TRAVEL LOG

Where the birds are: Florida coast

Miami

Nearly 70 years after it opened as a small tourist attraction with squawking macaws and other exotic birds in a sleepy Miami suburb, Parrot Jungle and Gardens has moved into a $47-million home on an artificial island near downtown Miami.

Part of a generation of roadside oddities in Florida when it started in 1936, it is now a nearly 19-acre theme park known as Parrot Jungle Island on Watson Island in Biscayne Bay, across from the cruise ship terminals. It was formerly in the Miami suburb of Pinecrest.

The park is home to thousands of tropical birds such as yellow Amazon parrots and pink flamingos, animals such as crocodiles and orangutans, and more than 2,000 varieties of plants and flowers. Bird shows are staged daily.

Many features of the old Parrot Jungle remain. Flamingo Lake, filmed for opening credits of TV’s “Miami Vice” in the 1980s, has been re-created. More birds, concrete walking paths and a screened area where about 200 parrots and macaws fly free have been added. Missing is some of the lush vegetation of the former park; new plants have yet to mature.

Open daily. Admission is $25.50 for adults, $20.50 for ages 3 to 10. (305) 258-6453, www.parrotjungle.com.

Associated Press

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New airline, more flights to

Orange County

Orange County’s John Wayne Airport is adding an airline and more flights in its first big expansion since 1990. Among the additions:

* Denver-based Frontier Airlines will begin operating Aug. 31 at John Wayne with two daily nonstop flights between Orange County and Denver International Airport. Introductory one-way fares began at $119. Those fares expired last week; other sales may be offered. (800) 432-1359, www.frontierairlines.com.

* Aloha Airlines on July 3 began nonstop service four times a week between John Wayne and Kona, Hawaii. Introductory round-trip fares begin at $399, for travel through July 31. (800) 367-5250, www.alohaairlines.com.

* Midwest Airlines on Oct. 1 will begin twice-daily flights between John Wayne and Milwaukee by way of Kansas City, Mo. Fares vary by date. Round-trip fares to Kansas City start at $294, and to Milwaukee, $310. (800) 452-2022, www.midwestairlines.com.

Santa Barbara airport also recently added service. Horizon Air, a regional carrier allied with Alaska Airlines, offers daily nonstop flights between the coastal city and Portland, Ore., with connecting service to Seattle. Round-trip fares are the same to either Seattle or Portland but vary by date. They were recently about $274. (800) 547-9308, www.horizonair.com.

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TSA loosens

shoelaces on

screening rule

Airline passengers need not remove their shoes before going through U.S. airport security checkpoints, the federal Transportation Security Administration announced. But travelers whose shoes set off metal detectors will undergo secondary screening.

To avoid such screening, travelers may wish to put shoes with thick soles, metal shanks or steel toes into bins to send through X-ray machines, the agency said.

In the past, some airports have required shoe removal. The TSA said it was trying to make the policy consistent.

Shoes became a particular concern after December 2001, when British citizen Richard Reid tried to ignite explosives in his shoes while he was aboard a transatlantic flight.

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CDC removes

three areas

from SARS list

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed Beijing, Hong Kong and Toronto from its list of areas where travelers should take precautions against severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. Taiwan was still on the list as of the Travel section’s deadline Tuesday. The CDC’s action followed that of the World Health Organization, which on July 5 removed its last area, Taiwan, from a similar list. For updates visit www.cdc.gov and www.who.int.

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Traveler’s notes

Coach passengers will find meals for sale on 135 domestic Northwest Airlines flights, up from just 12 when the company began testing the program Jan. 15. After Sept. 11, 2001, Northwest phased out free meals in coach on domestic flights except those between Minneapolis and the West Coast and Hawaii, a spokeswoman said. Several airlines have since tested paid-meal programs. US Airways last month stopped serving free meals in coach on most domestic flights of 700 miles or more and instead sells food on those flights.... Citing “an unprecedented demand for domestic travel,” Trafalgar will offer North American escorted tours year-round, instead of spring and summer only. Its “Winter Breaks” itineraries include tours of California, Western parks, the Canadian Rockies, Hawaii and Mexico. Land-only prices are $699 to $2,085 per person, double occupancy. (800) 648-1638, www .trafalgar.com.... Dozens of flights were canceled in the West Indies last week after Montserrat’s volcano spewed clouds of ash, blanketing the British territory, the Associated Press reported. On St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a man died when his car swerved off the road because of poor visibility resulting from the ash, police said.

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DEAL OF THE WEEK

Sail into savings

on Lake Powell

You can save money by postponing your Lake Powell vacation to late summer or fall. Under the off-season deal, you get 25% off a houseboat rental or a free 18-foot powerboat for the length of your trip on the lake, which straddles the Utah-Arizona border.

The deal, from Lake Powell Resorts & Marinas, is good for rentals of four days or more from Aug. 25 through Nov. 1, subject to availability. (888) 486-4665, www.lakepowell.com.

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FREE FOR THE ASKING

Less traveled

Wisconsin roads

“Wisconsin’s Rustic Roads” describes 95 less-traveled routes, most shorter than 10 miles, through scenic and historic areas. Order from the Department of Tourism. (800) 432-8747, www.travelwisconsin.com. (Click on “Great Drives/Great Rides.”)

-- Compiled by

Jane Engle