Two-week tours of Senegal and Mali
Do names like Senegal and Mali stir your blood? If so, the rich cultural heritage of West Africa awaits you early next year.
Travel Plans International is offering two-week tours of Senegal and Mali, with departures Jan. 18, Feb. 1, Feb. 15 and March 1. Highlights of the tour include the flower and basketry markets of Dakar; a tour of Goree Island, once a major West African slave-trading center; a day in Timbuktu, a nexus of the trans-Saharan caravan trade and a center of Muslim culture; the mud mosque in Djenne; and tours of remote Dogon villages.
The tour costs $6,595 per person based on double occupancy, and includes economy-class air fare on Air Afrique from New York. Also included is lodging at Sofitel hotels, meals, lectures and internal flights and land transportation. For more information, call Travel Plans International at (800) 323-7600 in Illinois.
Sleeping in Seattle
Planning a trip to Seattle? You might want to plan a night at this Bunk-and-Breakfast. Jerry and Buff Brown's tugboat, MV Challenger, is moored year-round at the Yale Street Landing of Seattle's Lake Union. Prices start at $59.51 ($81.15 for two) for an overnight stay. The tug's main galley features the original diesel stove, dining area, fireplace and "conversation pit." You'll find M&Ms; on your pillow at night and wake to a seafood omelet, waffles and sausage. And it's only blocks from downtown Seattle. For more information, call: (206) 340-1201.
Accessible attractions
Travelers in wheelchairs should find it easy to get around at the following attractions listed as "entirely accessible" by Fodor's "Great American Vacations for Travelers with Disabilities." Here are 10 of the top U.S. attractions:
1. U.S. Capitol, Washington.
2. World Showcase (except Norway), Epcot Center, Walt Disney World
3. Sea World, San Diego
4. Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
5. Universal Studios, Hollywood
6. Radio City Music Hall, New York
7. Viewmobile sightseeing trains, Niagara Falls
8. Pike Place Market, Seattle
9. Faneuil Hall, Boston
7+ 10. Trail to Yosemite Falls, California
Learn to ski for fun
If you've always wanted to learn to ski but feared you might drop out of lessons after falling down too many times or getting your skis wrapped around a tree, take heart. Cannon Mountain and Mount Sunapee Ski Areas in New Hampshire are offering a program with first-time skiers in mind.
It's called "Learn-to-Ski for the Fun of It," and the program is different from conventional one-hour ski lessons that teach only the basics. With three days of comprehensive instruction that includes equipment rental and "mountain learning," this program teaches beginners to enjoy themselves as they perfect their performance on the slopes.
Skiers entering "Learn-to-Ski for the Fun of It" at either Cannon Mountain or Mount Sunapee pay $35 for the first day, and receive two lessons. On the second and third days, lessons, rentals and full mountain tickets are included in the package. The cost for those days is also $35. Skiers who complete the three-day program get discounts on ski gear at selected ski shops throughout New England.
For more information, call Cannon Mountain at (603) 823-5563 or Mount Sunapee at (603) 763-2356. For accommodations, call (800) 227-4191 for Cannon Mountain; (800) 258-3530 for Mount Sunapee.