4-Wheel Into History on a Pioneer Trail

Rev up your four-wheel-drive on a 250-mile guided tour of the 1849 wagon route used by thousands of emigrants from Imlay, Nev., (a mining town) to Alturas, Calif. The three-day tour leaves July 22. Led by experienced guides, participants will see desert and mountain scenery, and make stops at historical points such as places where pioneer names are carved on rocks and wheel tracks from covered wagons can be seen. Members will camp one night. Another night is spent at Soldier Meadows, a B&B; on the site of a historic fort and hot springs. The tour is insured and operated under a Bureau of Land Management recreational permit. It is limited to 25 vehicles.

Cost: $250 per person, including all meals. Participants need to bring a tent and sleeping bag.

Contact: Ed Dunkley, 9401 Golden Drive, Orangevale, CA 95662; telephone (916) 988-4690; or Warner Anderson, 3750 Otto Way, Auburn, CA 95602; telephone (916) 878-8833.

No Bluffing

Towering limestone bluffs along the Missouri River and historic railroad towns are seen while following the routes of Lewis and Clark, Daniel Boone and Mark Twain. Participants on the five-day Katy Trail bicycle tour will ride leisurely along the Missouri River through the Katy Trail State Park--the country’s longest rails-to-trails conversion. Sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, the tour begins Oct. 5. Tour participants will learn about Missouri’s cultural and architectural history and the importance of historic preservation.

The trip begins with an evening at St. Louis’ Hyatt Regency in historic Union Station, then it’s on to the riverfront town of St. Charles to begin the journey, which includes the towns of Washington, Bluffton, Jefferson City and Rocheport. Participants will meet with local historians, preservationists, merchants and artists who will share their stories about growing up in these historic towns and how the rails-to-trails conversion has affected their lives. A visit to Daniel Boone’s home in Osage is included.

Cost: $878, per person, double occupancy, including wine tasting, most meals and lodging in historic inns and bed and breakfasts. Not included: air fare and bike rental ($80).

Contact: National Trust for Historic Preservation Study Tours, 1785 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20036; tel. (202) 673-4138.

Crediting the English

Participants of all ages can earn university credits from Chapman University in Orange while touring England this summer. The trip is scheduled for July 25 to Aug. 21. Participants attend lectures and live with a British family in London for 15 days. Then participants spend time touring Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, the Lake District and York.

Cost: $3,295 per person, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, four theater performances, all transportation in England and some meals.

Contact: Cynthia LeMay, Consortium for International Education, P.O. Box 18882, Irvine, CA 92713; tel. (714) 955-1700.

Mysteries of Egypt

The Philosophical Research Society, the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the Institute of Intuition Network are sponsoring a trip in Egypt Dec. 9 by Nile River cruiser and by land. Special arrangements have been made for participants to get an insider’s tour of private collections and little-known historical sites. During the two-week tour, guests spend seven days on a Nile cruiser, traveling the river route and visiting the imperial complexes of Karnak and Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. By land, tour members stay in hotels and visit archeological digs not yet open to the public and hear special lectures by Egyptologist Fadel Gad , who specializes in archeology. Gad will also discuss the esoteric aspects of ancient Egypt. Time is allowed for leisurely visits to such monuments as the Step Pyramid of King Zoser at Sakkara, rock-cut temples of Ramses and his queen in Abu Simbel at Nubia, and the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx at Giza. Cost: $3,190, per person, double occupancy, including air fare, airport transfers, hotels, some meals and entrance fees.

Contact: Philosophical Research Society, 2910 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027; tel. (213) 663-2167.

Essence of Senegal

One-week tours leave Aug. 6 and Oct. 11 for Dakar, Senegal, where guests will visit Goree Island, the Castle of the Slaves and the Door of No Return, from where the slaves were exported to the Americas. Participants will visit a fishing town and the village of Joal-Fadiouth, where the first president of Senegal was born and all the village structures are constructed with seashells. There is time for relaxing or strolling on the beach, and shopping at the outdoor markets. Bartering is a way of life here. Africans love American-made products such as sneakers, T-shirts, perfume, portable, hand-held cassette radios, jeans, pencils and books for schoolchildren, so guests are invited to bring items to trade.

Cost: $1,575 in August, $1,430 in October, per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from New York, hotels, some meals, guides and airport transfers. Other tours are available in August, September and October to Ghana, Egypt and the Ivory Coast.

Contact: Jon Haggins, Manhattan Tours, 306 West 38th St., New York, NY 10018; tel. (212) 563-2570.

Amazon Rain Forest

Animal behaviorist-naturalist Ralph Helfer will lead an expedition through the rain forest of Peru on an eight-day adventure departing June 3 from Miami. Participants will cruise down the Amazon in a private 16-passenger vessel and take walks into the jungle, view bird life and meet native tribes. A five-day extension to Machu Picchu is available.

Cost: $2,155 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Miami to Peru, all accommodations and most meals. For the Machu Picchu extension, add $640. Not included: air fare to Miami. Contact: Marilyn Koorn at Eden International, P.O. Box 25971, Los Angeles, CA 90025; tel. (310) 453-5365.

Wining and Dining

Visit the wine country of Santa Ynez on a two-day weekend tour that leaves May 20. Itinerary includes wine tasting at Sunstone Vineyards, Gainey Vineyards, Sanford Winery, Mosby Winery, Fess Parker Winery, Zaca Mesa Winery and Santa Barbara Winery. In the evening, dinner will highlight some of the best wines in the valley, hosted at the Los Olivos Grand Hotel. There will be free time to browse Santa Barbara’s local arts and crafts show at the beach on Sunday afternoon. Participants return on Sunday between 6 and 7 p.m.

Cost: $225 per person, including motor-coach transportation, all meals, accommodations at the Danish Country Inn, admissions and tour fees. Contact: Epicurean Wine Tours, 605 S. Marengo Ave., No. A, Pasadena, CA 91106; tel. (818) 795-2661.

Tunisian Treasures

Explore Roman ruins and photograph Islamic mosques and Berber fortresses on a 25-day tour to Tunisia with photographer Michele Burgess Sept. 29. Participants will stroll on Mediterranean beaches, visit fishing villages and lush oases of date palms, stay in an underground hotel, and ride camels across the dunes of the Sahara. Visitors see the weekly market at Douz, the oasis towns of Tozeur and Nefta, the Jewish community on Jerba Island, remote Berber villages with fortified communal granaries, the underground village of Matmata, well-preserved Roman ruins at Bulla Regia and El Jemm, the ancient Phoenician port of Bizerte and the capital city of Tunis.

Cost: $4,325, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, accommodations, most meals and sightseeing fees.

Contact: In Focus With Michele Burgess, 20741 Catamaran Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92646; tel. (714) 536-6104.

The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with cruise lines, travel agents or tour operators.