Chasing a Darkened Sun to Australia’s Outback

They’re called eclipse chasers. They’re obsessed with traveling to the corners of the Earth to witness total solar eclipses, which cause a bright daytime sky to plunge suddenly into deep twilight.

Now you can join in the adventure.

A solar eclipse safari will journey to the heart of the Australian outback, led by veteran African explorer Eddie Frank and NASA astronomer Laurence Doyle. The trip will depart Los Angeles on Nov. 28 and return Dec. 7.

“It’s the most surreal thing,� said Frank, who led a similar tour last year to Zambia. “You’re surrounded by daylight and suddenly stars are visible. Animals go to sleep. It’s totally captivating. People say it’s the largest natural event you can witness without some kind of destruction also taking place,� such as in an earthquake.

The eclipse will occur Dec. 4 but will be visible only in the Southern Hemisphere. Its path will start in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Angola, moving east across Africa before crossing into the Indian Ocean. It will appear over southern Australia late in the afternoon. Australia is considered a good place to view this eclipse because rain or clouds are unlikely. The next total solar eclipse in North America will not take place until 2017.

Cost: $3,320 per person, double occupancy, including hotels in Sydney, Adelaide and near the viewing site; all meals; train from Sydney to Adelaide; other land transportation, activities and lectures. Round-trip add-on air fare from Los Angeles is $1,359.

Contact: Tusker Trail and Safari Co.; (800) 231-1919, www.eclipse2002.com.

Spain: Castles and More

The museums, castles and cathedrals of Spain are on the itinerary of a low-cost 10-day tour of Spain that departs from Los Angeles on Nov. 8.

The tour includes three nights in Madrid, two nights in Seville, two nights on the Costa del Sol, one night in Granada and visits to Gibraltar, Aranjuez and Cordoba.

Cost: $999 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from LAX, San Diego or San Francisco; daily buffet breakfast and some other meals; hotels; bus with bilingual guide; and sightseeing tours in Madrid, Seville, Cordoba and Granada. An $85 fee is charged for air taxes.

Contact: Doreen Adams at Worldviewtravel; (949) 726-9272, www.worldviewtravel.com.

India: An Overview

A three-week trip to India will visit the subcontinent’s best-known cities and tourist destinations, including Mumbai (Bombay), Delhi, Madras and Agra, site of the Taj Mahal. The itinerary also includes visits to Singapore and Katmandu in Nepal.

Simon George, an Indian-born physics professor at Cal State Long Beach, will lead the tour in conjunction with Sita World Travel Inc. This will be the fourth time George has taken a tour group to India.

Also on the itinerary are the southern cities of Trivandrum and Cochin, Udaipur, Jaipur, Khajuraho and its temples, and Varanasi (Benares), considered one of the holiest cities on the Ganges River.

Cost: $5,200 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, airport transfers, air and ground transportation within India, first-class hotels, all meals, entrance fees, tour guides and lectures.

Contact: Simon George; (562) 985-4848, e-mail [email protected].

D.C.: Colonial Heritage

See the sites and sounds that launched the red, white and blue on an eight-day history and heritage tour of Washington, D.C., Colonial Williamsburg and Philadelphia.

The Oct. 16 trip, timed to take advantage of the autumn foliage, includes two nights in Washington, one night in Williamsburg, one night in Charlottesville, Va.--home of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello estate--one night in Amish/Pennsylvania Dutch country and one night in Philadelphia. Included in the Washington segment are tours of the Capitol and the National Cathedral and a night visit to illuminated memorials and monuments.

Along the route, the group will stop at Jamestown, Yorktown and Fredericksburg in Virginia and Valley Forge and the Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania. They will also visit Mt. Vernon, George Washington’s home, and drive through the colorful Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

Cost: $1,769 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, San Diego or other major Southern California airports; home-to-airport shuttle transfers in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties; hotels; 13 meals; sightseeing excursions; and tour manager.

Contact: AFC Tours and Cruises; (800) 369-3693, www.afctours.com.

Asia: Loop Tour

An 18-day loop tour that takes in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia will visit the ancient capital of each country, focusing on the heritage and people of the region.

The tour, which departs Nov. 27 from Los Angeles and San Francisco, will visit Sukhothai, Thailand; Luang Prabang, Laos; Hoi An, Vietnam; and Siem Reap, Cambodia. Highlights include stops at the temples at Sukhothai, the temple complex of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the royal palace relic collections of the Lang Xang kingdom in Laos and the remains of the Vietnamese imperial city of Hoi An.

Religious history, architectural styles, natural beauty and culture will be emphasized. Boat trips on the Mekong River and Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake are included. Three days will be spent at a beach resort in Hoi An.

Cost: $2,880 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles or San Francisco on Singapore Airlines, accommodations with breakfast, tour escort, local guides and air fare within Southeast Asia on Bangkok Air.

Contact: Orange House Tours; (888) 529-9677, www.orangehouse.com.

Uruguay: Unexpected

Uruguay, one of South America’s smallest countries, is rarely visited by American tourists. It has a 400-mile coastline that’s one long, white sandy beach, and it is known for its colonial cities and capital, Montevideo.

If you’d like to take a look, a Canadian travel company has a low-cost package that includes round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, hotel stays in Montevideo and the beach resort of Punta del Este.

Montevideo, called the City of Roses, was founded in 1726 and sits on the north bank of the wide Rio de la Plata. On the south bank, to the west, is Buenos Aires. Jet-setters, wealthy Argentines and Brazilians have popularized the beaches of Punta del Este.

Cost: $1,814 per person, double occupancy.

Contact: The Great Canadian Travel Co.; (800) 661-3830, www.greatcanadiantravel.com.

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The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with travel agents, cruise lines or tour operators.