Good Lands, Badlands and Lakota History

An ecology tour, Aug. 17 to 24, which combines natural history and Lakota history, gives the adventurous traveler a chance to explore the stark landscape of the South Dakota Badlands and the Black Hills to the north, which are a contrast of forests and rocky peaks. Participants will see herds of bison, elk and mountain goat, which still roam about. Both areas are the ancestral home of the Lakota people. Guides, who are professional naturalists and Native American teachers, will give lectures of this area as the group sees it.

Cost: $1,150 per person, double occupancy, including motel and resort accommodations near the areas of study, all meals, ground transportation and lectures. Air fare to South Dakota is not included. Contact: Audubon Center of the North Woods, P.O. Box 530, Sandstone, MN 55072; telephone (320) 245-2648.

African Culture

A tour of Eritrea, Africa, scheduled for Oct. 16 to 30, covers the little-visited nation’s historical and religious traditions. Travelers will visit the ancient archeological sites of Axum and Lalibela in northern Ethiopia, and boat or scuba dive by coral reefs near the restored, picturesque city of Massawa.

Travel within the country will be challenging, but not strenuous. Accommodations are in the Italian-built capital of Asmara, located less than a day’s drive from most of the major sights. In addition to the largely undiscovered sights of Asmara’s commercial center, the tour will feature people-to-people matches with Eritrean families, and seminars conducted by government, business and nonprofit experts in the country’s development.

Cost: $2,995 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, meals, travel within Eritrea and Ethiopia, guides and events. Charter air travel, arranged by Sather American Express Travel of Salem, Ore., is about $1,200. Contact: Thirst for Learning Foundation, P.O. Box 7157, Beverly Hills, CA 90212; tel. (800) 848-5775, and ask for Judy Rabe.

German Wines

Travel through scenic Germany and meet winemakers on a tour to the German Wine Academy in a 16th century monastery called Kloster Eberbach, outside of Frankfurt. The six-day program begins Oct. 6 and includes travel to five of Germany’s 13 wine regions. Wine estate visits and tastings with winemakers, vineyard treks, cellar tours, a riverboat cruise and seminars fill the itinerary. Accommodations are in historic inns, and guests dine on regional specialties.

Cost: $1,436 per person, double occupancy, including hotel, all meals, lectures, tastings and ground transportation and a day cruise on the Rhine. Contact: German Wine Information Bureau, 79 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016; tel. (212) 213-7028.

East Coast Art

See the Winslow Homer Retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and take part in a sketching and painting workshop in New England on a Sept. 14 tour. Participants arrive in New York City and spend two nights in New York to attend the retrospective. The group then travels by motor coach to the old town of Litchfield, Conn., where art workshops are held by tour leader-artist Cal Fortbrook.

Tour members will have opportunities to explore, and sketch and paint in various venues in the historic area.

Cost: $1,428 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, daily continental breakfast, some meals, Metropolitan Museum entry fee, ground transportation, porterage, art instruction and lectures. Air fare to the East Coast is not included.

Contact: Sterling Tours, 2707 Congress St., No. 2-G, San Diego, CA 92110; tel. (800) 727-4359.

African Art

The Art Institute of Chicago is offering an art safari in South Africa from Sept. 16 to 28. Specifically designed to introduce an American audience to the visual and performing arts in South Africa, participants will get curator-led tours of art museums, receptions at exclusive galleries, and private teas and dinners with local artists. The trip coincides with the annual Arts Alive Festival in Johannesburg. Participants will also tour Cape Town.

Cost: $4,950 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, full breakfast daily, some meals, ground transportation, sightseeing and guides. Extention available to Victoria Falls and Okavango Delta in Botswana. Not included: air fare to Africa. Contact: Meg MacDonald at Passages Unlimited, 10 Liberty Square, Boston, MA 02109; tel. (800) 232-2939.

Pacific Northwest

Corliss Tours of Monrovia is offering a weeklong Pacific Northwest tour Aug. 4 that includes a cruise to the San Juan Islands.

The tour begins and ends in Seattle, and starts with a motor-coach tour of Washington’s scenic Cascade Loop. Stops along the Cascade Loop include Snohomish, the antique capital of the Northwest; the Bavarian-style village of Leavenworth; Wenatchee, the apple capital of the state; and the Old West frontier town of Winthrop. The New England-style waterfront town of La Conner is the embarkation point for a cruise on the 125-foot yacht “Island Spirit” into the San Juan Islands. The Island Spirit is used for three days for cruising to San Juan Island where two nights are spent in Friday Harbor and for exploring the other islands. Three pods of Orca whales, with each pod having more than 30 whales, inhabit the waters of the San Juan Islands, and one of the activities on the cruise is an Orca whale search.

The Island Spirit returns to Seattle, and the next two days are spent sightseeing, eating a baked salmon dinner, watching interpretive Native American dances at Tillicum Village and a farewell lunch at the revolving restaurant atop the Space Needle.

Cost: $1,249 per person, double occupancy, including hotel accommodations, private chartered motor coach, 10 meals, admissions, baggage handling and the services of a full-time professional tour guide. Air fare to Seattle is additional.

Contact: Corliss Tours, 436 W. Foothill Blvd., Monrovia, CA 91016; tel. (800) 456-5717.

Falling for Color

A weeklong visit to the heartland of northern New England begins Oct. 4 in Freeport, Maine, and concludes in Boston. Tour participants will journey through picturesque villages with steepled churches and covered bridges. Visits will be made to the Maine Maritime Museum, the Shelburne Museum of American Folk Art and Canterbury Shaker Museum.

On a train ride through Crawford Notch in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, guests will see red sugar maples and sumac, golden birch and beech, and the bronze hues of red oak. While boating on a lake near the northern end of the Appalachian Trail, they will watch for loons, ducks, Canadian geese and moose. During woodland walks in the Green Mountains of Vermont, the group will learn to identify hickory, aspen and mountain ash with guidance from the accompanying Harvard University study leader. Along the Atlantic seaboard, the group may spot flocks of autumn starlings as well as egrets, ospreys and kingfishers. Participants will have a chance to dine on regional specialties such as fresh lobster and Indian pudding. Accommodations are in charming New England inns.

Cost: $1,995 per person, double occupancy including accommodations in inns; 16 meals; transportation by charter motor coach, train and boat; entries to museums and historic sites; services of a coordinating escort as well as a horticultural study leader.

Contact: Learned Journeys, P.O. Box 30626, Santa Barbara, CA 93130; tel. (805) 682-6191 or (800) 682-6191.

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