This young male lion, one of southern Africa’s Big 5 animals, gave us a big yawn for the camera. Photo by Gene Korte.

Lions, leopards, elephants, cape buffaloes and rhinos are the Big Five in this part of the world, but reports suggest one can safari for days here and not see all of them. We got lucky and spotted a young elephant playing in the mud nine minutes into our first game drive. Fate aside, the real credit goes to Singita Game Reserve guides for knowing where to look.

Over five days we viewed wildly splashing mating hippos (a first for a fellow traveler who was a veteran of more than 400 game drives), shy kangaroos, running zebras, even a few reptiles like the 8-foot crocodile and her baby catching fish in a water spillway. And every day complex termite nests as tall as people dotted the road sides. …

The Silver Wind, moored here in Copenhagen, is part of the Silversea fleet that is often ranked first among small cruise ships by sea travelers. Photo by Gene Korte.

The Silver Wind is pizzazz on the high seas. The vitality of its staff, layout and offerings made us feel like we were guests, not customers, on a floating five-star hotel. On our 10-day northern European voyage, we saw touches of the Vikings and glimpses of the czars amidst the graciousness of our floating home.

In Copenhagen the changing of the Danish Royal Guard is as old as the city subway is new. Helsinki’s bustling flower market near the harbor is only a few blocks from the Orthodox Uspenski Cathedral, a reminder of the centuries when Russia ruled Finland. In high-tech Estonia, one of northern Europe’s oldest intact medieval cities is the core of this tiny nation’s capital, Tallinn.

And St. Petersburg in western Russia still has the glory of the past with palaces, churches and its enormous display of priceless art in the Hermitage, while Sunday afternoon bridal parties filled nearby parks, http://www.silversea.com.

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Fast-moving dog walkers and their charges are a frequent sight near the parks in the capital city of Argentina. Photo by Gene Korte.

Tourism is up in Buenos Aires. And why not? It’s more affordable than most exotic destinations, it’s big city fun, and it’s home to the tango and all that this dance brings to visitors who come to this city known as the Paris of the South.

When the snow is flying in New York City, it’s springtime in Buenos Aires, a port city on Argentina’s long Atlantic coast. And the time zone for both cities is the same half the year. The temperature is mild year-round, and in the winter it’s sunny and in the 80s.

The jacaranda trees will be in their spring finery of purple blossoms. And the fast-moving dog walkers and their charges — sometimes 20 or more leashed dogs spread out like moving petals on a flower — will take people-watching to a whole new level.

Spanish-speaking Buenos Aires, perhaps the most European of cities in South America, is a sprawling metropolis of parks, cafes, museums and some 2,000 monuments.

The tango was born here. It appeared in the 1880s with the music and the dance, it’s believed, coming from some combination of Italian immigrants, African slaves and brothels. Tango is taught around the world now, but Buenos Aires is its birthplace.

Visitors can take tango lessons all day in Buenos Aires, or dance in the streets in the colorful La Boca section of town where the Italian dockworkers first settled. At night there are more than 30 tango dinner theaters to choose from or you can skip dinner, find a tango bar and just watch (www.turismo.gov.ar).

Among the popular tango dinner clubs in Buenos Aires is El Querandi (http://www.querandi.com.ar). The night we were there the men were each given a black fedora, white scarf and suspenders, so that they looked like tango dancers. And the women were each draped with a red boa, a red rose necklace and long black gloves. In this club the tango is danced on a small stage in vignettes that tell a story about the dancers. Two dancers and an accordion player in one scene, two couples by the piano in another, a singer by himself and so on during an enchanting evening. This stop was arranged by Abercrombie & Kent, http://www.abrocrombiekent.com.

Many airlines fly to Buenos Aires from several continents, but LAN Airlines (www.lan.com) is a traveler favorite and the leading airline in South America. Chilean and other wines are served in all classes. Argentina is famous for its beef and it is available everywhere in this country, but we enjoyed our best steak flying over Argentina on a LAN flight. Check the company website for details of the LAN Airpass.

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(c) 2011 Diana and Gene Korte

http://www.ihavenet.com/vacation-travel/Bound-For-Buenos-Aires-Argentina-Vacation.html