Hi Frida
i backpacked along South eastern africa twice. once in 2002/3 for 3 months and again in 2005 for 7 weeks. As far as i remenber hiring a car for a long period is expensive. is cheaper to buy a second hand car and the sell it again at the end of your trip. many people does this or at least did them. We got a van and was real fun to have the freedom. another option is to use the buz bus and other companies es the greyhound etc surpraisingly enough transport in Africa is easier than you may think as there were plenty of local buses, van 9sort of really old over crowded vehicles run and used by locals who are happy to take you if you dont mind to travel with goats and chickens, it's real fun. There are as well air conditioned buses with toilet and coffe machine that travel along South Africa into Zimbawe , Namibia, etc but the fare increase with the quality. the cheapest way to go into the parks is actually if you have a car ang go to the park yourself. this way you pay just the entry. You can camp or stay at a lodge or cabins and you can hire a guide. the price depends on the haggling. With a guide is easier to spot the animals as they know where to look for them but you can allways get a map and drive yourself along the reserve. i did that in many parks in Swaziland, namibia, Tanzanie and Kenia and i saw the big 5 , well almost instead of the leopard i saw cheetas but i saw a kill !!!. If you go to SA get the Coast to Coast booklet with all the backpackers . Some of them collect you for free and offer you free shuttles. Hope this helps Pardon my awful spelling, etc