Alaska: Inside a Floating Aquarium

People ask what's new: Alaska's Inside Passage—packed with mysterious fjords, dramatic glaciers, and charismatic marine life—has long captivated families. Next year, the 300-mile-long (483-mile-long) route plays host to a new Lindblad Expeditions initiative aimed at transforming its vessels into outdoor classrooms. Over the past several years, the small-ship cruise outfitter has witnessed a surge in the number of families onboard its boats. For 2007, all of the outfitter's naturalists will be trained in child education through a course designed in conjunction with the National Geographic Society, and all of its Alaska vessels will be fitted with underwater bow camera (http://www.expeditions.com/videoview.asp?Mode=&Page=2), allowing everyone to track orcas and other creatures by operating a joystick in the ship's lounge.

When not kayaking, hiking, or exploring quirky seaside communities, you and your kids can while away the hours on deck, listening to whale songs from a hydrophone and watching harbor seals and their young crowd onto glacial icebergs.

Vitals -

Length: Eight days

Price: $4,840

Difficulty: Easy

Departs: May through August


For more details - http://www.expeditions.com

Paddling Montenegro's Tara River Canyon: The Balkans

In the former Yugoslavia, Montenegro was once known as the Adriatic's St. Tropez, a beach-studded playground attracting movie-star luminaries such as Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren. War ravaged the Balkans a decade ago, but Montenegro's dense pine forests, craggy granite peaks, and steeply cut river canyons survived unscathed. This May, Mountain Travel outfitter leads a rafting-and-hiking romp that takes in the sandy beaches, stalactite-crowded caves, and thunderous waterfalls of the world's youngest nation.

On the ground, you'll begin in the coastal city of Dubrovnik, in neighboring Croatia, and move inland to the wilds of Montenegro's Durmitor National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Trekking along high, rocky plateaus that lead to panoramic views of glacier-formed kettle lakes, you'll also explore tiny villages built in the Venetian style. The centerpiece of the excursion is a 20-mile (32-kilometer) white-water rafting trip down the Tara River's pulsing Class III-IV rapids through one of the deepest and longest canyons in Europe. People always think of Europe in terms of cities, but in Montenegro you’ll find true wilderness, undiscovered by most.


Vitals -

Length: Ten days

Price: $2,990

Difficulty: Moderate

Departs: May


For more details - http://www.mtsobek.com

Peru's Cordillera Azul: Become a Park Pioneer

In 2001, north-central Peru's Cordillera Azul became a protected national park after biologists in partnership with the Chicago-based Field Museum discovered 28 unknown-to-science species of plants and animals in the 5,225-square-mile (13,533-square-kilometer) preserve. Thus far, only four expeditions have been allowed to enter this diverse Andean mountainscape filled with cloud forests, marshlands, and lowland valleys; this year, Sierra Club Outings makes history by leading the first public group into the park. Want to be part of it?

On the Sierra Club's pioneering team, you'll backpack, raft, camp, canoe, and fly by Peruvian police helicopter to unexplored regions of mountain and thick forest. You'll see big cats, Andean bears, and recently discovered bird species such as the scarlet-banded barbet. How did guide John O'Donnell gain access to scout the trip? By making the rounds with his daughter, Hilary, a former Field Museum anthropologist. "It's a true wilderness that has experienced very little alteration by mankind," he says. He's not kidding: A group of what scientists call "uncontacted" indigenous people resides in the park, living essentially the same lifestyle they have for thousands of years—complete with bows and arrows and poison blow darts. I hope we don't run into them, but just knowing that these people are there speaks to the wildness of the place.

Vitals -

Length: 18 days

Price: $3,395

Difficulty: Hard

Departs: July


For more details - http://www.sierraclub.org/outings

India's Desert Royal: Rajasthan

When the British Empire rolled onto the subcontinent in 1817, the Maharajas of Rajasthan were so fierce that the crown decided to broker a deal: They could rule independently, so long as Her Majesty's envoys could play among the luxurious palaces and private nature reserves that dot Rajasthan's desert landscape. Today visitors can take the same liberties on a trip designed by Mandip Singh Soin, the founder of Ibex Expeditions, who led the first Indian camel expedition across the Thar Desert. In addition to exploring ancient palaces by jeep, on foot, and on camelback, the itinerary stops at the wall of Kumbalgarh, which snakes over 13 mountaintops and through a panther reserve. Camel racing, anyone?

Vitals -

Length: 16 Days

Price: $4,100


For more details - http://www.ibexexpeditions.com