Metro Nomad

Use Shakespeare's Garden GCMW4J S 26° 09.098 E 028° 00.109 as a starting point for Johannesburg and you'll be surprised at the number of available caches. Just click on all nearby caches.

Hi Goofster's list is fairly comprehensive, but consider the following: (1) No Smelly Stuff - Insects & animals can smell goodies miles away. So I also include Scented Candles and the like in a forbidden list. (2) Bear in mind that a lot of kids are keen to help their grownup counterparts find a treasure so no grown up "toys" and other items of an adult nature. Happy Hunting!!

Hi Warthog Zambezi S25 41.427 E28 16.990 I'm not sure exactly where I've taken the reading and which way I was going, but it should be near enough. The other ones, yours and QFC's, are close enough to my co-ordinates for practical purposes. Anyone out there that has co-ordinates for Bakubung, Kwa Maritane and Manyane in/near Pilanesberg? Reception, gate, turnoff for instance. Thanks.

My two cents worth (with our inflation that's not much!) My wife and I spent a very enjoyable day in the Rietvlei reserve today. Whilst we were there we pondered about the fact that some people look forward to striking the Lotto or something when finding a cache. We don't get around to do much caching due to circumstances, but we go when we can and the fun is more in going to places that you didn't even know existed and otherwise would've passed by than in actual trading. One thing though: Trade fairly - do not take an obviously high value item and leave a very low value item! The idea is not to get rich in the process. Happy Hunting to all!

It is your right as cache owner to monitor and approve logs and photos. I've also requested a logger once to remove his photo as it really gave the game away, so to speak. Just explain nicely the reason behind your request and I doubt if anyone will object to removing the offending photo. Happy Hunting to all

Hi Brick Been there, done that............ More than once actually! Thanks for trying.

Hi I still haven't found a Russian Bride to help out! Is there anyone out there willing to help me pay for GSAK? These Nag Screens are enough to drive one completely bonkers. Quite a few of the options on the menu take more than 90 seconds to open. If you want to add information from a *.gpx file you have to wait. Exporting as a *.mps or *.gdp file? You wait 90 seconds for the countdown. Etc. Contact me directly on Metro.Nomad@idws.co.za if you can be of assistance. Thanks

Hi I agree with Whostops regarding the contribution, but there are other matters as well. When you are a Premium Member you can set up Pocket Queries for example. This way you automatically receive information about certain caches, your Watchlist for example, on predefined days. If you use a program like GSAK you can have these Pocket Queries sent in *.gpx format in stead of the *.loc format you would normally use. These *.gpx files cointain a wealth of information that you use to build up your database(s). Unfortunately I still haven't found a way to pay for my version of GSAK and the nag screens are driving me up the wall. So, in a nutshell, if you do a lot of geocaching it is definitely worthwhile. Happy Hunting

Hi Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I don't have a "mate" in Australia or friends in other countries - perhaps I should advertise for a Russian Bride! In the meantime I'm stuck with the nag screens. Happy Hunting to all.

Hi All Is there anyone else that has tried paying via PayPal and found that South Africa is not listed in the drop down box? I've sent them a couple of e-mails some time ago, but never received a reply. The main problem being GSAK. The latest version has pop up Nag Screens that get worse the longer you use the program - wasting a lot of time. According to Clyde he can't afford a merchant account and hence no direct paying via credit card is available. Any suggestions as to solving the payment problem? Thanks.

Hi All During June 2003 I placed 3 Virtual Caches and two of these took about a month's worth of e-mails back and forth to get approved. These were the last in South Africa and probably the last worldwide. (I've had very positive feedback from local as well as overseas cachers on all of them.) Blockhouses. I've posted a bit of history on Randvaal as I was planning to place a cache there. Unfortunately zTHUNDERz beat me to it...... There are still 48 blockhouses out there. If I can trace them all I will publish the details in SA Forum. There are quite a few caches waiting for my body to get mobile again - in the mean time : Have Fun!

Hi zTHUNDERZ I've been watching this space as promised since 05 July, but nothing seems to happen... Cheers

Hi I once had a friend test my eTrex Venture co-ordinates (3 decimals) against his oldish 2 decimal Magellan (model unknown). He only got round to do it a couple of months later and he ended up 4 metres (12 feet) from my co-ordinates. Bearing in mind the inherent accuracy limitations of ALL GPS receivers, different satellite constellations at different times and varying atmospheric conditions, I doubt if the difference had much to do with a decimal. I could be wrong, but that is my personal opinion. Mark a spot and take some readings to get an "accurate" position. Go back later, using your co-ords and your own 2 or 3 decimal GPS. Make a note of where you land up and advise us.... Make sure that you run on the latest firmware for your model as it could also influence your accuracy due to a bug being fixed or something. Just my couple of cents contribution - for whatever it is worth, bearing inflation in mind.

Hi Milbank I've used my GPS in heavy fog where you can hardly see the road. If you have a pre-recorded track loaded in the GPS, it is rather eerie to see the pointer moving to show upcoming bends. Found it to be very effective, not to mention re-assuring.

Zack Could you possibly post an extract of your cache description? It's difficult to be objective without all the relevant facts. How are you going to determine the "winning hand" for instance. What will prevent the first cacher to rush out and visit all the caches to obtain the highest cards? There are quite a few questions hanging in the air that could've influenced the approver. Cheers

RK So many people, so many definitions of WOW. I like redheads, you like blondes. What's WOW to me isn't to you, and vice versa! Have you ever tried to define a piece of string? I would like it of some of the clever ones out there can come up with an answer to that one! That said, there should be a lot of people that appreciate the same kind of WOWs in life. There's a lot of truth in Ju66l3r's reply. This quest of yours will take you a long way on the road to the next millenium and all I can say is: May the force be with you! Happy hunting in the meantime.

Hi there Quote from Geocaching.com: Event Cache Occasionally, local geocachers and geocaching organizations designate a time and location to meet and discuss geocaching. After the event the caches are archived. What about an Event Cache with a Bring 'n Braai as the theme? The time, venue and goal of the get together can be stated in your Cache and theoretically quite a few cachers should get a notification by e-mail. I might be wrong, but this South African Forum doesn't seem to be very active/responsive, hence the suggestion. Keep us posted. I'm watching this space, as they say!

Hi Russell Thanks for your comments. Perhaps I should appoint you as my bodyguard! Johann

Hi This is basically the area that I'm aiming at, but you know how easily one can get sidetracked..... Thanks for your reassuring comments. Regards Johann

Halden When I purchased the Bean Bag for the eTrex Venture, I was given to understand by the salesperson that these bags are going to become standardised. Apparently you just buy a battery cover for each Garmin model. These covers are used to clip onto the bag. Metro Nomad

Hi to all SA Cachers Although I’ve been unable to partake in the sport the last 12 months, this will hopefully change soon for the better. I’ve always kept up to date with new caches etc and I’ve got a few of them earmarked for a visit towards the end of July, health etc permitting. Which bring me to the point of this posting. Some of the earmarked caches in the Cape Town area seem to be a bit “remote”. How safe is it to do caching all by yourself? Any area that should rather be visited with someone accompanying you? I know that this might sound like a strange question, but with the (unnecessary) violence up here in our part of SA I think that it is very relevant. (I’ve seen a log entry not long ago that prompted this question and there are probably more cachers out there that would like to see feedback on this.) I know that there are quite a few active cachers in the CT area and I am looking forward to some good advice/comments. Let’s draw the line at a radius of about 80 Km from the Waterfront to make it easier and fairly simple. You can contact me directly on Metro.Nomad@idws.co.za should you prefer not to make use of the forum. Thanks PS: Although this topic is presently aimed at the south, any comments/experiences regarding Gauteng and North West will also be appreciated.

Eric K To answer your question about the mark on the dash. My Garmin Venture came standard with a dash mount and two types of adhesive pads. A permanent adhesive sticker and an adhesive sticker that you could re-use when relocating the mount. I’ve only used the re-usable sticker, but even so found that it left a mark on the dash. It does disappear after a few applications of polish though. For the past year or so I’ve been using a Garmin bean bag on the dash and I’ve found this to be very convenient and surprisingly stable. What is also nice of course is the fact that you can move it around on the dash should it interfere with your line of vision. Furthermore, you just grab the GPS complete with bean bag and plonk it down in the vicinity of the PC to do up- and downloading of data. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to do any geocaching during the past 11 months due to various factors, but I put on a very high mileage annually and the GPS is used extensively. At this point in time my vote would go to the bean bag, but I have a sneaky feeling that the permanent mount would be more suitable if you do some off-roading. Metro Nomad

Hi Unfortunately I've been inactive for quite a while, but hopefully this is going to change shortly. Two of the GC's on my shortlist that I plan to do shortly are: Waterfall Wonder - GCHRY3 JHB's Best View - GCFF8E. (These two are fairly close to each other) If you don't get much feedback I suggest that you do a search of GC's near to these two and do some log reading. JHB and surrounding areas are a fairly big piece of real estate and it depends on where you're going and how far away you wish to hunt. Happy hunting Metro Nomad

During the winter of '65 my Grandma suffered from severe backache and the doctor advised her to walk 5 miles every day. We haven't seen her since. Would you please post the GPS co-ords so that I can pass it on to Grandpa? He'll be delighted as she doesn't appear to have aged since starting her therapy. Thanks

Same problems lately on this side of the Globe. (South Africa).