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Field Trips for Fertile Minds

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By Christo= pher=20 Reynolds
January 09, = 2000

You have 10 choices. And when you hear that five of them involve = learning about dancing in Ireland, mining in Brazil, diving = in Bermuda,=20 ranching in Chile or singing in Italy, you may begin to see what = we=E2=80=99re up=20 to here.

This is the annual =E2=80=9CTrips for the Thinking Person=E2=80=9D = issue, and as in=20 years past, we=E2=80=99ve asked Ann Waigand, publisher of the = Educated Traveler=20 newsletter, to select 10 promising educational tours scheduled = for this=20 year. In choosing, she sifted through offerings sponsored = by education=20 organizations and tour operators from the Natural History Museum = of Los=20 Angeles County and the National Trust for Historic = Preservation, with=20 destinations that range from Peruvian ruins to an Arctic = ice station.

In the listings below, in no particular order, prices are = per person,=20 presuming double occupancy. Unless the entry notes otherwise, tours = include=20 lodging and most meals, and exclude air fare. Keep in mind that = tour=20 rosters can fill quickly and changes in itinerary are possible.

The Educated Traveler publishes six issues yearly. Subscribers = pay $48=20 and, besides the newsletter, receive two annual directories: one of = special-interest travel opportunities and one of = museum-sponsored tours.=20 For information, telephone (800)=20 648-5168; Internet http://www.educated-traveler.com.

The Music and Dance of Ireland

Sept. 7 to 17. Sponsored by Smithsonian Study Tours = and Seminars.=20 Information: Amy Kotkin, Smithsonian Study Tours, 1100 = Jefferson Drive=20 SW, Washington, DC = 20560; tel.=20 (202) 357-4700, Internet http://www.si.edu/tsa/sst. Price: $3,965,=20 including air fare from New York or Boston.

Folklorist, professional musician, arts administrator and radio=20 and TV personality Mick Moloney, = recipient of a=20 National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the = Arts,=20 leads this exploration of traditional Irish music and its = influences.=20 Highlights include visits to a dance school, the workshop of the = most=20 famous music-pipe maker in Ireland, the workshop of the foremost = maker of=20 bodhrans (goatskin drums) in Ireland, and the Irish Traditional = Music=20 Archive. Also included are concerts by Irish step dancers, = musicians and=20 singers, and a performance by the country=E2=80=99s best-known = singer of old=20 church music.

The Gem Mines of Minas Gerais, Brazil

June 26 to July 11. Sponsored by the Natural History Museum = of Los=20 Angeles County. Information: Christine Robison, Natural = History Museum, 900=20 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007; tel. = (213)=20 763-3534, fax (213) 744-1042, Internet http://www.nhm.org. Price: = $3,000,=20 including air fare from Los Angeles.

Led by Tony Kampf, curator of mineral sciences at the = Natural History=20 Museum of Los Angeles County, this trip features visits to mines, = meetings=20 with dealers and collectors, and a chance for participants to dig = for=20 gemstones. Travelers will visit the School of the Mines in Ouro = Preto, the=20 former capital of the state of Minas Gerais; topaz, emerald and = tourmaline=20 mines; the largest gem distributor in Brazil; and the annual = outdoor Gem=20 Fair and indoor Gem Fest in Teofilo Otoni.

Beneath Bermuda: A Learning Adventure for Divers

April 16 to 23. Sponsored by the Science Museum of Minnesota.=20 Information: Bill Allen, Science Museum, 120 W. Kellogg=20 Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102; tel. (651) = 221-9488, fax=20 (651) 221-4777, Internet = http://www.smm.org/home_zones/smm_home.htm. Price:=20 $2,827, including air fare from Minneapolis-St. Paul. Discounts are = available for museum members and customers who pay = by check.

You may see a lot of diving trips, but you rarely find one = with a=20 learning perspective. Tour participants spend a week at the Bermuda = Biological Station for Research, learning about the reef from the=20 Biological Station scientists who study it. The trip includes = 12 dives, one=20 of which is at night; field trips to caves, mangroves and Nonsuch = Island,=20 home of the endangered Bermuda petrel; evening lectures; and a day = on the=20 water watching for humpback whales. Before arriving in Bermuda,=20 participants must have received their open-water dive certification = by=20 PADI, NAUI or any of = the=20 other internationally recognized organizations.

The Many Faces of Peru

May 5 to 19. Sponsored by Journeys of the Mind Inc. = Information: Temma=20 Eckar, Journeys of the Mind, 221 N. Kenilworth = Ave., Oak=20 Park, IL 60302; tel. (800) 527-5520 or = (708)=20 383-8739, fax (708) 524-5141, Internet = http://www.journeysofthemind.com.=20 Price: $5,500.

Luis Jamie Castillo, professor of archeology at = Universidad Catolica del=20 Peru, takes tour participants to visit a shaman and to see private = homes=20 and collections. The group also may go behind the scenes at two top = archeological collections, the Bruning Museum in Lambayeque and = the Museo=20 Cassinelli in Trujillo. An excursion accompanied by the = site director will=20 go to El Brujo, one of the most important archeological sites = on the north=20 coast of Peru. The ruins are remnants of Moche culture dating = to AD 500, and the site normally is not open to the = public. The=20 group also visits the ruins of Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca city, = twice=E2=80=93first in the early morning before the site opens to=20 the public.

Free Blacks and Plantation Life of Central North Carolina

June 21 to 25. Sponsored by Carolina Culture Tours. = Information: Jan=20 Schochet, Carolina Culture Tours, 1821 Hillandale Road, = Suite 1B-120,=20 Durham, NC 27705; tel. (888) 286-6272 or (919) = 416-0788, Internet http://www.culturetours.com. = Price: $1,490.

A team of scholars provides background and perspective on = the daily=20 lives of North Carolina plantation slaves and free blacks in the = antebellum=20 period. The itinerary includes former slave quarters on a Durham = plantation=20 and the Milton, N.C., home and workshop of=20 Thomas Day, a free black born in 1802 who became a woodworker and=20 furniture maker acclaimed by collectors. Participants also can=20 experience African American Southern cuisine and music, as well as = a=20 traditional African American libation ceremony that honors = participants=E2=80=99=20 ancestors. Tour members form a circle, hold hands and call out the = names of=20 ancestors as libations are poured on the ground.

Fire and Ice: Japan, Kuril Islands and Kamchatka Peninsula

May 21 to June 1. Sponsored by the Explorers Club. = Information: Robert=20 DeMayo, Explorers Club, Rural Route 1, Box 12, Brewery Road, = Walpole, NH 03608; tel. (800) 856-8951, fax (603)=20 756-2922, Internet http://www.explorers.org. Price: $5,490 to = $8,990,=20 depending on choice of lodging.

This voyage includes five days of touring in inflatable = boats around the=20 Kurils, a chain of volcanic islands that is home to one of the = world=E2=80=99s=20 largest birds of prey, the Steller=E2=80=99s sea eagle, as well = as pods of more=20 than 50 orcas. Tour leader Don Walsh, an explorer and = oceanographer, and a=20 team of experts also will take participants to the Kamchatka = Peninsula, one=20 of the largest protected wildlife areas in Russia, where 29 of more = than=20 300 volcanoes are active.

Private Collections and Estancias in Chile and Argentina

March 16 to 27. Sponsored by Archives of American = Art. Information:=20 Harriet Friedlander, Academic Arrangements Abroad, 50 Broadway, = New York,=20 NY 10004; tel. (212) 514-8921, fax (212) = 344-7493.=20 Price: $6,195.

Edward Shaw, an art critic, journalist and collector who has = lived in=20 Buenos Aires since 1958, is guest lecturer on this trip, inviting=20 participants into his homes in Tunquen, Chile; Buenos Aires; = and Colonia=20 del Sacramento in Uruguay. Travelers have insider=E2=80=99s access = to numerous=20 private collections while visiting Santiago, Chile, and Buenos = Aires and=20 also can make excursions to the Santiago and Isla Negra homes = of Nobel=20 Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda in Chile and to Iguacu Falls.

Operatic Arias in Italy and the Riviera

March 8 to 19. Sponsored by the National Trust for Historic=20 Preservation. Information: Ida Singelenberg, National Trust, 1785=20 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036; tel. (202) 588-6300, fax (202) = 588-6246,=20 Internet http://www.nthp.org. Price: $5,400 excluding air fare, = $5,780=20 including air fare from Newark, N.J.

Former opera critic and editor Arthur Kaplan accompanies this = group on a=20 series of events, visits and performances for music = lovers. Included are=20 visits to a musicians=E2=80=99 retirement home founded by Verdi; a tour = of an=20 instrument museum, with a concert on antique harpsichords; lunch = at a=20 restaurant owned by the family of a famous Verdi tenor; an = exploration of=20 Arturo Toscanini=E2=80=99s hometown of Parma; and a backstage tour of = the Monte=20 Carlo Opera. Of particular interest is a specially = arranged reception with=20 members of Parma=E2=80=99s Verdi club, where each member = represents a character=20 from one of Verdi=E2=80=99s operas.

Wildflowers of Western Turkey

April 22 to May 6. Sponsored by Morris Arboretum of the = University of=20 Pennsylvania. Information: Marsha Ray, Morris Arboretum, = 9414 Meadowbrook=20 Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19118; tel. (215) = 247-5777, fax=20 (215) 248-4439, Internet http://www.upenn.edu/morris. Price: = $4,895,=20 including air fare from New York, plus $250 donation = to arboretum.

Led by Naomi Miller, a paleo-ethnobotanist at the University of=20 Pennsylvania, and Anthony Aiello, director of horticulture = at Morris=20 Arboretum, this springtime exploration travels from Antalya through = Lycia,=20 the Taurus Mountain region, Turkey=E2=80=99s alpine and lake = country, and=20 Cappadocia to Istanbul. Along the way, tour participants will = see wild=20 roses, one of the country=E2=80=99s two Liquidambar orientalis forests = (where the=20 government is protecting trees indigenous to Turkey), the Apollonia = butterfly (endemic to Turkey) and the poisonous mandrake plant. Of = special=20 note is a visit to the largest Japanese garden outside Japan, part = of an=20 excavation site sponsored by the Japanese Crown Prince.

Breadalbane: Under the Arctic Ice

March 24 to 31. Sponsored by the Harvard Museum of = Natural History.=20 Information: Phillip Lovejoy, Harvard Museum of Natural = History, Harvard=20 University, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA = 02138; tel.=20 (617) 495-2463, fax (617) 495-5667, Internet=20 http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/travel. Price: $9,980.

Only 12 people can join this expedition, in which = participants ride=20 submersibles to view the wreck of the Breadalbane. The = 500-ton wooden=20 supply ship rests 350 feet under the Arctic ice after capsizing = in 1853=20 during a search for Sir John Franklin=E2=80=99s ill-fated = Northwest Passage=20 expedition. Accommodations are at an ice station on Beechey = Island, part of=20 the Canadian Arctic. Scientists and expedition leaders provide = lectures,=20 briefings, lessons on building igloos and excursions to view polar = bears,=20 whose dens are nearby.

Save/Share: =20 =20 =20 =20 =20 =20 =20 =20

10 Top=20 Head Trips Jan 11, 1998=20
10 Top=20 Tours for 2001 Jan 14, 2001=20
Heart=20 & Crafts Jan 11, 1998=20
Tourism=20 With a Message Feb 15, 1998=20
Where = to=20 Set Your Easel, Whether Dabbler or Devotee Jan = 09,=20 2000

More=20 articles by Christopher Reynolds

More = articles from=20 the Travel section

California and = the world. Get=20 the Times from $1.35 a week

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You are here:=20 LAT Home > Articles > 2000=20 > January > 09 > Travel

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For the Turtles, Not = the Tan

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=0A= Travel |=0A= By Susan = Spano | =0A= January 9, 2000=0A=

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=0A= A veterinarian I met last month on this pristine Pacific Coast=0A= beach told me you should never trust an animal that = doesn’t have=0A= shoulders. That includes most reptiles, but not the leatherback sea = turtle, a=0A= frequent visitor to these Central American sands. Read more=0A=

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Field Trips for = Fertile Minds

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=0A= Travel |=0A= By Christopher Reynolds | =0A= January 9, 2000=0A=

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=0A= You have 10 choices. And when you hear that five of them involve=0A= learning about dancing in Ireland, mining in Brazil, diving = in Bermuda,=0A= ranching in Chile or singing in Italy, you may begin to see what = we’re up=0A= to here. Read more=0A=

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Net Improvement

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=0A= Travel |=0A= By Diana = Marcum | =0A= January 9, 2000=0A=

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=0A= Since returning from weekend tennis camp late last fall, I’ve=0A= answered the question “Are you better now?” more times than = a granny=0A= after a gallbladder operation. Read more=0A=

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Mexico Potter Quezada Is = Focus in San Diego

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=0A= Travel |=0A= January 9, 2000=0A=

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=0A= A major exhibit of pottery by master Mexican artist Juan Quezada=0A= and his students forms the core of the “Magic of Mata = Ortiz,” opening=0A= Saturday at the San Diego Museum of Man. Quezada, who creates intricate = ceramic pieces inspired by=0A= pre-Columbian pot shards he collected as a boy in the plains of=0A= Chihuahua, Mexico, will demonstrate his technique at the museum next=0A= Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. Read more=0A=

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Building Art Piece = by Piece

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Field Trips for Fertile Minds

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January 09, 2000

For the Turtles, Not = the Tan

Field Trips for = Fertile Minds

Net Improvement

Mexico Potter Quezada Is = Focus in San Diego

Building Art Piece = by Piece

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