March 2015

12-day, 12-night trekking tour for women over age 30. Highlights: Manaus city tour/board luxury-class riverboat Amazon Clipper/Anavilhanas National Park, home to toucans, sloths/in ARGENTINA, Iguazú Falls/motorboat through Lower Canyon of Iguazú River/in Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL, cog train through Tijuca rainforest up to Christ the Redeemer statue/hike Sugarloaf Mountain. $6,895 ppdo plus group air from Miami, $1,895 pp. AdventureWomen (Bozeman, MT; 800/804-8686, www.adventurewomen.com).

 9 days, 8 nights (min. age, 12). Highlights: Motor from San José to Pacuare River/class III-IV rafting on Pacuare/Tortuguero National Park, home to 300 bird species, sloths, otters, Sea Turtle Museum/in a village, children learn each other’s languages through word game/paddle board or kayak at Agujas Beach/dine in family home/zip-line over rainforest/see wild animals up close at Osa Animal Sanctuary/twilight wildlife walk at Hacienda Baru/day 7, choice of waterfall jumping, horseback riding or snorkeling. Land and internal air, $3,995 ppdo (for ages 12-16, $3,795).

“THE NORTHERN EXPLORER”  19 days, 18 nights. Highlights: In SOUTH AFRICA, motor from Johannesburg to guest house/bush walk in Timbavati Private Reserve/in Mapungubwe National Park, radio-tracking game drive/in Matobo National Park, rhino-tracking game drive/in ZIMBABWE, Hwange National Park, Victoria Falls, sunset cruise on Zambezi River/in NAMIBIA, game drive, boat cruise in Caprivi game park, Etosha National Park/in Okonjima, Africat’s Information & Carnivore Care Centre/depart from Windhoek.

 12 days, 11 nights, June 25-July 6, 2015. Hands-on participation with Africat’s Annual Big Cat Health Examination. Highlights: In Johannesburg, Apartheid Museum/fly to Windhoek/in Etosha Nature Reserve (home to orphaned leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, wild dogs), radio-tracking game drives, 2 days of checkups with cheetahs/in Etosha National Park, Livestock Protection Project/meet community leaders in western Etosha. Land and internal air from £2,765 (near $4,163) ppdo.

 13 days, 12 nights. Departures June-September 2015. Lodging in 4-star hotels and ger (yurt) camps. Highlights: In Ulaanbaatar, Bogd Khan Palace museum/in Kharkhorin, ruins of Erdene Zuu Monastery/17th-century Tuvkhon Monastery/Orkhon Waterfall/soak in Tsenkher Hot Springs/at Khorgo Volcano, hike or ride horseback/Lake Huvsgul, home to Tsaatan (“Reindeer People”). $2,286-$3,130 ppdo.

6-day, 5-night tour, canoeing rivers and lochs in SCOTLAND’s Central Highlands, Aug. 8-13 & Sept. 5-10, 2015. Hotel overnights. Highlights: Meet in Inverness/at Loch Ness, learn paddling techniques/paddle small rapids on River Glass/Aigas Gorge, home to ospreys, otters/4,000-year-old Clava Cairns, Battle of Culloden site/Cairngorms National Park. £975 (near $1,471) per person, double occupancy (ppdo). Single supp. (if available), £175 ($263).

Tell us about the funniest thing that happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Include your full mailing address. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged. 

This month’s winner is MICHAEL J.E. BURGE of Ventura, California:

Before leaving for a 5-week trip to Italy and Spain, Oct. 8-Nov. 10, 2014, I got an international SIM card to use in my unlocked Android smartphone. I ordered it from Telestial (Boston, MA; 800/707-0031, www.telestial.com).

For the “Explorer” SIM card, I paid $29 (plus $2.25 tax and $7.50 shipping), which included $20 in phone credit. Arriving in five or six days, the card came with two phone numbers assigned to it, one for North America and one for the rest of the world.