Tricky Vicky & Mickey

Just my tuppence-ha'penny worth: I spend much time training First Aiders and am also an ICU trained nursing sister, but despite all that don't claim to know it all, by any means. There are three categories of snakes in South Africa and I classify them according to the effects of their venom: a) Cytotoxic - those that cause local tissue damage (Puff Adder; Gaboon Viper; Berg Adder; Horned Desert Viper) Neurotoxic - those that suppress the brain and vital organs (Black Mamba; Green Mamba; Cape Cobra; Rinkhals) c) Haemorrhagic - those that interfere with blood clotting (Boomslang) Signs and Symptoms: a) Cytotoxic: Very painful - the skin will be discoloured around the bite site and may have a blister over the bite (do not prick!) Causes tissue damage and necrosis of surrounding tissue. Neurotoxic: Slurred speech; difficulty in swallowing; dribbling of saliva. Changes of level of consciousness rapidly occur: initially become drowsy and then eventually comatosed. Muscle weakness: drooping of the eye lides, blurred vision. Difficulty in breathing leading to respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. c) Haemorrhagic: Belated severe bleeding occurs expecially internally in the joints and kidneys. Bruising and skin discolouration eventually develops. First Aid Treatment: Sit the person down and reassure them and try to keep them calm. Very gently wipe any obvious venom away from the bite site. Apply a broad roller bandage firmly to the affected limb, from below the bite to as high up the limb as possible. Keep the limb still and do not elevate it. Watch the person carefully for changes in their condition and treat symptoms as and when they occur. Transport to hospital as soon as possible - notify the hospital of what has happened to enable them to have the anti-snake bite venom ready on the persons arrival. Anti-venom is not administered by a lay person - it is extremely dangerous and can result in anaphylactic shock. The Rinkhals can spit poison up to 7 meters and aims for the victims eyes, which results in severe pain and temperory blindness, and swelling of the eye. Large amounts of poison are not absorbed through the eye, but the poison should be washed out of the eye using lots of clean water (turn the head to the affected side and rinse the eye by pouring cool water from the inside of the eye to the outside). There are also two very venomous spiders in South Africa: a) Black widow - also known as the button spider Violin spider. The black widow is neurotoxic, while the violin spider causes cytotoxic effects. The first aid treatment of their bites is supportive initially and referred for medical treatment.

Hey, Cownchicken, we go away and you go caching .............! CONGRATULATIONS! WELL DONE!

Congratulations to iPajero on being the top cachers in South Africa. You have done an amazing job of finding caches throughout our country and are a very hard act to follow. Keep it up. WELL DONE!! We are thrilled for you both.

Suggest you e-mail contact@geocaching.com - we recently had a problem with our premium membership and they sorted it out for us. They do take quite some time to respond, but once they did, it was soon sorted out. Hope this helps!

A big congrats to Bear & Fox - super to know you're still around and hope to see you sometime soon. Congratulations M&Co too on your 100 - it was great meeting you recently at Discombob's event.

Well done to the Pooks - we are thrilled for you.

Congratulations Battlerat & Pussycat - well done!

Very sad to hear about Billy Twigger and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends at this time. We have had the privilege of finding a number of his caches on our trips to Scotland and remember them all as being highlights on our travels.

Congratulations to iPajero on their 2000th find today!! Very, very well done - we are delighted and thrilled for you both and hope you will continue to enjoy this hobby as much as you do and find plenty more of those little hidden treasures!

Congratulations, Carbon Hunter! We are thrilled for you.

Congratulations, iPajero - very well done on your 1900. Have a wonderful trip and find lots more. The big 2000 is just round the corner ..................

Very well done to Cape Doc and Littleclan on their recent special milestones - we are thrilled for you both.

Fantastic, Tomtwogates! Congratulations on your 500th find - have a wonderful holiday.

Special congratulations to Cownchicken on their 1500 finds - very well done Our congratulations and best wishes to Urban Hunter & Red Globe too - not only on your great milestones but also on organizing the very first Gauteng CITO. It sounds as if it was a wonderful day - just wish we could have been there too!

Lighters are also a no-no - they get extremely hot in caches and can explode and cause fires. One we removed from a cache last year exploded in our vehicle - luckily it was parked at the time, but the noise of the explosion was loud enough for us to hear from inside a house and we are still finding the little bits of blue plastic spread throughout the cache mobile! Fortunately the car survived it all! Perhaps matches would be a better option, if they are on the approved list.

We, too, have experienced this same problem and have been experiencing it for ages. Have discovered that if you click on 'send message', wait a second or two and then click on it again, the message will go through and you will receive your confirmation email. We also use Firefox.

Congratulations to iPajero who has raced to 1800 today - very well done and we are thrilled that this achievement was obtained on one of our caches right here in Greyton! Congratulations, too, to Discombob, GerhardoosMPsa, Cysloda and Cism on their recent achievements. Thank you, Besem, for your good wishes - we've just had a few days going up the Garden Route and Baviaanskloof, which were wonderful.

1500!!!! Congratulations iPajero! Another 100 in just a few days ........... fantastic!

A big thank you for all the messages we have received on the forum, the event cache page and private mails, too. We both enjoy geocaching immensely, have visited the most amazing places, made some really wonderful friends and have had such fun reaching this milestone and look forward to finding lots more of those little hidden treasures where ever we go!

Don't worry .......... it's Server Busy over here too!

Congratulations iPajero - 1400 finds! Fantastic! We are thrilled for you and hope you will have lots of fun finding plenty more too.

Congratulations, Noddy, on your recent milestone - 1300! Super! AND, your quick little trip to the Western Cape did not go unnoticed! Wish we had seen you, especially as we were in the very same area on Saturday, doing some of the same caches!

Fantastic site, Andy - am sure it is going to be most useful to lots of cachers. Thanks for all your hard work and commitment.

Morning Tomtwogates & Cincol - have a great day!

The ammo boxes we have placed are at Shangri-La and De Mond Vlei Cache.