Am beginning to see why people favour the 206 now - not sure I particuarly like the idea of reguarly carting round would-be sightseers in something with a nickname that contains the word "coffin" in it (an3_bolt...nice!).
That said....It sounds as though from what everyone is saying a few hours battling the bizarre little idiosyncracies of a 207 would probably put me in good stead for the more stable 206. And probably drill home the importance of doing a proper W&B calculation as well as a preflight emphasising DOORS!!
Being fairly new at this game (commercial licence holder, 270hrs TT) I'm not 100% savvy with all the requirements of actually having a rating in other parts of the world, but here in NZ I understand it to be just train to requirement and a have it signed off in your logbook. Got the C172 in an hour and a half and the twin Piper Seminole in a little over 7 hours so hopefully should be somewhere in between! Sure having it in the logbook will pay dividends down the line anyway....can't hurt.
Thanks all for your continued responses. If nothing more I'll get out to Botswana sounding a least a little more clued up!