BruceTP

In the days before geocaching there invariably was a container with a logbook hidden in a cairn at the summits of the various peaks where you could record your visit. I suspect some of them were maintained by the MCSA. So it is not surprising that so many people have logged a visit at Cathedral Peak.

Congratulations to pelican's briefs on reaching your first ton! I look forward to teaming up with you and the family some day again to go out exploring in the Landy - maybe do some off-road caches otherwise inaccessible to mere mortals. Heres to your next milestone. BruceTP.

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*** Congratulations to JustinDett on reaching your 50 mark *** May you go on to find many more. All the best, BruceTP.

I don't know about Cape Town, but in Johannesburg GreenJaM always seems to have an enless supply of bugs and coins available. He keeps me well supplied.

Hi Cape Gypsy, I can’t agree with you more. I don’t enjoy caching alone especially in remote sites which tend to be overgrown or where you have to walk a distance from the safety of your vehicle. I also find that I am so engrossed in following the GPS I tend to forget to be aware of my surroundings. I am oblivious of the muggles lurking nearby. If it were not for my erstwhile colleague dakardrix who subsequently introduced me to GreenJaM, I would not have as many finds as I do. GreenJam is highly organised and plans a structured route for a morning or whole day out. Armed with a well stocked picnic basket we head out and enjoy just being out, seeing new places and also enjoying the company and camaraderie. Sometimes three heads are better than one in fathoming out some of the more tricky caches. Even so, we still miss some! The reward, however, is being outdoors with friends and finding as many as 20 caches together in relative safety. I look forward to possibly meeting up with you when you are next in "Gangsters Paradise" (GP) to do some caching with you here. BruceTP

On the subject of welcomes, I would like to welcome my colleague "Jan van Riebeeck" to the sport of geocaching. May you go on to find many more especially as you and your wife enjoy the outdoors on your mountain bikes. As you cycle you can collect caches and learn some interesting historical facts at the same time. Safe travel, safe caching. BruceTP Spelling

Writing my previous post prompted me to dig out my photograph album and the DVD we made of the second trip. Out of interest, my first ascent was part of a group of five and our camping adventure was a party of ten. The youngest was 20 and the oldest 55. We all made it with ease. If you are interested, I can get some of my photographs scanned and posted as it will give a clearer idea of what is required, the terrain and the route taken by us on both occasions. BruceTP

Hi Gerhard This has been on my watch list for a long time now. I have climbed the sentinel twice and enjoyed it immensely. The first time it was a detour en route to the chain ladder. It was the middle of winter in sub-zero temperatures. We left out backpacks just off the path climbed up, signed the MCSA log and headed down as quickly as possible as the wind was howling gales on top and we were freezing. I think in all were not gone two hours as a deviation from our route. I enjoyed it so much I got together with a few friends and returned in the spring with the express purpose of actually camping on top. It was an amazing experience, especially as that night we had the mother of all storms which tore some of the tents to shreds. I have the Sunseeker dome tent which withstood the storm comfortably. This resulted in the occupancy doubling during the night! We went up the western face, the bridal path, which is the easiest route up. As you say, there is an initial steepish climb Of about 10 - 15m. One of our team scampered up and affixed the rope in the loops provided in the rock. They were old but firmly embedded in the rock. It was safer to get every body up using ropes especially when we were carrying heavy packs which tends to throw you off balance. (We each carried 10 litres of water as there is no water on top). Once over that rim, it is a steady zig-zag walk to just before the top. Once there, our leader free climbed to the top, secured the rope and got us all up including all our goods and chattels. (It also included a large format video camera - a shoulder mount one. The footage was spectacular.) I was pleased of the rope because at such a height and right on the edge of a vertical precipice you feel very exposed. The rest is history. We had a great time and the views were breathtaking. The decent is much easier as it was just a case of abseiling down each of those sections. As you say, anyone with a modicum of fitness, a sense of adventure and a head for heights will thoroughly enjoy this hike. I would highly recommend it especially if you have an experienced and confident leader. The only caveat I would offer is the weather. It is very changeable and it may seem calm on the walk up and it may well be because it is sheltered. Once you near the top and are on top, the winds can be exceedingly strong and you realise just how much you cling to the ropes. Speaking of which, I don't know how much of my climbing gear and equipment has survived my many break-ins of a year ago. but I am sure whoever is leading this will be amply kitted out. Although I would love to do this hike again, I don't know whether my current fitness levels will suffice, though. It does not help having a sedentary job and not getting out into the open that much exacerbates it further. I shall keenly watch this post for further information. BruceTP

Congratulations to GreenJaM on your 600. I have enjoyed the few that we have done together. Well done! BruceTP

Don't tell me the earthcaches were archived too. Now that would be a knee jerk reaction if ever I saw one.

Bloemhof Dam?

It cannot be du Toit's Kloof as the tunnel was only opened in 1988 [i think] and it took nearly 10 years to complete. With Sir Lowry's out of the picture that leave Franschoek Pass and Bainskloof Pass. My guess would be Franschoek [?] By the way, some history on the du Toit's Kloof Pass: In 1940 the National Roads Council decided to go ahead construction of a pass through the Du Toitskloof. The road would be 46km from the Berg River Bridge to the Goudini junction, and include a tunnel below the notoriously difficult Kleigat passage. The total cost was estimated at £750,000. The project would also provide gainful employment for the large number of Italian POWs interned in the Drakenstein Valley. Subsequently, a temporrary POW camp was built in Klein Drakenstein to accommodate about 500 men (some sources say 1,500 POWs). The POWs lived there until they were expatriated at the end of the war. Before returning to Italy in 1945 four of the POWs erected a T-shaped wooden cross on Huguenot Buttress overlooking the pass to commemorate their stay in the Drakenstein Valley. Local farmers in turn agreed to maintain the cross in their memory. The Italian Cross as it is known today has since been replaced with one of stainless steel. The Du Toitskloof Pass was completed in 1945. Construction on the Huguenot Tunnel began in 1984 and the tunnel was completed in 1988 at a cost of R125 m. Today the 4km Huguenot Tunnel from the Miaspoort Valley to the bridge over the Elands River shortens the distance between Paarl and Worcester by 11km. Edit: Correct quote.

Very well said Gerhard. It all boils down to safety risk and environmental impact. If a cache is planted in the safety of the camp, what are the chances of you being eaten by an animal in the camp while you retrieve it and what is the chance of an animal eating the cache and choking on it? It will mean than Andy will have to make sure that where the caches are planted in a rest camp they would then pose no risk to the cacher or environment. ie. If you have to climb a snake infested tree, albeit in the confines of a rest camp, or walk along a narrow ledge to retrieve the cache then it would be irresponsible of the cache planter no matter how the cache was defined in terms of difficulty and terrain. A level headed approach is now needed when negotiating with SANParks, sticking to the facts and a tactfully analytical presentation which removes emotion and vested interests. It sound like you could be the man for the job! Seriously though, maybe you and Andy should work on a joint presentation to SANParks management.

Duplicated entry.

Here is another idea: Seeing they allow webcams at water holes (which I find more obtrusive than a hidden cache) why can't we set up some webcam caches. They have already set the precedent. I would presume, rightly or wrongly that it all boils down to who is receiving the kickback for allowing the webcam in the first place. The coffers again!

Once this has all blown over and life returns to normal again, it behooves each one of us to be more vigilant when new caches are published to ensure that they are neither insulting, degrading nor inflammatory towards any individual or organisation. In addition, if such a published listing encourages actions which would result in overt antisocial or illegal behaviour we need to treat it with the censure and contempt which it deserves. Posts of this nature may still slip through without Andy noticing or him taking action but then we all need to take responsibility to alert him to the fact so that he can take action before it reaches the public domain where individuals and organisations take offense and mar the good will and reputation of geocaching. In conclusion: On behalf of all the geocaching community, I would like to offer an unreserved apology to the game ranger (not a janitor), whose duty it is to ensure the safety of the public whilst they are in the bounds of and enjoying the beauty of the Kruger Park, who was, in the words of the cache listing, told to "bug off", resulting in further verbal abuse from the cacher.

It is now in the capable hands of Andy and I am sure he will be able to pour oil on troubled waters. Let us exercise restraint and circumspection especially when dealing with the unititiated on the SANParks' forum.

Thanks M@X, I have taken it up with Andy and I shall continue to work towards keeping caches going in the KNP.

I am not surprised by the actions taken by the Park authorities. As a self regulating hobby we need to take responsibility and play by the rules. This does seem to be the case here. Park rules were broken and abuse was hurled at Park staff when confronted that their actions were in contravention of the Park rules. Hence a formal complaint was laid with Park management and thus the response. There are senior Park staff who are sympathetic to our cause and enjoy caching too. We therefore need to work together with them to ensure that we do not cause a disturbance to other guests. They find it difficult to motivate on our behalf when we don't honour our end of the agreement. Another thing to remember about planting a new cache is to research the area. We need to be aware of the eco-sensitivity and cultural sensitivity of the area: ie. make sure we are not disturbing or digging in some ancient ancestral burial ground. This is where close consultation is needed with Park officials as they know the area. I have found them very willing to help and they have even suggested other potential cache sites which I was considering planting. I was informed this evening, however, that this is no longer the case, until further notice no new caches will be entertained.

Congratulations to pelican's briefs on attaining your first 50. May you all go on to get many more. I look forward to joining you caching soon. BruceTP

I am prepared to take Visserman too. It can remain deactivated and once the wall has been rebuilt, I shall put a new container and reactivate.

I have attempted to adopt the "Stone Church" but due to the fact that it has been archived it would not let me continue. I therefore approached Andy to ask him to de-archive it in order for me to formally adopt it. I was thinking about the "Armour Car" from what I remember there is access to the other armoured car on the premises. It is located on the pavement. If you would like I could consider adopting this one as well and possibly creating a magnetic cache on the accessible tank. I would have to go back and look more closely as well as obtaining the new coordinates. With reference to "Visserman" I am sure in time the wall will be rebuilt. Then the cache could be restored. Until then I would rather see it as being disabled rather than archived. Thanks , Bruce