BackPacker,
AFAIK a couple of your comments are incorrect.
1) The G-reg on ICAO license has been done ad nauseam here and I'm sure IO540 or BOSE-X will be along any minute to tell you you can fly it worldwide, not only in the UK
2) SA have changed (not long ago) to class ratings, i.e. SEP (there are several comments re this in various threads on the African forum)
Paratrooper,
My advice would be to go to the US, do an FAA license (which also includes night privileges) and then fly in the UK on that one. Perfectly legal, as the CAA recognize it in G-reg. Once you've accumulated enough hours (from memory 150 PIC and a certain amount of x-country, look it up in LASORS), you can convert this to a UK license by doing the RT and Human Factors (and perhaps one more, can't remember now) exams and a flight test.
Gives you best of both worlds with two stand-alone licenses.
