Travelers of a feather . . .

. . . Can flock together in niche tours, special journeys for those times when folks just feel like adventuring with other tourists who share their backgrounds and interests.

By JUDI DASH

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 23, 2000

Not that we can't all get along, but sometimes a vacation just feels more simpatico in the company of travelers in the same (euphemistic) boat. Increasingly, tour operators are specializing in trips that bring together members of niche groups -- African-Americans, gays and lesbians, women, families or seniors.

"People often like to travel with others who have a common cultural experience and understand where you're coming from," said Patricia Yarbrough, president of Blue World Travel, a San Francisco company that runs programs for African-Americans, including heritage cruises to Africa and the Caribbean.

[Photo by Judi Dash] Some trips are geared to energetic mature travelers who might enjoy, as does this trekker on a trip to Costa Rica, an impromptu mud facial.

"The sense that an itinerary is just right for you increases incredibly when like-minded people travel together, and women play particularly well together," said Carol Rivendell, president of Wild Women Adventures, which runs worldwide trips for women only.

"Women travel differently from men; we like to take more time and visit, to have a more in-depth travel experience, not rush to see everything in as short a time as possible."

Peter Schulze, president of New York-based Family Abroad, which operates excursions for gays and lesbians, said his guests like the compatibility and comfort level of a gay tour.

"You have a chance to be yourself that you might not find in a mixed group," he said. "Gays often have to make accommodations when traveling with a straight group -- touching, joking can become an issue if everyone isn't truly comfortable with your lifestyle."

Wanna be an insider? Following is a sampling of programs that might be just your niche of a trip.

African-Americans

Among leading organizers that emphasize African-American history and culture is 20-year-old Blue World Travel, which puts together heritage cruises to the Caribbean and Africa, as well as group trips to spas. An especially intriguing program is the company's December 2000 15-day African Journey aboard the 500-passenger Deutschland. The luxury ship sails from Capetown, South Africa, to Namibia, SanThome Island, Ghana and Senegal, where the high (or low) point of the journey is a visit to Goree Island, where slaves were traded and shipped to the New World for more than 100 years.

"Imagine the irony of sailing into Goree Island on a five-star vessel, when our ancestors sailed out in chains in the hold of cargo ships," said Patricia Yarbrough, president of Blue World.

The cruise includes an African-attire formal night and an African culture lecture series, but Yarbrough noted that it is not limited to African-Americans; all cultures are welcome to share the experience.

On domestic turf, the Greater St. Louis Black Tourism Network organizes journeys that follow the paths of slavery and civil rights from the American South to Canada. A four-day Civil Rights Triangle program focuses on the core years of the struggle from 1957 to 1965, covering Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma. Five-day Freedom's Legacy tours follow the Underground Railroad route from the Kentucky tobacco plantations to Ontario. A five-day program called Forgotten Missouri explores the lesser-known role of the state, where slave breeding was a major cash crop.

"These trips are heavily researched, and we've tried to use first-person accounts to really make history come alive," said company president Angela da Silva. "On our Civil Rights Triangle trip, the group meets people who took part in the movement -- many of whom were schoolchildren in the early days of Birmingham. And we talk to a former Ku Klux Klan member who had a change of heart after Selma. On the Forgotten Missouri trip, we visit what was once the state's most successful slave-breeding plantation as well as a one-room school house for freed slaves' children that was supported by Jesse James."

Although the programs are designed for established groups -- such as church or cultural organizations -- the company will put together new groups as well, based on interest. Travelers of all races and cultures are welcome.

Gays and lesbians

Two tour outfitters that cater to gay and lesbian travelers, with trips worldwide, are Toronto-based Footprints and New York-based Family Abroad.

"Our big goal is to make our customers feel a strong sense of inclusiveness," said Footprints president Tov Mason. "Our guides, destinations and accommodations all are gay/lesbian-positive -- something you never can be sure of on mainstream tours."

On the Footprints agenda are 13-day March and December journeys through the rainforests, reefs and archaeological ruins of Belize and Tikal, Guatemala, and 15-day October and November trips to Nepal, with wildlife-watching and low-altitude trekking.

Among Year 2000 adventures planned by Family Abroad are a 12-day March exploration of Egypt and the pyramids with a four-day Upper Nile cruise, and an 11-day barge trip in France's Alsace-Lorraine region, with three days in Paris. In 2001 the company plans to run Europe programs that coincide with major gay pride celebrations.

Women

More than two-dozen outfitters run women-only tours, providing adventures that range from rough and tough outdoor excursions, to learn-to-sail trips, cultural tours and shopping trips.

AdventureWomen, an 18-year-old outfitter geared to easy outdoor excursions for women over 30, had so many repeat clients clamoring for more challenging trips that it launched the Born to Be Wild series. Among these more athletic (but not really tough) trips are a one-week June Alaska wildlife safari, with hiking, sea kayaking, rafting, canoeing and Glacier cruising, and a June horseback ride through the mountains and sea coasts along Ireland's Killarney Trail.

More laid-back are the six-day July and September Montana Cowgirl Samplers, hiking, horseback riding and whitewater-rafting trips based at a guest ranch, and an August walking exploration of the rainforests and coastlines of Washington's Olympic Peninsula.

Operating under the slogan "Nobody Yells," Annapolis-based Womanship prides itself on teaching women to sail without the stress a male presence can bring, said course coordinator Helen Johnson.

"We have a certain freedom without guys around; we can drop our inhibitions and role-playing and just have fun -- it's kind of a slumber party effect," she said.

Among this year's learn-to-sail trips are 3-day to 10-day programs in Annapolis, San Diego, the Florida Keys, New England or the Great Lakes; seven-day trips around the British Virgin Islands or Vancouver and the Gulf Islands; and 10-day and 14-day adventures in Greece, Turkey or New Zealand.

Wild Women -- whose motto is Insanity with Dignity -- takes on the rigors of marathon shopping during its one-week Mercado Madness journeys to San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico. The town is a gathering spot for artists and craftspeople from around Mexico and throughout the world. A silver mining capital in the early 1800s, the region offers great buys in silver, tin, blown glass, pottery and textiles. Local guides escort the group to area villages to get to know community members and artisans.

Seniors

Tour operators have discovered big time that there's gold in them thar elders -- but many seniors don't want to be relegated to the over-the-hill kind of trip that has them forever getting on and off a bus.

At least a dozen adventure companies either market primarily to those over 50 or have discovered they do not need to single out mature travelers because they are signing up for active trips without special prompting.

Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) once attracted a rough and tough younger set, but now targets its exotic excursions worldwide predominantly to those over 50 -- adding longer stays at each location and more cultural interactions along the way, both changes favored by older folks.

The company's new Journeys of Discovery program offers 16 itineraries in Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean, North Africa, Europe and the Americas. Each trip offers an optional extension that gets deeper into the culture or wild lands, such as a three-day boating trip through the rainforest in Tortuguera National Park after a 12-day journey through Costa Rica, three nights in Rome after a trip through the Italy's Tuscan Hill towns, or five days in Jordan after a 15-day trip through Egypt and the Nile.

Several years ago Saga Holidays introduced its Road Scholar Series of worldwide learning adventures for travelers over 50. This year the company has added a new series, Ed-Ventures, which focuses on the art of a region, including visits to galleries, lectures by experts and explorations of the sites that inspired the artists. Among the programs: Italian Art Through the Ages, Spanish Masters and Modernists, French Impressionism, the Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish Art, and American Artists in New England.

Maupintour operates some 150 trips geared to seniors. For 2000 the company is introducing eight first-time soft adventures through its new MaupinTrek division, which targets more energetic clients.

Among the programs are eight-day Colorado mountain hiking, horseback riding and river-rafting trips, with optional hot-air ballooning or guided fly fishing; nine-day Quebec hiking, cycling, kayaking and whale-watching trips; nine-day walks in England's Cotswolds; 11-day Peru hiking trips with canoeing and helicopter rides; and 13-day Botswana walking safaris, with lodgings in tented camps.

Families

Families who play together like to be around other families who are empathetic to all this playing together, and major outfitters have heeded the call of the child.

Butterfield & Robinson has taken the brave (and rare) step of introducing hiking and cycling adventures that welcome children as young as 3 years old (other trips welcome older children).

"We've been hearing from more and more travelers who want to enjoy active vacations with younger children," said B&F president George Butterfield. "And since one of the vital ingredients of family travel is balance, we've interspersed quality family time -- biking, hiking, trying new foods, meeting people, exploring great places together -- with time for parents and kids to do their own thing. The kids might be playing miniature golf or going on a scavenger hunt, while the parents enjoy a Michelin-star dinner or indulge at a spa. Everyone ends up happier that way," Butterfield said.

Among tot-friendly programs, most of which run one week, are July and August cycling trips in Ireland; an August cycling trip along France's Breton coast; and a December 2000 cycling and walking trip in Switzerland. On these trips, the company adds a third guide and a second van. In addition, for all trips with children under 8, there is a 1 to 4 supervision ratio in the afternoons and weekends.

The National Geographic Society last year got into the travel business, introducing expeditions to give its readers a first-hand experience of some of the places they had read about in the magazine's glossy pages. This year, National Geographic Expeditions is inviting families on a particularly engaging exploration of the archaeology and American Indian culture of the West's Four Corners region, home to Navajo and Hopi families for thousands of years. During the one-week July trip, participants take in the ancient cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park, raft to rock-art sites on the San Juan River, ride horseback through Monument Valley and hike into the Canyon de Chelly to visit a Navajo family at their sheep camp. A nice touch: The trip will be led by archaeologist and American Indian-culture expert Kristen Kuckelman and her 12-year-old son, Levi.

Journeying Down Under, Thomas Family Adventures, includes a visit to a school and a home stay on the coast during its two-week family adventures to Australia's reefs, rainforests and Outback, which also include snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, bush-walking in the Blue Mountains, horseback riding, boomerang tossing, camel rides and an exploration of aboriginal culture, music, legends and sacred sites.

Finding your niche in the trip

Prices are per person, double occupancy, and may not include all meals. Airfare, unless specified, is extra, and, when included, usually is from major gateway cities. If 2000 trips are sold out, ask to be on the waiting list for 2001. Many dates book up early.

AdventureWomen: (800) 804-8686. Six-day trips: Alaska safari departs June 10. Price: $2,995. Montana Cowgirl Samplers start July 15 and 29 and Sept. 9. Price: $1,650. Washington Olympic Peninsula trip departs Aug. 26. Price: $1,695. Eight-day Ireland horseback trip departs June 30. Price: $2,795.

Blue World Travel: (800) 466-2719. Fifteen-day African Journey aboard the Deutschland runs Dec. 6-22. Price starts at $4,698.

Butterfield & Robinson: (800) 678-1147. One-week trips welcome children age 3 and up. Discounts are available for children under 17. Cycling and walking trip in Switzerland departs July 11. Price: $4,175. Ireland cycling trips depart July 14 and Aug. 6. Price: $3,890. France cycling trip departs Aug. 27. Price: $4,275.

Family Abroad: (800) 999-5500. Trips for gays and lesbians. Eleven-day France barge trip departs Sept. 13. Price: $3,603 including airfare; $2,965 land only.

Footprints: (888) 962-6211. Trips for gays and lesbians. Fifteen-day trips through Nepal depart Oct. 6 and Nov. 8. Price: $2,495. Thirteen-day trip to Belize and Tikal departs Dec. 2. Price: $2,795.

Greater St. Louis Black Travel Network: (800) 490-3773. Trips run twice monthly. Price does not include bus transportation during trip, which depends on group size. Five-day Freedom's Legacy trips; from $378. Five-day Civil Rights Triangle; from $228. Five-day Forgotten Missouri trip; from $351.

Maupintour (MaupinTrek division): (800) 255-4266. Trips for seniors. Eight-day Colorado trips depart June 18, July 9 and 23 and Aug. 13. Price: $2,550; nine-day Quebec trips depart July 8 and 29, Aug. 19 and Sept. 9. Price: $1,895; nine-day England trips depart May 6, June 10 and Sept. 9. Price: $2,895. Eleven-day Peru trips depart June 11, July 9, Aug. 13 and Sept. 10. Price: $2,995. Thirteen-day Botswana trips depart May 31, Aug. 30 and Oct. 4. Price: $5,525.

National Geographic Expeditions: (888) 966-8687. One-week family trip to the Native American West departs July 23. Price: $1,850, children 9-17, $1,650.

Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT): (800) 955-1925. Trips for seniors. Twelve-day Costa Rica trips depart year-round. Price: from $1,790, including airfare. Tortuguera extension, $400. Two-week Tuscany tour departs May 4, June 14, Sept. 5 and 20, and Oct. 3 and 22. Price: from $2,990, including airfare. Rome extension: $340. Fifteen-day Egypt and the Nile trips depart year-round, except June and July. Price: from $2,990, including airfare. Jordan extension: $990.

Saga Holidays (800) 621-2151. Ed-Ventures for seniors focusing on art in Europe and the U. S. depart mainly spring through fall. Most trips run about 11 days; prices start at $1,800.

Thomson Family Safaris: (800) 262-6255. Two-week family Australia trips depart June 23, July 21 and Aug. 11. Price: $5,890. Discounts for kids.

Wild Women Adventures: (800) 992-1322. One-week Mexico trips depart Aug. 5 and Sept. 9. Price: $1,790, including air from major U.S. gateways; land only, $1,280.

Womanship: (800) 342-9295. Three-day to 10-day programs in Annapolis, San Diego, the Florida Keys, New England or the Great Lakes; from $696. Seven-day trips around the British Virgin Islands or Vancouver and the Gulf Islands; from $1,450. Ten- and 14-day adventures in Greece, Turkey or New Zealand; from $2,1295. Call for schedule.

Resources for niche travelers

African-Americans

• The African American Travel Guide, by Wayne C. Robinson (Hunter Publishing, $15.96). Museums, galleries, restaurants, hotels, entertainment, shops, colleges and churches in 17 U.S. and Canadian cities catering to African Americans or celebrating the black experience.

Gays and lesbians

• Access Guide's Gay USA (Harper Perennial, $19.95). Gay-friendly accommodations and entertainment venues, festivals, bookstores and other places especially popular with gay travelers.
• Frommer's Gay and Lesbian Europe ($21.95).
• Damron Women's Travel: Lesbian Guide to the USA, Caribbean, Canada, Mexico and selected European cities (Damron Press $13.95) with calendar of women's festivals and events, as well as lesbian-friendly bars, B&Bs and adventure trips.

Women

• More Women Travel, ($16.95, Rough Guides). Adventures and advice covering 60 countries, including group adventures.
• Active Woman Vacation Guide, by Evelyn Kaye (Blue Panda Publications; $17.95).
• Travelers Tales series: A Woman's World, Gutsy Women, Gutsy Mamas, Women in the Wild, and Safety and Security for Women Who Travel (Travelers' Tales Guides; from $7.95 to $17.95).

Families

• Outside Magazine's Family Adventures (Macmillan, $15.95). One-hundred fifty adventures, including lodges, Caribbean resorts, guest ranches and group trips.
• Fodor's Family Adventures, by Christopher Loomis ($16). Seven-hundred recommended trips.
• Family Adventure Guides, by state. (Globe Pequot, $9.95).
• Family Vacation Guides; Northeast, South, Midwest and Rocky Mountains and West, by Candice Stapens (Globe Pequot, $14.95).
• Globe Pequot Fun with the Family series, by state ($12.95), and Great Family Vacations series, by region ($14.95).

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