Fish Eagle

Thanks, it was great fun playing in your playground!!

That's our home area - pm coming your way.

Already on sale at geocoinstore.com

Coming to a cache near you soon..... As almost all of the travellers that we've released over the past years are now spread across the world, and very few remain in SA, we're going to try to keep this personal geocoin issue in SA for our local geocaching friends to enjoy. This coin is identical to our 2006 coin (except for the date), and was minted for commercial sale by the Geocoin Store/Club in shiny gold, antique gold and antique silver. We made a limited edition in shiny silver just for ourselves, and that's what we'll be releasing into SA caches.

And there you go! Congrats on being a Platinum Master!! Thank you. Our latest EC was actually set up mid December, only got around to getting it published it now....

For info, for the Fynbossers..... Kloof Corner Difficult.... Geocoin log

Just for interest's sake, and partly in response to the previous post - the practice of intentionally listing incorrect co-ords to make a cache more challenging can be fun for the cache owner (and very frustrating for those hunting it), but only up to the point of "acceptable GPS error". Beyond "acceptable GPS error", that practice becomes a guidelines violation, and could result in the cache being archived. This guideline says "The coordinates listed on the traditional cache page are the exact location of the cache." For "acceptable GPS error", I use a maximum of 10m. Regarding waypoints on logs - I wonder who actually sees or reads them...? When I've thought it necessary, I've always emailed the cache owner about bad co-ords.

No email received yet....?

Hi TCNZ's, and welcome to the game!! Please excuse my previous response to one of your questions (post #16) which probably appeared abrupt, but I was battling to wade through an enormous gc-workload at the time. Normally I take the time to respond fully, and try to help as much a possible (that's one of my roles!!) Quick answers to your questions: 1) I have no idea, but if you keep posting here, one day it'll disappear. 2) Theoretically, any number. Practically, not many - risk of muggling grows, and popularity declines with more stages. 3) If it's something you've placed, minimum 161m from any other physical cache or waypoint, but no restriction for a stage of a multicache versus another stage of the same multi, or for "virtual" waypoints where one gets a clue from something already there. No maximum, but there are practicality considerations..... However.... It's very common for someone new to the game to want to create a "masterpiece" of a multi or mystery cache for their first hide. Sadly, that rarely works out, and ends up in frustration all round. It's like riding a bicycle - first learn to ride properly, and get some practice before entering a mountain bike race. My advice is to find a few more caches and hide a few fairly simple traditional caches to first to get the feel of it, then think of getting more creative. You're welcome to attempt something more expansive, but I ask that you please email me directly with your ideas, and I'll try to guide you how to make it happen within the cache listing guidelines. If you just "go for it" with a complex multi, your chances of getting it published without having the necessary experience are very small. Some reading matter if you're thinking of hiding caches: Cache Listing Guidelines Tips for hiding a cache in Africa

Cache Contents Guideline Cache Contents Tips

Thanks for your kind wishes, and all of the best for 2010 for you and your family too. No, I won't be reviewing earthcaches. Africa will still be handled by Geoaware.

Welcome and thanks for your enquiry. Specifics like this is better dealt with offline, and I'll need some more info before I can advise you. I'll email you shortly.

Hey, you caught me in the act... Happy new year to the "clan" too - may 2010 be filled with great finds, and few DNFs.

Interesting thread!! As the owner of many caches, I fully share the sentiments expressed here. It's the pits to get a TNLNSL log on a cache that you've put lots of effort into. And I especially sympathise with GPS Storm, because if there's anyone who tries to, and succeeds in creating interesting hides, it's them..... Their latest cache GC221R4 is very special. But.... We need to be tolerant with newbies, and try to delicately guide them in the right direction. Looking at the logs in question, I see: - He's a newbie - Obviously Afrikaans, so he probably battles to write in English (which he doesn't have to) - Hasn't hidden any caches, so doesn't understand the "give-and-take" of pleasure through logs yet - Probably still thinks GC is a big amorphous international game, and hasn't clicked that SA is actually a small community We need to "mentor" such cachers - they're the lifeblood of the game into the future.

To some extent (as a player), I share your concern. However, it's horses for courses, and easy smileys are loved by many cachers across the world, and that's what they desire to see. That need not degrade one's pleasure in hunting the more difficult and adventurous caches at all. South Africa is betwixt and between at the moment - we still have a relatively low cache density, but enough caches that most of us can be selective about what we hunt, and what we choose to skip. I judge that we are sort of between the need to find everything in our local area/province/country and having too many caches to even consider that, and always selecting which caches we want to hunt or not. The perceived downside of the relaxation of powertrail guideline is a proliferation of inane caches. Sure, I've got private opinions about that, and I might try to advise hiders about quality over quantity, but the bottom line is that they're now publishable. I think it's easy to judge the quality of a cache - a quick glance at the logs shows that. If they're "one-liners" saying "Thanks, cool cache. TNLNSL" then don't expect much. But, if the finders have made the effort to write logs with some meat in them, then that's a 100% indication of a quality cache. However, everyone's perception of "quality" differs too.... Player hat on..... On Saturday, I found about 10 caches by the same owner along one trail of about 6kms on a mountain and enjoyed it thoroughly. They involved some effort, both to get there and to find them, several were mystery caches, one a multi, and they were great fun. Under the old guideline, those might not have been publishable. Even with my conservative views, I'm totally supportive of the relaxation because it permits fun like this (in the way I personally enjoy as a player). But, had they been 10 urban caches placed 200m apart, well I'd probably have given them a miss, and found a mountain to climb..... I've got an ignore list, and I use it. Others might love an easy urban powertrail, but that's a personal choice. I don't know who originally said this, but I got it from GlobalRat a few years ago - So, I guess it all comes down to what gives us "fond memories", and we're allowed to think differently...

Two aspects here - 1. Publish at a specific time - umm, yes in this case, but..... I don't have tools to do that so it relies on me remembering, and pushing the button at roughly the right time. I'll gladly try do it if there's a specific reason such as publishing caches for an event, or a birthday, or for your unusual cache, but obviously I don't want to open a floodgate because it could become very onerus. I would have preferred to answer a specific request like this off-line, so I'm being guarded about what I say online..... Please submit the listing for pre-review ahead of time in case there are any issues that need to be worked through, with a reviewer note to say when it's to be published so I don't push the button by mistake. I'll then let you know what to do for the timed release. 2. If you want to hide behind the bushes and watch the first hunter/s at work (LOL), that's up to you, but please don't put anything in your listing about that because it wouldn't be appropriate. It's fairly common in cache-dense areas for the cache owner to watch the initial action on the cache, just don't say it on the cache page.....

For info - in May 2009 I commented as follows about power trails...... Nothing yet that I've seen in SA, but it's a frequent occurance in the cache-dense regions of Europe and the USA, especially where the local cachers are numbers-centric, and a lot of easy smileys are far more desirable than one multi. One of the reasons for the powertrail guideline is to avoid domination of a specific area by one cache hider. In a sense, we do have that in a small way in a few places in SA, but when there's little competition for cache locations, that's not a big issue. I think that powertrails go hand-in-glove with a high cache density, and a numbers-hungry culture - fortunately neither occurs in SA to any real extent. The power trail guideline has been relaxed. The following wording has been removed from the guidelines: And replaced with:

Ha-ha!! I hid a micro on Sunday!! IMO, it's horses for courses. Micros are often the only viable option in the urban environment, and a clever micro at an interesting location can be quite entertaining. Here's what I've said about cache size in the Guide for Hiding a Cache in Africa which pretty well sums up my views.

I'm not at liberty to disclose info about my tools or methods, but I do to some extent rely on feedback from the community. The tools provided for that are the "Needs Maintenance" and the "Needs Archived" log types which are a better method than emailing me. I don't get automatically notified for "Needs Maintenance" logs, but I do get a notification for "Needs Archived" logs, which should be used carefully, and only in cases where reviewer intervention is deemed necessary and urgent. Typically, I deal with maintenance as follows: If there's an issue with permission, trespassing, or a guidelines violation, I'll normally step in immediately with quite a heavy-handed approach. This applies especially to instances where our sport can be brought into a bad light with land owners or the public. If I think that a cache should be disabled due to DNFs, I'll give it 10 days for the cache owner to react. If he doesn't then I'll disable the cache. I use my experience and subjective judgement to make that call. Some caches with 10 DNFs are probably still there, and with others, I can see it's gone after 1 or 2 DNFs. And I do sometimes make wrong judgements...... If the cache owner has disabled a cache, I'll log a maintenance reminder after 3 months. If there's no reaction after another month, I'll archive the cache. Unless the cache owner logs progress reports to show that "die saak geniet aandag", then I'll give more time. Sometimes life gets in the way of caching, or one has to wait for construction in an area to be completed, etc, and if there's feedback, I'll leave a cache hanging in limbo for much longer if necessary. If I've disabled the cache myself, then I don't give another reminder, and I'll archive the cache after 3 months if there's no cache owner reaction. The timing and grace periods are not prescribed. They're what I'm applying for Africa, and seem to work adequately as a balance between what's necessary, and trying to not be heavy-handed. I'm open to discussion about the timing, and if anyone has an opinion, please voice it.

Congrats to docgerhard on his 50th find today on a high terrain cache, and I had the pleasure of being there!! Go for it Doc - take it all, but take it easy.....

An awkward question, which I'll try to answer as best as I can, but specifically in the African context. I have no knowledge about American bases in the middle east, so I can't comment about that. In Africa Yes and No. No - I would not even consider such a cache is SA, Namibia or Egypt, which are countries with a reasonable number of local cachers, and some critical mass of geocaches. A cache on a military base which the general public can't access would be exclusionary with regard to most potential finders, and not publishable, same as any other cache that can't potentially be accessed by everyone. I say potentially, because that excludes tough terrain, specialist equipment or skills because those can be acquired/obtained. Yes - I have published caches in military bases in other countries that do not have local geocachers, very few caches, and are not tourist destinations. Mainly French bases in north and west Africa. In those cases, I've asked myself who's potentially being excluded, and if the answer is few or none, then it's OK with me. However, I have a concern that those countries could change with time, and develop a local community and a reasonable number of caches/cachers. I would probably, at some stage, decide to stop publishing caches on bases, but consider the existing ones as grandfathered. I'll cross that bridge if and when it arises. Obviously, a cache on a military base requires specific permission, and a maintenance plan. IMO, it's nothing to do military bases - if a cache anywhere excludes a substantial proportion of potential finders, it's a no-no.

No problem with that at all - I've seen several multis like that, and they do have the advantages that you've mentioned. However, RedGlobe does have a very valid point, and a multi that has several caches as waypoints is very frail because the final find relies on every other stage being available. The solution could be to use virtual waypoints - instead of hiding a container that can be muggled, finders would need to get a clue off a sign or something already there (and more permanent than your container is likely to be...). The other advantage of using virtual waypoints is that they do not have to be 161m from another cache which physical containers used as multi waypoints need to be. Here's an example of that sort of cache You mentioned that you are GPS-less at the moment. Just need to mention that you'll have to borrow a GPS to set up a cache of your own because the co-ords have to be taken using a GPS. Google Earth co-ords are not satisfactory for listing a cache - guideline (para 2)

Latest Update 20/10/2009 - Changes are in BLUE NO-GO AREAS: (MPU/LIM) Kruger National Park - No physical geocaches are permitted, but earthcaches and virtual waypoints of multi/mystery caches within the park are OK, provided that they do not encourage breaking any of the park's rules which can be found here, and provided that they contain educational content. Earthcaches have blanket permission, and it's not necessary to ask for specific permission for each earthcache. Feel free to refer to this post when submitting your earthcache listing. (GAU) Randparkridge, NW Johannesburg, the little park by the dam, approx S26°06.248 E027°56.903. The residents insisted on removal of a cache after an incident, and no new placements are permitted without obtaining specific and verifiable permission. (EC) Van Stadens River Bridge - The bridge is under CCTV surveillance, and any unusual activity on the bridge could provoke police response. INTERIM RESTRICTIONS: (NC/Botswana) Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park - No geocaches without written permission. There was an incident, and a complaint by the park management. The only cache in the Kgalagadi has been removed by the rangers, and I've archived the listing. At this stage, I am trying to salvage a "by permission" arrangement instead of a total ban. GEOCACHES PERMITTED BUT PERMISSION MUST BE SOUGHT FOR EACH PLACEMENT: (MPU) Lowveld National Botanical Gardens - Contact the curator Avhatakali (Taki) Mamatsharaga on 013-7525531 or email mamatsharaga (at) sanbi.org (KZN) Empisini Nature Reserve near Umkomaas - The reserve's management committee require obtaining their permission before placing any caches. (GAU) City of Tshwane parks - They are supportive of geocaching, but permission must be sought for each placement. Contact: johnc1 (at) tshwane.gov.za All existing geocaches on their properties are in the process of being inspected, and will either "legalised", or removed if they deem it undesirable. This applies to the following properties under their control - Rietvlei Nature Reserve and fishing area at the dam, Groenkloof Nature Reserve, Fearie Glen Nature Reserve, Wonderboom Nature Reserve, Bishop bird park (Rooihuiskraal area), Austin Roberts bird sanctuary, Boardwalk bird sanctuary, Chaimberlain bird sanctuary, Strubendam bird sanctuary, Techno Park bird sanctuary, Moreletakloof Nature Reserve, Pierre van Rhyneveld Nature area, Luton Valley bird sanctuary, Fonteinedal leisure resort, Moretele leisure resort (Mamelodi), Derdepoort leisure resort, Joos Becker Caravan Park, Rooiwal leisure resort (near the Rooiwal powerstation), Klipkruisfotein leisure resort (Soshanguve), Ga-Mothakga leisure resort (Atteridgeville, next to Church street extension - west), Kwaggaspruit leisure resort (Corner of Quagga west and Trans Oranje in Pretoria West), Zwartkops leisure resort, Rooihuiskraal leisure resort (Rooihuiskraal historical grounds), Findel park (Centurion area), The reeds (Centurion area), Hennops river, Quaggasrand (Laudium area), Panorama park (Centurion area), Raslouw park (Centurion area), Sunderland ridge (Centurion area), Colbyn valley (in the East), Lucas rand, Frank Struben Bird sanctuary, Magaliesberg range, Chaimberlains, Klapperkop, Zandfontein At this stage, Rietvlei Nature Reserve remains highly sensitive, but with proper discussions directly with the management, a new cache in that area can be possible. This will be one area that they will hide their own caches to show the rest of the geocaching community some history and awareness of nature. This is a locked thread for information purposes and will be updated as required. This thread has been opened for discussion on these topics, and I invite you to contribute.

Hi Tom, I've been away so I probably know as little or less than you do. It appears that there's a new HTML format newsletter, and it had some glitches. I assume that it's still being panelbeaten..? I saw your post on the general forum. Here's a link to another thread about the newsletter.

This is a common problem across the world. If cachers can email me links to missing travellers, I'll clean up where I can. We need to be careful though, sometimes travellers are logged quite late, especially if picked up by a visitor on holiday. So, it's best to wait for a few weeks before assuming that it's gone.