Just doing same.
Moved to SA from UK 3 years ago. My JAA expired thanks to the combination of an untimely medical fail (tedious historic ECG blip just before my revalidation) and then the diversion of moving a family across continents.
A few months ago met a chap who turned out to be a local flight instructor; "lets go flying" he said. After 10 mins in the air realised I could not just give this up.
SA CAA are allowing me to pursue SA PPL "by experience" but I've had to re-sit (and have now passed) all the exams, get a new radio license, medical and will do a skills test next month. Its been superb so far:
1. Doing exams again proved I'd gotten a bit rusty on the technical side. The weather and compass are of course upside down here in southern hemisphere so some new stuff to learn. Plus a few new oddities in the local air law. I've delighted myself in re-grasping whiz wheel skills and navigating 100nm legs across open terrain with 1:60 but without a Garmin! (yes I've got one ready post PPL)
2. Medical was a breeze
3. Radio work is very different here (endless TIBA) as well as those wonderful Afrikaans place names which make ATC laugh (or sigh) when pronounced by a Pommie. "Say again" has become my punchline.
4. Learning new local flying skills has been fun including mountain flying, flying at high density altitudes and over all-round more extreme terrain (more so than White Waltham to Sandown used to be)
My advice...use your experience, but don't be afraid to re-learn and re-practice what were once second nature skills