Elderhostel gives ‘students’ broad view of South Texas

Port Aransas-based programs offered by the Elderhostel organization will take participants everywhere from the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge to the famed King Ranch this winter.

The programs, provided through the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, are run by Elderhostel. They used to be called Elderhostel programs, but Elderhostel Inc. recently gave its programs a new name: Exploritas.

“How do you pronounce Exploritas? Just combine ‘explore’ with ‘veritas,’ the Latin word for truth, and you get Exploritas,” Elderhostel’s Web site says.

Elderhostel is a non-profit group devoted to providing lifelong learning and educational travel. The organization offers more than 10,000 programs a year in more than 90 countries.

In Port Aransas, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute runs Exploritas programs that focus on birding, history and ecology. The programs are concentrated during the winter, when most Winter Texans travel to the Gulf Coast.

Folks can sign up for one or more Marine Science Institute Elderhostel programs at a time. Among planned trips are:

• Exploring the Gulf Coast – whooping cranes, marine life, King Ranch, Jan. 10-14 and Jan. 31-Feb. 4. Departs from Port Aransas.

• Birding the Texas Tropics: Laguna Atascosa to South Padre Island, Jan. 17-22. Departs from McAllen.

• Birding Hot Spots of the U.S. – Upper Valley, Jan. 24-29, Feb. 7-12 and Feb. 28 to March 5. Departs McAllen.

• Birding the Texas Tropics: Laguna Atascosa to South Padre Island, Feb. 14-19. Departs McAllen.

• History and Ecology, Feb. 15- 18. Departs from Rockport.

• Whooping Crane Festival (also known as the Celebration of Whooping Cranes and Other Birds), Port Aransas, Feb. 23- 28.

• The Big Enchilada of Birding, March 21-27, departs Port Aransas.

• Digital Cameras and Island Ecology, April 11-15, in Port Aransas.

Folks interested in getting reservations for the trips should call Exploritas in Boston at 1- 800-454-5768 or go to www. exploritas.org to sign up online. Reservations already are full for some excursions. Costs of the trips vary. See the Web site for details.

Tuition pays for housing at a local motel and for meals. Participants who choose to stay in their own Port Aransas area home instead of the motel provided by the program will get a discount.

Tuition pays for transportation directly involved in the programs but not for transportation for getting to where the programs are staged.

For more information on the trips and the Elderhostel program, call Reta Pearson at the Marine Science Institute at (361) 749-6718 or e-mail her at retapearson@mail.utexas.edu. Information also is available on the institute’s Web site at www.utmsi.utexas.edu/outreach/elderhostelprogram.html.