Which super zoom digicam to choose?

Ok, here I am with my new dilemma. My old Nikon Coolpix is kicking the bucket, as the battery flap lost the hinge and keeps popping open. I love the camera but it's become unreliable, and frankly speaking I would like something which pucks some more punch, especially at the telephoto end. Plus, all the usual needs such as higher resolution (not really), better image quality and so on. A big lens would also helps in low light at short distances, I hope, another of the weak points.
Anyway, my alltime favorite was a konica-Minolta Dimage Z-X (X=2,3,5...) but apparently they're discontinued.

So I have to hunt for a substitute - my requisites are:

1. at least a 12X Zoom, 'cause I want to take picture of squirrel far away. Plus, going to Africa in December, I don't want to have to get TOO close to lions and hippos to take a decent shot.
2. AA Batteries, if I can, and SD Cards too. I don't want difficult and expensive proprietary formats such as xD cards (understood, Fuji and Olympus?) nor Memory Sticks (Sony? Drop them!). Ditto for batteries. If I run out of juice I want to be able to spend 10Euros for a new pack, not 40. Damn!
3. Oh, Video + Audio (stereo if I am not asking too much) would be good, availability of an underwater case (although I can still use the old one for diving, if I can find the case again)

and now, the candidates:

• Olympus SP-550 UZ, with its big-ass 18x optical zoom

• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9, good 15x and swivelling screen

• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H7, good 15x but no swivelling screen

• Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8, only 12x may be but it's a Leica and has lots of features

• Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3, tiny, pocket-friendly camera with a Leica 10x (!)

• Canon PowerShot S3, highly recommended and successful but a tad older

• Canon PowerShot S5 is the new model but it's getting mixed reviews and it's more expensive.

There's also some unlikely outsiders:

• Fujifilm Finepix S6000fd / S6500fd which went in don't remember why, though

• Canon PowerShot TX1, HD camcorder and camera at once but boh...

As you may have noticed, most of them have SLR-like bodies but can't swap lenses. I am too lazy for this I just want a camera with a good zoom, for nature and travel pictures. Macro is important but am not an expert so manual modes and all those jargon-priority leave me baffled. I do not plan on printing the piccies but I definitely want to look at them on a 20" HD LCD screen. Other people would probably get my shows through Picasa.

Please help me out. I already have had some feedback but want some more unbiased, from expert and not so. Voice your opinion and thanks in advance!