Exploritas Winter Trips – Costa Rica to Israel
Birding, Mexico's Copper Canyon, Jerusalem, Petra Jordan Tours
Sep 28, 2009
Exploritas, the new name for Elderhostel, means tours this winter to Costa Rica for birding… to Mexico’s Copper Canyon by train… and to Israel, Jordan and Egypt for the experience of a lifetime in the Holy Land and ancient desert cultures.
Exploritas Costa Rica – Birds and Natural Wonders
On a 12-day trip that is run in November and throughout January, naturalists tell about the defining features of rainforest and cloud forest. Travelers interact with locals in rural towns, and experience the power of volcanoes at Arenal and Poas volcanoes. There are on-site lectures and walks that allow visitors to reflect on the country’s remarkable biodiversity. Cost: from $2,136 per person, double occupancy.
Another choice is ideal for the avid birder. Starting in December there are 12-night tours to birding hotspots in Costa Rica. These bring travelers into forest reserves and to a research station. Birdwatching enthusiasts will relish the nocturnal birding expedition in search of owls, Night Jar and Potoo, and attempt to spot the elusive Resplendent Quetzal. Cost: $2,008 per person, double occupancy.
Exploritas Winter Journeys to Copper Canyon
These popular 7-night trips from November to March start in Texas and head to the ecosystems of Chihuahua. Traveling in part by train on the Al Pacifico Railway, vacationers explore the natural history and variety of people in Mexico’s largest state.
They have the chance, too, to view the magnificent Barrancas del Cobre (Copper Canyon) and discover geologic wonders while hiking in the mountains. An interpretive program leader helps them learn about flora and fauna in the vast Chihuahuan Desert. Cost: from $1,395 per person, double occupancy.
Exploritas Israel, Jordan and Egypt Tours
A 16-night “journey of a lifetime” departs December through April. Participants go to all three countries in order to appreciate the full range of 5,000 years of human history, and to understand how the Middle East was a bridge between the Persian Empire and the Greco-Roman world.
The tour kicks off by coach from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, where it spends three nights as travelers see the places sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Then it is on to the fabulous monuments of Petra in Jordan, and a three-night learning cruise on the Nile, as well as stops to enjoy the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx in Egypt. Cost: from $4,126 per person, double occupancy.
Thus Exploritas, the new name for Elderhostel, complements its U.S. city trips with adventures during the winter months from Central America to the Middle East.
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