Tours and cruises in Nicaragua, Mongolia, Wales and San Francisco

NICARAGUA

Fair-trade culture

Global Exchange runs what it calls “reality tours” — trips that give insight into what a place is really like, as opposed to what the typical tourist sees. During a nine-day Nicaragua itinerary, participants get immersed in the world of fair-trade agriculture. The experience includes living with and working alongside members of a fair-trade coffee cooperative, as well as visits to non-fair-trade farms for context. Also on the schedule are meetings with officials from development organizations, cooking classes, tours of colonial towns, excursions to volcanoes, a folk-music concert, a natural-medicine workshop and a stop at an organic-chocolate factory.

Itinerary: Managua to Masaya, San Juan de Oriente, Granada, El Mirador, Mateare, León, Cerro Negro Volcano, Barrio Nuevo and Matagalpa

Dates: Departs July 10

Price: $1,300, double occupancy (single supplement $200), including housing and most meals (taken with local families), transportation within Nicaragua, the services of a trip leader and relevant reading materials. The cost does not include airfare, airport taxes, tips and some meals.

Info: Global Exchange, San Francisco; (800) 497-1994, https://www.globalexchange.org/tours

MONGOLIA

Dig up dinosaurs

Admit it: You’ve always harbored Indiana Jones fantasies. Here’s your chance to live ‘em out: Nomadic Expeditions offers the opportunity to find fossils during the company’s “Dinosaurs of the Gobi” tour. For a week, you’ll dig alongside professional paleontologists, excavating the rich Dragon’s Tomb bone bed in southern Mongolia. The other week will be spent dropping in on some of the most spellbinding treasures, including the Gandan Monastery, the Natural History Museum and the stark sand dunes.

Itinerary: Ulan Bator to Bayanzag, Khongoryn Els, Altan Ula, Ukhaa Tolgod, Tugregiin Shiree and back to Ulan Bator

Dates: Aug. 8-23

Price: $4,625, including overnight accommodations, flights within Mongolia, land transportation, tour guidance and paleontology instruction but not international airfare.

Info: Nomadic Expeditions, Monroe Township, N.J.; (800) 998-6634, https://www.nomadicexpeditions.com

MICRONESIA

Equator-bound

Getting to Micronesia isn’t easy — but this 13-day “Bridging the Equator” cruise, aboard the 110-passenger Clipper Odyssey, makes it enticing. The Pacific island nation’s natives welcome visitors with ceremonial dances and cultural rites, and the glittering tropical-ocean scenery, what with atolls, coral reefs, volcanic islets and sandbars, is unforgettable. A small team of experts (mostly scientists and historians) accompanies the voyage to explain topics as diverse as bird species, World War II ruins and Yap’s huge stone money. Activities can include snorkeling, diving, kayaking, nature walks, glass-bottom boat rides, city and village tours and outrigger canoeing. Watch for bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles, monitor lizards, manta rays and a staggering array of colorful fish.

Itinerary: Guam to Yap, Sorol, Ifalik, Lamotrek, Satawal, Pulap, Chuuk, Oroluk, Pohnpei to Honolulu

Dates: Aug. 26-Sept. 8

Price: Starting at $8,980, double occupancy (call to inquire about single supplements), including overnight accommodations in hotels and onboard, most meals, group transfers, touring and educational staff services, excursions, port fees and tips. The cost does not include airfare, airport taxes or individual transfers.

Info: iExplore Group, Chicago; (800) 439-7567, https://www.iexplore.com

WALES

Get to know Wales

Lynott’s five-day “Welsh Discovery” tour, based out of Cardiff (travelers return to the same upscale hotel each night), involves daily excursions south. Highlights include sightseeing Cardiff, exploring stone-age and Roman ruins, a walkthrough of the country’s only whiskey distillery, admission to the Big Pit Mining Museum and, all the while, verdant expanses of coastal and countryside beauty.

Itinerary: London or Bristol to Cardiff, Blaenavon, Brecon Beacons National Park, Caerleon, Gower Peninsula and back to Cardiff to London or Bristol

Dates: Departures June 21 and 28; July 5, 12, 19 and 26; Aug. 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30; Sept. 6, 13, 20 and 27; Oct. 4, 11, 18 and 25; Nov. 1 and Dec. 6

Price: $1,490, double occupancy (single supplement $425), with varying discounts for children depending on age. The price includes airport transfers from Bristol or Cardiff airports or a train ticket from London, four nights’ lodging, tour guidance, motorcoach transit, entrance fees, all breakfasts, one dinner, taxes and service charges but not airfare.

Info: Lynott Tours, Mineola, N.Y.; (800) 221-2474, https://www.lynotttours.com

SAN FRANCISCO

Go green in Bay Area

The W San Francisco, hip as the brand is anywhere, and located in the city’s bustling SoMa district, recently earned silver LEED certification for its environmental efforts. To flaunt its eco-cred, the property’s managers conceived the “Green Is Glam” package, which includes two nights in a suite, transportation to Napa in a biodiesel Mercedes for a private tour of and tasting at the LEED gold-certified Cade Winery, two behind-the-scenes tickets to San Francisco’s captivating California Academy of Sciences, a bottle of organic wine upon check-in and two drink vouchers for “eco-cocktails” at the hotel’s sleek XYZ Lounge.

Itinerary: San Francisco to Napa and back

Dates: Through Dec. 31

Price: Starting at $1,400 (a savings of about $600 over booking the elements separately), including everything listed above. A less expensive version of the package, called “Keen to Be Green” is available starting at $289 a night, which also includes two nights’ accommodations, two general-admission tickets to the Academy, two cocktail vouchers and free parking for hybrids.

Info: W San Francisco; (415) 777-5300, https://www.whotels.com/sanfrancisco

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