Q & A
Lights Over Manitoba
Q.  I understand there are tours to Churchill, Manitoba, to view the northern lights. Do you have information on tours given in March or April? -- Shirley U. Miller, New York, N.Y.
A.  Churchill, on the western shore of Hudson Bay, affords visitors the chance to marvel at nature's wonders day and night.
The best months to see the northern lights -- the aurora borealis --  are November through April when the nights are long, and the best time of the month is the new moon, according to Roger Woloshyn, an instructor at the Churchill Northern Studies Center.
For those who would like to see Churchill's other attractions, October and November is when polar bears gather on the shores of Hudson Bay to wait for it to freeze so they can head out and hunt seal. And June to August is the season for observing beluga whales.
The northern lights are luminous displays seen in such forms as curtains, streamers, rays and patches. They dance across the sky often starting as greenish white and sometimes having a red edge or a green or blue tinge.
What makes Churchill an excellent site for viewing the lights, Mr. Woloshyn said, is that it is directly under the aurora and accessible to travelers. (It's about 600 miles from Winnipeg, and can be reached by air or rail, but not by car.)
In describing what causes the northern lights, Mr. Woloshyn said solar particles, mostly high-energy electrons, are drawn along the Earth's magnetic field. They strike air molecules, transferring energy to them and cause gases to glow just as neon in a tube glows when electricity flows through it.
Typically, tour groups that view the lights are driven to the outskirts of Churchill and beyond in a Tundra Buggy, which has wheels 10 feet high as protection from overly curious polar bears, or taken to the domed observatory of the Churchill Northern Studies Center.
Each winter before and after the new moon, five-day classes are given at the center, a year-round scientific center 14 miles east of Churchill. Information: Post Office Box 610, Churchill, Manitoba R0B 0E0; (204) 675-2307, fax (204) 675-2139.
Travelers taking tours with companies based in Canada are charged a 7 percent goods and services tax, half of which is refundable. Some companies rebate half the tax to non-Canadians up front to spare them the bother of filling out a refund form.
Among the companies with northern light tours in March and April are these, with rates based on double occupancy, are these:
Aurora Tours, Box 355, RPO South St. Vital, Winnipeg Manitoba R2N 3X9, (204) 942-6617. Tours start and end in Churchill, with the remaining dates being March 12 to 15 and April 16 to 19. The price is $488 (at 66 Canadian cents to the United States dollar) plus 7 percent tax. Meals are not included.
Natural Habitat Adventures, 2945 Center Green Court South, Boulder, Colo. 80301; (800) 543-8917 or (303) 449-3711, fax (303) 449-3712. Date: March 14 to 20, with first and last nights spent in Winnipeg. Cost: $2,395.
Operators of aurora borealis tours during the rest of the year include the Great Canadian Travel Company, 273 Donald Street, Winnipeg, Canada R3C 1M9, (204) 949-0199, fax (204) 949-0188. It has a trip from Nov. 11 to 18, with the first and last nights spent in Winnipeg. Cost: $1,491 plus 7 percent tax, half of which is rebated up front.
Brazil's Departure Tax
Q. While getting ready to fly back to New York from Rio de Janeiro, I found it absurd that the Brazilian Government charged $36 per person for departure taxes. How does this compare with other countries? Robert Fucs, New Milford, Conn.
A. With the devaluation of Brazil's currency on Jan. 13, the picture has darkened for Brazilians and brightened for visitors.
By late January, the value of the real had dropped about 30 percent.  So while the tax remains 40 Brazilian reais on international flights, it has fallen to the equivalent of about $25.
The revenue the tax generates is used for modernization and maintenance of Brazil's airports, according to Renato Mosca, head of the press section at Brazilian Embassy in Washington. One such project, he said, was the building several years ago of a new international airport,  Guarulhos, outside Sao Paulo.
Noting that a departure tax also applies to domestic flights, Mr. Mosca said it was Brazilians who shouldered most of the burden of the departure tax. The tax, for example, on a 90-minute flight from his hometown, Ribeirao Preto, to Sao Paolo, is about $5.60, taking devaluation into account.
Many countries do, indeed, have lower departure taxes or other fees for departing international flights.  But with the devaluation, Brazil's tax is similar to that of its neighbors:  Venezuela charges $29, Ecuador $25 and Argentina $23.50.
Some fees elsewhere: $18 in France and Japan, $9 in Italy and $6.45 in Hong Kong -- all of which vary, of course, depending on the exchange rate. In Britain, for example, it's $:20, which is about $33, based on 60 pence to the dollar.
Steiff Menagerie
Q. My 10-year-old granddaughter is an avid collector of Steiff stuffed animals. I would like to take her to the factory in Giengen an der Brenz in Germany. Can you help? -- Mary T. George, Tallahassee, Fla.
A. The factory is not open to the public, but a museum in the same town -- displaying old and new animals, dolls, wooden toys and memorabilia -- is. And there is the inevitable modern touch -- a video, about the company's traditions, which include stitching the last seam by hand.
The company's origins date from 1890, when Margarete Steiff began making stuffed elephants. Seven years later her nephew Richard Steiff, who was taken with bears, started making the bears that became synonymous with the Steiff name.
They are still going strong: Of the million and a half animals made each year (with the trademark button in the ear), 350,000 are bears.
The Margarete Steiff Museum is at 2 Alleenstrasse; the telephone number is (49) 7322-131-1, fax (49) 7322-0131-475. Open Monday to Friday, 1 to 4 P.M.; Saturday, 8:30 A.M. to noon. On the first Saturday of the month the hours are 8:30 to 4 P.M. Admission is free.
Giengen an der Brenz, a town of 20,000 people in southern Germany, is 20 miles northeast of Ulm. The nearest airport of note is in Stuttgart, about 75 miles away.
PAUL FREIREICH