SA Geocaching Stats
By Adventure_T and Danie Viljoen


 

Because sometimes, for some people, it is about the numbers… Here is a summary of the South African Geocaching activity for June:
 
1,072 Cachers found a total of 5,175 caches during June.
25 Cachers placed 49 new caches during June.
The number of Cachers who found at least 1 SA cache in the previous 12 months is 7,644.
The number of Cachers who placed at least 1 SA cache in the previous 12 months is 193.
The total number of active South African caches at the end of June is 16,372.     
 

The personal rules that I set for myself as part of this challenge were the following (my wife thinks I am particularly hard-headed and according to her that is why I make my own life more difficult than it needs to be by adopting silly rules like these ):
 Find 9 traditional caches – this would require me to find a physical container and sign a paper log sheet 9 times within 24 hours – each time in a different province.

These rules that I set for myself resulted in some challenging consequences as you will see in a moment when I explain some of the curve balls that I had to face during this adventure.
 
PLANNING
On 26 September 2019 I attended the Meet and Greet event in Sandton GC8DCJN. This was a geocaching event hosted by three visiting German Geocachers. From my log in this event you will note a reference to some “crazy” ideas discussed during the evening.  As far as I can remember, one of the topics that came up for discussion that evening was a Giga event planned for the Czech Republic in May 2020 and a Mega event that would take place on the same day in Germany. Soon the speculation was rife about how many Icons one would be able to find on one day if you could travel from Germany to the Czech Republic in one day in order to at least bag both a Mega and a Giga event on one day. From this discussion it was no major leap to start speculating whether it would be possible to find 9 geocaches, each in a different province of South Africa within 24 hours. The invitations to visit Europe for such a challenge and the possible planning of a 9 cache - 24-hour challenge in South Africa were both stopped dead in its tracks when COVID19 appeared at the end of 2019 and escalated into the 2-year lock-down that started in March 2020. As a result of the impact of COVID19, the Czech Giga Event GC7WWWW only took place recently during May 2022.
 
COVID19 may have confined us to our homes, but it did not manage to stifle the ideas though. I even still have some of the initial map searches that I did in 2019 to try and work out how this 9 cache – 24-hour challenge could be achieved. The idea stayed with me even when we could not travel – perhaps because it was something that we were prohibited from doing by the lockdown rules, the idea seemed to have intensified with time.
 
In planning the proposed route, the approach I followed was to look for map locations where the borders of different provinces lie close to each other. Gauteng, North-West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga all come together rather close to each other just north of Pretoria. There are also two areas to the south-east of Gauteng where Mpumalanga, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal lie close to each other. From my travelling experience in the Nieu-Bethesda area where I now reside, I know that the 3 Cape Provinces, Northern, Western and Eastern Cape all come together relatively close to my hometown.
 
The next step was to identify existing geocaches that intersected with these areas that I have identified and then to whittle them down to the shortest possible route covering all 9 provinces. I identified a particular target cache for each province. To cater for the possibility that I fail to find the target caches, I also identified some “back-up” caches in the same general area where the target caches are located. To give myself the best possible chance of success I looked for geocaches with low difficulty and low terrain ratings. I also reviewed the logs on the listings to make sure that the caches that I was targeting were found recently. All of this sounds easier than it was – I wanted to assure a high probability of a quick find, while also taking into account the security situation because I knew that I planned to visit some of the caches in the dead of night. To make it even more difficult, geocaches also do not remain static. From time to time some are archived, and new ones are published.
 
After the lockdown was lifted, the other challenge was to find the appropriate time to embark on the 9 cache – 24-hour geocaching challenge. A challenging work and family schedule was made even more challenging by me falling ill twice in the times immediately before my planned dates for the challenge and this resulted in the original target of March 2022 moving out repeatedly.
 
From the start, the Northern Cape appeared to be the most difficult province to include in a challenge of this nature. This does not mean the other provinces are easy; for example, KwaZulu-Natal does not have an abundance of caches close to its western borders near main roads and Mpumalanga also has but a few caches that are located close to its western border. Few caches and long distances are particularly true of geocaching in the Northern Cape. I was very relieved when this problem seemed to be solved in March 2022 when the one geocache in Hanover that I haven’t found before, appeared to still be active. During my log reviews in the week before Youth Day, my relief was dashed as it became clear that the cache was no longer available; now my Northern Cape target became a geocache in Richmond. The nearest back-up caches are in De Aar, more than 1 hour away. In the end my plan had a list of 9 target caches and another 33 “back up” caches that I could look for if I hit a DNF on one of the target caches.  
 
My lists were set, I had to be in Gauteng for work in the week leading up to Youth Day and the public holiday provided a perfect day to launch my attempt. On 15 June 2022, the only remaining preparation was to fill the tank with very expensive fuel and to make sure I have enough Red Bull, water and snacks to limit any need for stoppages along the way.
 
CURVE BALLS
Naturally, it would be naïve to expect that an ambitious endeavor such as the 9 cache – 24-hour challenge would unfold without any challenges. In the end there were 3 major curve balls that conspired to derail my plans.
 
I made sure that I arrived at the first target cache in Gauteng at exactly 00:00 AM on 16 June 2022 and within a minute or two the cache was found, log sheet signed, and log posted via C:Geo and off I went to cache number 2. At Silkaatsnek I also did a quick park and grab and North-West was in the bag. After a bit more than an hour’s drive I faced my first DNF of the day. Scratching around in the dark along a deserted road for a cache in a hollow fence post north of Hammanskraal yielded no success. I then visited the nearby back-up at the local station where an old bridge over the train tracks was friendly enough to give up its magnetic hiding spot without resistance and I could tick Limpopo off the list. Next, I turned east and after another 50 minutes of driving I faced my second DNF at Moloto view. Clearly there was recent road works and a tree that was located at GZ now lay behind a nearby fence. 90 minutes further south I visited a bridge over the Wilgerivier located just inside Mpumalanga. With the temperature by now having dropped to -6 C my fingers fumbled at the frost covered bridge to retrieve the treasure and to do the admin. So far so good. The Free State was next to be knocked off the list with a successful find at the stopover in Harrismith. By 08:40 in the morning I was more than halfway done and notwithstanding the minor DNF setbacks, I was on a roll.
 
Curve Ball 1 – Van Reenen
My target cache for KwaZulu-Natal is located at a very small church in Van Reenen. During my stop at Harrismith, I heard murmurings of closed roads and truck driver protests, but I pushed on. When I arrived in Van Reenen, the N3 was closed in both directions. My back-up caches were also located further east of Van Reenen, which meant that I just had to find a cache in this area. Dutifully I followed the instructions from the South African Police Service and turned off the highway towards the gravel road detour. After a few deep breaths I decided to approach the problem in the true geocaching way – take the bearing to the target and follow it. Rather than following the detour, I drove around the little town on this side of the highway, and I found the closest B&B right across from the little church on the other side of the highway.  I parked my Red Bull laden cache mobile and made it across the highway on foot. It turns out that the truckers were obstructing the road a bit further down and there was no danger in the village itself. After a few moments of searching, the cache was in hand and the admin done. KwaZulu-Natal became the 6^th conquered province and by 09:50, after lighting a candle in the nano church for good luck on the rest of my trip, I was having a beautiful cup of coffee with a view over the Drakensberg.
 
Curve Ball 2 – Bethlehem
I must confess, this curve ball was entirely my own embarrassing fault, but in the end, it resulted in me meeting a very helpful farmer and her son who got me back on track.  After finishing my coffee in Van Reenen, set my aim on the target in Richmond, which was another 7 hours further south. Refreshed with hot caffeine, I made my way around Lesotho through the Free State in order to turn properly South towards the Northern Cape. Between Bethlehem and Paul Roux the sleep deprivation started to take its toll. Over the years of long-distance travel, I have learnt that it is not worth taking chances. Accordingly, approximately 25 km outside of Bethlehem, I decided to turn off onto a farm road and to rather take a power nap before traveling further. I forgot about all the phones and GPSr equipment plugged in on the car chargers and without realizing it, I did not put the car off properly. I woke up with a start and my first thought was how long did I sleep – did I still have enough time to find the remaining 3 geocaches? It turned out that it was only a power nap and that it was now only about 40 minutes later. But then the second panic occurred – the car battery was completely dead. Flagging down speeding cars on the N5 is not a fun Youth Day activity. In the end I decided to walk along the dirt road and see whether I could find a better source of potential help. Less than 500 m down the road I found a farmer and her son, the latter armed with an air rifle and shooting at targets. My disheveled appearance after sleeping in the car and my hair resembling a crazy Einstein look must have been quite a sight. Maybe the candle in the nano church did its bit because the lady agreed to assist me. She and her son drove me back to my vehicle and assisted me with a jump start. After thanking them and wishing the boy good luck with his shooting efforts to prevent the local meerkat from stealing his chicks and eggs, I set off again in the direction of Paul Roux and beyond.
 
Curve Ball 3 – Northern Cape Geocaching
Apart from re-fueling in Bloemfontein, the next 6 hours of my trip was rather uneventful. Once I joined the N1 at Winburg, I was back on very well-known roads due to my regular travelling between the Eastern Cape and Gauteng and I reached Richmond without incident. Finding a geocache at night is not the easiest feat if it is not an easy roadside park and grab with a very clear hint.  I spent almost 20 minutes scratching around for the target cache in Richmond. By 19:00 it became a challenge to make it in time to De Aar and back if I had to rely on a back-up cache there. Only 3 caches remained and therefore giving up was simply not an option. A few minutes later I had to admit my third DNF defeat of the day. I just could not find the cache. As per my plan I had 2 back-up options in De Aar. Before setting off I even checked the live map to make 100% sure there was nothing nearer in the Northern Cape. No such luck and I set off to De Aar. Thankfully, the roads are in good condition, so I made it to De Aar in good time. The gate to the look-out cache was closed and locked, and the cache is located about 500 m further. At night, and under time pressure, I did not even think about alternative access routes – this gate was where the GPSr brought me and therefore this must be the way. By this time, I had to refuel again, and I therefore decided that the letterbox cache in town would probably be an easier bet as a back-up cache. However, when I got to GZ there was no obvious box and all I found was a big hole in the wall filled with some lose bricks. It surely looked like a spot where a letterbox could have been. My “play it as it lies” rule prevented me from making enquiries about the letterbox, which still appeared to be active in March 2022. Now, if I still wanted to succeed, my only option was to traverse the 500 meters on the other side of the gate to try and find the look-out cache. I drove back to the gate and with my GPSr and torch in hand I set off. The sand road was no problem but climbing a rocky hill in a freezing dark night while you are worried about all the time that you are losing is no easy task – even if it is a bright full moon evening. After suffering the loss of a bit of skin and blood from my legs on the way up, my trusty GPSr brought me to GZ, and the green milo bottle cache container was found: the Northern Cape was at last conquered at 20:50.
 
The Last Stretch
I more or less ran back to the gate where my car was parked and could not get back to Richmond fast enough. From there it was another ~65 km of gravel road to get onto the road between Murraysburg and Graaff-Reinet where my last 2 target caches were hiding. The Sneeuberge is where my home village is located, and it is quite appropriate that this cache enabled me to tick the Western Cape off the list. Thereafter my home province welcomed me back after a long and adventurous day when the geocache on the road to Murraysburg yielded its log sheet at 23:25 after I travelled 1680 km to complete my 9 cache – 24-hour challenge.