Treks on Serengeti’s wild side

TANZANIA

GO on a wildlife-viewing safari to Tanzania with the Santa Ana Zoo.

Participants on the nine-night expedition will visit Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area and Lake Manyara and Serengeti national parks.

“The Serengeti is one of the most amazing places to view wildlife in the world,” said Ron Glazier, zoo director. “The interaction between the predators and the migrating herds is complex biological phenomena that you don’t see anywhere else.”

The group will visit rural villages that few tourists see, such as Mto Wa Mbu near the Great Rift Valley in Lake Manyara National Park and drive to Ngorongoro Crater, the largest unbroken caldera in the world and an elephant gathering place. “It’s been called Africa’s Garden of Eden,” Glazier said.

Participants will visit Olduvai Gorge, where in 1959, Mary and Louis Leakey found fossil evidence of early man that was 1.7 million years old. The group also will visit the Serengeti Research Station, go on a game drive in Serengeti National Park and take a nature walk.

Cost: $5,995 per person, double occupancy ($595 single surcharge), including international airfare from Los Angeles, internal airfare, lodging and hotel taxes, meals, wildlife viewing by Land Rover, guides and entrance fees.

Contact: Santa Ana Zoo at Prentice Park, Santa Ana; (714) 647-6598, www.santaanazoo.org.

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GERMANY

Garden gems of the east

STROLL the gardens of Germany from Berlin to Dessau on a tour leaving Sept. 11.

The eight-night trips cover the region that was East Germany.

The group will tour Berlin and the Charlottenburger Schloss garden along the Spree River.

Other stops will include Branitz, Spreewald and Pillnitz. The group will travel along the banks of the Elbe River to Dresden to see the Royal Garden, Gross-Sedlitz; take a gondola ride through the Woerlitz garden; and tour the former homes of Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius and painters Paul Klee and Wassili Kandinsky.

“German Garden Tours has found a niche in eastern Germany that has been overlooked,” said tour representative Dolores Habberstad. The off-the-beaten-track itinerary includes a combination of “formal and relaxed gardens,” combined with stays at small inns and hotels.

Cost: $4,495 per person, double occupancy ($785 single surcharge), including hotels, most meals, ground transportation, boat rides, entrance fees and airport transfers. Airfare from Los Angeles to Berlin is not included.

Contact: German Garden Tours; Hazel Phillips Travel Service, the Dalles, Ore.; (800) 622-5588, www.gardentours-online.com.

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CALIFORNIA

Gray whales in passing

HEAD out to sea for a chance to see Pacific gray whales as they migrate along the coast near Long Beach.

The three-hour sailing leaves March 26 at 10 a.m. aboard the 90-passenger, 100-foot sport fishing boat the Liberty. The boat is equipped with electronic fish-locating equipment and a full-service galley.

Sierra Club leader Duane Gates and naturalist Erlinda Cortez will be on board to identify whales and explain their behavior.

The excursion is a benefit for the Sierra Club’s Long Beach group and Inner City Outings program.

Cost: $20 per person, which includes the boat trip and instruction. Food and transportation to Long Beach are not included.

Contact: Erlinda Cortez, Sierra Club-Long Beach; (562) 492-9401, erlinda_cortez7@msn.com, www.sierraclub.org.

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THE NETHERLANDS & BELGIUM

Spring via the river route

SAIL past fields of tulips on a spring cruise along the canals and waterways of Holland and Belgium.

The seven-night trip aboard Amadeus Waterways’ new 360-foot river cruise ship, the Amadagio, will begin April 9. The itinerary includes Amsterdam, Volendam, Edam, Arnhem and Zierikzee in the Netherlands and Ghent and Antwerp in Belgium.

Participants will cruise through Zeeland, the southernmost province of the Netherlands on the Belgian border, and see the windmills of Kinderdijk and travel inland from Utrecht to see the Keukenhof Gardens near Lisse, all in the Netherlands.

Optional excursions include Bruges and Brussels in Belgium.

Cost: $1,599 and up per person, double occupancy ($800 and up single surcharge), including outside cabin accommodations, meals, wine with dinner, lectures, entertainment and sightseeing. Airfare from Los Angeles to Amsterdam is not included.

Contact: TravelStore, Los Angeles; (310) 575-5540, www.travelstoreusa.com.

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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.