Build the trail, then take a hike

CHILE

Hike a trail that you helped build when you take a volunteer vacation with the Patagonia Project in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.

The two-week program, sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service in conjunction with Chile's park service, begins March 12. Participants will spend several days building and repairing trails and performing other chores.

Two days will be set aside for recreation.

"People can hike from Refugio Pehoe [the hostel at the worksite] to Gray Glacier, part of the largest ice field in South America," said Richard Tobin, director of Conservation Partnerships, Los Padres National Forest, in California. It takes about two hours to get to the glacier, Tobin said, a "moderate" hike at 5,000 feet. Ice climbing equipment will be provided.

Cost: $2,200 per person, including round-trip international airfare from Los Angeles, internal airfare, hostel lodging, boat transportation and meals.

Contact: Richard Tobin; (805) 961-5748. The Patagonian Foundation; (888) 570-1122, http://www.thepatagonianfoundation.org .

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NEW YORK

Catch 3 shows on Broadway

SEE the bright lights of Broadway on a spring theater tour to New York City.

The eight-night tour, led by theater veteran Stan Mazin, begins April 11 and will take in three Broadway shows including "Spamalot" and the revival of "La Cage aux Folles." The group also will have lunch at Tavern on the Green.

The rest of the time in Manhattan is unstructured.

Cost: $1,975 per person, double occupancy ($625 single surcharge), including round-trip airfare from LAX to Newark, N.J., hotel accommodations, breakfasts, transfers and show tickets.

Contact: Stan Mazin Travels, Sherman Oaks; (818) 786-6845 or (818) 645-0336, http://www.stanmazin.com .

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CALIFORNIA

Bird walks in Yosemite

GET a bird's-eye view of the birds of Yosemite Valley on daylong walking seminars planned for April 30 and May 1. The sessions, led by birder Michael Ross, will be in Yosemite Valley and Big Meadows. Ross will teach birding skills and discuss the region's birds and their history.

In the valley, participants will look for returning songbirds, swifts, swallows and peregrine falcons. Big Meadows is considered one of Yosemite's birding hot spots and is the springtime home of Western tanagers, lazuli buntings, Vaux's swifts and mountain quail.