The only trip we made was to Botswana, not to South Africa, so a lot of my information would not be terribly useful to you. There are a lot of websites out there from travel agents and various safari companies that have a huge amount of information on them. Kruger Park is the big safari destination for South Africa, so you might try a google search for that, and see what you come up with. Regarding weather, SA I think is opposite US seasons, so I think summer would not be as hot as during January, for example. However, you can get average high temps on the web at various places and see for yourself. Capetown is a wonderful place to visit, for scenery and wine country, so again, do a google search for that and see where it takes you. With regard to money, the trip we did was an all inclusive one to Wilderness Safari camps, so our experience would not help you there. I believe that Wilderness has some camps in SA, so you could check out their website, which has an extraordinary amount of information. For Americans, the price of any trip to SA has gone up tremendously, with the weakness of the dollar. If you are paid in Euro, it might not be nearly so bad for you. Best wishes planning your trip!