Expedition with ‘total diversity’

EXPERIENCE Patagonia by land and by sea on an 11-night Smithsonian expedition. The tour, which begins Nov. 3, will be led by Kirt Kempter, an expert in plate tectonics and volcanism who has led study tours throughout South America.

Participants fly from Santiago to Punta Arenas, both in Chile, where they embark on the 129-passenger Mare Australis to sail the Straits of Magellan to Ushuaia, Argentina. While in Argentina, the group visits Cape Horn park in Tierra del Fuego (weather permitting), then travels inland to El Calafate and Glaciers National Park.

The tour then crosses the Andes into Chilean Patagonia, where the group will stay three nights at the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Torres del Paine National Park. The tour has “total diversity,” said Debbie Eliezer, program coordinator for Smithsonian Journeys. “A lot of programs you either do the cruise or you do the land. This one is a combination.”

Cost: $7,335 per person, double occupancy ($1,130 single surcharge), including accommodations, meals, internal airfare, open bar on the cruise, emergency evacuation insurance and baggage handling. Airfare from Los Angeles to Santiago is not included.

Contact: Smithsonian Journeys, Washington, D.C.; (877) 338-8687, www.smithsonianjourneys.com.

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SPAIN

Appreciating art, museums

VISIT the museums of Spain on an art appreciation tour led by Louise Lewis, an art professor at Cal State Northridge. The two-week tour, which begins Nov. 9, focuses on Bilbao, Madrid and Barcelona. The group tours the Guggenheim-Bilbao Museum and takes a trip to San Sebastian on the Bay of Biscay.

Participants will see the Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums in Madrid and travel to the Valley of the Fallen and El Escorial. In Barcelona, they stop at the Miro and Picasso museums, the Museum of Catalan Art and tour the unfinished basilica La Sagrada Familia, considered Antonio Gaudi’s masterpiece. Day trips to other cities include Malaga, Seville, Granada and Toledo.

Cost: $4,200 ($750 single surcharge), including round-trip airfare from Los Angeles and internal airfare in Spain, hotels, some meals, ground transportation, guides, hotel and air taxes.

Contact: Louise Lewis, Cal State Northridge; (818) 677-2210. Or Altour Classic Cruise & Travel, Woodland Hills; (818) 346-8747.

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MALAYSIA

Adventure on jungle rivers

EXPLORE the islands of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo on a 13-day tour.

The tour, which begins Sept. 16, explores the natural caves at Mulu in a tropical rain forest, stops in the riverside city of Kuching for shopping and dining, and visits the Iban people, many of whom live in longhouses in the jungles of Sarawak. Participants will travel to Sabah and visit an orangutan sanctuary and to Selingan Island, home to giant turtles. The group cruises the jungle rivers of Sabah, where many species of birds and monkeys can be seen.

Cost: $2,760 per person, double occupancy ($420 single surcharge), including hotels, most meals, internal airfare, guides, sightseeing, transfers, entrance fees and hotel taxes. Airfare from L.A. is not included.

Contact: Asian Pacific Adventures, Tarzana; (800) 825-1680 or (818) 881-2745, www.asianpacificadventures.com.

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NEW ZEALAND & AUSTRALIA

Accessible South Seas

SAIL from Auckland, New Zealand, to Sydney, Australia, on a 12-night, wheelchair-accessible cruise.

The cruise, which begins Jan. 20, is aboard the 2,600-passenger Diamond Princess, which will visit Tauranga, Dunedin and Christchurch in New Zealand and Tasmania and Melbourne in Australia before arriving in Sydney.

Cost: Cruise prices range from $1,845 to $2,395 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations and meals aboard ship. Optional excursion packages start at $440 for New Zealand and $1,065 for Australia, including hotels, guides, some meals, admissions and wheelchair-accessible van. International airfare is not included.

Contact: Accessible Journeys, Ridley Park, Pa.; (800) 846-4537, www.accessiblejourneys.com.

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COLORADO & UTAH

Experience Indian ruins

Document rock art and ruins in remote areas of the Ute Tribal Park near Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado during a seven-day research expedition.

The trip, which begins Sept. 19, centers on Mancos Canyon, a treasure-trove of Anasazi Indian sites 800 to 1,300 years old. The expedition is being led by anthropologist Virginia Wolf, who has taught courses in Native American studies at Butte Community College in Oroville, Calif.

Participants will assist in preserving and recording the location and condition of petroglyphs, ancient communities and documenting a kiva, an ancient religious structure, recently exposed when a river cut through it. The program involves hiking from one to seven miles daily and staying in a primitive camp setting. Part of the proceeds benefit other conservation education programs of the Four Corners School of Outdoor Education.

Cost: $1,245 per person, including meals, transportation from Monticello, Utah, or Cortez, Colo., guides, experts, camp fees, group equipment and park fees. Tents and sleeping bags are not included but can be rented at the school. Transportation from Los Angeles is not included.

Contact: Southwest Ed-Ventures, Four Corners School of Outdoor Education, Monticello, Utah; (800) 525-4456, www.fourcornersschool.org.

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The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. Send information to Tours & Cruises, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 or write via e-mail to travel@latimes.com.