Hi, I'm a student looking for a camera with great quality for really basic usage (taking pics of friends and on vacations - I'm not an aspiring photographer or anything, but just want good quality basic pictures). However, I'm externing in South Africa this fall would love to also be able to capture some decent pictures of wildlife and scenery on my own camera. I don't want to spend very much though, because South Africa has very high theft/mugging rates and the chances of it getting stolen are high enough that I don't want to invest too much. Thanks so much for any advice you can give me!

Budget
preferably $200 or less, but would go up to $300

Size
I want something small and light (otherwise I won't want to bother carrying it around), but would prefer it not be very stylish or likely to draw attention.

Features
Megapixels: not sure - for general use I would think 3-5, but I don't know if that's appropriate for Africa..?
Optical zoom: 3-5x?
“Image quality”: I want great quality, but primarily for pretty standard photos. I don't expect to get phenomenal quality for the safari pics, but would love to be able to have good enough quality to print and frame an occasional 5x7 or 8x10 for my apartment.

Manual controls: I think I'll be doing mostly automatic point and shoot, but would like the option of being able to dabble in the manual world a little..

General Usage
Usage: just for people pics normally, but also wildlife this fall
Print Size: almost exclusively 4x6, occasional 5x7, maybe a rare 8x10?? I would also like to be able to see the pics full-size and good quality on my laptop screen (about 8.5x11).
Indoor or low light photos: yes
Action photos: maybe on the safaris this fall, but probably not otherwise

Miscellaneous
Brands: not important
Models I already have in mind: Canon Powershot A520
Special features: none that I'm aware of

Other
I'd love to be able to zoom in on the pictures on the LCD screen after I've taken them (just to check and see if I want to redo it) - I know some of my friends' cameras do that but don't know if it's a standard feature.
What is ISO? I keep seeing it all over these review websites but have yet to discover what it stands for or what it does.

Thank you for your help!