Perusing Peru’s Incan History

Visit the lands of ancient civilizations and dramatic scenery on a 20-day tour to Chile, Peru and Ecuador. The tour leaves Los Angeles Oct. 26 and begins in Quito, Ecuador, which is 9,400 feet in the Andes.

Participants will take a city tour and a bus tour to Panecillo Hill for a view of the city and mountains. Guests get a chance to shop for handmade ponchos, wall hangings, blankets and leather goods. In Santiago, Chile, stops are made at Santa Lucia Hill, a museum of pre-Columbian artifacts, and the beaches and gardens of nearby Vina del Mar.

In Puerto Montt in the southernmost part of Chile is the lake region with waterfalls and quaint villages to explore. Guests then fly to Lima, Peru, for tours of a museum of pre-Incan and Incan ruins. In Cuzco, guests visit the city before boarding the train to see the legendary “Lost City of the Incas,” Machu Picchu.

Cost: $3,894 per person, double occupancy, including all international flights, hotels, breakfast daily, some meals, guide and entrance fees. Contact: Eva’s Tours, 27485 Paseo Mimosa, San Juan Capistrano, Calif. 92675; telephone (714) 489-0488.

More Incas

Spanish language and literature expert Maricarmen Ohara will lead a tour to Peru Aug. 4 for 10 days to visit Lima, Cuzco and Machu Picchu, with an optional one-day plane tour to Nazca to view the etchings of men and birds, which can only be seen from the air.

This area is an archeological treasure filled with the remains of pre-Columbian cultures that developed 9,000-10,000 years ago. The tour will be broken down into a three-day stay in Cuzco, an overnight in Machu Picchu, plus three full days in Lima, allowing one day for an optional flight to the Nazca ruins.

Participants will watch ancient Incan dances and music in Cuzco and attend a dinner and folkloric show in Lima.

Cost: $2,199 per person, double occupancy including air travel from Los Angeles, transfers, hotels, tours, continental breakfast, and some lunches and dinners. Contact: Rosa Gascoigne, Aztec Travel Services, 201 E. 4th St., Oxnard, CA 93030; tel. (805) 487-7831.

Carolina Kayaking

A Southeast coastal sea kayaking trip, where participants stay in an original plantation home on Edisto Island, S.C., leaves Sept. 18, Oct. 2 and Oct. 23. The restored 140-year-old four-story mansion once sheltered federal troops during the Civil War.

Each day participants will paddle the creeks, salty inlets, wide bays and moss-green marshes that separate the islands from one another and from mainland South Carolina. Exploring the listless bayous brings guests close to the bird life and sea life that abound near the beaches and inlets. Herons, ibises, pelicans, snowy egrets and dolphin are usually seen.

Cost: $775 per person, double occupancy, accommodations, meals and use of a kayak. Not included: air fare to South Carolina. Contact: Lookfar Adventures, P.O. Box 3005, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928; tel. (800) 882-4424.

Scandinavian Romance

FinnWay offers a six-day, two-city “Baltic Romance” package for newlyweds or just the amorously inclined. The trip includes three days’ stay in Helsinki followed by a cruise to Stockholm on board the Silja in a deluxe cabin with balcony and private sauna.

Cost: $1,900 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from New York, limo transfer from the airport, deluxe accommodations, room-service breakfasts, a candlelight dinner, sightseeing with a private guide, flowers and champagne, and upgrades to Finnair’s business class, if available. Contact: FinnWay, tel. (800) 526-4927.

Sacred New Mexico

Aventura Artistica, which specializes in tours of New Mexico, is offering a five-day trip Oct. 2 to the sacred sites of Chaco Canyon, N.M., for a shamanic quest.

The “Shamanic Journey of the Spirit” introduces the way of the shaman and is led by psychologist and spiritual teacher Masa Aiba Goetz. Participants will explore the Anasazi cliff sites and kivas, meet with Native American shamans and storytellers, take part in shamanic rituals, visit pueblos, local artists and museums.

Cost: $770 per person, double occupancy, including ground transportation, hotels, some meals and entrance fees. Not included: transportation to New Mexico. Contact: Aventura Artistica, 3143 Garrison St., San Diego, CA 92106; tel. (800) 808-7352.

Monkey See ...

Join a primate watch on an 11-day tour that begins and ends in Entebbe, Uganda, and includes the Kibale Forest, Queen Elizabeth Park, Kazinga Channel, Chambura Gorge Forest, the Great Crater Lakes and Rwindi National Park. Tours leave Aug. 23 and Sept 1.

Primates to be seen include mountain gorillas, chimpanzees and colobus monkeys. Transportation is via safari vehicles and on foot, hiking through some of central Africa’s most varied terrain. Other wildlife includes elephant, hippopotamus, buffalo and a variety of bird life. Group size is limited to nine. Cost: $4,995 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, most meals, sightseeing, all ground transportation and boat tours. Not included: air fare to Africa. Contact: Natural Habitat Adventures, 2945 Center Green Court, Suite H, Boulder, CO 80301; tel. (800) 543-8917.

Mystical Cyprus

A nine-day tour of Cyprus focuses on the island’s medieval castles, ancient monasteries, picturesque villages and ruins dating back 9,000 years. Departures are Sept. 23, Oct. 21 and Nov. 11.

The tour begins with five nights in the harbor town of Paphos, mythical birthplace of Aphrodite, goddess of love. Sightseeing includes visits to the Roman houses, Paphos Castle, the Byzantine church and the Paleo-Christian Basilica. Next is a visit to the ancient city of Kourion, known for its Greco-Roman theater and its 5th Century mosaics.

In Kolossi and Kouklia are castles and a day trip to Lembra, with visits to the monastery founded in 1200. In Nicosia, the island’s cosmopolitan capital, travelers will take a full day tour of the city, including the old city enclosed within 16th-Century Venetian walls, the Cyprus Museum, Museum of Nicosia, the 18th-Century Cathedral of Ayios Ionnis and the old quarter. Travelers visit the ancient ruins of Kition, the Angelokisti Church at Kiti and the mosque of Hala Sultan Tekke en route to the palm-lined, seaside city of Larnaca, where passengers spend a final night. Cost: $1,159 per person, double occupancy including eight nights in hotels; daily breakfast, seven dinners and one lunch; travel by motor coach; all entrance fees, taxes and service charges. Not included: air fare to Cyprus. Contact: Amelia Tours, 280 Old Country Road, Hicksville, NY 11801; tel. (800) 742-4591.

Romantic Italy

Artist-lecturer Roberta Kritzia will lead a 14-day art program in Umbria and Tuscany, Italy, Sept. 7. Daily field trips are scheduled to see the art and history of Siena, Florence, Assisi, Orvieto, San Gimignano, Renaissance gardens and artists’ studios.

Cost: $2,500 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, two meals per day and private transportation in Italy. Group is limited to 12 participants. Contact: Personalized Travel, 5455 Sylmar Ave., No. 902, Sherman Oaks, CA 91401; tel. (818) 994-2402, fax (818) 907-6016.

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