Safari and Wildlife

10 days, 9 nights, Dec. 3-12, 2015. (TIP: Take easy-to-slip-off shoes for frequent trips outside for bird-viewing.) Highlights: In Quito, Yanacocha Reserve, home to sword-billed hummingbird, glossy flowerpiercer, Tyrian metaltail and more/mountain town of Mindo, home to over 360 bird species/at Sachatamia Lodge, view birds, butterflies/walk trails with family at farm of Angel Paz, home to giant antpitta, Andean cock-of-the-rock/Milpe Reserve/Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve, home to orchids, toucans, tanagers/San Isidro. Land, $2,690 ppdo. Single supp., $325.

Visitors to Queensland in northeastern Australia can swim with humpback whales on a trip with Sunreef (110 Brisbane Road, Mooloolaba 4557, Queensland, Australia; phone +61 7 5444 5656, www.sunreef.com.au). 

Departing from and returning to Mooloolaba, the 3-hour excursion costs AUD115 (near $90). Wetsuits and snorkels are provided. Reserve ahead; 20 participants maximum. Whales migrate past the area July through October.

12-day, 11-night, “conservation safari” in NAMIBIA, June 29-July 12 & Sept. 8-19, 2015, and May 18-29 & Sept. 3-14, 2016. Lodging in hotels, safari chalets, mobile tented camp. Highlights: From Windhoek to Okonjima to track cheetahs on foot/in Damaraland, prehistoric rock art at Twyfelfontein, track rhinos on foot/in Kunene, search for desert lions. Land, $6,895-$7,395 ppdo (based on group size). Single supp., $995. Internal air, $670. 14-day version, $7,895. Mandatory conservation donation, $1,100.

When travelers are asked to express what impressed or inspired them about a particular country, it’s not surprising that they write detailed descriptions of specific experiences, but it turns out that Kenya is a country about which the memories are especially vivid — a place offering out-of-your-ordinary-environment experiences.

(2nd of 3 parts on Brazil)

“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.

17 days, 16 nights, May 8-24, 2015. Highlights: Near Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA, Winelands, Boulders Beach penguin colony, Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden/in Johannesburg, Apartheid Museum or Soweto/in Timbavati Private Game Reserve, game drives, traditional braa (barbecue)/in ZAMBIA, Victoria Falls, Islands of Siankaba Lodge on Zambezi River/in BOTSWANA’s Chobe National Park, game drives, boat ride on Chobe River. Land, $7,211 ppdo (group of 6-10), $7,809 (group of 4), including internal flights. Single supp., $574. Africa 2000 Tours (P.O.