News, Tips & Bargains : First Flights to San Felipe on Air L.A.

Air L.A. has become the first and only scheduled airline offering service to San Felipe, a popular fishing resort on the Mexican Riveria, and Mexicali, capital of Baja California.

The airline flies to Mexicali Monday through Friday and on Nov. 1 will add Saturday service. There are four flights to San Felipe a week. The San Felipe flights, three of which are nonstop, should come as good news to tourists who have braved the rugged, hours-long drive through miles of lonely desert to get there. One-way fare is $129.

Packages that include two nights lodging, air fare and taxes, are being offered at three San Felipe resorts in conjuction with the new air service. Rates range from $175 per person for mid-week stays to $275 for weekends at the Las Palmas Inn, Hotel Las Misiones and San Felipe Marina Resort and Spa. For information and reservations call (800) 522-1516 from California, Nevada and Arizona and (800) 225-2786 from all others.

Air L.A. also provides non-stop, round-trip service between LAX and Tijuana.

For Air L.A. reservations and information, contact your travel agent or call (800) 933-5952.

It’s Time to Book Time on the Trail

Reservations for the 1993-94 season are now being taken for two popular international trails that limit the number of hikers.

In New Zealand, bookings are being taken to hike the Milford Track, first called “the finest walk in the world” in 1908.

Only 40 independent walkers are allowed to begin the hike each day. Advance booking ensures sufficient bunk space in the government-run huts along the track.

Passes cost about $40 per person and are good from Friday through April 18. To obtain a brochure and application form, call the New Zealand Tourism Board (800) 388-5494.

Fifty-two hikers are allowed per day on Vancouver’s West Coast Trail, a five-day backpacking trek through the wilderness of southwestern Vancouver Island.

Reservations can be made by calling (604) 728-1282. There is a $25 fee.

Take a Ride on the Wild Side

Looking for a toothsome thrill? Then you want to go for a quick spin on “Jaws,” the long-awaited new ride at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando.

After extensive rehearsals, the attraction opened Oct. 1 and since then has seen eight boats with 48 visitors aboard each one make the voyage every six minutes.

The trip through the seven-acre lagoon at “Amity Harbor” starts out calmly enough, but before it’s over, visitors find themselves face to face with a 32-foot, three-ton Great White. (Parental discretion is advised.)

The ride boasts lots of noise, lots of explosions and lots of excitement. “You get hot and you get wet--very wet,” said a spokeswoman.

A one-day admission to the park is $35 plus tax for ages 10 and up, $28 plus tax for ages 3 to 9. Information: (407) 363-8000.

Yellow Fever Abates

The outbreak of yellow fever in the Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet Districts in western Kenya is over, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the CDC continues to recommend that anyone traveling to Kenya have a yellow fever vaccine.

The CDC also recommends that travelers to West Africa and equatorial Central and East Africa receive vaccines.

B&B; Clarification

Travelers wishing to order state guides from Bed & Breakfast Central information, mentioned in an item that appeared in the Oct. 10 Travel section, must include a $2 handling fee, plus $1 for every state guide ordered. To obtain a free order form listing 38 state guides, send a long (10) self-addressed stamped envelope to Bed & Breakfast Central information, P.O. Box 38279, Colorado Springs, Colo. 80937.

‘Africa’--the Centerpiece of Field Museum’s Centennial

“Africa,” a new permanent exhibit five years in the making, opens Nov. 13 at the Field Museum in Chicago.

The 15,000-square-foot exhibit was created to offer an in-depth understanding of the multicultural African continent--its people, history and diversity--as well as ways in which African cultures have influenced the Americas.

The exhibit is divided into seven major sections, and visitors enter by way of a lively marketplace that is a recreation of a bustling street in Dakar, Senegal. More than 340 ethnological objects appear in the context of their use.

Created at a cost of $4 million, “Africa” represents a collaborative effort among African and African-American scholars and is the centerpiece of the Field Museum’s 10-month Centennial Celebration.

The Field Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. General admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children, students and senior citizens. Maximum family admission is $16 and admission is free Thursdays. For further information, call (312) 922-9410.