First Time on Safari to Africa Questions

Hello to all. My wife and I are contemplating a safari to trip to
Africa this coming year. This will be our first time there. I've done
some reading in the newsgroup and the overwhelming response seems to be
to visit either Kenya and/or Tanzania for the first time. I had
originally planned on visiting South Africa, renting a car and going to
Kruger and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi but now I am not so sure. Some of my basic
parameters for putting together this trip a

1. I will spend between 9 - 12 days in country excluding travel days
from the US and back..

2. I personally dislike tours, have never used one although I realize
that independent travel to game parks while possible may be self
defeating. Without knowledge of animal behavior and how to approach, I
may essentially be driving around for a week and spending a lot of
money to do so.

3. I have no desire to be on a bus with 8 -10 people looking through a
small window and constantly driving around. I suspect that in order to
fully experience the parks that one must be patient and wait for things
to develop. I suspect that I will not get that on a typical safari
minivan.

4. I am not looking for this to be a photography trip per se. Being a
photographer myself, I will use a specialized photography photo safari
trip at a later date for that. This trip is designed for both my wife
and I to enjoy and savor.

5. I do not necessarily need 5 star luxury surroundings but we are not
interested in camping out in a small tents. Tented permanent camps are
fine.

My preliminary questions a

1. Is it advisable to use a tour company the first time around? What
do I gain or miss by doing so?

2. Where does one find reputable companies to deal with?

3. Is it possible to combine self touring on several days and hire
guides/driver for other days? Kruger has options like this where you
can pay to go a game drive.

4. Would I better off spending several days on a private reserve?
Although it costs significantly more I might have a better experience.

5. Putting US State Department hyperbole aside, is there any validity
to their concerns about Kenya? Curious to here feedback from other
Americans who have traveled there within the last year.

Any information would be greatly appreciated and I will certainly ask
more pointed questions as I research further.
Thank you in advance for your responses.

--Joel Turner