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  • GoSA Grapevine October 2016 - MEGA & EarthCache Day

    MEGA 2016
    EarthCache Day
    Meet the Reviewers - ROTSIP
    GoSA NewLogo Grapevine

    MEGA TIME

    Mega 2016 is this weekend, and we hope to see many of you at this fantastic geocaching event.  Keep an eye on the event listing and Facebook page to stay up to date with the latest news.

    You also have until Saturday to put in a bid for the special limited edition Mega GeoCoin

    On October 9, you can earn a new souvenir by learning more about the Earth (aka geocaching’s game board). All you have to do is go out and find an EarthCache on International EarthCache Day!

    EarthCaches don’t have physical containers, but instead bring you to a unique location and teach you a geological science lesson. To make the find, you’ll have to check the EarthCache’s description and answer questions based on where you are and send your answers to the cache owner.

    At long last, the finalists for the 2016 Geocaching International Film Festival have been chosen and the list of finalists is available here.

    These films stood out above the rest for their creativity, production quality, and contribution to the global geocaching community. Attend a GIFF event from November 3-7, 2016 to watch all 16 films and earn the GIFF 2016 souvenir.
     
    Want to organize your own GIFF event? Visit this page to find out more.
     

    Meet the Reviewers - Part III


    Pte Curb, Afrika Rocks and ROTSIP, the three South African reviewers

    We wrap up our Meet the Reviewers series this month with ROTSIP (aka Rodney Pistorius).  Rodney finds geocaches as part of rodnjoan together with his wife Joan, and has been doing this since December 2005.  A close family friend of theirs, “greengrass.j”, got a hand held GPS for use when participating in activities of the 4x4 off-road club he belonged to, heard of geocaching and started geocaching with the other club members. He explained geocaching to rodnjoan who decided to purchase a GPS and start geocaching. 10 years later, rodnjoan are one of the few South African teams to have more than 6 000 finds.
     
    Rodney was asked by Groundspeak in March 2010 to become a reviewer, and after agreeing, his profile ROTSIP (part of his surname in reverse) was registered.  Retired from his full time job as an engineering and operations manager since 2009, Rodney participates in various activities (such as University of the 3rd Age and travel club meetings) in addition to the usual routine tasks associated with home, garden and pool maintenance when not reviewing.  Reviewing takes up on average 30-50 hours per week of his time.
     
    We asked Rodney to share some of his experience with our readers:
    GoSA: What do you enjoy about reviewing?
    ROTSIP: All aspects are enjoyable. The checking of listings for compliance with the guidelines, interacting with Cache Owners (CO's), advising CO's on how non-compliant listings can be adjusted to get them compliant, providing links to relevant information on the Internet, explaining how information should be interpreted, asking questions to get a better insight that helps with evaluation, interacting with the other reviewers to establish a consensus of opinion about specific listings that have issues, regarding how they should be handled, asking the Volunteer Support group personnel at Groundspeak for advice and guidance when necessary, etc., etc.  The least enjoyable aspect is the need to deal with friction that sometimes arises.
     
    GoSA: What advice do you have for new geocachers?
    ROTSIP: They should participate in geocaching for long enough to gain an understanding of the activity by finding existing caches, before considering placing new caches. (The guidelines recommend at least 20 caches). They should attend social events so that they can meet other cachers and interact with them and learn from each other by sharing experiences. They should read the rules and guidelines to get an understanding of what geocaching is about and how and why the various activities should be performed. They need to read and understand the rules and guidelines as well as the terms of use, before they 'tick the boxes' that confirm that they understand and agree to what is specified. Feel free to ask any questions that you might have. If I don't have an answer I will make the necessary enquiries to get an answer.
     
    GoSA: What advice do you have for geocachers who have placed a hide and are about to submit their listing?
    ROTSIP: Before submitting a listing, they should read the rules guidelines and terms of agreement, to ensure that the actual placement of the physical elements and the compilation of the listing complies with the requirements. They should provide sufficient information in a Reviewer Note (RN), to enable the reviewer to effectively evaluate all aspects of the cache placement, and the compiled listing. They should also ensure that the RN includes information that is specified as being required, for the specific type of cache that is to be submitted.
     
    GoSA: Why don’t you go for FTF’s?
    ROTSIP: Being First To Find is not that high on our priority list. It cannot be said that I don't go for any FTF's. As a player my wife sometimes asks me to join her seeking a FTF and in terms of our agreed 'Code of Conduct' there are no restrictions on reviewers seeking FTF's on Traditional type caches. There are restrictions on reviewers seeking FTF's on Mystery/Puzzle caches and Multi-caches because it might be perceived that a reviewer could have an advantage over other cachers, to find these, because of possible 'inside information'. On occasions when we are part of a group seeking newly published listings, we do sometimes log FTF's as part of a 'Group FTF'
     
    We checked how many geocaches had been published by Rodney, and more than 7 000 of the South African ones listed since 2010 were published by him, that’s a lot of reviewing!

    We are always on the lookout for photos from events or cool caches, as well as any fun, interesting, unusual or exciting geocaching stories to share with the geocaching community.  If you want to share yours, send it to us by emailing it to our webmasters.

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  • GoSA Grapevine August 2016 - International Geocaching Day

    International Geocaching Day
    Mission GC
    Meet the Reviewers - Pte Curb
    GoSA NewLogo Grapevine

    International Geocaching Day

    This year we celebrate International Geocaching Day on Saturday 20 August.  Several events have already been planned around the country.  See details of them all here. Isn't one near to you yet?  Maybe you should be organising your local one then.
    There are some other big geocaching weekend events coming up in the next few months:
    GC6FRHH At The Coast (Weekend Event) on 26 - 28 August at Silwerstroom Strand in Western Cape
    GC6N132 Klipkopje Spring Sleep Over 2016 on 02 - 04 September at Klipkopje Dam in Mpumalanga

    Mission GC

    Mission GC is an opportunity to get three new souvenirs during July and August. You will need to decode the special GCHQ47 messages which will become available at the start of each window, although Groundspeak is sending it out to Premium Members the week before.
    ● The window for securing Souvenir #1 was July 30-31, 2016.
    ● The window for securing Souvenir #2 is August 13-14, 2016.
    ● The window for securing Souvenir #3 is August 27-28, 2016.
    Get all the details here

    MegaLogo

    Mega Update

    Only 2 Months to go to Mega 2016 in Cape Town and the  Mega committee has been working hard to ensure everything is running smoothly.

    Get the details of their most recent update here. You can also visit their website to buy your tickets for the weekend.

    If you want to buy any of the Mega clothing, remember orders close on 31 August.

    Follow the Mega Event on social media:
    FacebookButtonTwitterButton

    YouTube Logo

    YouTube Channel

    GoSA has set up a YouTube channel to share various geocaching related videos. 

    The first one we created is an animation of the geocaches hidden across South Africa. 

    There are also links to other South African geocaching videos and to Groundspeak educational videos.

    Meet your reviewers


    Pte Curb, Afrika Rocks and ROTSIP, the three South African reviewers

    We are starting our Meet the Reviewers series with Bruce Pantland, who has been a geocacher since May 2008 and a reviewer since April 2012.  Bruce caches under the BruceTP profile, and reviews as Pte Curb.  He started geocaching after being introduced to the game by a colleague, Dakardrix.  Bruce explained to us that he chose his reviewer handle by just reversing his player handle.

    When not reviewing, Bruce's day job (and night job too as he pointed out) involves supporting key banking applications to keep the lights on for the customers! Given that he also spends a minimum of 25 hours a week on his volunteer reviewer work, that keeps him pretty busy.  In addition, he is the reviewer liaison for the GoSA committee.

    We asked Bruce to share some advice and experience from his reviewing with our readers:
    GoSA: What do you enjoy about reviewing?
    Pte Curb: Interacting with the folk from around the country as they brainstorm new caches as well as helping newbies get started.

    GoSA: What advice do you have for new geocachers?
    Pte Curb: Read the guidelines and then read them again before placing your first cache. Also find a few before trying to hide any.

    GoSA: What advice do you have for geocachers who have placed a hide and are about to submit their listing?
    Pte Curb: Check that everything makes sense - Check your location on Google Earth - Is it where you hid it. If not recheck your coordinates. Patience!! Although we try and get through the queue as quickly as possible at peak time this may take a few days.

    GoSA: Why don’t you go for FTF’s?
    Pte Curb: I have never been a great FTF hunter, but if there is a traditional which has not been found and I am in the area I shall attempt it. For example Kompasberg remained unfound for over a month and I happened to be hiking in the area and so I went and got the FTF with JPMZA and MeganZA. Mystery caches are something else because we have insider knowledge which gives us an unfair advantage. So as a matter of principle, I would not chase an FTF on a Mystery.

    GoSA: Anything else interesting you think our readers would like to know about you?
    Pte Curb: I enjoy meeting geocachers at events and finally put names and faces to handles. I really enjoy the social side to geocaching especially the camping weekends away, the PE camp outs and Tswaing Crater events.

    We are always on the lookout for photos from events or cool caches, as well as any fun, interesting, unusual or exciting geocaching stories to share with the geocaching community.  If you want to share yours, send it to us by emailing it to our webmasters.

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  • GoSA Grapevine December 2016 - Down Time & Service Time

    Down Time
    Service Time
    GoSA Committee
    GoSA NewLogo Grapevine

    Down Time


    It's the end of another year.  Travelling somewhere new?  Take the chance to go geocaching.  Travelling somewhere you have been to before?  Take the chance to go geocaching.  Stuck at home with some annoying family?  Take the chance to go geocaching.  Holding the fort at work?  Sneak out early and ... yes.... take the chance to go geocaching.

    Whatever you are doing this festive season, GoSA wishes you a fantastic festive season, travel safely and make sure you find some geocaches.  Hopefully you also get a chance to attend one of the many events to celebrate the end of the year and the start of another one.

    Service Time

    It is the responsibility of any cache owner to maintain their geocaches.  One of the volunteer reviewers has started a process to work through all the disabled caches and those with long strings of needs maintenance or DNF logs. 

    Should you be contacted about any of your geocaches, we encourage you to work with them, and arrange to either maintain your geocache, or archive it and remove any remnants that may be at ground zero.  At the end of this process, old geocaches owned by inactive geocachers should be removed from the game, opening those areas for active cachers and making it less likely to get DNF's.

    Did you manage to get to one of the GIFF screenings and watch the films and earn the souvenir? 

    If not, you can now watch the entire film reel here.

    At the recent GoSA AGM the new committee for 2017 was elected.  The committee is:
    Chairman - Erik Lear (Fier)
    Treasurer - Lucia Rodrigues (LuciaMPR)
    Secretary - Claudia Magno (ClodsM)
    Member - Bruce Pantland (Pte Curb)
    Member - Graham Thomas (ThomasFamilyZA)
    Member - Delbert Botes (Delbadore)
    Member - Carlo Henrico (scubie999)
    Member - Chris Booysen (ChrisDen)

    We are always on the lookout for photos from events or cool caches, as well as any fun, interesting, unusual or exciting geocaching stories to share with the geocaching community.  If you want to share yours, send it to us by emailing it to our webmasters.

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  • GoSA Grapevine May 2020 - Corona Caching

    Message from our Reviewers
    Competition Time
    Meet The Huskies

    GoSA NewLogo Grapevine
    The last few months have radically changed the world that we were used to at the start of 2020.  For many of us, the phrase "New Normal" has taken on a life of its own as we get used to only being allowed outside at certain times, wearing masks everywhere we go, and working from home if we are lucky.

    Geocaching has not been unscathed during this time, and our favourite hobby has had to take a back seat as the globe grapples with dealing with COVID-19.  Our volunteer reviewers have asked us to share their message with you, which you can see later in the newsletter.

    We have watched many planned events get cancelled, and were disappointed to announce that The Bay Cache Bash has been pushed out from 2020 to 25 September 2021, but with the current travel restrictions and lockdown levels, the team was left with no choice.

    Groundspeak has also pushed out a variety of events and challenges. 
    • Their 20th Anniversary Celebration (GC896PK) has been pushed out to 2021
    • Community Celebration Events can now be scheduled until December 2021
    • The Blue Switch Day souvenir is available between 2 May and 31 December 2020
    • The Memory Lane souvenir challenge will only start 1 June 2020.
    • The deadlines for publishing both Adventure Lab and Virtual Reward caches have been extended to 31 August and 31 December respectively.
    This month we also share an interview with South Africa's second most prolific geocaching team, The Huskies.

    We know it isn't easy when you can't go geocaching, and for those of you who were on various streaks this must be exceptionally difficult, but we hope you all stay well and healthy, and use this time to plan some new awesome hides, and solve those annoying puzzles you never got around to figuring out.

    Message from our Reviewers

    TO THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN GEOCACHING COMMUNITY

    As your Volunteer Review team and active geocachers – we trust that you and your families are safe and healthy and assure you that we are just as frustrated with the impact that the COVID-19 virus has had on our daily lives, including geocaching.
     
    We want to reiterate that while geocaching is not specifically mentioned in any national or regional regulations, it is up to each and every one of you geocachers to uphold both the national requirements and stick to the tenants of the Geocaching Creed (see below). We also understand that regulations differ from place to place, and also change reasonably often. We understand that the impact of the COVID-19 virus is likely to be with us for a number of months into the future, and we are committed to getting our pastime back up and running safely and legally as soon as is practically possible.
     
    We ask that you too stick to these guidelines and are mindful of your activities as both hiders and finders and do not create an environment that may cause others to flout the authorities’ requirements in search of a smiley. If you are hiding a cache – we ask that you provide additional information in the “Reviewer Note” upon submission that specifically covers these issues for the next while.
     
    We look forward to your co-operation and are open individually to discuss specific issues you may have on a one on one basis. We look forward to seeing you all in the near future whether on the trail or at a much-missed geocaching event. We remain at your service.
     
    Bruce (PteCurb); Rodney & Joan (ROTSIP); Grant (Afrika Rocks, GeoAwareAFR)
     
    GEOCACHING CREED
    When placing or seeking geocaches, I will:
    1. Not endanger myself or others
    2. Observe all laws & rules of the area
    3. Respect property rights and seek permission where appropriate
    4. Avoid causing disruptions or public alarm
    5. Minimize my and others' impact on the environment
    6. Be considerate of others
    7. Protect the integrity of the game pieces

    Geocaching.com HQ updates the rules and guidelines regarding COVID-19 on a regular basis. The relevant information can be accessed here.

     

    Meet The Huskies

    GOSA - Please tell us a little more about yourself/yourselves, who you are, where you are from and what you do when you are not caching?
    The Huskies - We are The Huskies, Marius and Cathy from Somerset West married for 32 years. I am the owner of two businesses for the past 23 years.  Cathy used to be a travel agent and now does jewellery.   I used to be an accountant.  We both love the outdoors and camp a lot. We go to the Kgalagadi every year and every second year to Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia.  We don’t do lodging but try to camp off the grid as we are equipped for that.  We do some caching on our trip into Africa as well and also invite other cachers with us.

    GOSA - When and how did you get involved in Geocaching?
    The Huskies - We were into 4x4 every weekend and we participated in a overland challenge. We were on the semi-final stage 2005 in Botswana, Mgadigadi pans and one of the tasks was to find a geocache.  I had no idea what geocaching was. Our first cache was a DNF in Kama Rhino. Our 1st found cache was a virtual called Aardvark (GCGYHZ) on 12 July 2005.

    GOSA - What has been your most memorable find?
    The Huskies - The cache that stands out the most must be Table Top (Cederberg) (GCZK12). This was the final cache that we had to do to fill our matrix. We were the 4th team together with CownChicken and Henzz to complete the matrix in South Africa.
    We hiked 25km on 23 September 2012 to the cache and the weather made us turn around about 700 meters from the cache. On the  2nd attempt on 28 October 2012 a 10hr hike and this time we turned the cache into a smiley.
    Another cache was our 10 000th find - Space Invader (Not 24/7. TB Hotel) (GC7QEJJ). It is in an old electronic store and the cache is an electronic space ship dropping down from the roof.

    GOSA - Can you tell us about some of the interesting places Geocaching has taken you to?
    The Huskies - We have been all over the world with caching. Our latest trip last year was to Finland to see the northern light and slept in the Ice hotel. On that same trip we attended the Hamburg Giga,  The Netherlands and Belgium Mega.  We have travelled over 530 000km and done over 11 000 caches as the crow flies since 2005.
    We did some caching in dungeons beneath the streets of  Edinburg, Scotland over Halloween night and found a cache in the graveyard where JK Rowling got the characters names for Harry.  We went to all the places where Game of Thrones in Ireland was filmed.  Did a cache at The Dark Hedges and the earth cache at Giants Causeway (GC5WBX1)

    GOSA - What is your favourite cache type and why?
    The Huskies - We both agree that it is the type of cache that takes you to a special place or off the beaten track. I have to admit I do like earth caches which drives Cathy insane.  She likes the multi caches which drives me insane, so we compromise and do both.

    GOSA - What is your greatest Geo-Achievement?
    The Huskies - Just to get out there and enjoy nature. We are not stats driven but do like to get matrix filler caches when we on one of our trips.

    GOSA - Are you planning to attend The Bay Cache Bash in September and if so what are you looking forward to most at this event?
    The Huskies -Yes,  we are planning on attending The Bay Cache Bash when we back from our next trip to the US. We look forward to another big event in South Africa and seeing all the familiar faces and friends we haven’t seen for some time.
    (GOSA - note we did this interview before The Bay Cache Bash was postponed)

    GOSA - We see from your stats that you’ve had a few months where you had over 400 and even over 600 finds – how did you manage this?
    The Huskies - The months with high finds would be when we are abroad doing caching. We did, however do the power trail in Gauteng as a group from Cape Town in September 2013 and found 555 caches in 18 hours.  We are going to try and attempt to do more than 1000 caches in 1 day in Nevada in August this year.

    GOSA - Do you have any hints and tips you could share with the rest of the caching community?
    The Huskies - Enjoy caching … It’s only a game. Play it the way you want and have fun.

    Cache of the Month

    The COTM for March 2020 was awarded to Eerste Waterval GC29FYX. The cache is situated on a popular hiking trail near Stellenbosch, which features a river and two waterfalls.  The cache is hidden at the base of the first waterfall next to a picturesque pool.  The container is a decent size with lots of space for Swag - this one is a treasure well worth checking out.
    The COTM for April 2020 is Irene Concentration Camp Cemetery (GC7B6N6), a cache by rodnjoan. One of the great joys of Geocaching is the fun you have as a Cache Owner to read an inspired log that shares the enjoyment that the finder had during the search and find of the cache. Even if you are not the CO you can share in this joy as the logs are available for all to read. This month's winner was awarded the prize thanks to the very entertaining log (log part 2) written by Henzz. This is but one of the entertaining logs written by this geocacher over the years.
    Sharing our experiences of the game through our logs is one of the fulfilling parts of our wonderful game. Here are two further examples of very entertaining logs for your reading pleasure: Firstly, the muggle log (and muggle log part 2) describing a muggle journalist’s experience at the Sani Pass Event (GC3AYR5) in 2012. Secondly another example of a Henzz log (Henzz log part 2), this log was submitted on the Psalm 119 (GC2Y5F2) cache. We are not suggesting that all logs need to be dissertation length logs, but next time that you find a geocache, consider sharing a bit more of your experience rather than only posting TFTC.
     

    Nominations for COTM May 2020

    With the South African lock down now reduced to level 4, we can still only exercise up to 5 km from home and so our geocaching adventures are still extremely limited. Unless you are spending the lock down period in a house with a wonderful sea or mountain view, this lock down is also preventing you from visiting geocaches with such stunning views.
     
    In preparation for the time when we will again be free to roam to our heart's content searching for treasures and adventures we are asking you to nominate the geocache with the most breath taking view for the May Cache of the Month. If possible, also send a photo of the view that triggered your nomination so that we can share in the awesomeness.
     
    Send your nominations to by no later than 27 May 2020.
     

    We are always on the lookout for photos from events or cool caches, as well as any fun, interesting, unusual or exciting geocaching stories to share with the geocaching community.  If you want to share yours, send it to us by emailing it to our webmasters.

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  • GoSA Grapevine November 2020

    GoSA NewLogo Grapevine
    Meet the new Committee; see the Geocoin designed by South African cacher roadrunred and get to know the Geocaching HQ Reaper!

    GoSA AGM & 2020/2021 Committee

     
    On Saturday 24th October 2020 we held our AGM at Bruce’s home in JHB. Thank you once again Bruce for opening your home to us for the meeting. We had a total of 23 attendees – 9 present at Bruce’s home and 14 attending via zoom. The following provinces were represented – Gauteng; Kwa-Zulu Natal; Free State; Western Cape & Eastern Cape. This was one of our most well attended AGMs to date so a big Thank you to all those that made the effort to attend!
     
    During the AGM we voted in a new committee for the 2020/2021 year. Your committee members are as follows:
     
    Richard Chemaly Uncle Chem Free State Chairman 
    Lucia Rodrigues LuciaMPR Gauteng Treasurer
    Annelie Panter Panters Gauteng Secretary
    Bruce Pantland BruceTP Gauteng Member
    Ceinwen Oosthuizen  M²C²D Kwa-Zulu Natal  Member
    Erik Lear Fier Gauteng Member
    Graham Thomas ThomasFamilyZA  Gauteng Member
    Howard Crouch waco&winnie Kwa-Zulu Natal Member
    Jonker Fourie FireflyAfrica Eastern Cape Member

    Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions, concerns, or would like to make any suggestions. We look forward to serving the caching community well over the next 12 months!
     

    Meet Knagur Green –
    The Geocaching HQ Reaper

     
    GoSA: Please tell us a little more about yourself, who you are, where you are from and what you do when you are not caching?
     
    Knagur Green: Most of the local long time cachers already know me as Christina, I am British born but grew up in Pretoria and raised my family there and in the Vaal. Through my husband's work we have been blessed to live in a few other countries including the UAE where we were introduced to caching. We currently live in the UK, however, still have family and property in SA. I am involved with charity work locally and enjoy swimming and dog walking when not caching.
     
    GoSA: We noticed that Knagur Green does not have many finds, do you find caches under a different caching handle?

    Knagur Green: A lot of reviewers prefer to keep their cache finds under the player name that they started their cache adventure with. Some will log events that they attend on reviewer accounts, which I do, I also like to claim the virtuals I have found, all other caches are logged on our joint player profile. This allows me to give fav points to caches that I love, which I feel would be unfair to do, if it was my reviewer account.   I am also not a ' numbers' cacher and prefer beautiful or interesting areas rather than urban caching and like finding well thought out containers to a long power trail. I am not saying there is not a place in the game for urban caches or power trails, many cachers love them, and they are hugely popular in some countries, but they are not my first choice.
     
    GoSA: When and how did you get involved in Geocaching?
     
    Knagur Green: While living in the UAE another SA cacher wanted to go into the desert to find a cache, and needed a 'buddy’, as you never venture into the desert without at least two off road vehicles. I think we found two caches that trip. Shortly afterwards we went on holiday to China and found some amazing places via original virtuals and we were hooked. Team Antron introduced us to the social side of the game along with the amazing caches that they and fellow cachers had placed around the Vaal. When we arrived back in the UAE, we met up with the handful of cachers there, including Carbon Hunter, and we have been involved with caching ever since.
     
    GoSA: How did you become a Groundspeak Reaper?
     
    Knagur Green: During one of our visits to SA, I volunteered to help out reaping locally and the reviewers and Groundspeak kindly accepted my offer. Groundspeak then went ahead and trained me further. During annual meetings with a lackey from HQ (Xanthe Terra and I  are invited to attend the training courses annually that are offered to the UK reviewers here) I am updated on any new developments of policy or new publishing / reaping approaches or tools. While reaping over 50 countries is a large percentage of what I do, I am also involved with publishing caches. The area that my husband (Xanthe Terra) and I cover for publication, ranges from Pakistan through to Palestine as well as Cyprus. GeoawareAFR does a lot of the same region when cachers submit earth caches.  As most can imagine, while we cover a lot of countries there are not a lot of resident cachers, so our publication volume is nothing like what my fellow South African reviewers have to deal with on a daily basis.
     
    GoSA: What is the most challenging part of this job?
     
    Knagur Green: I do not really find any part more challenging than another. All parts of the game as a player or reviewer are equally important to me.
     
    GoSA: What is the community response to being contacted by you?
     
    Knagur Green: Most of the time I do not get feedback although any cacher is welcome to contact me through my profile page at any time. What is rewarding is when I do a second sweep and see either a note updating the status of the cache or the cache up and running again. Those who do contact me are sometimes upset as they may feel that I am nagging them, and truthfully sometimes I do nag. However unless they let me know what is either happening to the cache location, or if something is happening in their lives and they are therefore unable to attend to the cache at the time, I have no way of knowing, and I will follow guidelines and eventually archive the cache.  I too am a cacher and would prefer caches active and there to be found, rather than long lists of disabled caches. Some caches I have had to deal with have been disabled for over 4 years, and that is unfair to fellow cachers who would like to either find that cache and discover the area, or other CO's who are unable to place a new cache in the area .  However sometimes I do get a note thanking me for helping a cacher resolve an issue, and I have met cachers at MEGA's and they have all been wonderful.
     
    GoSA: Are there any other reviewers that assist you with reaping?
     
    Knagur Green: If I need help, or will be away for an extended period, I can always call on any of the SA reviewers. If I have a question about a cache, I also call on them for the current local input and advise. For other areas I reap I ask Xanthe Terra, who is my back up for those areas. If an EC comes onto a NA list, I contact GeoawareAFR as they are his speciality, but EC are rarely archived. Reviewers work as a team and they are always willing to help each other out where needed.
     
    GoSA: On average how many caches do you archive in a year? Could you give us an indication of SA vs other countries?
    Knagur Green: This is the one question I cannot answer, because I have never bothered to look. I hate having to archive and would prefer a cache to be maintained and ready to be found again. Due to this I will often go beyond the 30 days should there be an indication that the CO will maintain their cache. It is why contact on the listing is so important
     
    GoSA: What maintenance tips can you give the community?
     
    Knagur Green: Think seriously before you place caches far from home. Think of your maintenance plan when you place your cache. Can you get to it easily or do you have a fellow cacher willing to maintain it within a month if something happens? No matter how good your cache is, how well you hide it, how waterproof it is, others are going to find it. The cap may not be sealed properly, it may not be put back like you had it, a non cacher or an animal may find it.  If it does go missing, disable your listing, keep the listing updated.  If a reviewer places a note on your listing, update above it.

    Jojo The Magician GeoCoin

     
    We are very excited to share with you some pics of the JoJo the Magician geocoin that is being produced by South African geocacher roadrunred of Ashas Creation. These coins are going on sale from 2 November 2020. They can be purchased via the website https://www.ashascreation.com 
     
    Below is the Emerald version (RE 40) Front and Rear and the Pearl version (AE10) also Front and Rear - it is the Pearl version that it to be given away by "Magic". More info can be found on Facebook @ashascreates. There are 6 other versions that are available.
     
    Jojo The Magician Emerald Version
    Jojo the Magician Pearl Version

    Cache of the Month Winner: October

    In October we celebrated the wonderful Hotels where the TBs and Geocoins were kept safe during the lock down. Now that the local travel limitations have been lifted and international borders are opening a little bit, these little travellers can dust themselves off and pack their bags again to continue their travels through the world from cache to cache. 
     
    The COTM for October 2020 is awarded to Port Elizabeth Beachfront TB Hotel (GC558ZR). Apart from the wonderful beaches and historical sites in the Friendly City, this TB Hotel is a must visit location for any visitor to Port Elizabeth. This cache was created in May 2014 by FireflyAfrica and has become a famous Geocaching landmark in the Eastern Cape. The cache is well worth a visit by geocachers as well as TBs and Geocoins.
     

    Cache of the Month: November


    This month is all about Virtuals, more specifically series 2.0 virtuals. This granfathered cache type saw a growth in numbers when GCHQ released a second limited batch of Virtual Rewards in mid-2019. Cache Owners had to meet certain qualifying criteria to be able to apply and then GCHQ randomly selected 4000 COs to receive a new Virtual.
     
    A Virtual Cache is about discovering a location and an experience rather than a container. So, tell us what it is you loved most – was it the location, the experience or did it have a fun or unusual logging requirement?

    Please send your cache of the month nominations for the Best Virtual from series 2.0. to by 24 November 2020.

    Current Souvenirs

    We are always on the lookout for photos from events or cool caches, as well as any fun, interesting, unusual or exciting geocaching stories to share with the geocaching community.  If you want to share yours, send it to us by emailing it to our webmasters.

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  • GoSA Grapevine October 2018 - Mega Feedback

    MEGA Feedback
    You Might Be A Geocacher If ...
    Cache of the Month
    2018 Geocaching International Film Festival Screening Weekend
    Treasure Hunting For Fun
    GoSA NewLogo Grapevine

    MEGA FEEDBACK

     
    So the Mega Event, GC7DAJM 2018 Jolly Jozi Jol is a memory now, but it certainly isn't fading yet.  For those of you able to join us from all over the country (and some from all over the world), thanks for making the trip. It was a day of great adventure, and many interesting stories.  The highlights included having all the South African reviewers on a talk panel (even those not usually based in South Africa).

    Afrika Rocks/geoawareAFR (Grant Little), Xanthe Terra (Andre van Vuuren), Knagur Green (Christina van Vuuren), ROTSIP (Rodney Pistorius), Pte Curb (Bruce Pantland)

    We performed a CITO with a difference when in addition to cleaning up a bit, we also planted some new trees.

    And that was all on top of discovering hundreds of geocoins at the coin fest, as well as finding many awesome geocaches hidden just for the event.
     

    MEGA STORE

    The GoSA Store still has some Mega silver geocoins for sale, you can place your order online.

    You Might Be A Geocacher If...

    Last month, Groundspeak introduced a new four-month series called “You might be a geocacher if…” Each month from September through December, you can use the Friend League to individually earn points toward a new Geocacher Personality Souvenir. Are you an Adrenaline Junkie? A Caching Connoisseur? A Social Butterfly? A Trackable Lover? Collect them all to be the ultimate geocacher.

    In October, you might be a Caching Connoisseur if… you’re all about creativity, the higher the Favourite Points the better, and like a fine wine these quality caches have stood the test of time. 

    Find out how to earn your October souvenir here.

    Cache of the Month

    Multi geocaches are often not found as much as they could be. This cache type and especially this month's COTM which is GC7CKVM Teamwork Puzzles definitely deserves to be found! Well done to TheSchuttes on creating an epic 7 stage multi with unique puzzles at each waypoint.  

    For the month of November, we will highlight a geocache placed for the recent Mega - Jolly Jozi Jol. Please tell us which Mega JJJ geocache really stood out for you. Please send your nominations to .

    2018 Geocaching International Film Festival Screening Weekend

     

     

    The 2018 Geocaching International Film Festival asked filmmakers to film a great story about the game we love.  See how the community has turned geocaching into an art form by attending a 2018 GIFF Event. The films screen worldwide over 8 - 12 November 2018 at an event near you.

    Also, anyone who attends an official GIFF Event will receive the 2018 GIFF souvenir.

    Our list of South African GIFF events is available here together with instructions on how to register your own GIFF viewing event if there isn't one near you yet.

    Treasure Hunting For Fun

    It is engrained into our psyche to go treasure hunting and if you had any doubt, watch how kids love to go searching for a treasure at parties. The reward one feels when finding a treasure is worth much more than the treasure itself, whether the treasure be pieces of eight, doubloons, alchemical wands or just trinkets.
     
    It is believed that Robert Louis Stevenson was inspired by the notorious Captain William Kidd when writing Treasure Island. Captain Kidd was originally tasked by the English government to rid the waters of pirates and other enemy vessels (such as the French) in the 17th century. His pay would have been half the spoils. He crossed the line from privateer to pirate when he attacked an American vessel, commissioned by an English company, flying a French flag.
     
    When he was finally arrested and tried, Kidd was unwilling to testify against the lords who had originally contributed to his appointment as privateer and furthermore, it was discovered many years later that records which would have saved Kidd’s life were deliberately suppressed. He was sentenced to be hanged on the May 23rd, 1701.  If Jack Sparrow was real, he would have been inspired by how Captain Kidd managed to survive the first two attempts by the executioner because the rope snapped each time. The third attempt was successful.   Captain Kidds’ ship, Adventure Galley, was sunk off the coast of Madagascar, and it has taken 300 years of searching the area for the first 50kg bar of silver to be recovered from the wreck. It was later discovered that this bar of silver was actually mostly lead, and if it was in the Adventure Galley, it might have been there just to help weigh the ship down to sink it. Diving deep into the ocean trying to find a pirate’s treasure is an extreme form of treasure hunting, but finding that bar of lead-infused silver must have been such a thrill for Barry Clifford, the explorer who found it.
     
    A blue Lapis Lazuli was sourced from the foothills of the Himalayas, and a Rutilated Crystal ball was sourced from Brazil.

    There have been modern treasure hunts set up by inspired people. My favourite so far is in the category of armchair treasure hunting and is called The Merlin Mystery. Information for this treasure hunt can still be found on the website http://www.treasureclub.net.  The format of this treasure hunt was to purchase the book, find 75 objects in the page borders, get the order of the clues right to work out how to array the objects and then discover what words were used to cast the spell.  What fascinated me most was that the clues were all visual, and there was no need to understand English to solve the puzzle or submit the solution.

    The full solution is explained in a multi-page article, available online. The prize was a beautifully designed wand which includes metals and stones sourced from across the world. For example, a blue Lapis Lazuli was sourced from the foothills of the Himalayas, and a Rutilated Crystal ball was sourced from Brazil. The artwork of the wand is magnificent, every little bit has a meaning, and the New Zealand jeweller who acted as the goldsmith had to work for several months to bring it all together. The effort put into crafting the wand seems to mirror the idea that Kell, Blaise and Merlin spent centuries making the wand truly magical with infused Pendragon Alchemy.   When time was nearly up, many people were close to solving the mystery, but in the end, nobody got it correct. The wand was auctioned, and all the prize money was donated to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

    Merlin’s Wand
    (image sourced from the Armchair Treasure Hunt Club)

    There is a modern day treasure hunt using the Internet and GPS receivers that is taking over the world. On May 2nd, 2000, the U.S.A. switched off the scrambling of the GPS signals from 24 satellites and instantaneously, thousands of GPS receivers were vastly more accurate. On May 3rd, 2000, the first stash was placed in a bucket in the woods somewhere in the west of the U.S.A. N 45° 17.460 W 122° 24.800.

    This stash is now considered the first geocache hidden and was found a few days later. South Africa has 20 active geocaches which were placed in 2001. There are over 14000 active caches nation-wide and over 3 million world-wide.  Geocaching is a modern blend between screen-time and getting outdoors and feeling the reward of finding the treasure.  Looking up a geocache when travelling can often result in finding a place you would never have known about and even if you did not find the geocache, the place can be a treasure enough. For the more socially inclined geocacher, there are also organised events. Quite often these are just opportunities to sit at a coffee shop or restaurant and discuss the adventures, but other times there are competitions with prizes. In South Africa, an event catering for 500 people has been held every 2 years since 2012.

    Online puzzle solving and treasure hunting is becoming more prevalent. In 2012 a complex challenge, that is claimed to be the hardest online challenge, was created by Cicada 3301. Some think that either the Illuminati or the Stone Masons are behind it, but that seems rather unlikely.  I became quite interested in this and had to see what it was about. Because the palindromic prime number 1231507051321 appeared in the puzzle I looked it up to see what the significance was. To my surprise I found a twitter account with that name and I read the only tweet on that account.  Then I started my journey into wonderland.  Incidentally, it was my maiden journey into the dark web, and I emerged a few hours later feeling the victory of being unaffected by this over-stigmatised deep dark place and the uplifting reward of yet another puzzle solved. Other than deciphering computer encodings to solve the puzzle, I learnt all about what onion is and how the Tor Project makes things secure and private … and a little slower.
     
    A story that brings together armchair puzzle solving (by the Armchair Treasure Hunt club), the geocaching community and a real treasure minted in South Africa is about a hunt called Lucky 7. This short story took place in March 2005 and concluded with a lucky participant finding a Kruger Rand.  The only information for the puzzle is the following image:
    LUCKY 7. Puzzle
     
    Many geocachers participated in a forum to share ideas where one can see how the comments progressed from “this can’t be real” to “Yes, I got it!”  The solution (summarised from the treasureclub.com website) is:  The black line leads to the point farthest from the sea (‘C’) within the UK.  The Ordnance Survey mapping of the spot shows the yellow road with a small building at a junction. A little to the south of the crossroad is a footpath and a timber signpost. The signpost is square in cross section and oriented as shown by the black 'point' next to the '7', relative to the road. At the foot of the post, on the south east side (indicated by the arrows), lay the treasure.
    Treasure hunt prize of a Kruger Rand for LUCKY 7.
    (photo available on the public forum)
     
    Whether one is stuck in an armchair or keen to get outdoors, or if one likes alchemical mysteries or prefer to just find gold, taking on the hobby of treasure hunting does result in personal rewards.
     
    Let the hunt begin!

    Article submitted by Fier

    We are always on the lookout for photos from events or cool caches, as well as any fun, interesting, unusual or exciting geocaching stories to share with the geocaching community.  If you want to share yours, send it to us by emailing it to our webmasters.

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  • Reviewers

    Africa and South Africa have had a few reviewers over time.

    The first reviewer was erik88l-r (Eric van Dyk from the USA - who is one of the original global reviewers who has been reviewing continuously since 2001) and is an American geocacher who reviewed caches for the African continent. He was often supported by another long time international reviewer – Crow-T-Robot.

    Eric came out to South Africa in December 2007 and met the various geocachers in each region on his visit.

    Team "Fish Eagle" then took over the role of reviewing caches from March 2008 till February 2011, and gave over the reins to team "ROTSIP" who was soon joined by team "PTE Curb". For a short time team "Ingwe9” also reviewed South African caches.

    Another two South African expats are also involved in reviewing – team "Xanthe Terra", based in the UK after relocating from Abu Dhabi, who looks after the Middle East and assists in North Africa, and team "protea sangomas" is a reviewer for Norway.

    All EarthCaches were originally reviewed by the Geological Society of America (GSA), but due to team "Carbon Hunter" placing so many earth caches on the African continent, and being in the same line of work, he was offered the position to review earth caches for the Africa and Middle East area. He used the reviewers team name of "geoawareAFR”, and has since taken up the role as a non-EarthCache Reviewer using the name “Africa Rocks".

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