TOURS & CRUISES
CALIFORNIA Gentle rafting adventure If you’d like to try a family rafting trip this summer but want to avoid the dangerous conditions that have confronted rafters this year in some parts of the state, the Lower Klamath River might be the answer. A three-day trip, organized by the O.A.R.S. rafting company, is designed with kids in mind. “This trip is downstream of several dams,” said company representative Steve Markle. “We’re not seeing the surge of high water here that we’re seeing in some places.” The river, just south of the Oregon border, winds through a scenic canyon and is known for its easy rapids and warm swimming holes. Participants camp riverside for two nights. Minimum age is 4. Dates: Tuesday and Friday departures through Aug. 18.
Price: $749 for adults, $676 for children. Includes guide service, rafts and equipment including helmet, personal flotation device, transfers from the meeting place to the river and back, on-river meals and drinks. Transportation from Los Angeles not included.
Info: (800) 346-6277, www.lat.ms/ klamathrafting — Rosemary McClure CARIBBEAN Jazz cruise Get a blast from the past while you sail the southern Caribbean when the 14th annual JazzFest at Sea gets underway Jan. 3 aboard the MSC Divina. The 11-night cruise departs from Miami and sails to Antigua, Grenada, St. Kitts and Barbados. The cruise, which features music from the 1920s to ’40s, offers performances each evening as well as afternoon sessions on days at sea. Performers include tenor saxophonists Houston Person and Harry Allen, plus Warren Vaché, Allan Vaché and Rossano Sportiello. Also appearing will be Butch Miles, Bill Allred, Johnny Varro, Howard Alden, Duke Heitger, Danny Coots, Frank Tate, Mike Pittsley, Charlie Silva and Chris Rottmayer. Vocalists include Rebecca Kilgore, Banu Gibson and Yve Evans. Dates: Jan. 3-14 Price: From $1,399 per person, double occupancy, for an interior cabin. Included are meals, accommodations, taxes and fees and access to all the jazz events and performances. Airfare to Miami not included.
Info: JazzFest at Sea, (800) 6548090, www.jazzfestatsea.com — Rosemary McClure COLOMBIA Crafts and culture Immerse yourself in the Expo Artesanias handcraft fair in Bogotá on a nine-day tour offered by Tia Stephanie. Participants will spend two days at the traditional and contemporary craft fair, Colombia’s largest and most important, and have an opportunity to meet artisans and learn about their cultures. Also on the itinerary is a Bogotá city tour and visits to the Gold and Botero museums. After a short flight to Cartagena, a city tour and visits to the tropical Islas de Rosario and the village of San Basilo de Palenque, founded by the first runaway slaves in the Americas, concludes the trip. Dates: Dec. 5-13 Price: From $2,585 per person, double occupancy; $450 single supplement. Includes hotels, all breakfasts, five lunches, three dinners, local guides and entrance fees. International and domestic airfare not included.
Info: Tia Stephanie tours, (734) 7697839, www.lat.ms/colombia crafts — Anne Harnagel SOUTH PACIFIC Easter Island to Tahiti cruise Follow ancient Polynesian explorers on a 20-day voyage offered by Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic. After arriving in Santiago, Chile, participants will fly to Easter Island where they will explore volcanic calderas and the moai statues. From Easter Island they will sail on the National Geographic Orion to Ducie Atoll; uninhabited Henderson Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site; and Pitcairn Island, home to descendants of the Bounty mutineers. Also on the itinerary is Mangareva, the largest of the Gambier Islands and famous for its black pearls, and Fakarava, one of the largest atolls in French Polynesia. The cruise concludes in Papeete, Tahiti. Dates: March 26-April 14 and Aug. 30-Sept. 17, 2018 (reverse itinerary)
Price: From $17,990 per person, double occupancy. Includes accommodations, meals as indicated and alcoholic beverages, naturalist staff and guides, excursions, sightseeing and entrance fees, and use of kayaks and snorkeling equipment. Free round-trip airfare between Los Angeles and Santiago, Chile, if booked by July 31.
Info: Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic, (800) 397-3348, www .lat.ms/eastertotahiti — Anne Harnagel