about $35 in fuel surcharges. Book by Feb. 8 at 877-66-VIKING, www.vikingrivercruises.com.
Book a 2006 Royal Caribbean cruise through Skyauction.com by Feb. 28 and get a certificate good for a seven-night stay at a resort vacation rental. Cruise prices are similar to those charged by the cruise line. The certificate, valued at up to $1,500, can be used at destinations across the globe, mostly during the off season. Resorts and availability are listed on www.getawayweeks.com; book the cruise at www.skyauction.com.
United has extended reduced fares to active-duty military and eligible family members for travel through June 1. Sale fares are sometimes cheaper, but military fares offer very few restrictions. A one-day advance purchase and one-night minimum stay is required, there are no blackout dates, and travel is good any day of the week. Call 800-241-6522 to book; www.united.com for more info.
Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door hosts free travel classes most Saturdays at 10 a.m. at the Edmonds Theater, 415 Main St., Edmonds.
* Women’s seminar: Women traveling solo, with Lisa Friend, 10 a.m. Feb. 18.
* Women’s seminar: Packing light, with Joan Robinson and Ann Neel, 11:30 a.m. Feb. 18.
* Italy with Colleen Schaffer, 10 a.m. Feb. 25.
Classes are free, reservations recommended. Call 425-771-8303, ext. 298, or visit www.ricksteves.com/seattle.
The Savvy Traveler offers travel seminars at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. most Saturdays at 112 Fifth Ave. S., Edmonds.
* Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro, 10 a.m. Feb. 18.
* Eastern Europe, Hungary and Poland, 1 p.m. Feb. 18.
* Trans-Siberian Railway and Russia, 3 p.m. Feb. 18.
* Exotic Iberia: Spain and Portugal, 10 a.m. March 11.
* Gorgeous Greece, 1 p.m. March 11.
* Paris and beyond: The city of light and day-trips, 10 a.m. April 8.
* Provence and Southern France, 1 p.m. April 8.
* French for travelers, 6 p.m. Thursdays, May 4 through 25.
Classes are free, reservations recommended. Call 425-744-6076, 877-225-1994, or visit www.savvytraveleredmonds.com.
The Herald is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with cruise lines, travel agents or tour operators.
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