Ken Ramirez, Shedd Aquarium’s director of training and husbandry, is leading a 12-day shipboard adventure, “Gray Whale Watching,” to the lagoons and bays of Baja California Jan. 31-Feb. 11. From a base aboard the M/V Spirit of Adventure, you’ll study the behavior, learn about the habitat and photograph up close gray whales that migrate each winter from the Arctic to the protected waters off Baja California.
Although the trip’s main focus is whales, you’ll also see thousands of tropical birds, including blue-footed boobies and frigate birds. You also will have the chance to snorkel with friendly sea lions and take nature hikes onshore.
“Gray Whale Watching” costs $2,600 per person double occupancy (no single supplement; single travelers will be assigned a same-sex roommate). The Spirit of Adventure has a spacious library and VCR, hot showers and three skiffs. The tour includes all meals. Air fare to San Diego and from Cabo San Lucas is not included. Call 312-939-2438, ext. 3311.
Hyatt heaven
Free golf and tennis, sports instruction, a “camp” for the kids and other special discounts–not to mention sun and surf–are available through mid-December at Hyatt’s Caribbean resorts in Aruba, Grand Cayman and Cerromar Beach in Puerto Rico.
The special “Together” package at the Hyatt Regency in Aruba starts at $120 per person double from Oct. 1 to Dec. 18 ($107 if you still can get away this month). In Grand Cayman, the package starts at $120 Oct. 1-Dec. 19 ($107 in September). Rates for Cerromar Beach start at $105 Oct. 1 to Dec. 19 ($93 in September).
All three packages include daily greens fees, unlimited tennis, complimentary windsurfing and casino clinics, and Camp Hyatt for up to two children per room. Discounts are available for water sports and spa treatments. Call 800-55-HYATT.
Jungle holiday
Nature lovers can ring in the new year in Costa Rica on a tour offered by Boyd Travelers, Inc. The Dec. 27-Jan. 7 package features the full range of Costa Rica’s natural splendor from Pacific rain forest and beaches of Corcovado to the Caribbean jungle to the Arenal volcano and nearby hot springs to the Los Angeles cloud forest. In addition to the varied flora, you’ll be looking for the Central American nation’s four types of monkeys, 800 species of birds, sloths, anteaters, jaguars, tree frogs and 150 other amphibians. The “Costa Rican Explorer” costs $2,830 per person double (single supplement $255) and includes round-trip air fare from Chicago to San Jose via Houston and most meals. The trip involves some hiking, so participants should be healthy. Call 847-446-1850.
Eternal walks
The sun is always shining on bella Roma, which will make walking tours of the Eternal City that much more enjoyable. The tours are sponsored by In Italy, a Los Angeles-based company specializing in helping travelers experience the authentic Italy off the beaten tourist track. The tours are led by Americans Michael Brouse or Dennis Cigler, who have lived in Rome for more than 20 years, so they know its alleys as well as its piazzas.
The tours are divided to suit your interest, so you can stroll through “2000 Years of History” and visit sites ranging from the Colosseum to the Jewish ghetto or, if your interest is more specialized, you can take the “Renaissance and Baroque” tour and visit some of Rome’s most beautiful palaces and churches. Other walking tours include “Popes and Princes,” “The Roman Forum,” “Medieval and Imperial Rome,” and the “Moonlight Stroll.” Walks last three to four hours and are limited to six people. Rates are $90 for one person or $80 per person for groups of two to six. To make arrangements, call In Italy at 213-655-9221 or via e-mail (initaly@initaly.com) or the World Wide Web (www.initaly.com)
Private Africa
Intrav is offering a top-to-bottom blue-chip safari in Africa by private jet. You’ll fly to Cape Town, South Africa, aboard a privately chartered L-1011 and work your way north to Cairo. Highlights include an overnight trip from Cape Town to Johannesburg aboard the famous Blue Train and visits to South Africa’s Sabi Sabi Game Reserve, Zimbabwe’s capital of Harare, Chobe National Park in Botswana, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Lake Manyara National Park and Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya and–your final destination–Cairo.
The trip costs $34,800 per person double (single supplement $3,200) from New York and includes accommodations at top hotels, three meal daily and all admissions. Call 800-456-8100.
More Egypt
Oak Park-based Journeys of the Mind is offering a 16-day excursion to Egypt Feb. 26-March 13.
“Exclusively Egypt” will be led by Kenneth Weeks, a leading Egyptologist who discovered the tomb of the sons of Ramses II in 1995. You’ll spend six nights in Cairo visiting the pyramids, the Sphinx, Memphis and the leading museums, four nights in Luxor exploring more ancient temples and museums, and then take a five-day cruise on the Nile that will sail during the day so you can see daily life along this historic river as well as onboard lectures, films, concerts and gourmet meals.
“Exclusively Egypt” costs $5,400 per person double (single supplement $1,575) and includes round-trip air fare from New York to Cairo on Swissair, all meals and entrance fees. If you’d like to lengthen your stay, there is a optional extension to Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, the monastery of St. Catherine and the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. Call 708-383-8739.
