Sail Through a Safari in Zimbabwe Parks

See Zimbabwe’s wildlife and dramatic scenery--in the bush and by water--on a 12-day Sail and Safari trip, May 27 to June 8, that includes a visit to Victoria Falls, a four-day safari in Hwange National Park, and five days of catamaran sailing on Lake Kariba.

Travelers fly to Johannesburg, South Africa, or Harare, Zimbabwe, then to Victoria Falls. At the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, accommodations with balconies offer views of animals day and night.

Next is a land-based safari at Hwange National Park, where elephants, Cape buffalo, lion, giraffe and 400 species of birds inhabit the area. Animal viewing on day and night drives is from open-sided safari vehicles or on foot accompanied by a professionally trained, armed safari guide. Three nights are spent at Makololo Plains Camp, a tented facility with private bathrooms and solar-powered lighting, where meals are served around a large campfire.

Guests continue to flotilla sailing on Lake Kariba, which stretches 175 miles and is home to a multitude of wildlife in a protected environment.

Cost: $2,700 per person, double occupancy, including guides, airport transfers in South Africa and Zimbabwe, lodging, most meals and guided tours. Air fare is extra.

Contact: African Portfolio, 225 E. 79th St., New York, NY 10021; telephone (212) 737-0144.

Cruise in Panama

Temptress Adventure Cruises is launching a seven-night Panama cruise Dec. 13 and Dec. 20.

The cruise will leave Panama City, exploring the Caribbean and Pacific coasts as well as the Panama Canal. Stops include Colon, a Caribbean port; Hollandaise Cayes, an area for diving, swimming and exploring; Portobelo, for a walking tour of the village and then a visit to a Spanish fort; rain forests of the Darien region; and the Islas Perlas resort.

Cost: from $1,995 to $2,195 per person, double occupancy, including all meals and beverages. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Temptress Adventure Cruises; tel. (800) 336-8423.

Thinking India

Judith Johnston, an anthropology professor at Adelphi University in New York, will lead a Dec. 29 to Jan. 18 journey through India. Open to 24 people, the guided trip covers New Delhi; Agra; Varanasi, including a sunrise boat ride on the Ganges River; the Buddhist city at Sarnath; three days at the Temple Bay resort at Mahabalipuram, near Madras; Mysore; Cochin; and Bombay.

Cost: $3,850 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip New York-to-India flights, transfers, ground and domestic air transportation, first-class hotels, lectures and all meals.

Contact: Adelphi University; tel. (516) 877-4115 or (516) 261-0018.

Science in Belize

Explore Mayan ruins, snorkel and take jungle walks on a two-week science tour to Belize offered by Palomar College Jan. 3 to 16. Participants interested in field biology will snorkel in one of the largest barrier reefs in the world. Other trip activities include seeing the Howler Monkey Preserve, the Belize Zoo, the Mayan ruins of Tikal and Belize and the Manatee Forest Reserve.

Cost: $1,950 per person, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, local transportation, meals and lodging in Belize.

Contact: Palomar College; tel. (760) 744-1150, Ext. 2275.

Great Cities of Asia

A 16-day cruise-tour of the Far East starts March 30. Navigating the South China Sea, the Marco Polo will anchor at Hong Kong, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Singapore. The last few days will be spent in Bangkok, Thailand. Albert Benzie, philosophy professor at Mesa College in San Diego, will lecture on the cultural and artistic characteristics of the different countries and the impact of religion, communism and colonialism on the cultures.

Cost: $2,750 per person, double occupancy, including a nine-day cruise aboard the Marco Polo with all meals and entertainment; city tours of Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong; and some meals. Book before Nov. 15 for a cabin upgrade. Not included: round-trip air fare from Los Angeles and port charges.

Contact: Albert Benzie; tel. (619) 454-1434.

Ancient Egypt

The Semitic Museum of Harvard University is sponsoring a tour of ancient Egyptian sites. The tour will take place March 13 to 29 to coincide with the prime excavation season.

Archeologists will guide tour participants through Giza site excavations, revealing the day-to-day life of the pyramid builders, including their workshops, bakeries and cemeteries. They will also explain an emerging theory of who actually built the Great Pyramids.

Nabil Swelim, author of several books on ancient Egypt, will lead the group to sites in Middle and Upper Egypt, such as Luxor, the mortuary temple of Queen Hatsepsut, the Valley of the Kings and Que, Aswan and Abu Simbel.

Cost: $4,100 per person, double occupancy, including all air and land travel from New York, hotel accommodations, some meals, escorts, guides and written materials.

Contact: Semitic Museum; tel. (617) 495-4631.

Christmas in Mexico

Learn to cook Mexican dishes and visit villages that specialize in traditional folk art or crafts, such as wood carving, masks, pottery and ceramics and hand-hammered copper, on a tour to Morelia, Mexico, Dec. 21 to 28.

Cooking classes will be with Nancy Zaslavsky. Each class features dishes from different culinary regions of Mexico, and each concludes with a meal. Guests go food shopping and take market tours in two of Mexico’s finest traditional marketplaces. Visits are made to churches elaborately decorated for Christmas.

Some lunches and dinners are at restaurants; others are quick meals and snacks at favorite, tried-and-true street food stands. Guests will attend a Christmas posada, a reenactment of Joseph and Mary’s search for an inn. Tours will be made of colonial Morelia and historical Patzcuaro, as well as several Indian villages around and near Lake Patzcuaro. Participants will visit one of Mexico’s largest avocado and blackberry ranches.

Cost: $2,500 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, most meals, local transportation and guided tours. Air fare is additional.

Contact: Food and Folk Art, 13763 Fiji Way, Suite E-1, Marina del Rey, CA 90292; tel. (310) 574-0244.

New Zealand Romp

A 12-day northerly tramp in areas between Queenstown and Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island is on British Coastal Trails’ list of hikes. Groups of six to 18 people can leave Jan. 4, Feb. 15 and March 9, amble six to eight miles daily through--among various sites--beech forests, past the Remarkable Mountains, several lakes, Mt. Aspiring, west coast beaches, onto the Fox glacier and Pancake Rocks.

Cost: $2,895 per person, double occupancy, including 11 nights’ lodging, all breakfasts and dinners, guides and ground transportation. Air fare to New Zealand is extra.

Contact: BCT Scenic Walking, 703 Palomar Airport Road, Suite 200, Carlsbad, CA 92009; tel. (800) 473-1210 or (760) 431-7306.

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