My wife and I want to fly from atlanta to capetown, stay in capetown for about 4 days and then go to Kruger National park for 4-5 days. We want to fly back to atlanta from johannesberg. We are planning this for march 07. What tour operators should we use? Which game lodge? We can spend total about 12000 dollars for everything.

Does your budget of $12,000 include international airfare from ATL to JNB. It may be more helpful for your approx. budget not including int'l airfare, because of econ. class, business class, frequent flyer miles, etc.

But in general, you will probably want to spend 3 nights in Cape Town, maybe 2 nights in the wine region (only an hour or two from Cape Town), then if this is your first safari, probably up to Sabi Sands for 4 nights. Sabi Sands is a private reserve just outside of Kruger with excellent game viewing and a wide range of lodges (in general terms, all small and personal - that is, not hotel-like). All the lodges in Sabi Sands are quite expensive, but some much more than others, figure at least $400 per night per person up to $1000 per night per person. If you can clarify your budget a bit, that may help with ideas for lodges.
Another option may be Phinda (In KwaZulu Natal) for 4 nights instead of Sabi Sands.

Freester.
Until a few weeks ago your wish to fly to and from Atlanta was possible with SAA, however that service has discontinued. I do believe that Delta has plans to initiate the route from December. I also do not know whether this will take you directly into Cape Town and or return you from Johannesburg.
Either way, should Delta commence the flight, the short add on to Cape Town from Johannesburg shouldn't destroy your budget.

I would imagine that the cost of the flight will be between $1000- $1500, which would make your planned trip entirely possible on a budget of 12K.

As for useful operators...... There are many, on these boards, Rocco is doing some wonderful work assisting folks in their Safari dreams, there are others, who post without soliciting such as Sandi, who tends to focus on East Africa.

And then there are a number of others that are recommended with regularity. I would suggest that you drop either of the two above a note, and if you are unsatisfied with their competancies that you reach out to the greater travel fraternity: A quick internet search will deliver numerous results and by all means post whom you are considering, these fodorite travelers have opinions on most, so you'll soon know if you are being taken to the cleaners or buying a sensible deal.

I'm in Atlanta and USED to be a regular one the SAA Atlanta to Jo'burg flight. I still can't over the fact that SAA joined the Star Alliance and bailed on Delta. I have gobs of Delta SkyMiles and was twice able to use them to "buy" first class tix on that flight, and once to buy their new biz class when the discontinued first. I have about 12 miles with United so no more "free" SAA for me.

Delta will be flying the Atlanta-Jo'berg route -- I think starting in Decemeber -- which is good, but if you were planning on flying "up front" Delta's "Business Elite" class can't touch SAA's biz class. It's a 15-hour flight. SAA has lay-flat seats. Delta doesn't. Nuff said. However, SAA is now flying from DC to Jo'berg and they still operate their JFK-Jo'berg route as well.

Forgot to recommend a tour operator -- The Africa Adventure Company is really a good US-based choice(www.africanadventure.com). I also like E-Gnu/Greenlife (www.e-gnu.com) which is a Cape Town-based company. But based on some of the posts I've read here, if some of teh "Fodorites" are in the biz, I'd trust them!

My wife and I recently completed an 18 day trip to Africa, covering Joburg, Cape Town, Lion Sands, and Livingstone under arrangements made by go2Afica.com (the specialist with whom we worked was Shannon). All details, and there were many, were worked through carefully and carried out flawlessly, including prompt meeting times by agents at various points In addition, we were delighted by the specific recommendations of the specialist since we were new to southern Africa.

Delta starts ATL/DAKAR/J'Burg service Dec. 4.