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Click on trip titles for details and Photo Galleries. CLICK HERE for PHOTO GALLERY of OUR FABULOUS TRIP TO INDIA THIS PAST SEPTEMBER 2011.
ARTS AND CULTURE ADVENTURES to MALI, West Africa Two departures: January 3 - 19, 2012 Vernacular Architecture Tour with Gil Sanchez, FAIA February 13 - 28, 2012 Mali Highlights and Segou Music Festival Planned to take advantage of cool weather, these two fabulous 17-day adventures both include 3 UNESCO World Heritage sites, visits to artist workshops, and many culltural experiences. But the trips differ in that the first focuses on the amazing adobe architecture of Mali and northern Burkina Faso , and the second trip includes the Segou Music Festival. These are guaranteed to be the kind of trips where you meet the hospitable people and go "behind the scenes" to learn about their lifestyles, culture, arts, and traditions. Cynthia and Barou Samake accompany the Architecture Tour, and Barou accompanies the Music/Culture Tour. CLICK ON TRIP TITLE FOR DETAILS CLICK here for MALI PHOTO GALLERY TEXTILES, ARTS and CULTURE of GHANA January 24 - February 7, 2012 CLICK ON TRIP TITLE FOR DETAILS This amazing adventure is designed for everyone interested in seeing or doing ART -- quilters, fiber artists, textile designers, etc. We take you from ocean beaches to forest canopy, with lakes and traditional villages in between! Ghanaian kente cloth is still woven in beautiful patterns, and other arts such as music, dance, bead-making, and fabric decoration are thriving, alongside the modern aspect of the capital city, Accra.
CLICK HERE FOR GHANA PHOTO GALLERY
CARNIVAL & CRAFTS OF BOLIVIA and PERU February 6-21, 2012 CLICK ON TRIP TITLE FOR DETAILS. CLICK HERE FOR CARNIVAL PHOTO GALLERY
Arrive in Lima in the evening of February 6. Next day, we spend a great day in Lima, seeing the best textile museums. Then we head for the charming colonial town of Cuzco, center of the Inka Empire. With Peruvian weaver Nilda Callañaupa [English-speaking], we'll meet textile artists in remote Andean communities and spend a fabulous day at mystical Machu Picchu. This ancient Inka site and Cuzco itself are both UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Then we head overland to Puno, at the edge of Lake Titicaca, visit the Urus Islands, then cross the border into Bolivia. We'll take a first-class bus over the altiplano to Oruro, home of Carnival. The fabulous Carnival revelry takes place at Oruro, from February 16-19. We fly home on February 22. Be sure to click the trip title for the details page. Non-Spanish speakers are welcome; Claudia speaks Spanish and she will be available to help you bargain, find your place in the Carnival bleachers, order food, help whenever you might need to be understood, or bargain for a beautiful sweater!
EASTER IN THE ANDES: PERU with Nancy Thomas, renowned knitting expert March 29 - April 12, 2012 CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOGRAPHS AND TRIP DETAILS. CLICK HERE FOR WEAVERS AND SPINNERS' INFO We begin this classic textile adventure in Lima where we visit museums, and enjoy the fusion cuisine a nd culture of this bustling seaside capital. Then we fly north to visit the best of Peru's pre-Hispanic cultural sites, including ChanChan, ancient Moche capital, pyramids of Sipan and the impressive museum full of treasures excavated from the tombs; Pyramid of the Moon, and the new site of Magdalena de Cao with its wonderful new museum. We will be based in Huanchaco to see some of this area, and in Lambayeque in an historic building, renovated into a charming B&B for the rest of the time. Then we fly over the Andes to CUZCO where we visit highland textile villages with Peruvian Master Weaver, Nilda Callañaupa, Director of the Cuzco Center for Traditional Textiles. We'll meet the knitters and the weavers, watch them at work, and learn to dye alpaca yarns with natural dyes. We'll also get up close and personal with some of the furry beasts! A highlight of this Easter trip is the spectacular Lord of the Earthquakes procession in Cuzco. Then, we spend two days at mystical, magical MACHU PICCHU to learn about the Inka culture and architecture! During the trip we travel by commercial jet ROUND-TRIP: (Lima to TRUJILLO and to CUZCO,) and private van; all of our hotels are safe and charming, and the food is delicious! Andean knitting villages and Machu Picchu October 29 - November 5, 2012 Click on title for link to price and details of itinerary
Fly from Lima afterwards, to meet the Cruise Ship in Valparaiso, Chile. August 6 through 19, 2012 Travel With the Experts! Join Chloe Sayer, expert in Mexican culture and textiles, and Cynthia LeCount Samaké, expert in indigenous world textiles, on this 14-day discovery tour to the beautiful and tranquil state of Oaxaca, Mexico. We'll visit many artists' workshops, and learn to dye with cochineal insects. A comfortable hotel in Oaxaca City will be the base for day-trips tovillages, local arts and crafts markets, magnificent colonial churches, and fascinating archaeological sites. Then we travel south to the Isthmus region to attend the lively Festival of the Assumption, meeting the Zapotec women who are world-famous for their spirit and their gala attire! We will also visit the skilled embroiderers who create the beautiful festival clothing. Later we return to Oaxaca City for free time to enjoy the charms of the shady plazas, the superb restaurants and the fascinating markets and shops. CLICK HERE FOR PRICE AND DETAILS Click to view the OAXACA PHOTO GALLERY
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Behind
The Scenes Adventures are
specialty trips--small groups of friendly folks with common interests
in traditional
festivals and celebrations, ethnic textiles and
indigenous costume, archaeology, cultural
history, art and architecture. If you love going "behind
the scenes" to meet the people and experience exotic destinations,
savory local cuisine, flamboyant festivals, gorgeous scenery and
remote villages where the people still make all their own exquisite textiles, then BTSA is for YOU! 
