By Compiled by JANET K. KEELER from wire reports
Published September 4, 2005
If Buggin' With Ruud on Animal Planet has made you want to see big bugs in real life, check out these tours.
- Adventure Life (www.adventure-life.com) based in Missoula, Mont., has two tours, both in the Amazon forest, that include night hikes in which you will see a variety of insects, such as giant centipedes. Both are seven-day trips with accommodations.
- In Papua New Guinea, Ecotourism Melanesia (www.em.com.pg) works with the Insect Farming and Trading Agency in Bulolo and can set you up with an entomologist who can help you find and identify bugs. Look for Queen Alexandra birdwing butterflies, the largest butterfly species in the world, and rhinoceros beetles. Seven-day customized tours start at $3,000 a person.
COMPUTER TOTERS
Thirty-four percent of American computer users take their laptops on vacation.
Source: Harris Interactive survey of 2,547 adults conducted for Intel.
RELIVE "WITNESS'
The 82-acre Pennsylvania farm featured in the 1985 movie Witness is tucked into a small valley, hidden from the view of travelers on Lancaster County's back roads. But that hasn't deterred curiosity-seekers from sneaking peeks over the years.
Now, buses depart from the Pennsylvania Dutch Visitor Information Center, off U.S. Route 30, for the Witness Movie Experience Tour on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 1. Tours are at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $29.95 for adults, $19.95 for children 12 and under. For more information, go to www.padutchcountry.com/witness or call toll-free 1-800-723-8824.
GEORGIA ON YOUR BIKE
Peddling a bicycle through the North Georgia woods sure sounds cooler than cycling around these parts. Especially if you don't have to haul all the equipment there.
Woody's Mountain Bikes in Helen, licensed by the Forest Service, offers sales, repairs, rentals and trips.
The Gap Ride, the most popular family outing, includes bike, helmet and shuttle for $45 a person. The 14-mile ride is from Unicoi Gap back to Woody's, with waterfalls, swimming in the Chattahoochee and plenty of downhills along the way. Reservations are recommended.
The top U.S. vacation spots, from a survey of Society of American Travel Writers members:
1. New York City
2. Hawaii's Big Island
3. San Francisco
4. Orlando
5. New Orleans
6. (tie) Yellowstone/Grand Canyon national parks
7. Santa Fe, N.M.
8. (tie) Alaska/Florida Keys
9. (tie) Miami/California wine country
10. Colorado mountains
CRUISE BY LEAVES
If you've never experienced the classic colors of autumn in the Northeast, a weeklong cruise to New England and Canada is a good introduction. Most major cruise lines offer Northeastern itineraries, including ports of call in Boston; Newport, R.I.; Portland or Bar Harbor, Maine; Montreal; Quebec City; Halifax, Nova Scotia, and other Canadian points. Find the right cruise at www.cruising.org
On the Hudson River, NY Waterway excursions - www.nywaterway.com or toll-free 1-800-533-3779 - include day trips from Manhattan or Weehawken, N.J., to some of the Hudson Valley's historic homes, including Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate.
Compiled by JANET K. KEELER from San Jose Calif. Mercury News, Associated Press, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune. Contact her at (727) 893-8586 or krieta@sptimes.com
