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  • GoSA Grapevine September 2017 - New Beginnings

    Caching Creed Contemplations
    Virtual Rewards
    CITO Week 2017
    Tripod the GeoDog
    GoSA NewLogo Grapevine

    Geocachers' Creed

    Contemplating the Geocachers' Creed, ethics and behaviour
    A difficult topic of discussion is how one should behave when out geocaching. In a previous GoSA newsletter, (April 2016) we had highlighted the Geocachers' Creed and pointed towards our glossary.

    SAFE ∙ LEGAL ∙ ETHICAL
    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
    I have noticed that there are geocachers who drive very hard towards some statistical measures (the simplest being to find large numbers of geocaches in a short time period) and I have given some focus on certain statistical targets in my geocaching adventures too. I tend to give little attention to geocaches that are easy to find (except when I performed a streak of finding a geocache a day for 200 consecutive days) and I really enjoy the success of finding hard caches.
     
    After some discussions in the South African Community and because the game has matured over the last number of years, I felt that we could unofficially extend the examples given by the online resource to include the following:

    1. Not endanger myself or others
    • Be aware of criminal elements, and avoid areas where your instincts tell you that it is unsafe.
    4. Avoid causing disruptions or public alarm
    • When engaging with officials representing the land owners, show respect. There are incidents in the past which have been racist of nature or dismissal of authority, disrupting the peaceful nature of the rest of the geocaching community causing a tarnishing of the game in South Africa.
    6. Be considerate of others
    • Do not claim a “First to Find” unless you did all the necessary work to find the geocache after it was hidden, and be sure that you were really first. Being there first is a challenge that people enjoy, so be honest about it.
    • Because of the sensitivity of “First to Find” it is also reasonable for a geocacher to log a short online found log or written note to be transparent to others that they have been to the cache and found it.
    7. Protect the integrity of the game pieces
    • As the Cache Owner, be vigilant regarding any changes to the difficulty of the geocache. The listed values for the difficulty and terrain should reflect the reality of the geocache – and preferably should not change. For example, changing the puzzle in a mystery cache changes the experience that subsequent geocachers would have when trying to solve the puzzle.
    • Log the geocache and trackable with the correct date.
    • Do not share answers to puzzle caches. Some geocachers don’t want any help, and some may ask for small hints. Very few will want to find a cache without being able to follow the listed instructions in the description.
    • If one can not find the cache, that does not mean that it is missing. Rather do not just replace the cache without the owner’s permission.
    Article submitted by Fier, the chairman of GoSA

    Virtual Rewards

    We ended August with the exciting news that Geocaching HQ announced the release of Virtual Rewards, a project to reward some of geocaching’s great contributors, while also introducing a limited number of new Virtual Caches for the enjoyment of the entire geocaching community.  Read all about the details here.

    Given that we haven't got many of the little smiley ghost icons that represent virtual caches in South Africa at the moment, this was very exciting news.  We are waiting in great anticipation to see who earned a reward and where they will use them.  There are already (at time of going to publication) 3 new virtual geocaches in South Africa, and hopefully many more on the way.  Catch the full list here...

      CITO Events


    Cache In Trash Out® is an ongoing environmental initiative supported by the worldwide geocaching community. The second CITO week of 2017 is just around the corner from September 23 - October 1.  Keep an eye on our website to find a nearby event to join, or organise your own local CITO.
     

      Weekend Events


    Several big weekend camping events are coming up soon too:
    • 29 September - Bush Camp Weekend @ RoChaDie
    • 30 September - At The Coast (Weekend Event)
    • 7 October - Wilderness Camping Weekend

    Tripod the GeoDog


    Tripod is a Miniature Japanese Fox terrier. Tripod as a tiny puppy of only a few days old was brought to our local vet to be euthanized after his mother chewed off most of his left lower hind leg. Instead of putting it down the vet decided to try for an amputation, not knowing if it would be successful on a tiny and young puppy as Tripod.

    The day after the operation dolosC was at the vet picking up one of our own dogs. Hearing the vet talking about the tiny little puppy, dolosC wanted to know more and when she saw the tiny creature, there and then adopted the tiny puppy and brought it home. At home the puppy promptly became TRIPOD.

    For the first week or so Tripod had to be fed both food and water from a syringe every two hours (day and night) and then every four hours etc. That meant that Tripod also had to go to work with dolos during the day and “pajama drills” at night. In the beginning it was touch and go to keep him alive, but the little guy showed great fighting spirit and every day he grew stronger and his little eyes showed a keenness to live.

    Tripod grew up with his two Jack Russell friends Ruby and Buks which are only about eight months older than him. They play very rough with him and he has to stand his ground, which he does with a sharp little growl. Tripod is a little more careful around Jubal our older Jack Russell and very “catfoot” around Miloh our three legged (another tri-paw) cat.

    Tripod functions as any normal dog would and he does not know that he is different. He plays fetch with his ball and runs very fast and can even keep up with Buks! He can swim the doggie paddle and has been knocked rolling by the waves at Kleinzee.

    Tripod became a caching dog with his own Travel Tag (TB TRIPOD) and has travelled to Kimberley, Jan Kempdorp, Kleinzee, Port Nolloth, Ottosdal and Rustenburg and has cached with dolos all along the way. Tripod has become a regular at geocaching events and even shares the rooftop tent with dolos at sleepovers. Tripod has attended the Tswaing Crater Sleepover event and trotted most of the way during the hike. When Tripod gets tired dolosC puts him in her rucksack. His favorite spot remains on dolosC’s lap where he can give soft kisses to dolos.

    Tripod also knows when it is time to jump in the car for a ride when we call him by his nicknames “Tri-Tri” or “Tritjie”, but he does not like his walking harness and prefers to be free to run around unobstructed. Tripod is definitely the most spoiled member of the dolos household and reminds dolos that one can overcome most anything with a bit of love, trust and will to succeed.

    Article submitted by dolos

    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 2019 - International Geocaching Day

    International Geocaching Day
    GPSFrodo
    Virtual Rewards 2.0 Update
    GoSA NewLogo Grapevine

    International Geocaching Day

     

     

    Do you remember that tomorrow is International Geocaching Day? Earn the official International Geocaching Day 2019 souvenir by logging a geocache or attending an event on 17 August 2019. We trust you will have a great time celebrating this occasion! 

    GPSFrodo - hider of first geocache placed in SA

    A couple of months ago we received an email from GPSFrodo, the creator of the very first cache in South Africa placed on 14 January 2001 - GCZA01. Read more about the cache here. We caught up with him and asked him some questions about his geocaching experiences.

    Left: GPSFrodo Right: How the geocaching website looked back in the beginning of 2001, when GCZA01 was placed. Also viewable here.

    Can you tell us a little about how you heard about geocaching?

    My introduction to GPS ‘games’ started with the Degree Confluence project. After logging a confluence in KZN I saw a post on usenet (yes we still used that in those days ;)) about a Stash that Dave Ulmer in the USA had placed, and published coordinates for. This sounded like an awesome idea and thus my introduction to geocaching began.

    We see your first intro into GPS games was with the Degree Confluence project. Can you tell us a bit about this?

    The Degree confluence Project was started in 1996 by Alex Jarrett. The idea behind the project is to document all the confluences accessible on land. A confluence is an intersection of a longitude and latitude, and for the purposes of the project, only integer confluences are considered. Below is a map I created in early 2001 to show the confluences:


    You can find a lot more detail on the project page for South Africa here.

    What was your first gps?

    My first GPS was a Garmin Etrex. It was the original, ugly, yellow model that couldn’t load maps or do any routing. It still used a serial port connection then. See this for the older model comparisons.

    What made you plant GCZA01 where you did?

    If I knew then what I know now …. You know the old saying.  At the time of placing GCZA01, there were no real rules.  My main reason for placing it on a friend’s farm was that I could get permission to place it.  I contacted the botanical gardens in Pretoria first to see if I could place a cache there.  Well, you try to explain this “Treasure Hunt” game with GPSs to an administrative type … and yeah, you guessed the answer. Since the 1st geocache in the States was placed on private property, I thought I’d do the same.

    Can you describe the cache container and it’s hiding spot? Was there any significance to the things you added to the cache?  

    The cache container was a regular Tupperware plastic box. It contained some CDRs, a novel, log book and pen, greetings letter (which I’m sorry I didn’t copy) and  wrist watch.  The watch was the only significant item. I worked for a Danish software company at the time (Navision Software) and they had a company branded watch, which I bought specifically to place in the cache.  The reason for its inclusion was that I was pretty sure it was unique in the country and there wouldn’t be 2 like it ;) As far as I know Jors still has it.

    Yes, Jors kept it and made it into a trackable!

    Back then there wasn’t the reviewing process for new geocaches. What was the process to add it on the website? 

    There was no reviewing process, no rules.  You logged the hide and that was that.

    We see you have reactivated your geocaching account and found a couple of geocaches this year. How did you get back into the game?

    A friend of mine owns a motorcycle accessories shop in Centurion.  While there I saw he had a handheld GPS on the shelf that mentioned geocaching on the box. Easy sell for him ;).

    Did you ever think that the game would develop to what it has become – a game with over 3 million geocaches worldwide with many different cache types and geocaches suited to every type of cacher?

    That question actually has 2 very different answers.

    1. No, and it is awesome how the game has grown. Love it!!!
    2. No, but it seems to be all about micro caches and finds instead of taking you to awesome places.
     
    To me the game started out as a treasure hunt.  Some still play it that way. Too may people focus on the hide and find stats these days, but luckily everyone can play the game the way they want.

    Do you have geocaches on a bucket list that you’d like to do one day?

    I would love to visit GCGV0P and and GC30.  

     

    Cache of the Month

    This month's COTM theme is for the best letterbox cache. We had some excellent nominations and it was difficult to decide on the winner. We are proud to announce that Bloemfontein Letterbox and TB Hotel is the COTM this month! A new and interesting Letterbox that impresses all its visitors!
    We are on to our last two months of focusing on the different cache types. Our September COTM will go to the best Wherigo. Send us your nominations by emailing us at .
     

    Virtual Rewards 2.0 Update

    Have you seen all the new Virtuals published as part of Virtual Rewards 2.0? There have been 24 new virtuals published since the 4th of June which is already greater than the 22 published during Virtual Rewards 1.0. A couple of days ago the North West Province also gained its first virtual!

    Congratulations to all the COs for being selected to create a virtual and we look forward to seeing many more popping up on the map. Check out our article which has all the details.
     

    Mega Merchandise

    The GoSA Store still has some Jozi Jol Mega 2018 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.
     

    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.

    {itpshare}

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  • GoSA Grapevine June 2019 - Virtual Festival

    Virtual Festival
    Mystery at the Museum
    Cache of the Month
    GoSA NewLogo Grapevine

    Virtual Festival

    Several South African geocachers got the news on 4 June that they had been randomly selected to receive a Virtual Reward from Geocaching HQ! They had been allocated one of 4,000 unpublished new Virtual Caches that had just been released worldwide.  Virtual Reward 2.0 had just happened, and in the process allocated about 40 new Virtual Geocaches (by our rough count on social media) to South African geocachers who had qualified for the random selection process by being an active geocache owner with more than 25 favourite points.

    Many new virtual geocaches have already been published across the country, from the Kruger National Park to Cape Town, and there are sure to be many more over the next few months.

    You can read more about the history of Virtual Geocaches in South Africa in our website article here (which is probably out of date already at the time of publication of this newsletter), or search the geocaching.com website for your nearest new Virtual here.

    Mystery at the Museum

    https://mysteryatthemuseum.com/ for the Breaking News!

    Cache of the Month

    June's COTM theme is the best multicache. We received many superb nominations and we are pleased to announce Intersect 2.0 (GC548HP) as June's best multicache. The number of favourite points and comments in logs speak to how impressive this multi is. Be sure to make a plan to find it if you haven't already.
    As we have done since May, the next couple of months we will be focusing on all the different cache types. July's COTM will be for the best Mystery cache. Know of an amazing cunningly thought out puzzle or a mystery where both the puzzle and hide are amazing? Please email us at to submit your nomination.
     

    Mega Merchandise

    The GoSA Store still has some Jozi Jol Mega 2018 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.
     

    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.

    {itpshare}

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  • Virtual Geocaches

    Virtuals are a special geocache type where there is no physical container hidden and they are more about discovering a location rather than a container. This cache type was grandfathered in 2005 and no new virtuals could be created since then.  On 24 August 2017, Geocaching HQ announced Virtual Rewards 1.0 where approximately 4000 geocachers had been selected and given the opportunity to create a new virtual cache.  Read about it on the blog and listen to the podcast here. In May 2019, Geocaching HQ announced another opportunity for new virtuals to be placed - called Virtual Rewards 2.0.

    South Africa was home to very few virtuals and before August 2017, there were only 7 in the country with 1 in Nelspruit and the others in Cape Town.

    Geocaching was still in its infancy in South Africa when virtuals could be created and there were only 14 virtuals created and published with 7 subsequently being archived over the years. Interestingly, 13 of the virtuals were placed in the Western Cape with no other provinces besides Mpumalanga having ever had a virtual geocache.

    During Virtual Rewards 1.0, 22 new virtuals were placed in South Africa. Eight in Cape Town, three in Port Elizabeth, one in Pietermaritzburg, one in Durban, three in the Kruger National Park, two in Pretoria, three in Johannesburg and one in the Drakensberg. Virtual Rewards 2.0 has resulted in 13 new virtuals less than a month after the Virtual rewards were given! We now have 49 virtuals in South Africa and 1 in Lesotho.

    Virtuals created 2002-2005
    food for thought GC31AA
    Tombstone Gulch GC3E5D
    Paul, Venus and the Titan GC3E8F
    Historical Series - Underground Virtual cache   GC4160
    Stairway to heaven or Just a Nuisance GC42DC
    Historical Series - Harbour entrance GC43FA
    Tableview 4x4 GC5042
    Lightning Conductor? GC51A0
    Sea Point Contact GCA538
    Sea Point Historical 1 GCAF35
    The Virtual Triangle GCBB06
    Thomas Bain GCG8D4
    West Fort GCGA10
    Kloof Nek Cannons GCGA0Z

     

    Virtual Reward 1.0: Virtuals created 2017-2018
    Lighthouses of Algoa Bay GC7B9CE   Port Elizabeth
    Shark Rock Pier GC7B9ZV Port Elizabeth
    The Cenotaph GC7B801 Pretoria
    Cape Light GC7B71M Cape Town
    kruger park excursion GC7BA5A Skukuza
    Jubilee square GC7B96X Cape Town
    Company's Garden GC7B764 Cape Town
    Cape Town/Table Mountain Virtual Reward   GC7B84E Cape Town
    Into 7th Heaven GC7B8X0 Cape Town
    Route 67 - The Campanile GC7B9NH Port Elizabeth
    ABW - The Guardian GC7B72D Pietermaritzburg
    Moses Mabhida Stadium GC7B8TD Durban
    Mlondozi GC7BA00 Kruger National Park
    Virtual Reward - The Sitting Monk GC7B72K Drakensberg
    Constitution Hill GC7B718 Johannesburg
    Clock Tower GC7BA18 Cape Town
    Virtual Reward: Madiba Jive GC7B67T Johannesburg
    Irene Concentration Camp Cemetery GC7B6N6 Pretoria
    History Rediscovered GC7B90R Johannesburg
    KNP - Punda Maria: Virtual Reward GC7B76T Kruger National Park
    South with Scott GC7B91V Cape Town
    Full Steam Ahead! GC7B6W0 Cape Town

     

    Virtual Reward 2.0: Virtuals created 2019-2020
    Fort Schanskop GC892F3 Pretoria
    Sokkies73's Castle of Good Hope GC89278    Cape Town
    Alex's Virtual - Weltevreden Park Cemetery GC892P2 Johannesburg
    Shaka - King of the Zulu's GC890R8 Durban
    Pilanesberg National Park GC892HR Pilansberg
    The Southernmost Tip of Africa GC890M7 Cape Agulhas
    Sizonqoba – Together We Triumph GC89157 Drummond
    Umhlanga Whale Bone Pier GC890F4 Umhlanga
    Noon Gun - Virtual Reward 2.0 GC891F2 Cape Town
    The age of the Sail - Prester John GC891BJ Port Elizabeth
    Don’t be trigged! GC892F7 Port Elizabeth
    Seal Point Lighthouse GC891XJ Cape St Francis
    Cradle of Humankind  GC88Z9E Sterkfontein
    The Harties Cableway GC891J8 Hartebeespoort Dam
    Music in the Berg GC892TB Drakensberg
    Hapoor Dam GC8915A Addo Elephant National Park
    Water, water !! GC88ZM3 Midlands
    Letaba's Elephants GC88Z80 Kruger National Park
    Green Point Urban Park GC892HP Cape Town
    Mandela at the Donkin Memorial GC891GD Port Elizabeth
    O.R. Tambo International GC892A2 Johannesburg
    Caves on the Beach GC892JN Helderberg
    Capital Views GC892R0 Pretoria
    Die Bo-Kaap GC88YZF Cape Town
    The Tsitsikamma Big Tree GC890TH Tsitsikamma
    Kaaimans Train Bridge GC890AW Kaaimans River
    Oh Paquita ! What happened to you ? GC8920P Knysna
    The Lighthouse Cave GC88ZRW Mossel Bay
    Where the river meets the sea GC89244 Tsitsikamma
    Paul Sauer Bridge GC88ZX9 Storms River
    Ballito Kwadukuza – We will remember them GC88ZWE   Umhlali
    Port St Francis GC89250 St Francis Bay
    Spy Hill GC892QD Padfield Park
    Suspension Bridge GC892J5 Oudtshoorn
    Kardinal Hangbrug GC891PM Stellenbosch 
    RSME GC88Z4W Roodepoort
    Apartheid South Africa GC891FE Cape Town
    Commodore II GC88ZCM Milnerton
    Sani Pass (Lesotho) GC890BK Sani Pass
    Golden Footprints GC88Z4Z East London
    TSHOKWANE GC88ZHM Kruger Park
    Transporting through History GC890QK Johannesburg
    Virtually the Top of Africa GC890RX Johannesburg
    The Breakwater Prison: Punishment & Graffiti GC8922G Cape Town
    RHINOSAUR GC891T2 Cape Town
    Africa’s Longest Promenade GC8924K Durban
    Wood's Cycad GC89251 Durban
    Nlanguleni Picnic Site (KNP) GC88ZQ6 Kruger National Park
    Joao Albasini GC88YZW Kruger National Park
    The Old Fisher House GC88ZC8 Langebaan
    The Munro Drive GC890D4 Johannesburg
    Two Landmarks GC88ZZE Cape Town
    Jocks's route - Jock's birthplace GC890DK Kruger Park
    Paternoster GC890MG Paternoster

    HIghest Viewing point of the Van Standens Bridge

    GC89076 Woodridge

    {itpshare}

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