an_asker

Ditto/konagirl2:

Thank you for your detailed responses. I will need to research some more before I can ask more detailed questions, but I do need to share some more information based on your questions.

We are definitely on an economy flight :-), landing on day 1 in the evening and leaving on day 12 in the evening. That rules out a) driving up to Kruger the first day b) returning on day 12 from CPT on the train. My original itinerary (and I am yet to modify this based on the responses):

Day 1: rent car and drive to local accommodation
Day 2: drive to Kruger (or other park) - what are the chances of us seeing wildlife along the way? Would we be sharing the road with the wildlife as well (in the sense that are there any fences that should stop the animals from roaming here)?
Day 3 and 4: at Kruger
Day 5: morning drive back to JNB; fly to Victoria Falls
Day 6: Victoria Falls
Day 7: fly to Cape Town
Day 8 and 9: in Cape Town (one day for Table Mountain and one day for whale watching/boat ride)
Day 10: take the train to JNB
Day 11: reach JNB
Day 12: fly out

Not sure if we need to spend one full day in Victoria Falls or would being there right around 24 hours be OK? If you are suggesting we go for a safari there near Victoria Falls (I was reading a trip report yesterday from someone who did that), I am assuming we'll have to drop Kruger. In that case, how does this area compare to Kruger? Do they have more or less (variety of) animals? Is that area more or less expensive? How about from a general safety perspective?

When are the South Africa school holidays? konagirl2, you said this would be the time to avoid the NP (and maybe other attractions as well).

I am confused about the 'private game reserve' reference. Not knowing anything about how things work in South Africa, at the risk of sounding silly, let me ask: do the private game reserves have (relatively) captive animals, i.e., they are fenced off, but unlike zoos, have a larger area to roam around and they get/hunt their own food unlike zoo animals? Are the admission fees much more (I don't even have an idea of the admission fees, though I vaguely remember seeing $30 or so per person at Kruger) in the private game reserves? Is Madikwe one of the private game reserves?

I wish to focus more on nature, but family would also want to see points of interest for sure.

Typically, where do the boat tours start from - Cape Town or Hermanus or somewhere else? I think I need to do some research on Trip Advisor on these.

General question: Are the game reserves (and/or the national parks) fenced? This is the same as I ask above (in my itinerary), but let me elaborate - if they are fenced, are these fences so that animals cannot:

a) roam from one preserve to the next,
b) roam on to the road
c) come visiting the tents that the tourists and sleeping in?

konagirl2: You mentioned that Kirstenbosch is a 30 minutes drive. Does that mean that we have to rent a car in CPT, or can all these different places be visited using public transportation AND without costing much less than it would if we were to rent a car. If we were to lose out on convenience for not much difference in costs, it might be a better idea to rent a car - unless, driving is tougher! I know you did say taxis are cheap, but I will need to google to do a cost comparison...

Gardyloo: Will read your response and reply later :-)