GEO936

Definitely "Dakar" from the old BMW FS650 Dakar bike that you used to have. (Nice replacement by the way). I'm not sure about the "Drix"? Something from when you were a young lad? I think it was GreenJaM that got you hooked into geocaching if my memory serves me correctly.

Something to do with the world?

Thanks cincol....we have been so bogged down with work that we have not been able to spend much time on geocaching. We will check out the coins for some more pics and will post this weekend if we can. We still have our own pics to post from our holiday in December!!

Hi Rolf Concerning Rusty Hook and the fishing. Rusty Hook has once again allowed people fishing. Now it costs you a sum of R1oo.oo a day to fish there and hopefully now it will keep the so called fishermen away. Oh wow...we didn't think they would allow it again. Glad to hear that we can fish there again....but with the Event there won't be any time to go fishing!

This is great news...we almost missed this new post because we didn't receive the notification from GS. We know Rusty Hook very well.... we have even fished there back in 2006 (Nadia was 4 months old) when they still allowed fishing. But thanks to all the so called fishermen who damaged fish while trying to "release" them back into the water (catch & release), they decided to stop people fishing there. It is still a lovely venue and it has been over a year since we were last there. We should be able to attend, however depending on Enzo's nap time we may get there a bit later on in the afternoon. Not sure how he will be sleeping by then, as he starts with school/creche on Monday, and his nap time may change as a result. But either way count us in - 2 adults and 2 kiddies. Cheers Silvia

We buy all our geocoins and TB dogtags from overseas places. We have only experienced one lost parcel from geocoinshop.de, which they replaced at no extra charge. Other than that we have always received our orders. We shop at www.geocoinshop.de www.coinsandpins.com www.chqualitycoins.com We've recently ordered twice from Socal Geocoins, but we haven't yet received our orders. When we first started caching, we purchased the famous South African made Eragon-saphira geocoin. I can't remember how Rolf got to find it, but he met up with the owner and bought it from him directly. We've made a new year's resolution not to purchase many coins this year - it is a very addictive habit (ask Fish Eagle) because there are so many gorgeous coins out there and you just can't resist to have one of your own! There are local guys selling geocaching dog tags and other goodies. Speak to HeinG and W@lly and Geocacher.co.za. I think you need to have a design done, approach a geocoin manufacturer and then have a certain number of coins minted before you can get valid tracking numbers onto the GC.com system. I don't think they will give out abitrary tracking numbers for once off items. Not sure though - haven't ever asked!

Wasn't it more around 1910 or 1912?

If not the DRC then maybe the Congo next door?

We usually go to a chinese run toy shop in Randburg (although after all the guns I saw on sale there before Christmas I was really put off to go there again!), and buy small but inexpensive toys for putting in caches. Bright and interesting erasers are a hit with the kids, so are bouncy balls, little animals, whistles, etc. Anything that a kid will have fun with, and it is simple and does not cost the earth. Sometimes, you can actually find useful things too - we once traded with this tiny spatula from tupperware and it is a brilliant gadget for me when I'm in the kitchen. And some girls love the guy things - my daughter has often taken a car from a cache. But really, if you look around at most toy shops and those large plastic wholesalers (there are a number around here like Plastic Warehouse or Westpack Plastics, etc.) and you'll find loads of goodies. In Durbs I'm sure you could pick up some nice novelties at the markets? Another thing that we do, is look out for goodies wherever we go. Sometimes you can pick up so great goodies of various sizes, for under R10. So they will put a smile on a kid's face and they don't cost the earth. We also ge a variety of sizes of goodies, so that we have something for all sizes of caches. We do get a little annoyed when we find broken or dirty items in caches. Things that are also not good are hand lotions or creams or hotel shampoos. We have found these on more than one occasion and they have leaked inside the cache, and the cache got all gooey and sticky and wet!! Yuck!

So does that mean it is a mosque we are looking for and not a Christian church?

Welcome to the wonderful world of Geocaching! For starters, as a Newbie, you have done a great thing to get connected on the Forum. That is a good way to get a feel of things and what geocaching is all about, as well as "get to know" the various, active geocachers in RSA. In terms of your hit rate, it is not so bad. Your GPS, the weather, the terrain, etc. all play a role in finding a cache. But most important, as you gain more experience, you'll start to notice things "out of place" or "this is not the spot where a cache should be hidden" and then that will help you to find the cache. Also, getting to know how certain cachers hide their caches, helps too. We first started caching using our Nuvi 710, which is essentially a street navigator. We managed to successfully find 30 hides with it and also had some DNFs (Did Not Finds). We then realised we needed something a little more geared for geocaching, and invested in the Garmin eTrex Vista HCx. Now we also use our iPod Touch for the paperless side of things (we used to use a little programme that Rolf wrote for his cellphone, but it was too limiting). There have been many times that we have not been able to find hides, so it is very normal. Even now, we get DNFs. Our advice is that you will get into it as you do more of it and your hit rate will certainly improve. The main thing is not to give up and not to feel put off by not finding the caches. Keep at it and you'll soon discover the gems that you never knew existed! If you can, attend an Event if one comes up near to you and get to meet the wonderful geocachers around. Good Luck and hang in there! GEO936 PS: (You are welcome to give us a call (the PAF (Phone A Friend) option, if you get stuck on a cache that we have previously found. Email us via the link in GC.com for our number).

WOW!! Happy Hunters SA - WELL DONE on reaching 400! You guys have been very busy - busy enjoying yourselves in our great outdoors! Best of luck for the next 400!!

And some more photo nominations for December 2009.... Arwen's Bling Bling Mini Cooper of Arwen SA taken by Srider SA Nice one at this old car! Bouncing Smiley TB of HeinG taken by MnCo Excellent shot … took us a while to find where Smiley was sitting!! What a beautiful rock formation…..possible spot for an Earthcache too? Bouncing Smiley TB of HeinG taken by MnCo What a stunning picture – look at the blue on that sky! And to be placed on Christmas Day – what a special experience for Bouncing Smiley! Pongo the Racing Dalmatian of MeganZA taken by RedGlobe We know this spot well and we can agree with Pongo for wanting to take a dip! 2009 Great SA TB Race ~ The Big Five of MnCo taken by RedGlobe Excellent!! Don’t hoot once or twice – must be 4 times exactly….wonder if the owners of the place are German? BruceTP's 2009 Great SA TB Race Medallion of BruceTP taken by M2C2 It’s a long and dusty road….but we loved this landscape shot of contrasts! BruceTP's 2009 Great SA TB Race Medallion of BruceTP taken by WaynesWorld Loved the idea with the plants! Love Bug of Wazat Photo taken by Wazat At St Josephs train (we thought it was cute to see little LB on top of the building!)

We agree with all of you - we also dislike those short, non-informative logs. We love to read about different cachers' experiences at a cache, especially if we've been to it previously. As for our own caches, we do try to provide some information in the listing, sometimes too much info, but we do try to make it interesting. We enjoy the details of a cacher's experience at our caches - whether good or bad. From our side, we put in as much info. as possible in our log as we feel it helps us to remember the cache and what we experienced there. If it were not for the details, we would long forget about it. We have just experienced the pure bliss of paperless caching with our iPod Touch. We downloaded a really cool geocaching application and we have all the listing details with us and can log the details of the find. Usually, I log in the main info. while we get to the next cache, but if Rolf has a chance he'll also enter some info. We then sync with geocaching.com and the logs are transferred as "field notes". When we "compose log" we can add to our short notes and put in a proper description. But it saves us so much time as the date is in there and the main gist of the cache is already there, so we just need to add in the "meat" so to speak. So we have to say that even if using a cellphone or other form of paperless method to log caches, you can still go back and add more info. and do a complete log. We also see it as "reliving" the cache, by putting detailed info. in the log. We also agree that there are some awful caches out there, and although we too are tempted to just put "TFTC", it goes against our grain. Even if it is negative, we have to put in the details. We've been shot down by the cache owner for doing that though, so sometimes a "TFTC" would've been a safer option! All in all, we love reading all the interesting and funny logs...we love the stories from some cachers! TFTT (Thanks for the topic!! )

Some more nominations.... 2009 SA Bug Racer - The Capital TB (ZA - WC) of Carbon Hunter Photo taken by besem Loved the hieroglyphs.... Mom's Marathon Racer of Far-Jar-Hug Photo taken by PurpleGeckoGirl More nominations to follow.....

Photo nominations for December 2009: Cacheachu of iNokia Photo taken by The Hotties Stunning pic of the Bryce Canyon with snow! Cacheachu of iNokia Photo taken by The Hotties Loved little Cacheachu totally surround by snow. Such a contrasting landscape to what we have in RSA at present. DiePienaars N.Ireland Racing Coin of DiePienaars Photo taken by DiePienaars Interesting shot of this sign at a new cache. This is how our 3 year old sees geocaching - it's all about Treasure! more to follow....

Wow Grawp....good to have you back in the game! We hope your health gets better each day! We believe a cache a day keeps the doctor away! We are not fond of micros either, but we do understand that sometimes they cannot be avoided. We do have a few "small" caches, but when we mean small, the smallest is in a 200ml container. Sometimes, we wish we could go bigger, but it is just not possible. Also, we have had some fun finding micros, but those are around town and they are usually in a different/unique container. We have to agree, that many times cachers set up their hides quickly and without much prep and effort. So a 35mm film cartridge with logbook is what gets placed. We take ages to place our caches, but we hope the wait is worthwhile in the end. Take a look at GC1VJ3T - The Piston Cup - for a different cache. Rolf made the cache camo himself and we think it is very cool. On the micro side, we thoroughly enjoyed finding the cache GC1PKEJ AROMERC-EHCAC - that was a worthwhile micro to find and in a beautiful place too! We also agree with Malo Mystery about the value you get from caches. We also enjoy finding a new place and learning about the area/history, etc. There are countless occasions of where we would never have gone to a spot, had it not been for geocaching! We hope you start finding some nice non-micro caches soon! There are many around...

I believe it is a Parrot Beaked Tortoise. Thanks MnCo....I did some reading up on the little fella and found out that this tortoise (Homopus areolatus) is endemic primarily to the Southern Cape in South Africa. It belongs to a genus of the smaller tortoises in our country. So I still think it was an AWESOME shot - well done!

The "Who" part - Is she South African? The "What did she do" - Name a new flower?

Nomination for Photo of the Month - December: Bouncy Smiley Photo taken by MnCo We thought this was a great photo with this tortoise. We can see it is a different species to what we usually see (Leopard tortoise). I wonder if anyone knows which species it is? Photo taken by MnCo Oh! This is absolutely BRILLIANT! What a great idea of Bouncy in the cannon! We love it! Well done.

We found out (thanks to Robin Hills) that this beetle is one of the "Long Horn" Beetles from the Ceroplesis genus. They are pretty much harmless, unless you allow one to bite you (then it will be very sore)!!

Something (a rock) that covers up something else?? I like Jors' thinking...mmm....siesta is a good thing!

Photo of the Month nomination: The Love Bug Taken by Wazat Absolutely beautiful Wazat! Well done...we love it.

I don't think so Bruce? Aren't solifuges those insects that look like spiders but aren't real spiders? The common name "sun spiders"....nasty looking things that run so fast and make me very scared of them! See this link: http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/arachn...ugids/index.htm I think this is another type of beetle....I know an entomologist and will ask him if he knows its name!

Some more photo nominations for November 2009: The Love Bug Picture taken by Wazat We like this "bug" meets bug.....but we know how big Love Bug is, so that real bug is HUGE! Picture taken by Wazat Hee hee! We know EXACTLY what this sign is warning about!! Nice that little Love Bug got to enjoy one of the most beautiful spots in South Africa!