South Africa
Dave,
I'm South African but living in the UK these days. In terms of riding, well, it's brilliant.
I cut my teeth riding numerous bikes and doing extensive touring in SA. The best ride was from Jo'burg to Cape Town and back on a DT125.
I also used to do a lot of enduro racing for fun too.
In terms of riding, be very careful of the local transport machines. Mini cab taxis. They are generally Toyota Hiaces and are even affectionately known as "High Impact African Culling Equipment". These things are deadly and you must give way to them or you will always come second.
Apparently the road network is starting to deteriorate now as not much money is being put back into the roads although toll roads are springing up faster than weeds.
Safety is an issue everywhere in the world so be slightly streetwise in major cities, Jo'burg' Durban, Pretoria but apparently Cape Towns still ok.
I'm going over for 4 weeks over Christmas & New Year. I'll be hanging out with my old biking buddies and I'll try to get you the lowdown on the current situation as well as any good info on GS hire over there.
Check out
www.bmwmotorrad.co.za there is always good info available on that website.
In terms of value for money it's pretty nigh unbeatable with £££ to Rand exchange rate. Oh, and don't mention rugby. It's a touchy subject at the moment!
If you need any more in depth info, please feel free to PM me & I'll try to help out.
Cheers
Tok