Los Angeles Times - 08.09.2019

L6 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2019 LATIMES.COM/TRAVEL

THE CONCIERGE

Which small country

is on the western

border of Austria?

• 
  

  Moldova

  
  


• 
  

  Andorra

  
  


• 
  

  Liechtenstein

  
  

Answer below. Source:
National Geographic Bee

GEO QUIZ

Seven Stars Resort & Spa in Turks

and Caicos recently completed a $12-

million makeover. Now the Grace

Bay Beach resort on the island of

Providenciales has rooms on sale.

The deal: The December flash sale

takes 45% off oceanfront and ocean-

view rooms. The resort has 167

rooms, an expanded spa and fitness

center, and a second, adults-only,

pool. Perks include daily breakfast,

morning yoga and use of kayaks,

paddleboards and snorkeling gear.

Book by Sept. 15 for travel Dec. 1-19.

Info: Seven Stars Resort & Spa,

bit.ly/sevenstarsgracebay

DEAL OF THE WEEK

December bargains

in Turks and Caicos

THE STUNNINGlocation of the Seven Stars Resort & Spa in Turks

and Caicos, the British crown colony islands in the West Indies.

Seven Stars Resort & Spa

NAMIBIA

Embark on an off-the-grid

wellness adventure in Afri-

ca, where two new Zannier

lodges offer weeklong Zen

and yoga retreats. Oma-

anda, on the plains of Na-

mibia, and Sonop, in the

Namib Desert, feature

programs developed by

yoga expert Katy Misson.

They combine yoga with

meditation and mindful-

ness classes keyed to each

guest. There are also spa

treatments and guided

excursions, including game

drives in Namibia, safari

walking tours and desert

horseback rides.

Dates: Nov. 30-Dec. 8

Price:From about $8,144

per person, double occu-

pancy; $9,351 for a single

room. Includes accommo-

dations, meals, yoga classes,

two spa treatments, game

drives, tours, biking and

other activities. Interna-

tional airfare not included.

Info: Omaanda, bit.ly/oma

andalodge; Sonop, bit.ly

/sonoplodgeor email ade

[email protected]

— Rosemary McClure

EUROPE

Yule markets

Wander Christmas markets

on a six-day budget-priced

Danube River cruise with

Riviera River Cruises. The

ship glides by snow-covered

hills on the Danube Bend

and visits Budapest, Hun-

gary; Bratislava, Slovakia;

and Vienna. It includes

tours that take in Bu-

dapest’s parliament build-

ing and Castle District,

Bratislava’s old town and

castle and Vienna’s St.

Stephen’s Cathedral and

Hofburg palace complex.

There’s time to shop for

artisan decorations, sea-

sonal treats and music.

Dates:Nine December

departures.

Price: From $1,009 per per-

son, double occupancy.

Includes accommodations

and meals on board, three

visits and tours, and port

charges and taxes. Interna-

tional airfare not included.

Info:Riviera River Cruises,

(888) 838-8820, bit.ly/yule

tidemarketscruise

— Rosemary McClure

KENTUCKY

Bikes ’n’ bourbon

Visit horse farms and sam-

ple bourbon in bluegrass

country on a six-day bike

tour organized by Trek

Travel. Highlights include

cycling past Kentucky

Horse Park and through

Keeneland Race Course, a

private tour and tasting at

Castle & Key Distillery, a

cruise on the Delta Belle

riverboat, a hayride tour of

the Shaker Village of Pleas-

ant Hill and a visit to Mead-

owCreek Farm to learn

about horses. Tour begins

and ends in Lexington, Ky.,

recommended for recre-

ational and avid riders.

Dates:May 3-8, 10-15, 17-22

and May 31-June 5

Price:From $3,099 per

person, double occupancy.

Includes five nights’ accom-

modations, most meals,

bicycles (e-bikes available),

guides and support van.

Airfare not included.

Info:Trek Travel, (866)

464-8735, bit.ly/kentucky

biketour

— Anne Harnagel

TOURS &

CRUISES

Become

one with

nature

GEO QUIZ ANSWER:

Liechtenstein

If you want to see nature’s
most spectacular light show
this fall and winter, you’ll
want to venture north. Here
are five places to experience
the northern lights, known
as the aurora borealis.

Alaska

The best place in the U.S. to
experience the northern
lights is the Last Frontier.
The Aurora Borealis Lodge,
about 20 miles north of
Fairbanks, offers accommo-
dations along with aurora
tours for those staying at
area hotels. The Premier
Aurora Tour will pick you up
at your hotel at 10 p.m. and
return you about 2:30 a.m. for
$75 or $85 per person (chil-
dren for $45); a Self-Drive
Aurora Tour is also offered
for $25 per person (children
are $15).

Info:auroracabin.com

Canada

The Northern Lights Trad-
ing Post will help you experi-
ence the emerald skies of the
Canadian Yukon with wide-
open views and no light
pollution. A night at then-
earby Lost Moose Cabin, just
north of Whitehorse, costs
about $300 (without a pack-
age) for two people.

Info:northerntales.ca/
aurora-tours

Iceland

Wild Photography Holidays
offers a variety of tours,
including “Iceland’s Aurora,
Wild Black Beaches and Blue
Ice Tour” (about $3,860) in
October as well as in Febru-
ary and March. “North Ice-
land: Northern Lights,
Waterfalls and ‘Game of
Thrones’ locations” (about
$3,560) will be held in Janu-
ary and February.

Info:wildphotography
holidays.com

Greenland

The northern lights occur
year-round in Greenland,
but they can’t be seen during
the summer months because
of the midnight sun. The
lights are more likely to be
seen on a dark, clear night
until the beginning of April.

Info:bit.ly/greenland
northernlights

Sweden

The best time to see this
natural wonder in Sweden is
from November to March,
and your best odds are at the
Aurora Sky Station in
Abisko National Park, which
is known for its clear skies. A
chairlift will take you to the
observation tower and the
station’s northern lights
exhibition., cafe and souvenir
shop.

Info:bit.ly/abiskonorthern
lights

TIPSHEET

Look up at

the aurora

borealis

By Mike Morris

ATLANTA CHICAGO DENVER HONOLULU LAS VEGAS NEW YORK/NEWARK, N.J. PHOENIX SAN FRANCISCO SEATTLE WASHINGTON, D.C.

LAX $340 $336 $282 $497 $108 $452 $148 $106 $180 $418

SNA 362 362 284 536 136 476 172 124 188 432

BUR 362 354 252 539 136 416 168 133 188 430

LGB 336 336 258 574 121 404 168 108 178 450

ONT 332 340 248 585 148 399 164 108 170 418

INT’L AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO LONDON PARIS SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA TOKYO* VANCOUVER, CANADA

LAX $1,146-$1,444 $297 $610-$1,229 $589-$1,231 $1,036-$1,546 $759-$1,378 $295-$607

Restricted round-trip airfares are researched on Thursday, the day before the Travel section goes to press. Fares change daily, and availability is not assured. Fares, which may involve a change of
planes, are for airlines serving Los Angeles International (LAX), Orange County/John Wayne (SNA), Burbank/Hollywood (BUR), Long Beach (LGB) and Ontario (ONT). Domestic fares and interna-
tional airfares include taxes and fees. *These international fares vary because of differing fuel surcharges on different airlines. Sources: Sabre reservation system, airlines and web.

AIRFARES

Your day at a California beach is

about to get better.

In a first, the California Coastal

Conservancy has approved $112,000

in grants to improve mobility access

at California beaches.

The awards will go to 11 nonprofits

and public agencies to buy, store and

maintain beach wheelchairs and

other adaptive equipment at 18

coastal sites stretching from Hum-

boldt to San Diego counties.

As a beach lover and power wheel-

chair user, I’m looking forward to try-

ing a beach wheelchair I can maneu-

ver on my own, something I’ve never

done but that now will be possible in

multiple locations.

You can look forward to 29 new

beach wheelchairs (five motorized),

an all-terrain walker (which has four,

large inflatable wheels that can tra-

verse sand), new equipment storage

lockers and repair kits to keep equip-

ment functioning.

The grants include money for out-

reach and advertising so beachgoers

know which locations along Califor-

nia’s 840 miles of coastline have this

new gear.

“We have, in the past, funded

beach wheelchairs at specific places,

but this was our first foray into a for-

mal grant cycle for this purpose,” said

Amy Hutzel, deputy executive officer

of the California Coastal Conser-

vancy. “When you do a grant round,

you hear about places and programs

that you might not have been think-

ing about.”

Jack’s Helping Hand, a San Luis

Obispo-based nonprofit that’s trying

to ramp up a beach program for local

children with disabilities, realized the

wheelchairs available at two popular

beach destinations were in sad

shape.

“The Morro Bay beach wheelchair

was completely outdated and desper-

ately needed to be replaced,” said

Leslie Orradre, executive director.

A new motorized beach chair will

be bought using a $10,000 grant from

the conservancy. Funds from other

grants will be used to buy two new

manual chairs for use at Morro Bay

State Park and Avila Beach, plus cov-

er maintenance costs.

“These are at public beaches, so

everyone can use them,” Orradre

said.

The manual versions will be up-

grades from what’s currently avail-

able, which are lightweight chairs

with large tires that a user needs

someone to push. The new ones will

be low to the ground so you can push

yourself and also touch the sand and

water or pick up seashells.

All three of the new beach wheel-

chairs will have padded seats, postur-

al supports and other accessories to

accommodate children or adults.

Avila Lighthouse Suites Hotel

stores and manages check-out of the

beach wheelchairs. Call (805) 627-1900

to inquire. It’s first come first serve,

but you can reserve weeks in advance.

For Morro Bay State Beach, call

the harbor department at (805) 772-

6254. Let them know when you’ll ar-
      rive and they will bring the equip-
      ment to you at the Morro Rock park-
      ing lot.
      The conservancy will begin dis-
      bursing the funds in the next couple

of months, Hutzel said.

The conservancy is considering

more rounds of grants to increase

coastal access.

“We received $211,000 in applica-

tions and funded $112,000, so we al-

ready know there is another $100,000

in need out there,” she said.

Who gets the grants

8 $6,672 to Humboldt County for

beach wheelchairs at Clam Beach

County Park

8 $6,000 to Environmental Traveling

Companions to acquire a beach

wheelchair and beach walker for

Schoonmaker Beach in Marin

County

8 $13,762 to Friends of Santa Cruz

State Parks to acquire beach wheel-

chairs for Natural Bridges State

Beach, Manresa State Beach, Twin

Lakes State Beach, Seabright State

Beach and Palm Beach

8 $11,000 to Santa Cruz County to ac-

quire a beach wheelchair and storage

unit at Rio Del Mar State Beach

8 $14,500 to the city of Santa Barbara

for beach wheelchairs at East Beach

8 $14,000 to Heal the Bay to acquire

beach wheelchairs for Santa Monica

State Beach and the Santa Monica

Pier, and for student use at Heal the

Bay Aquarium programs

8 $6,000 to Crystal Cove Conservancy

to acquire beach wheelchairs for

Crystal Cove State Park’s Historic

District Beach and Moro Beach in

Orange County

8 $5,500 to Laguna Beach to acquire

beach wheelchairs for Main Beach

8 $11,100 to Oceanside to acquire

beach wheelchairs for Oceanside Pier

and Oceanside Harbor Beach

8 $13,620 to the city of San Diego to ac-

quire beach wheelchairs for Mission

Beach, Pacific Beach and Ocean

Beach

JON MENZIES pushes Sean Goral in a beach wheelchair alongside his dog Spirit in Santa Barbara.

Josh Gill

ALL SYSTEMS GO

By Yomi S. Wrong

Seeing more of the shore

New beach wheelchairs

will enhance access along

the coast, thanks to

Coastal Conservancy grants.

Fare:$98 round trip, includ-

ing all taxes and fees, from

LAX to San Francisco on

Southwest

Restrictions:Subject to

availability. Tickets must be

purchased by Thursday.

For travel through March 4

(excluding holiday blackout

dates) with 14-day advance

purchase.

Info:(800) 435-9792,

southwest.com

Source:Airfarewatchdog

.com

$98 TO BAY AREA