MOTHER EARTH NEW’ upcoming program of educational tours is so extensive
that–in the space available here–we can do
little more than provide the briefest of outlines for each
tour. But if one of the following trips appeals to you,
send us your deposit by certified check or money order to
assure your place.
A Touch of Magic
Our newest travel offering–which we call A Visit to
Findhorn and Friends– will take place from May 20 to
June 6, 1982, and is a tour designed for people who would
like to explore inner as well as outer,realms. Flying to
Scotland, we’ll first go to Findhorn, where we’ll participate in an “Experience
Week,” an introduction to all phases of the life of this
alternative community, including lending a hand in the
various work departments that help make this such a
remarkably beautiful and well-functioning planetary
village.
The following week we’ll travel to Scotland’s
opposite coast on the Hebridean island of
Erraid, which the Findhorn Foundation folks caretake and are
developing into a self-sufficient community. While there,
we’ll also spend some time on the nearby sacred isle of
Iona, a “place of power” in both Celtic and early Christian
tradition.
This visit to a unique, visionary community (set among the
rainbows, golden gorse, and historical sights of northern
Scotland) will end with several days in the wonderful city
of Edinburgh. The entire trip will cost approximately
$1,600, all-inclusive except for a few meals. A $200
deposit will reserve your ticket for this magical
encounter.
An Alpine Adventure
Strolling through a flower-strewn Alpine meadow–with
picture-book Swiss and Austrian villages far below
and jagged, snowcapped peaks rising up in the
background–is the kind of experience that can
rekindle a person’s wonder at the beauty our earth is
capable of. For that reason, we have decided to offer–from
June 11 to 26, 1982–a Wild Plants Walk in the Alps.
After a stopover to enjoy Holland’s legendary,
once-in-a-decade flower show, we’ll take you on mountain
footpaths near Salzburg, Kitzbuhel, Innsbruck,
Liechtenstein, Zurich, and Geneva and learn about the
edible wild plants and herbs that grow along the
spectacularly lovely route.
The tour is tentatively priced at $1,770, which will
include airfare, camping equipment, lodging, and two meals
a day. Send $200 to reserve your place.
A Himalayan High
You may think the Abominable Snowman is nothing more than a
legend, but the Nepalese take the beast’s existence
for granted! You’ll have an opportunity to look
into the matter yourself on our three-week (January 25 to
February 17, 1982) trek into the yeti’s reputed home in the
rugged and remote Arun Valley of Nepal. This heady
adventure also offers you the chance to explore the
colorful bazaars and temples of Kathmandu, hike through
forests of 60-foot rhododendrons, negotiate suspended
bridges, and meet with an incredible variety of native peoples.
In addition, as we meander higher and higher along an
abandoned trade route between the towering crests of
Everest and Kanchenjunga (the first and third highest
mountain peaks on earth), you can expect to behold some of
the world’s most spectacular scenery and a wealth of
wildlife. This exciting expedition coordinated by Journeys,
an environmental tour operator, costs $2,785 (the
price covers everything except some meals in Kathmandu) and
requires a $300 deposit.
A Wonderful Juxtaposition
The day after our trekkers return from Nepal, another group
will embark on MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ third Solar Tour of Israel
(February 17 to March 2, 1982), which is, again,
cosponsored with Jordan College. And one of the delightful
aspects of this trip is the constant contrast provided by
that country’s technical advances in alternative energy
forms and its ancient, historical landmarks.
For example, the mighty fortress of Masada lies just up the
road from a 250-acre Dead Sea solar pond that will
generate 25 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year
…and we’ll take in both. In fact, our visits to
solar collector manufacturers, to alternative-energy
kibbutzim, and with top researchers and scientists
will often be combined with trips to Roman ruins and places rich in Biblical significance.
And–best of all–the price of this 13-day
excursion has actually decreased, since we first
announced it, to $1,495. (A $200 deposit will hold your
place.)
A Seminar in Paradise
While many North Americans are beginning to stoke up their
woodstoves, folks on MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ ecological seminar in the
South Seas will be able to spend their mornings snorkeling
through beautiful coral gardens. In the afternoons, they’ll
bike, scuba, play tennis, beachcomb on uninhabited islets,
explore the ruins of Polynesian temples, or sail outrigger
canoes. And the evenings will feature beach barbecues and
dancing under balmy, tropical skies.
All that might seem glorious enough, but our journey to
Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Raiatea offers–as is our aim
on all our tours–a great deal more. Each morning,
when you dive into those crystal-clear lagoons to study the
behavior of reef fishes, you’ll be doing so under the
guidance of Anne and Paul Ehrlich–our Ecoscience
columnists and their equally knowledgeable friends and
colleagues, John and Cheryl Holdren. Then, after dinner,
our tour leaders will answer your questions on some of the
most pressing ecological problems of our time.
This journey–originally scheduled for November 27 to
December 11, 1981–has been moved forward: It’s now
set for November 29 to December 13, 1981. The price of the
tour, however, remains the same: $2,295, including most
meals, and we need only $100 to reserve one of the few
spaces still open.
A Cruise in the Sun
While some of our readers snooze under South Pacific palms,
others will enjoy a cruise, aboard the M/S World
Renaissance, that will combine stopovers at the islands of
Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Saint
Thomas, and Barbados with the study of alternative energy
systems. Cosponsored with Jordan College and the University
of Puerto Rico’s Center for Energy and Environmental
Research (CEER), the trip promises to provide numerous
opportunities to explore energy facilities in the Caribbean
islands. In addition, there’ll be shipboard lectures on
alternative energy options.
This week-away-from-winter-and-worries, which begins in San
Juan, is scheduled for December 5-12, 1981 at a cost of
$745 per person …and $200 reserves your space aboard.
A River Like No Other
Imagine yourself days from any hint of civilization,
running a river that’s been fully explored only in the last
decade. There, icebergs the size of small towns crack off
the face of sapphire blue glaciers, crash into the water
with a force that makes the ground tremble like jelly, then spin slowly in the water looking like mammoth,
prismatic jewels while bald eagles soar overhead.
As night falls, the aurora borealis flashes its furious
colors across the horizon and wild creatures make tracks
outside your tent.
If you’d like to make that fantasy a reality, join our
August 15-26, 1982 Alaska Raft Trip on the Tatshenshini
River. It costs only $1,490 from Haines, Alaska and back to
Haines (the deposit is $250) and there’s just no
way–in the space here–that we can even begin to
describe this incredible adventure that Sobek Expeditions
is putting together for us. As Henry Morton Stanley once
said: “Ah, fellows, this is a journey worthy to be called a
journey! ”
But then, we think that’s true of all of MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ Tours.
