Two groups from the Twin Cities are offering adventure trips designed especially for women.
– Women in the Wilderness is leading women-only tours to the Amazon rain forest, Baja California and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The tours are “designed for fun, learning new skills and feeling at home on Earth” without built-in stress to provide character-building experiences.
Participants in the Amazon rain forest tour, Feb. 11-25, will live in a traditional jungle hut in a comfortable base camp and make day trips by foot or small boat to learn local crafts, try Amazon fishing and enjoy the natural surroundings. The trip costs $1,595 based on double occupancy (there’s no single occupancy on these tours since participants stay in huts, tents or on a boat) plus air fare from Miami to Iquitos, Peru, which is about $510.
Whale-watching and kayaking will be the main activities of the Baja California trip, Feb. 12-18. Participants will stay at Magdalena Bay and watch gray whales breach and play with their young. In addition, the vacation offers hiking in pristine dunes, a sunrise paddle and a night paddle to view winter constellations and listen to the whales breathe. Motorboats will be available for whale-watching for those uncomfortable with kayaks. The cost is $945 from Loreto, Mexico, where participants should arrive Feb. 11 and depart Feb. 19.
Experienced sailors and landlubbers alike are welcome for a week of fun in the Caribbean sun March 7-14. With a 35-foot sailboat as the base of operations, tour participants will have the opportunity to sail, snorkel, fish and sightsee to their heart’s content. The price is $1,069 from Red Hook on St. Thomas.
Call 612-227-2284 for any of these tours offered by the St. Paul-based Women in the Wilderness.
– Woodswomen is offering some 60 outdoors vacations for 1995 that run the gamut from dog sledding in Alaska to safaris in Africa.
Tours led by the Minneapolis-based group are divided into roughly four categories: adventure vacations, which offer activity levels from “challenging” to “relaxed”; wilderness journeys, which involve camping and carrying all supplies; skills trips, for women who want to acquire or improve existing skills such as rock climbing or canoeing; and leadership and professional development trips, for women interested in guiding outdoor trips. Prices vary according to destination and activity; a 12-page brochure describes the possible vacations.
Membership in Woodswomen start at $20 per year. Benefits include the quarterly Woodswomen News, free personal ads in the newsletter, discounts in the Woodswomen General Store, free consultation for your trip planning and a Woodswomen membership directory. Call 800-279-0555.
Ski holidays
With all the activities at ski resorts in the Rocky Mountains, it’s a wonder anyone finds time for skiing. Two premier Colorado ski events, Snowdown ’95 in Durango and Gay Ski Week in Aspen, are offering more than great powder to attract prospective vacationers.
Snowdown ’95, celebrating its 17th year, starts Wednesday, Feb. 1, and runs through Sunday, Feb. 5. More than 60 events scheduled for the five-day festival range from the Snowdown Follies to the broomball tournament to the Canine Fashion Show. Most of the Snowdown ’95 events will take place in Durango and the skiing in the Purgatory-Durango Ski Resort, 26 miles north of Durango. For information on accommodations and a schedule of events, call 800-GO-DURANGO.
Gay Ski Week in Aspen, Jan. 21-28, is in its 19th year, and Different Strokes Tours is offering sundry packages to fit the needs of anyone who’s going west for the week. Prices include participation in an array of gay activities; seven nights’ accommodations at the Hotel Aspen; five-day, four-mountain lift tickets; breakfasts; and a daily apres-ski happy hour. The cost of a standard room is $669 per person, based on double occupancy (single supplement, $475). Larger rooms go for $749-$875 per person (single supplements, $550-$700). Discounts are available for those who wish triple or quadruple occupancy. Call 800-688-3301.
Memory lane
Twenty years after the Vietnam War’s end, Cycle Vietnam is offering four three-week tours that will traverse portions of the Ho Chi Minh Trail through the villages, hills, forests and jungles of Vietnam and Laos.
The itinerary will include stops in Da Nang, Hue and Khe Sanh.
The tours will be offered Jan. 1-22, Feb. 5-26, March 5-26 and April 9-30, and are limited to 17 participants per tour. Each will cover about 650 miles, averaging 50 miles per day on travel days. Although the roads are paved the entire way, tour operators warn that some stretches are tough going. Accommodations are clean and comfortable, but not luxurious.
The tour’s ground cost is $2,395 (single supplement, $350) and includes hotels, all meals but three, plenty of bottled water, visas for Vietnam and Laos, and full use of all Cycle Vietnam support vehicles and services. Tour participants can make their own flight arrangements to Ho Chi Minh City (still commonly called Saigon) or buy Cycle Vietnam’s group-package air fare, which ranges from $1,195 from the West Coast to $1,395 from the East Coast.
Tour participants provide their own bicycles, and operators recommend a touring, hybrid or mountain bike. Those taking the Cycle Vietnam charters do not have to pay for transporting their bicycles.
For information on the Ho Chi Minh Trail ride or other bicycle tours of Vietnam, call 800-661-1458.
