The GoSA Store still has some Mega Silver Geocoins for sale, you can place your order online.  We also have some stock of geocoins from the previous Mega events available. There is also very limited Jozi Jol Mega 2018 stock left, check the GoSA Store for details of what is left in stock.

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.

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.

 

 

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.

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?
roadrunred: We have lived in Knysna since 2004 when we moved here from the UK. I (roadrunred) used to take groups of motorcyclists riding around the Himalayas and South East Asia but I have now hung up my boots though I still ride a bike in SA (a Triumph of course). My daughter (Annabel / no caching name) finished her Matric exams last year and was on her way to becoming a dive instructor before the pandemic struck in March. Next year she will be studying design in Stellenbosch. I hike a lot with the Mountain Club of South Africa, and I combine my hiking activities as much as I possibly can with geocaching - most of my hides are on the tops of distant mountains. My daughter likes surfing, spear fishing, snorkelling, scuba diving so pretty much anything to do with the ocean.
 
GoSA: When and how did you get involved in Geocaching?
roadrunred: My first geocaching experience wasn’t quite how most people get introduced to the pastime. I decided to hike up Peak Formosa and was aware that there was a geocache (GC4TMME) at the top. However, I didn’t in those days have a GPS or a decent cell phone with satellite location capabilities. I didn’t even have the cache description so on getting to the top (completely exhausted of course) I had no idea where to start looking. I found the summit book and signed that half knowing that it wasn’t the cache. Only when I got back home could I check on the internet whether I had found the cache or not and of course my first log had to be logged as a DNF. After that I secured a GPS and started to take things a little more seriously! That first caching experience was back in April 2016 and it took 2 and a half years before I was back up Peak Formosa and was able to claim it as a smiley 
 
GoSA: Please tell us about Ashas Creation…
roadrunred: Ashas Creation is a collaboration with my daughter so on the one hand we have the Designer and on the other hand we have the Geocoin collector ( I think I qualify as an addict as far as geocoins go ). It started in earnest during lockdown when we were sitting at home with lots of time on our hands. This is our first geocoin but depending on how well it is received by the public we hope there will be many more. Asha is a Swahili word meaning "life" and we thought it appropriate to reflect an African element in our name.
 
GoSA: Please tell us about the Geocoin that you have designed. Any specific reason for JoJo the Magician?
roadrunred: JoJo is a magician because he can turn up in a number of different guises. On the back of our first JoJo the Magician geocoin is the inscription - If you don’t believe in magic you will never find it - this in a way sums up the geocaching experience for me as when I am out geocaching I often feel as if I'm on a different level from the normal people around me going about their normal lives. It makes you look at things from a completely different perspective and I often feel as if I am in a different dimension. So, for this reason geocaching is a bit like magic and you’ve got to be part (the believing) of the geocaching community to really get an understanding of what it’s all about (the finding). 
 
GoSA: Where can the coin be purchased? Will it be available through any of the local Geocaching coin suppliers?
roadrunred: The coin will be available only on our website ( http://www.ashascreation.com ) - it’s being produced by Craftgenix in Scotland and all shipments will be made from the UK. It just simply isn’t practical to get it mailed to or from South Africa with the state of the postal services here and couriering would just make it uneconomical. However, I will of course access to these coins and if people in South Africa want them, I’m sure we can make a plan. 
 
GoSA: Are there plans for other coins to be designed?
roadrunred: We are working on our second design now and I am pleased to say it will have an African theme. I can’t give too much away at the moment as I think part of the fun of designing is the secrecy that comes with the production and eventual reveal.
 
GoSA: Are you an avid geocoin collector? Is this what sparked the idea to design your own coin?
roadrunred: Yes, I think I can safely say I'm an addict - there are so many different aspects to geocaching which is what I like about it. There are those who are mad about stats, others whose first priority is FTF's, some who like Earthcaches, some who like designing containers for hiding and so on and so forth. I suppose I fall into the category that likes an excuse to hike up a large mountain in the middle of nowhere and I also fall firmly into the coin collecting element.
There are certain types of coin that I prefer over others and I suppose it was the challenge to join these designers and pit our ideas and skills into the arena with them.
 
GoSA: In your opinion, why do you think so many geocachers have such a love for geocoins?
roadrunred: I think there’s always been something nice about holding a coin in your hand whether it is of monetary value or not. Add to this the element of hiding and finding them and the fact that most coins are trackable and thus create their own history which can easily be looked up and followed. 
 
GoSA: Are there any hints and tips that you would like to share with the rest of the caching community?
roadrunred: Having been involved with producing a coin it really opens your eyes as to what can be and what has been achieved in some coin designs. Suffice to say that there is quite a lot more to it than a pretty design so perhaps next time you hold a nice coin just consider how the particular effects have been achieved. You might not know all the answers but at least it should make you ask a few questions from those who do have some experience.

There are many social events coming up, both to celebrate the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016.  Get the details for events near you by checking out our website events section.