Carbon Hunter

This must be a first for any province outside W Cape or Gauteng. Well done E Cape

Let's give them a week to log their finds and then I'll look at Cape Town next week. I'm not so sure that we have sufficient cachers to see this. For instance other eventss like the Soccer world Cup so no significant upswings. Some localized caching (like the Midmar Mile) are seen annually here in KZN - but over the entire W Cape - I do not believe the Argus (wind or not) would make a significant difference?

Danie - PLEASE NO NO NO.... your inputs are invaluable - and are in many ways a reference for all of us.

And congrats to Nish4 for making a comeback - Rip van Winkel award in the making ....

Will follow up for you. I know GeoawareGBL who used to cover this area has recently taken a sabbatical. I'm sure someone will pick it up in the next few days.

I reckon it's time to have a topic or two on our "South African" forum about the neighbouring countries - as the caching communities are growing and we are becoming a more "southern" African community rather than just a single country. I hope we see many more caches in the SADC countries - and a more active community. This will also hopefully allow a bit of a spot for info relevant to this country be posted and kept on the forum. Zimbabwe has seen steady growth in caching over the past few years and last year overtook the likes of Kenya / Tanzania and Seychelles when it comes to cache find numbers. Great to see caching growing - and also to hear of the southern cachers heading up to Vic Falls, Harare or Bulawayo and grabbing a few caches while there. Hopefully we are going to be seein many more caches and cachers up north and many more of the S African cachers heading that way on caching holidays.

It is good to see that there is suddenly an initiative by a cacher to seed Gaberone with some caches - and a bunch of new caches in more remote areas by Team GBS. I reckon it's time to have a topic or two on our "South African" forum about the neighbouring countries - as the caching communities are growing and we are becoming a more "southern" African community rather than just a single country. I hope we see many more caches in the SADC countries - and a more active community. This will also hopefully allow a bit of a spot for info relevant to this country be posted and kept on the forum.

Here is a reference list so you can figure out where some of these places are: SA Municipalities

100% agree with Danie here ... we need to find a way to re-excite those that are losing interest and make them want to improve the game further by adding to it (ie placing some quality caches). But lets keep encouraging the younger generation as well to keep the new blood coming in as well. I know there are a few scout masters here in KZN trying to get a geocaching badge approved for South African Scouts, maybe someone has a similar idea for other provinces ... to you "well done" ... lets look for more ideas like this. Very true - the drop out rates - and keeping cachers excited I think are very real - and not just in South Africa. I really hope that we can re-invigorate the caching community - there have been some awesome cachers that have taken a break - I know some will return but others will be gone forever. I hope there is something done. I have been keen to arrange some more interesting types of events - but time and know how are my limiting factor. Perhaps we should all try to get retention in the expereinced cachign community some how?

From a travel warning advice website Location: Oman; United Arab Emirates (UAE); Category: Storm Last Updated: 23 Jan 2017 09:24 (GMT) Members in or travelling to Oman or the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the coming days should expect potential disruption to travel due to adverse weather conditions. The UAE's National Center of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) has forecast heavy rainfall and strong winds in Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah and Ras al-Khaimah emirates until 25 January. Oman's Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) has forecast thunderstorms throughout much of northern Oman, including the capital Muscat, until 25 January. While no disruption has been reported at international airports in either country, travellers should maintain flexible itineraries and reconfirm the status of flights prior to setting out, to minimise inconvenience. ADVICE • Monitor the NCMS's website if in or travelling to the UAE, or the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) website if in or travelling to Oman, for up-to-date information on prevailing weather conditions, and be prepared to adjust itineraries accordingly. • We do not hold information on specific flights. Contact the relevant airport, your airline or travel agency directly for information on flight schedules before setting out. • Do not attempt to cross flooded roads. If you come across one, find another route to your destination. • Driving conditions significantly worsen during rain and dust storms. Exercise additional caution if self-driving. • Avoid photographing or sharing views about bad weather conditions on social media. Such activity is viewed as being politically sensitive and may have legal ramifications. • Monitor our travel security alerts for related developments.

That would be interesting to see. I wonder if it could be done through Project_gc? Otherwise a stats guru like Danie or Technonut would need to crunch it through GSAK manually

Awesome news - hope we break the 3000 mark in 2017? France has shown phenomenal growth in the past 3 years.... Interesting that apart from 2016 (the other 2 MEGA years of 2014 and 2012 were quite low... and the Cape Town MEGA did not place a lot of new caches either compare to the previous 2 MEGAs...

Awesome - looking forward to all 250 posts on these statsDanie :anitongue: :anitongue: :anitongue: Great to see these -love the stats updates

So sad - the Tonteldoos series is still very much on my to Do list. I had Hanover Foxhole on my "must do" list for the recent holiday. However a change in departure time meant we drove past at close to midnight - and it just didn't seem feasible to do on a long 19 hour road trip..... one day... So I remain with no change to my TD numbers....

Great to hear this - EC's really rock. Not only do I really enjoy them - there are often really great traditionals at some of these interesting sites too. Double whammy

Agreed - the Forums seem to be superseded by Facebook or Whatsapp. But I enjoy this for longevity. also what is surprising that when posts are made -comments still come.

I always ask - what does an estimate add to the experience of a finder? If it is to get that "WOW" moment - like - it's x times biger than a football field - or "wow" - I never realised that crystals could be so big - then great. But to estimate the height of a fold - or cliff - and if you get 8 m - or 20 m - so what? I really want finders to enjoy ECs = so the tasks should be fun and educational IMO.

Will need to be one of those GSAK gurus - sorry not me right now []

Just out of interest - here is a site you can see you global and SA ranking based on number of finds... quite amazing how many finds some users do have!!!! Cacher stats

Just an overview of the current caches available in south Africa - as of end 2016..... This is in the D/T rating grid - so gives you an idea of what needs to be done - and how prolific certain caches are compared to others.

And a comparison to 3 years back - lots of new caches on - and a good few of the old quality caches remain. 2014: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=216914&st=1800&p=5442534entry5442534 2013: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=216914&st=1400&p=5247415entry5247415 May 2013 - 1 GC31WXR Table Mountain Travel Bug Hotel 137 2 GC2X329 Stellenbosch TB Lodge 72 3 GC1GZ0K Little Netherlands TB Hotel 45 4 GC3WXRQ MEGA SA 2012 -Voortrekker "Uitspan" Travellers Inn 43 5 GCMYYZ Table Top Trove 41 6 GCVDHN Sailors' Star 40 7 GC185 Sentinel View 39 8 GC1ABZK Table Mountain - Cape Town 38 9 GC20XJH Ipanema 35 GC77E Cape Agulhas 35 11 GC3KM3K Da Vinci Code 34 12 GC2WJ2X Maps et al 33 13 GC1H1D7 Of Diamonds and Pearls 32 14 GC3X9VX MEGA SA 2012 – GETEMDE VRYHEID 31 GC2N4G0 Spring Tide 31 16 GC3X44Z MEGA SA 2012 - The Needle in the Haystack 30 GC1WBRJ Longfinger 30 GC1VJ3T The Piston Cup 30 GC3NMFK Wie-se Clock 30 GC2D9WC SS: Lusitania 30 21 GC44XCJ Size does matter 29 GC3W9N8 9Icon Walk - Trek for the Voortrekker Treasure 29 GC2NYNP Puzzled Birds 29 24 GC20ZC3 THE BIGGEST TREE IN SOUTH AFRICA - AND 5 CHAMPIONS 28 GC2926W A Tribute to Friends and Family 28 GC1BZ22 Kirstenbosch Gardens - Big 5 28 GC2P0XK Almost Metallophobia 28 GC23KTY Good Hope 28 GCQTPD The Mines of Moria 28 30 GCW8AV Training 27

The top 30 cache in SA according to Favourite Points: Table Mtn Travel Bug Hotel - 424 MEGA 2012 - Voortrekker Uitspan - 123 SS Lusitania - (Disabled) - 119 Table Mountain -Cape Town - 115 Stellenbosch TB Lodge (Archived) - 99 Hiddingh Security TB Hotel - 78 2 Oceans Earthcache - 74 Sailor's Star -73 Table top Trove - 72 Sentinel View - 72 MEGA Surprise (Archived) - 71 UP PERISCOPE - 71 Tardis - 69 Good Hope - 67 Cape Aghulas - 66 Intersect 2.0 - 65 Curse of the FTF#3 - Gauteng - 64 Muzzle Loading Gun - 59 9Icon walk - Trek of the Voortrekkers Little Netherlands TB Hotel (Archived) - 58 Three Rondavels - 57 Kerneels se klip - 56 The Vault - 56 Antron's Puzzle Box - 54 Valyland (The Wishing Well) - 54 The Penny Ferry - 52 Nailed! - 52 Size Does Matter (Archived) - 52 Geocacher by night - 52 Tip of Africa - 49

Sent a copy to Fier for uploading on GOSA hopefully

Some Earthcache stats as of August 22 2016 EARTHCACHE STATS As of 22 Aug 2016 ECs by Prov Eastern Cape 56 Free State 6 Gauteng 47 Kwazulu Natal 62 Limpopo 19 Mpumalanga 44 North West 9 Northern Cape 20 Western Cape 84 TOTAL 347 - so getting the Earthcache rewards is now a lot easier. Trusting the many more cachers now have their Earth Cache Masters (Platinum) - and 100 ECs is also now so much more possible for local cachers. Western Cape have dominated this type - and a good few new ones planned for the MEGA too - so looks like it may be the first province to break 100 earthcaches on its own.

Really interesting to see the KZN stats. There seem to be a LOT of cachers coming to events and newbies popping up all the time BUT there is a still a significant drop off from 2015 (and that excludes the MEGA - or do these stats still compare 2015 (incl MEGA finds in Oct 14)? Really need to look at if us longer term cachers are scaring newbies off with either an elitist view - or internal politics - or not being willing to assist the newbies? Hopefully it is none of these and just a statistical anomoly. Seems to be great in the other 2 large areas of GP & WC