I have been on Safari 3 times. Obviously I enjoyed it enough to do it multiple times and I would go again.
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TIL…Pokemon Go is still a thing…
Would you say you’re pining for the fjords?
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my kids did (do) - no idea
where?
leaning towards Kenya (my daughter did a semester there); discussing South Africa, but not sure we want to devote the time for all the additional sight seeing, and may just do Safari
“Seattle”??
South Africa and Tanzania. Safari experiences at places can be wildly different. They can range in extremes from some of the top luxury hotels in the world to self driving and staying in camp lodges. The price ranges are extreme.
Probably more detail than you want to know:
Summary
First safari was Kruger in South Africa. We hired a guide to drive us around and we stayed in camp lodges. It was relatively cheap. It was the opposite of a gourmet experience, but we had enjoyed it a lot and had lots of good animal sightings. That company no longer appears to be in business (we took this trip in 1999), but I’m sure you could find something similar.
Second safari was also in Kruger, sometime around 2009. We booked it through a company that owns 2 lodges, one in Sabi Sands that borders Kruger and one in a “private concession” inside Kruger. Sabi Sands is absolutely thick with cats. We saw cats up close every day: lions, leopards, cheetah,… including a leopard kill where the cat chased a small antelope around our land rover. If you are into cats in particular, I think Sabi Sands is a great spot for cats. There are multiple lodges to chose from in the area, and the place we booked is called Idube. It can get quite crowded around a nice cat sighting, with multiple land rovers jockeying for position to get a view. In sabi sands we got escorted to our room each night and must remain their until the morning for another escort due to big game in immediate proximity of the camp. Their other lodge Lukimbi is inside Kruger. They have exclusive access to a big acreage in Kruger. It was much quieter and more luxurious. We even had our own private pool and an outdoor shower. Had a giraffe walk right past me while I was showering one day. Elephants in particular hang out around there a lot. It is normally against the law to leave your vehicle in Kruger outside of the fenced camp lodge areas for good reason. However, the private concessions can make their own rules. One unique experience Lukimbi offers is the option to take a day hike through the bush. You will not see any other humans, and you can get up close to big game if you choose to. 2 guides carry high powered rifles on the walk. I got quite close to a rhino that day while on foot. It is much harder to see cats at Lukimbi, as it’s a huge acreage that the lodge has to itself.
The most recent safari we took was in Tanzania a few years ago, where we went on safari in both the Serengheti and Ngorogoro crater. Serengheti was a tent camp, but it was quite nice for tents. The tents even had full baths with hot showers, although you had to ask an employee to come dump a hot hot water tank for you to shower. It was a bit in between Sabi Sands and Lukimbi in terms of both people around and animal activity. Lots of great animal sightings and pretty good food. Saw a great lion kill up close here, while the nearby film crew missed it checking out other lions in the area.
Want to see an extreme example of a high end spot? Per Forbes this spot is in Sabi Sand and at one point was ranked the second best hotel on earth by Travel + Leisure and eighth best in the world by Conde Nast Traveler’s reader’s poll. https://singita.com/lodge/singita-boulders-lodge. As expensive as this place is, you can spend even more per day for some experiences. IMO you can have an awesome luxury experience with great game sighting for a fraction of the cost of these super luxury places.
South Africa's Best Safari Lodges & Kruger National Park
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some else I know ( from CT) is in WA
definitely not looking highest end or resort.
I am a bit more liquid (financial) and fluid (adaptable to camping) then the people we will be with
moderate cost (on scale of things); mid range accommodations, keep to a 10 days or so
Jeez, I feel this. My spouse was on the phone with their doctor today and said “is it OK if I drink wine on the weekends?”. Me in the background "the weekends? THE WEEKENDS? YOU MEAN LIKE “NOT ON TUESDAYS?”.
But there’s no live love laugh stuff in the house. Couple times crap has snuck in the front door but I’ve put my foot down and it gets taken elsewhere.
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10 days is a really long time to be on safari IMO. 3-7 days is probably more typical.
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Are you planning on taking Mr. NA with you??? If so, are there activities for the non-quilters??? 
I’ve been getting posts on FB about Star Trek cruises!!! 
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including travel days before, after and during if changing locations
If you are thinking of Kruger Park (or one of the private parks in the vicinity) you could fly into Johannesburg, hire a car at the airport and drive to Kruger. There’s quite a lot else to see in the vicinity of Kruger - Sudwala Caves, Echo Caves, Pilgrims Rest (an old gold mining town), God’s Window (looking down from where the highveld drops away to the lowveld), Bourke’s Luck potholes, Macmac falls (named after all the Scots miners!), etc.
You probably wouldn’t want to go straight to that area from the airport as it’s about 6 hours driving if I recall correctly but you could stop at a place like Watervalboven which is about 3 hours away.
I think the early rains start in September and this is less optimal for viewing animals as they have less need to congregate at water holes. But you seeing animals is highly variable anyway - you can go at the “right” time and not see much and go at the wrong time and be very lucky. Also, once the rains have come, the bushveld will be much more beautiful as everything becomes green. (It’s very dry and brown in the winter.)
Kruger and environs is a malaria area, so don’t forget the prophylactics.
Just for some more ideas, you could consider Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and then pop across to Chobe game park in Botswana. I think that would be a god 10 day trip. (Never been to Chobe myself though!) Also need to check on whether Vic falls has much water in September - it’s probably the tail end of the dry season which won’t be great.
You can also see Victoria Falls from Zambia. Friends went to Chobe in Botswana and said good things about it.
On our first safari where we hired a guide and driver, we did exactly this and hit the 2 bolded items. I edited your post to drop the ones we did not.
Only been to China once but had many trips to India over the years. Travelling around Rajasthan is a good introduction to India and is easy to do independently.
Yes. Either side is good but Zimbabwe side maybe has better views.
One thing that struck me about Victoria Falls (this was over 40 years ago so it may have changed) was the more natural setting compared to Niagara Falls. There were dirt paths and there were no guard rails along the edge of Victoria Falls which was a bit disconcerting compared to strolling the sidewalk with barriers beside Niagara Falls.
The other thing that was disconcerting was that boat excursions took place above Victoria Falls whereas the Niagara Falls boats are safely below the Falls.
It’s a normal cruise with ports, and the thing about vacations with us is that Mr. NA loves to sight-see, and I kind of despise it. I end up staying in the hotel room the whole time. So this kind of thing seems perfect for us.
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