Alternative Travel Tours
Deep valley ballooning in Cappadocia.
Photo by Kapadokya Balloons Goreme
Cultural Tour of Tunisia
Italian Exclusive Vacations offers an October trip that visits mosques, Christian catacombs, and tiny seaside villages along Tunisia’s Mediterranean coast. The trip also includes a short conference in Tunis on the status of Tunisian women today. Contact: 877-438-8687, www.tunisianvacation.com.
Djoser is Different
Djoser USA, a tour company with roots in the Netherlands, takes its mostly Dutch customers to places that Americans rarely venture, including Syria, Suriname, and Yemen. Accommodations are local, travel is in the style of the location. Their Egypt tour, for example, features train travel up the Nile from Cairo to Aswan and a trip to Luxor by felucca. The company uses only in-country tour hosts. Contact Djoser USA, P.O. Box 964, Paoli, PA 19301-1447; 877-356-7376, fax 484-595-9140; Djoser@worldnet.att.net www.djoserusa.com.
The Art of Bali
Asian Pacific Adventures offers a tour focusing on the art and culture of this magical island during the two Balinesian art festivals. Contact them at 800-825-1680; travelasia@earthlink.net, www.asianpacificadventures.com.
Tour the Alps by Horse-Drawn Coach
Coaching in Bavaria, an Austrian outfit, operates antique 9-passenger coaches on 4- to 14-day trips through the mountains. Four-horse rigs are used for the steeper slopes. Contact Andreas Nemitz at info@coaching-in-bavaria.com, www.coaching-in-bavaria.com.
Hike the Land of Peer Gynt
Borton Overseas, which specializes in Scandinavia and Africa (the owners are from Norway and Tanzania), offers a new, moderately challenging hotel-to-hotel hike through Peer Gynt’s Kingdom, near Lillehammer, Norway. The packages all include airfare from the U.S. Contact: 800-843-0602, info@bortonoverseas.com, www.bortonoverseas.com.
Rail Buff Tours
The Rail Travel Center of Brattleboro, VT offers a variety of rail tours worldwide including narrow-gauge railways, barges, high-speed TGV, and steam trains in the Swiss Alps, Eastern Europe, and Benelux. Most tours are new each year. Call 800-458-5394, or visit their web site www.railtravelcenter.com
Way, Way Up the Amazon
Ecotour Expeditions offers cruises in small vessels to the remotest corners of the Amazon, further up stream than any other trip offered to the public. Naturalists accompany travelers up a tributary of the Rio Negro on monthly 9-day trips during spring and summer. Contact Ecotour at 800-688-1822; 401-423-3377; www.naturetours.com.
Wine and Food Tours
The Wine & Travel Company offers small-group food and culture tours to all wine regions of the world. In May and September the destination is Hungary. Contact them in Toronto at 416-531-4455; info@thewineandtravelco.com, www.thewineandtravelco.com.
Freighter Cruises
Maris Freighter Cruises offers 81-day return voyages from Northern Europe via the Suez Canal to Australia and New Zealand and shorter 1-way trips. The fare is $55 per day double. Contact: 800-996-2747; maris@freightercruises.com, www.freightercruises.com.
Take an Untour
Idyll Untours takes you to a wonderful overseas destination, finds you comfortable accommodations, and leaves you alone to enjoy it on your own. Call them at 888-868-6871; 610-565-5142; info@untours.com, www.untours.com.
Kenya the Green Way
Eco-resorts offers eco-safaris to Kenya using only camps and lodges that directly support the wildlife conservation projects and local tribes, generating income for the local villages. They also feature camps and lodges with solar panels, wind turbines, and recycling programs. Contact: 254-122-32161; anne@eco-resorts.com, www.eco-resorts.com
Inexpensive Cultural Tours
ACE Study Tours, the commercial arm of the Association for Cultural Exchange, a nonprofit charity based in Cambridge, England and the original organizer of study tours for adults, offers 150-plus week-long cultural study tours focusing on archaeology, music, history, and natural history in 42 countries. The cost for an average tour, including meals and roundtrip airfare from London, is only $1,585. For a current catalog contact: 401-845-2277, 877-465-9050 (toll free); info@acestudytours.com; www.study-tours.org.
Hunt Fossils in Mongolia
The first team to discover a nest of dinosaur eggs is returning to the Gobi desert in Mongolia for another expedition in September 2001. Join these paleontologists and see the dramatic and remote scenery of this nearly untouched part of the world. Contact: Nomadic Expedition at 800-998-6634; info@nomadicexpeditions.com, www.nomadicexpeditions.com.
Watch People Watch Polar Bears
Join Earthwatch on a 1-week expedition this fall to the Churchill Northern Studies Center, Manitoba, Canada, where scientists study the impact of people who watch the polar bears in the tundra. Earthwatch has similar research trips for nonscientists all over the world throughout the year. Contact: P.O. Box 75, Maynard, MA 01754; 800-776-0188 ext 179; info@earthwatch.org, www.earthwatch.org.
Research in Belize’s Blackbird Caye
At the Oceanic Society’s new field station in Blackbird Caye, Belize, two new 1-week year-round programs cover dolphin behavior and coral reef ecology. No diving experience is required. Contact: Oceanic Society, Fort Mason Center, Building E, San Francisco CA 94123; 800-326-7491; www.oceanic-society.org.
Dig Ancient Sites Worldwide
Archaeology Abroad offers a wide range of summer and early fall archaeological fieldwork projects in Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and other locations. Minimum stay is two weeks, food and accommodations provided. For more information request a copy of the Archaeological Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin from the AIA, 656 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02215; aia@bu.edu, www.archaeological.org.
The Tuscan Table
Idyll Limited has added cooking lessons, wine tastings, and market tours to their Tuscan “Untours” at no extra cost. Untour travelers are set up in an apartment with local support but no group activities or bus trips. “The Tuscan Table” will be offered March 27-April 10. Contact: 888-868-6871, P.O. Box 405, Media, PA, 19063; info@untours.com, www.untours.com.
Travel and Volunteer
Asian Passages offers focus tours in Southeast Asia. “Humanitarian Passages,” for example, provides opportunities to live and work on an elephant preserve in Thailand. Contact: 5683 Columbia Pike, Suite 101, Falls Church, VA 22041; 800-419-4446; gspectrum@gspectrum.com, www.asianpassages.com.
Pre-Columbian Civilizations
Far Horizons will join the Univ. of Pennsylvania Museum on a 9-day trip to Guatemala’s Highland Maya, March 8-16. The focus will be on the history of pre-Columbian civilizations and how the Spanish conquest affected these peoples. The trip will include visits to Mayan churches and historical sites. Contact: P.O. Box 91900, Albuquerque, NM 87199-1900; 800-552-4575; journey@farhorizon.com, www.farhorizon.com.
Peru Adventures
Nature Expeditions’ 12-day Peru Discovery Adventure, offered year round with a minimum of two travelers, includes hiking near Machu Picchu, whitewater rafting down the sacred Urubamba River, biking or horseback riding near the villages and ruins of the Sacred Valley, and hot air ballooning over the river valley. Contact: 7860 Peters Rd., Suite F-103, Plantation, FL, 33324; 800-869-0639; info@naturexp.com, www.naturexp.com.
50 or Better Walks
Walking the World offers an 11-day November journey to Madeira Island off the coast of Portugal that combines moderate hiking through Mediterranean heather, sunny pastures, and thick forests with culinary specialties of the region. The company tailors the walking trips for people 50 and up. Hikes take travelers through volcanic rock formations and to the island’s many Madeira vineyards. Contact: P.O. Box 1186, Fort Collins, CO 80522; 800-340-9255; www.walkingtheworld.com.
Walking and Eating in Italy
The Italian Connection offers walking and culinary tours of 12 regions of Italy, with only 8-12 travelers. “Wildflowers in the Dolomites,” for example, July 3-9, includes 10-mile hikes through the flower-filled mountains and an Alpine lunch. The trip also includes hiking above the tree line and a stay in Cortina. Contact: 11 Fairway Dr., Suite 210, Edmonton, Alberta, T6J2W4, Canada; 800-462-7911; info@italian-connection.com, www.Italian-connection.com.
Crafts in Nepal
Horizons to Go offers a series of field trips, workshops with craftspeople, and an up-close look at arts and crafts in Europe, Mexico, and Nepal. From February 1-15, a Nepalese tour will visit Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Patan, and meet with traditional potters, mask-makers, carpet weavers, and painters in the shadow of Mt. Everest. Contact: 413-549-2900; horizons@horizons-art.com, www.horizons-art.com.
--Max Hartshorne
