July 2004

10-day camping/lodge trip of BELIZE. Note: participants should be able to walk five miles.

10-day hotel/lodge/tented camp safari in KENYA with education for children by Intrepid’s Adventurer Club. Departures through Dec. 18, ’04.

11-day tour of BHUTAN starts/ends in NEPAL. Departs Sept. 4, Oct. 9, ’04 & May 14, ’05. Maximum, 12.

8-day/7-night “moderate-level” walking tour of coast between Amalfi and Sorrento, ITALY. Departures through Oct. 24, ’04. Limit, 15.

10-day/8-night “moderate” walking tour for women 30 and over, Sept. 15-24, ’04.

On its “Three Gorges” cruises on the Yangtze River in China, Victoria Cruises now begins and ends in Yichang rather than Wuhan. The upstream trip now takes five days instead of six, while the downstream voyage is still four days. Reasons cited for the change include better air connections and fewer problems with locks being closed during the flood season.

A deluxe ecocruise vessel is navigating Ecuador’s Rio Napo in the Amazon jungle. Big Five Tours & Expeditions’ Manatee Explorer is a modern, 3-deck vessel with air-conditioning, 13 en suite cabins, dining room, bar and lounge.

The exclusive “flotel” offers a full-service crew plus expert naturalist guides for excursions.

Gourmets will enjoy fine dining and wine tasting on France Cruises’ 14-passenger canal barge Luciole in the waterways of Burgundy. In addition, daily cooking lessons will be given by the onboard chef, and there will be a visit to the restaurant La Côte Saint Jacques (three Michelin stars) for a cookery demonstration supervised by the chef and owner, Jean-Michel Lorain, followed by a gourmet dinner.

Passengers on the MV Discovery will have the best vantage point to witness a rare annular total solar eclipse in the South Pacific near Polynesia on April 8, 2005. The ship will maneuver to find clear skies under the 15-mile-wide path of the eclipse.

Discovery World Cruises’ 19-night “South Pacific Eclipse” cruise-tour departs April 2 and visits Papeete, Moorea, Pitcairn Island, Easter Island and, in Peru, Pisco and Lima. A team of eclipse lecturers will be on board.