This month in the Grapevine: Thanks Ceinwen, Tribute to Anton, Carrotking's journey through South Africa and more
 

Sometimes the universe conspires to serve you a number of experiences that make you take a step back and question yourself and the way you do things. June was such a month and not because it ended with my car's battery exploding 20km out of Kimberley while hunting for GC2JB8A. Being tasked to lead an organisation in a community is complicated and I've found myself holding back for two reasons; the more awkward one being that it's a personal nightmare of mine to send a message in a whatsapp group and then see people leave the group. It's a weird phobia I link to failure which I've become more adept at overcoming. The other is the imposition of myself. I try really hard not to make GoSA about myself and as GoSA, we try not to make geocaching in South Africa about us. Even this monthly snippet gives me anxiety; does it add value? Is it too much? Do people care? Am I trying to make them care? If I don't do it, does it look like I don't care? ahhh! So many questions every time I write it.

The good news is that I've mapped a plan to get over it which begins with this, admittedly vulnerable, message. All I want to do is make geocaching in South Africa as awesome as it can be and then some. I want the community to be happy doing what we love. It's been the GoSA mission since before I started and I believe it will continue to be after I depart but I'm elated to play whatever role in it that I can. Sure, we try new things and fail and maybe some things land. An example is I have a huge desire to submit South Africa's first entry into the GIFF but I keep holding back because I don't want any potential backlash from the community; either because I've made us look a fool or giving the impression that I believe myself to be a self-anointed uber-cacher-mench. I don't, by the way.

I've been watching a lot of Lacasa de Papel to try and decrypt the most frustrating geoart series in Beirut and subsequently I find myself not only fluent in Spanish but more reflective and confident in an uncertain future.

That's where you come in! We need more community stuff. I don't care if it happens in GoSA, through GoSA or external to GoSA. We will be here, supporting where we can and doing what we can. If you have a story to share, share it. If there's something cool to do, do it. We had 5 maker events across South Africa without any prodding! That's awesome! The number of CITOs and regular events are increasing. That's awesome! There's even a trickle of committed new blood coming in and that's fantastic. It only gets better when the community is invested and thanks to all of you who are.

So...enough of this holding back nonsense from my side. Let's do some cool things. And as a taste of how cool things can be when the community comes together, I present to you the outcomes of last month's survey:

South African Cachers' Top 10 ToTT in descending order:

and whoever put in "Jeep" may you have a healthy fuel budget always!

You all know him as Antron, the puzzle box builder. Those of you that knew him better called him Oom Anton. To me, he was just Pa. But he was more than just Pa… He was my Hero.

Let me tell you something about Pa… He did not know how to do something half measure… He did everything flat out. I learned that when I was but just a young school laaitie… Went to him to ask for help with a flat tyre on my bicycle… He didn’t just fix the puncture; the bike got a whole service from front to back… There goes my Saturday afternoon.

Now why am I telling you this? Back in 2007 he bought a Garmin Quest. That GPS would soon suffer the same fate as his computer at home, and every tool in his garage. If there was a limit it would be tested and stretched until magic just kind of happened. That GPS was never meant to just tell the shortest route from home to Joburg. It was destined to be much more than that. So, in April of 2008 Pa and Ma started their Geocaching Adventure.

From time to time, I would fly up to Gauteng for a visit, and I remember with great fondness the times Pa would present his newest Puzzle box prototype to me. He would watch me with hawk eyes and broad grin as I struggled to try and figure that contraption out in front of me. Ma told me that he would spend days on end in the garage working on and perfecting his latest creation.

Many a times as I cached with him, or as I looked at photos of his caching exploits, I was amazed at what a young energetic man he was even past his 70th birthday. At 74 he was more dynamite than most 40-year-olds I know. But then one day, about 2 years ago the dark grey mist from the underworld of cancer started to swirl around him.

He always said that life was a song. Good times, bad times, it mattered not: He would always proclaim that life was a song. The last few days of his life was a sad song, but he still held on to that motto, right up to the end.

Antron …. Oom Anton … Pa … you will be missed by all of us.

~ Henzz

We have had a long-standing relationship with South Africa. I first came to SA in the early Nineties on an assignment for a German company and since our stay, my wife and I fell in love with this country. We have been back to visit many times to meet up with friends and to enjoy the 'World in one Country” however, this year was the first time that I returned as a Geocacher.

I have been geocaching since Christmas 2017. That year during a vacation to Cyprus, a guy in our group did geocaching and I was quite interested in finding out all about. This year Christmas, my wife gave me a ‘Guide to Geocaching’ as a present. Oh Boy, somedays she sure does regret this gift. 

Since then, I have found more than 9400 caches in Europe, Asia and Africa (including South Africa). During our tour in April this year, I cached in Gauteng, North-Western and Western Cape Provinces. I went for approximately 120 caches (75 Traditional Caches, 6 Earth Caches, 5 Mystery Caches, 3 Events, 2 Virtuals and 1 Muli-Cache plus various Adventure Lab Caches) of which 31 were DNFs. This is the highest number of DFNs I have ever had in 4 weeks. 
 
For the record:
 

AREA	FINDS	DNFs
Northern Suburbs of Johannesburg & Tshwane	13	16
On route to & in Springbok (incl. Namibia)	19	-
On route to & in Langebaan	34	6
Winelands & Chapman’s Peak Drive	23	9

 
In the Northern suburbs of JHB, I went for 7 caches in one day and I only found one, all the others were gone. How disappoin8ng! I also wanted to show my muggle friends how geocaching works; however, I just couldn’t find any of the four caches that I set out to look for on that day

Highlights of the tour were the events that I organized at Eagle Canyon (JHB Northern suburbs), Langebaan (shown in the photo) and Paarl where I had the pleasure of meeting local geocachers. I have started this habit 2 years ago: there is a Challenge Cache in Europe which asks you to organize or attend at least five events in five different countries. So far, I have Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, France and now South Africa under my belt. It’s a great way to meet other geocaching enthusiasts from the local community, get hints on good or bad caches and how to cache in the relevant countries.

We in Germany are very blessed to be able to go out 24/7 in most areas of the country (except the forests because the animals also need rest at night), but then we scarcely need to worry about our safety. Fortunately, I had no nega????ve experiences while caching in SA, I only encountered two scorpions but no snakes. This too is a significant difference to caching here in Europe: we fumble into most holes, but I was told by friends that this was not a clever idea in South Africa due to all the creatures that live there. 

Another difference that I noted was the finding rate. Unless it is a difficult mystery or a T5, caches in Germany are visited at least two to three times a month. However, the frequency in SA is much lower.  I tried to find the ‘Wonder Cave Cache’ (GCWRJE) in the Bothongo at Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve, but in vain. It was last found in November 2021 

Likewise in Europe, I too found PETlings or film canisters being thrown into the woods or along the roadside, but I also had the pleasure of meeting serious & dedicated log owners who put together enjoyable caches such as “Nuts “(GC85M2Q) in the Langebaan area and the history lessons, “Hier kom die Alabama” (GCYCMW) close to Saldanha.
 

This month we're featuring maker events in Gauteng and the Western Cape and look forward to doing the same with KZN and the Eastern Cape next month
 

Western Cape
by Sokkies73
 

 

The workshop event was focused on the following as per the listing:

Location: The location of your geocache is essential. Learn and share ideas on how to choose a unique and relevant spot, like a park or a landmark. Uniqueness: Learn and share how to make your cache unique by adding a quirk or fun twist to it. The more creative you are, the more likely people will want to find it. Container and camouflage: Learn and share ideas about the different containers that suits the purpose, camouflaged to make it harder to find, the recycling of household material to build a cache container, as well as other tips and tricks of the trade…

And as a bonus the first three "will attend" logs whom have attended, each received a unique cache built by the CO (Sokkies73) made from recycled material. Unfortunately we have enjoyed the breakfast and conversations so much that nobody took photos.

The event was attended by veteran cachers and some new attendees to Cape Town events. The veterans who have attended was Mrs and Miss The Huskies (Marius and Cathy Kruger), Skattie@1 (Elize Louw) and Pieterix. Other attendees was Coco_Rose and a couple sweet young couple caching under the handle Morlin91/

As usual having events with veterans that travels the world it was fun to listen to both Skattie@1 and The Huskies recent travel to the UK, the caches they saw. Skattie@1 also brought two cache containers from the UK that was made with a 3D printer. Exciting technology that will indeed change the making of containers in future.

We split attendance with the great Polar Bear event on the same date and time, which is also a regular must do in Cape Town. I have done the previous one and it was a pity that I had to miss out on this years one.

I am also trying to be creative by adding a banner that attendees could add to their profile page, like visible in mine. Trying to promote this in SA, because the creativity on such pages is also a inspiration and nice to look at.
 

Gauteng
by Panthera03

I was lucky enough to have been part of the first "Maker" type event back in 2014.   "Maker Madness" was the first of this type of event and we were very excited.  It followed similar requirements as for the event this year.  You can check out the event, logs and pics here.

We had a fantastic turnout and collaborated with team Antron.  Anton from Antron is no longer with us today, and looking back at the photos, I remember how much he shared with us and inspired us to be more creative and thoughtful with our hides.  We all admired his tricky, gadget caches which he lovingly created for us to enjoy.

It took another 5 years before Groundspeak encouraged us again with a similar event, called "Creation Celebration" in 2019. Check out the event listing and pics here. This Event was attended by a smaller crowd, but again we got sharing and creating. It was interesting that even though we thought we knew everything about creating a good cache, there was always something new to learn! We committed to getting these newly made containers ready for hiding, which certainly got a few attendees excited - especially the one who was in his 6th year of daily caching. 

Interestingly, after each of these events which were so thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended, a number of cachers would ask if a similar event could be hosted even without a souvenir. Both these events made lasting impressions.

Another 4 years since the last special creation event, Groundspeak surprised us with another opportunity - the Maker Magic themed event. Of course, we are not ones to let such an opportunity go, and so on a warm Saturday morning we hosted this much awaited event. We were treated with the offering of delicious, hot pancakes and a bubbling urn was on the go for a well-deserved hot beverage. The event got underway with a short discussion about the tricks and tips related to effective cache making, as well as putting thought into the hide location and maintenance plan. We all want to hide good caches and ensure they are looked after properly. Session 2 saw us getting our hands dirty and learning which containers make a good cache and which we need to stay away from.  Containers that did not match the specs were responsibly placed in the "plastic" recycle bin. Caches were created with granular paint, spray paint and additional camo in the form of dried leaves, which finished off the works of art.  Logsheets were available and by the end of the event, each attendee was able to walk away with a great cache, ready to be hidden.

Cachers came from far and near and the vibe was great with lots of chatting and laughter. We all enjoyed this opportunity to come together, in the sunshine and make a positive difference to the game that we love.

We look forward to the next opportunity, and perhaps we may just host another "maker" event, sans the souvenir, to ensure the hides keep coming for all geocachers to enjoy!

Did You Know
By Panthera03

The blue puzzle piece next to a Mystery or Multi icon is an indication that you have changed the coordinates to (hopefully) the corrected/solved coordinates 

Earn the easy souvenir for this month by completing a two day find streak at any time from July 3–August 6. Earn the medium souvenir for this month by completing a seven day find streak at any time from July 3–August 6. Earn the hard souvenir for this month by completing a 28 day find streak within the timeframe of July 3–August 6.

Get Your Streak On!

Current Souvenirs
 

They are your local go-to people, so keep their details for future reference
                                            

Eastern Cape	FireflyAfrica (Jonker Fourie)	082 889 2459
Free State	Uncle Chem (Richard Chemaly)	072 431 7131
Gauteng	Leon St (Leon Stoop)	071 330 8435
KwaZulu-Natal	M²C²D (Mark & Ceinwen Oosthuizen)	M 083 324 6176 C 083 324 2167
Limpopo	Boats007 (Willem Botha)	082 463 3700
Mpumalanga	Bouts777 (Gerhard Botha)	082 876 3572
North-West	Team Tip Top (Hansie & Zaneta Van Huyssteen)	H 082 753 8082 Z 083 258 5926
Western & Northern Cape	SKATTIE@1 (Elize Louw)	074 138 6360