Kruger and Etosha are roughly the same size, but the former has about ten times the number of large mammals. On the other hand Etosha is a lot more open, game is easier to see. In the rainy season Etosha's elephants mostly head west (Hobatere) or south to the Mopane woodlands. It is quite possible to drive through Etosha from one end to the other and see nary an elephant.Kruger is jam-packed during the SA summer vacation, mid-December to early January is the worst time to visit by far. Rather go to Johannesburg Zoo, they have polar bears as well.

1) NWR's reputation is deserved. They've been providing awful service for as long as they have existed. Most likely thoroughly corrupt too.

If you want to stay outside the park, Hobatere (west) and Ongava (south) are your best bets. I would pick the former. The have floodlit waterholes.

For obvious reasons, less game will visit the waterholes in the rainy season. Rainfall is of course unpredictable, so no way of knowing for sure in advance what it will be like this December.

2) As you say, it is a very long haul, and the road is not too exciting. I can imagine kids getting bored pretty soon. Easily.

You could try Canyon Lodge close to the Fish River Canyon. Second largest canyon in the world after the Grand, looks pretty cool from the rim.

3) Namibians roads are just fine, you can thank the Germans for that, whilst engaging in genocide they also found the time to lay out and excellent road and rail network. The SADF then improved on that while fighting the Angolan Border War. A 2WD/SUV will do the trick. Tar all the way up from Cape Town to both Namutomi and Anderson gates.

Johan