13 days/12 nights, Aug. 25-Sept. 6, 2010. Highlights: Semongoh Orangutan Rehab Centre/Longboat to Sarawak/millions of bats in Mulu National Park/in BRUNEI, capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan/Kinabatangan River safari/witness sea turtles hatching on Selingan Island. Land, $3,845. Single supp., $575.
Wildlife & Nature Travel (East Lansing, MI; 517/303-5394).
Nine-day/eight-night tour includes up to six hours’ riding per day. (Weight limit, 200 pounds.) Highlights: In the Waterberg Mountains, ride to see rhinos/at Mashatu Reserve in BOTSWANA, ride plains where elephants, leopards and game live. Land, $3,470. Single supp., $1,735. Transfers, $505.
Equitours (Dubois, WY; 800/545-0019).
Eight-day/seven night tour of Patagonia, ARGENTINA, includes three nights camping; Oct. 3-10, Nov. 11-18, Dec. 3-10, 2011. Highlights: walking tour, Buenos Aires/fly to Puerto Piramides/whale watching cruise/Península Valdés Nature Reserve/kayak in San José Bay to see sea lions, right whales/million-year-old marine fossils at Punta Conos/Magellanic penguins/elephant seal rookery. Land and internal air, $2,295.
Sea Kayak Adventures (Coeur d’Alene, ID; 800/616-1943).
15 days/14 nights, July 17-30, 2011. Join a seven-day nontechnical climb of the Machame route up Mt. Kilimanjaro (summit 19,345 feet)/on Zanzibar island, take part in a four-day project building a sustainable farm for primary school students. Land and internal air, $5,195.
Roadmonkey Adventure Philanthropy (Brooklyn, NY; 323/924-8351, http://roadmonkey.net).
14-day, 13-night expedition in PAPUA NEW GUINEA and SOLOMON ISLANDS. Highlights: In Madang, Lababia Wildlife Management Area/cruise Sepik River on Spirit of Enderby, meeting local artists/snorkel, kayak around Manus, Bipi/in Rabaul, New Britain, underground bunker of Japanese commander (Yamamoto) of attack on Pearl Harbor/cruise by Zodiac toward Sui River Falls, home to dugongs, crocodiles/at Honiara, open-air war museum. Double cabin, $6,995-$11,500 per person. Discovery Fund, $600.
12-day/11-night adventure tour, Oct. 6-18 & Dec. 1-13, 2014. Highlights: Hiking at Fox Glacier/in Queensland, Nevis Bungy/whitewater rafting (class 4, 5) on Rangitikei River/sea kayaking in Marlborough Sounds/explore Waitomo Caves/parasailing, horseback riding, dolphin-watching/Marlborough vineyard. Land, $5,008 per person, double occupancy. Bonvoy Adventure Travel (New York, NY; 212/542-0735).
Ever since November 2012, when Kayak.com — the long-used, independent travel search engine — was purchased by Priceline.com, I have no longer been depending on it as an independent source of the best airfares.
The information given at the time of the purchase said KAYAK would remain an independent unit of Priceline. And, indeed, KAYAK looks and works the same, but now when you “select” a ticket option on KAYAK, you are not always sent to that airline’s website. Kayak sometimes sends you to Priceline.com or other booking sites.
10-day, 9-night cruise aboard National Geographic Orion, with professional photography instruction. May-July 2014. Highlights: Fly to Darwin, embark ship for Kimberleys plateau region / Purnululu National Park for flightseeing or Ord River cruise to Lake Argyle and Durack homestead / Gwion Gwion Aboriginal rock art up to 40,000 years old / near Naturalists Island, Zodiac through mangroves; see crocodiles / Montgomery Reef / Talbot Bay / Nares Point / disembark in Broome. Excluding airfare, $8,210-$17,190 per person, double occ. Single cabins, $12,320 or $16,980.
14-day/12-night tour with National Geographic photographer Steve Winter, Oct. 1-14, 2013. Highlights: In Istanbul, Old City, Hagia Sophia, Sirkeci quarter, Süleymaniye Mosque/walled city of Diyarbakır/stone carvings on houses in Midyat/beehive houses in Harran/Ionian city of Priene/Temple of Didyma/Ephesus/Selçuk Saturday market. Land, $6,795. Single supp., $675. Turkish Journeys (Medford, MA; 781/391-6183).
For a variety of water-based activities, I took a trip to Slovenia, Aug. 12-19, 2012, with Exodus (In the US, contact Adventure Center, Emeryville, CA; 800/843-4272).
Our group of 16 flew from London Luton Airport to Ljubljana via Adria Airways. We did not arrive until midnight, then had a 2-hour drive to the Guesthouse Jazbec. With lovely rooms, this was a nice little guest house about a mile outside Kobarid.