Are you Scared? Braais, IGD and Cosmic Aliens

NOTICE OF AGM

The Geocachers of South Africa AGM will be held virtually on 12 October 2024. To obtain the link, documents and other information, please send us an email.

From the Desk of the Chairman

Hello from the Virgin Active at Foreshore, Cape Town. Why the Virgin Active? The International Conference Center does not have a sauna. Why the need for a sauna? I'm keen to blame the last few days of mingling with the broadcasting overlords deciding what you'll be watching over the next 5 years but the real source of my exhaustion is this Cape Town caching community. Have you ever climbed Lion's Head? Now I can say that I have. After attending a CITO at the summit, I was cured of my gout, diabetes and any desire to attend another CITO. These effects were short lives after an ice cream after party at the local Creamery. 

Thanks to the Cape Town community for a lovely set of events and hikes in my short time here. 

Thanks too to all who came to my braai in Bloemfontein last month.

Thanks too too to all of you for keeping the game alive and exciting.

International Geocaching Day
Johannesburg by Panthera03

When I signed up for geocaching back in 2008, International Geocaching Day was not “a thing”. It was only at the 2011 Block Party event that Groundspeak announced it would recognise the 3rd Saturday of August as International Geocaching Day and created a souvenir to commemorate the
day.
In August 2011, I was overseas attending two separate Mega Events, and IGD eluded me. In 2012, I made sure not to miss this opportunity and as I was on the GoSA committee at the time, I arranged the first official IGD event (GC3PQ5X). It was held at the Joos Bekker Caravan Park’s Main Lapa in Pretoria and was a huge success. 32 Teams had a blast with the GeoBingo and enjoyed the communal braai. An IGD event was also held in Durban (GC3PC1R) which had 34 teams attend! 2013’s Event (GC4HQ2V) was an interesting one, also hosted by GoSA. This was the event which had the incorrect co-ordinates listed, so it became known as a “Mystery Event” – you had to figure out how to get to the event location using the “clues” on the listing! It was really funny and an event which will always be remembered. In this year, there were also 3 events – a breakfast event in Pretoria (24 attended), the “Mystery” Event (21 attended) which was in the North-West province and the KZN event (31 attended). In 2014, GoSA hosted the event again (GC58R08) but this time it was at the Derdepoort Resort and an incredible 40 teams attended! The KZN event (GC56NRD) hosted by Technonut, had 34 teams attend.

2015 was a special year. This was the one when I suggested to have a weekend event and push for possible Mega status. It was called “The Kite Flying Event” which was held at Hartbeesfontein Youth Camp in Dinokeng. It was a brilliant weekend with a whopping 74 teams in attendance. Geocachers of Gauteng hosted the event in 2016 at Emmarentia Lake (GC6KJJF) and we had a fun “check the accuracy of your GPS” activity, which was very interesting. 20 Teams attended. Foraginghedgehogs hosted the event in 2017 (GC781KV) and a very crafty cache hide was placed less than 10m away from the restaurant where the event was held. Ping! A new cache was published and everyone in attendance got up and raced to go and find it, leaving the restaurant staff rather perplexed and concerned about whether we were ditching our monetary responsibilities. 18 teams in attendance.
In 2018, there were two IGD events. BruceTP hosted the official one (GC7VK39) at Emmarentia Park on a freezing afternoon, while Panthera03 hosted an IGD event (GC7VD8C) as part of a series of monthly country cuisine events. This month we travelled to Germany and after everyone got their visa stamp we enjoyed a hearty and delicious German meal with lots of cheer! 22 teams at BruceTP’s event and 21 teams at the cuisine event.

Panthera03 hosted the event in 2019, and as it was soon after an incredible trip to the USA World Scout Jamboree, it was held at Panarottis in Fourways Mall. 21 teams in attendance. Even though Covid struck a blow to the geocaching community in 2020, we still managed to squeeze in the IGD event (GC8MD67) as a CITO in Bryanston. This event also marked the 6000th cache find for team Dolos and we enjoyed delicious cup cakes in celebration. 10 teams in attendance. In 2021, the event (GC9EMK7) was held at GG’s Café in Kyalami. It was a hit, even though the Covid issue was still around. We also enjoyed finding new caches which were hidden in the area and the waffles were to die for! 27 teams in attendance.

The Local Kitchen in the north of Johannesburg was the venue for 2022’s event and surprisingly we had 27 teams attend from far and near. I think everyone was just so tired of all the restrictions from previous years and it was such a treat getting out and about again.

Sadly, IGD was completely missed in 2023. I had just returned from the Korean World Scout Jamboree and had missed the deadline for hosting an event. I should’ve remembered to set up the event before going away, but I didn’t. A cache find had to do to keep the souvenir streak going, but I really missed the social side of this annual celebration.

2024 marked the 13th year of the International Geocaching Day event and a very small and quiet event has held at the 1st Bryanston Scout Hall. 8 Teams in attendance for this one! Despite the low numbers, it was wonderful to have the Duthies join us, who are very enthusiastic to get their 1000th find before the end of this year. Having pelican’s briefs join us was very special too and we ended up staying very late into the night, catching up on all sorts of life events and stories!

If I look back over the years, the IGD event has been different and unique each time. If you look through the attended logs, you’ll see names of special friends who are no longer with us and others who have new hobbies which replaced geocaching. Then there are those logs of teams who have re-ignited their enjoyment of the game and new teams who have set goals to reach. All in all, the third Saturday of August marks a special occasion and I hope we will be able to continue creating geocaching memories!

*Disclaimer – I may have missed other IGD events over the years – my apologies for this! I’m not very good at finding past events.

Events this year were also held in Natal (GCAVRDF) and the Western Cape (GCAW42D)

Bombastic Bloem Braai
by Uncle Chem

102 new caches...and go! That was the initial thought of the Bombastic Bloem Braai (GCAQ026) but after it was understood that cachers from all over the country were going to be joining in the festivities, it turned into a whole new beast. In no time, 3 satellite events were arranged over the weekend, GCAV7HP, GCAVC08 and GCAV7JY.

Some sneaky hiding took place with caches being released during some of those events and restauranters got a fright as some 20 patrons looked as though they were running out on their bills.

The sights of Bloemfontein were on show and cachers were greeted with treats of new caches and legacy ones of the legendary late Oom Louwtjie. The caches went on sale at 07h00 and it did not take long for all the FTFs to be claimed.

We even had the honour of hosting two Aussie cachers who had come to join us despite being drilled in the rugby earlier in the day.

It was a wonderful weekend of caching and catching up with cachers from all over the country. Thanks to those who attended physically and in spirit. Here's to the next braai.

Cosmic Quest

We did it! 15 million units of fuel. Some may say the time extension turned this into a participation trophy but it's still a trophy so if you're keen on souvenirs, you only have a few days to get in on this challange.

Current and Known Upcoming Souvenirs

• Hider 2024 – Hide any cache between 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024.
• Cosmic Quest - Find caches and collect fuel until 8 September.
• World Postcard Day - Attend an event between 29 September and 5 October.
• CITO, 2024 Season 2 - Attend or host any CITO Event between 1 September 2024 and 30 November 2024.
• International Earthcache Day: Find an Earthcache on 12 or 13 October.

Feature Caching Movie
as we continue our hunt for movies that involve geocaching in the hope of stumbling upon a good one. This month it's...

Are You Scared 2 (2008)

Current and Known Upcoming Events
While there's time, you may want to set your event for International Geocaching Day

*CITO Event

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