We have a Canon Sx130 IS. We really love it; I wouldn't give up my D7000 for it, but it is far easier to carry and handles ~95% of the pictures as well as the D7000 does. Manual modes, even manual focus. It's a bit hard on batteries but I'm told the lithium ones work better in it (haven't tried them ourselves). This model is obsolete, and I think the current one is the 150.
My wife had it on a photo safari (class) a few years back when I only had the D70. The instructor came up to her and said, "You know, we're all jealous - we spent a lot more but your pictures are just as good." It has a pretty good zoom, perhaps 300mm equivalent IIRC.
My biggest gripe aside from the batteries is the lack of Raw output, but that aftermarket Canon firmware (chkdk I think) supposedly will fix that (haven't gotten it working yet). Otherwise, it's an extremely capable camera, at a ~$200 price point, give or take.