TOURS, ETC. : COSTA RICA TRIPS FOCUS ON WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS.Byline: Daily News Natural Habitat Adventures offers 12-day tours of Costa Rica Costa Rica (kŏs`tə rē`kə), officially Republic of Costa Rica, republic (2005 est. pop. 4,016,000), 19,575 sq mi (50,700 sq km), Central America. that feature up-close encounters with native wildlife. Stops include the Tortuguero Canals, Tortuguero National Park Tortuguero National Park is a National Park within the Tortuguero Conservation Area. The reserve is also included in the Humedal Caribe Noreste, a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. , the Arenal Volcano The Arenal Volcano, in Spanish Volcán Arenal, is an active andesitic stratovolcano in north-western Costa Rica (10.5N, 84.7W), around 90 km north-west of San José, in the province of Alajuela. and the Monteverde Cloud Forest cloud forest n. A tropical forest, often near peaks of coastal mountains, that usually has constant cloud cover throughout the year. cloud forest Reserve. Tour groups are limited to 12 people. Trips are scheduled Nov. 17-28, Dec. 8-19 and Dec. 22-Jan. 2, Jan. 5-16 and 19-30, Feb. 2-13 and 16-27, March 9-20 and April 6-17. Cost is $2,395 per person, double occupancy, and includes lodgings and meals, transportation within Costa Rica, park entrance fees and guide services. Air fare to Costa Rica is not included. Information: (800) 543-8917. Mangia: Newspaper restaurant columnist GraceAnn Walden leads a four-hour walking tour of San Francisco's North Beach area, the center of the city's Italian culture, each Saturday. The tour includes visits to a brick-oven bakery, a sausage-maker and deli, an 89-year-old hardware store, a shop that sells Italian ceramics and the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, ending with lunch at a North Beach restaurant. The tour runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and costs $35 per person. Information: (415) 397-8530. Party time: Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays offers an Oct. 26-Nov. 2 stay on Maui for the annual Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (mär`dē grä), last day before the fasting season of Lent. It is the French name for Shrove Tuesday. Literally translated, the term means "fat Tuesday" and was so called because it represented the last opportunity for of the Pacific, which spans Halloween week in Lahaina. Costs start at $380 per person, double occupancy, and include seven nights' lodgings, daily car rental and Halloween party. Air fare is not included. Information: (800) 542-9244. Mexico ranching: Baja California Tours offers a three-day, two-night visit to the Meling Ranch, a historic 17,000-acre working ranch in the Sierra San Pedro Martir mountains, departing Sept. 27. Cost is $326 per person, double occupancy, and includes van transportation, lodgings, meals, a tour of the abalone abalone (ăbəlō`nē), popular name in the United States for a univalve gastropod mollusk of the genus Haliotis, members of which are also called ear shells, or sea ears, as their shape resembles the human ear. farm at Ejido ejido (āhē`thō) [Span.,=common land], in Mexico, agricultural land expropriated from large private holdings and redistributed to communal farms. Erendira and a ride to the crest of the San Pedro Martir mountains. Information: (619) 454-7166. River sail: KD River Cruises of Europe offers a nine-day cruise on the 104-passenger Heinrich Heine on the Main and Rhine rivers and the Main-Danube Canal, departing from Kelheim and stopping at Nuremberg, Bamberg, Wurzburg, Frankfurt, Mainz and Boppard before ending in Cologne. Costs range from $835 to $1,135, double occupancy. Air fare to Germany is not included. Information: (800) 346-6525. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Tours of Costa Rica bring visitors close to jaguarsand other wildlife. |
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