If you are a German couple staying in East London for two years and had never been to South Africa before, the best way to explore this amazing country is to go geocaching!

We (gocky123 and CatWorld) have recently taken a wonderful trip and would like to share our experience with you. Staying in East London means being spoilt by a whopping 400+ caches, placed and maintained by members of the active geocaching community in the area, e.g. iPajero and Monti’s Adventure. But it is worth to venture out, and geocaches will always guide us to important, historic or simply beautiful places.

On Saturday, 22nd April 2017, we left East London on the N6 and we drove all the way north to Bloemfontein. There are many nice geocaches by the Puzzled Penguins on the N6 that break the long drive into exciting little adventures. As Bloemfontein was very busy due to a prayer meeting held at a nearby farm, we didn’t search for many caches there (pity!), but instead continued to Kimberley. After a good night of sleep, we visited the big hole and diamond museum.

There is a lot to learn about the creation of diamonds from a geological point of view, as well as the history of the town and competition between various miners. We very much enjoyed the geocaches around the big hole.

We then continued our trip to Mokala National Park, the youngest of the SAN Parks. Mokala is Setswana for Camel Thorn Tree, and there sure is an abundance of those in the park - while there is currently only one geocache hidden. We performed maintenance on it and it's ready to be found. The animals we saw were amazing, including tssesebe and rare roan antelopes, cute pygmy falcons and majestic rhinos.

After the game viewing and relaxing, we moved on to the Augrabies National Park. This is where we met fellow hikers of the East London hiking club ‘Let’s hike’. Together we tackled the 3-day Klipspringer hiking trail. For someone who has never seen arid dry national parks before, the fauna and flora were interesting to discover. We especially liked the quiver trees and the sociable weavers that sometimes build enormous nests in them. The geocaches we found during our hike can also be accessed by car, as most are hidden at fantastic look-outs over the majestic orange river. One of the most impressive sights in the park is Moon Rock, a huge and even granite hump. The earth cache (Moon Rock, GC599R) explains all about it, but it still feels eerie to hike up its smooth surface and look down into the desert-like landscape.

After a hot but rewarding 3-day hike, the whole group moved on through Upington, crossed the Namibian border and set camp in Ai-Ais. For those who have not been, Ai-Ais is an oasis in the dry south of Namibia, at the end of the Fish River Canyon, where hot springs (65°C) bubble out from below the earth’s surface. There is a hike up a mountain that can be taken from the camp. The climb takes about 1 hour if you are reasonably fit and you will be rewarded with a geocache (Hot on Top, GCKW1B) and a great look-out down towards the camp.

And then came the highlight of the trip: Our five day hike through the Fish River Canyon, from Hobas back to Ai-Ais. Every day we discovered new beautiful aspects of the canyon. From wild horses, hot springs and an old Vespa to amazing rock formations, a grave, the refreshing Fish River and a lot of fine sand. We experienced the dry heat of the day and slept under the vast starry sky. The Fish River was flowing nicely and we could drink from it without filtering the water. The group had a very positive spirit, which could be felt every day when moments of success were shared – e.g. when gocky123 and I found the occasional cache along the route (there are three inside the canyon). We even inspired one of our muggle hiker friends to join the game: Welcome namibnomad to the E.L. geocaching community!

To sum up, we feel more than ever that experiencing the outdoors through geocaching and hiking is a great way of life. This beautiful country of South Africa has so much to offer, and it is best discovered by teaming up with special friends and getting out there. Thank you to all COs, geocachers and reviewers who helped make this an unforgettable trip!

photos: Great hole in Kimberley, Hot on Top, sunset in Mokala National Park, Almost done @ 80 of 88 kms, Hiking the Fish, Majestic Fish River Canyon.

Article submitted by CatWorld & gocky123