In Hong Kong, Festivities and Fireworks for Year of the Horse

The year of the horse will begin in February, and Hong Kong will celebrate the New Year with parades and fireworks. A six-night tour that encompasses the festivities starts Feb. 7. Participants will get bleacher seats for the Chinese New Year parade and a Victoria Harbor fireworks show. Time for museum visits and shopping is also on the schedule.

Cost: $1,058 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, hotel, daily breakfast, tours and parade tickets.

Contact: Ricardo’s Travel Service, 7248 Painter Ave., Whittier, CA 90602; telephone (888) 561-5816.

Southeast Asia: In Winter

WOW Tours is taking advantage of the cooler season with a trip to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia from Jan. 15 to Feb. 1. The tour begins with two nights in Bangkok, then goes to Vietnam for stops at Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; Hanoi, where guests will stay at the historic Sofitel Metropole Hotel; Hue; Da Nang; and the capital, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).

The group then will go to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to see the royal palace and the national museum, and Siam Reap for the temples at Angkor Wat.

Cost: $2,450 per person, double, including hotels, some meals and entrance fees. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Roxanne Roth, WOW Tours; tel. (310) 379-7364.

Africa: Bird-watching

Two expeditions to see the birds of southern Africa, both led by prominent ornithologists, are being offered by Wilderness Safaris of Palm Beach, Fla. The first is a seven-day outing in Botswana’s Okavango Delta Nov. 9 to 15. (The tour also will be available Nov. 3 to 9, 2002.) Because tour dates coincide with the breeding season, the forecast is for plenty of sightings of birds, including herons, ducks and slaty egrets.

Lodging for the first three nights will be at Xigera safari camp, where some bird-watching will be from dugout canoes.

The other safari, in Namibia from Feb. 5 to 15, will take place during migration season. Areas to be visited are Sossusvlei, site of 1,000-foot dunes, in the Namib region; Swakopmund; Ongava, near Etosha park; and Okonjima in the Waterberg hills, a breeding place for the Cape vulture.

Cost: For Botswana, $3,575 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, all meals and ground transportation. For Namibia, $3,765. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Classic Africa; tel. (888) 227-8311, https://www.classicafrica.com.

Baja: Kayaking

The Gulf of California off Baja is reputed to be at its best--with mild temperatures and clear waters--for kayaking during the holiday season. Tofino Expeditions of Seattle has two routes for paddlers. One, the Gold Coast, takes kayakers through bays and beaches north of Loreto. The second, the southerly Sierra de la Giganta, features spectacular mountains that emerge from the sea. Both routes include the reserve at Parque Nacional Bahia de Loreto.

The group is limited to 12. Kayaking experience isn’t necessary. Sierra Giganta departures from Loreto are Nov. 11, 18 and 25 and Dec. 19 and 26. Gold Coast outings depart Dec. 19 and 26.

The eight-day trips cost $990 per person (air fare is extra), double occupancy, including most paddling and camping gear and three meals daily while kayaking.

Contact: Tofino Expeditions; tel. (800) 677-0877, https://www.sea-quest-kayak.com.

Australia: Wines

See (and taste) for yourself where Australian wines are made on an eight-day tour organized by Inta-Aussie of Los Angeles. After arrival in Sydney, participants will take a city tour and dinner cruise. Next is a drive to the Hunter Valley and a stop at McWilliam’s winery, established in 1877. On Mornington Peninsula, near Melbourne, tastings at Red Hill Estate and views of Port Phillip Bay and Bass Strait are on the itinerary. Adelaide is the next city on the tour, followed by the Barossa Valley.

Cost: $3,495 per person, double occupancy, including seven nights’ lodging, six dinners, three lunches and a farewell breakfast. Daily departures are available. All flights are extra. Contact: Inta-Aussie; tel. (800) 531-9222, https://www.inta-aussie.com.

Guadalajara: Culture

On this tour, you’ll arrive at the Hotel Vista Plaza del Sol in Guadalajara, Mexico, and you won’t have to move your bags until it’s time to go home. Grand Circle Travel of Boston has a 15-day visit to Guadalajara, which includes a brief lesson in Spanish, a cooking tutorial, discussions about Mexican politics and heritage, and tours of the city and Lake Chapala, Tlaquepaque-Tonala and Tequila-Zapopan.

Cost: from $1,295 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, most meals and hotel. There are departures between January and April.

Contact: Grand Circle Travel; tel. (800) 221-2610, https://www.grandcircletravel.com.

Antarctica: Education

High-schoolers ages 15 to 18 can spend their Christmas break on an educational voyage to Antarctica. Students on Ice of Ottawa, Canada, has a journey scheduled Dec. 28 to Jan. 10. Several American and Canadian scientists will be aboard the 350-foot Akademik Ioffe as it cruises along the Antarctic Peninsula during the Southern Hemisphere summer.

They’ll offer instruction in the fauna, geology, hydrology, meteorology, politics and history of the continent during shipboard seminars and daily shore excursions.

Cost: $6,500 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Miami.

Contact: Students on Ice; tel. (866) 336-6423, https://www.studentsonice.com.

Africa: Roots

For people searching for their African ancestors, Spector Travel of Boston has an African American heritage tour to Senegal and Gambia in West Africa. Six-night trips will run from Feb. 23 to March 2.

Participants will visit Goree Island, Senegal, the staging point for the slave trade to the Americas, and the village of Jeffureh, ancestral home of “Roots” author Alex Haley. The programs also include city tours of Dakar, Senegal, and Banjul, Gambia, with visits to an orphanage, clinic and school.

Cost: $1,414 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from New York, daily breakfast, sightseeing and hotels.

Contact: Spector Travel, 2 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116; tel. (800) TRY-AFRICA (879-2374), https://www.spectortravel.com.