M@X Meerkat

Hi cincol, We're not quite sure what the incident was that caused the whole debacle. BruceTP seems to know the most of it we're standing back to give Fish Eagle some room to work. Perhaps at the end of this Andy, Fish Eagle, might explain what happened. As for your cache in the Pilansberg, it should be fine, as that reserve does not fall under SANPark's care. Regards M@X

Hi BruceTP, It seems you have the one up on us concerning the motivation of SANParks to ban geocaching in the KNP. Please could you PM Fish Eagle and let him know of the specifics, so he can investigate the occurence and be prepared for his discussion with KNP Management. It would be a pity to loose this site because of the actions of one individual. Regards M@X

This statement says it all pooks. I suggest posting this statement on the SANParks forum. The more positive, reinforcing statements we can get on their website the more likely that SANParks will listen to reason and be more inclined to discuss caching with Fish Eagle.

PS: Fish Eagle, please send me your eMail address and Sonja's if you have it. I lost them when my PC was re-installed.

Hey all you geocachers, There's a discussion about the banning of geocaching on SANParks Forum. Here's the link. We need some positive support for geocaching. If you have learnt anything about the environment or the history of the park, been given a greater respect or understanding of nature, or been taken to places in the park you would never have seen as result of geocaching, please post on SANParks Forum. Please do not attack any of the members or get into heated debates about whether the ruling is right or wrong. We need to try and get their members on our side. Some members like Micetta may seem stubborn in their ways, perhaps even blind, but they are entitled to their beliefs and opinions. If we can sway the members to our side or at least being respectful of our sport/hobby then we stand a better chance of getting SANParks to agree wish Fish Eagle and the future of caching in the Kruger will be assured. If not, we stand to loose a lot of really nice caches and future caching opportunities in the park. Cheers M@X

The thing I find weird... Not to long ago the Wild magazine published an artical on geocaching. Now about face, sorry no more geocaching for you. What? It's alright to geocache, our partners promote it but don't do it in our park. Adding to this confusion is the fact that this came from nowhere. If there was a serious incident of someone getting hurt by wild animals or an animal with a cache box lodged in it's throat I could understand. Oh well, at least it's in the capable hands of Fish Eagle now. Thanks in advance, I can only imagine what it's going to be like trying to sort this out.

Hi Everyone, I was shocked to see the following news article posted on SANParks website. Link. I have tried discussing it in the SANParks forum but the members are very adamant about going on attacking geocaching with an uninformed opinion of what it is. Oh well. Let's see what happens. Cheers M@X

We tend to stick to placing Lock n Lock containers and placing them in thick (storage) Zip Lock bags. But even these bags only last so long, but this gives reason for maintaining your cache and visiting it every now and then. If maintenance is a headache include an extra Zip Lock in the cache iteslf. As for black garbage bags. No endurance whatsoever and as was said earlier on, they seem to attract bugs of all sorts.

I spy cownchicken

I think I speak for all of us who have caches down in the lowveld, Thank You Fish Eagle for dropping by our caches to check on them. To those who lost family members in the fires, the Meerkats would like to send our condolences. Update: The Meerkats can unfortunately not make it this coming weekend. But Alpha Male and mom will be coming down in the begining of September and Alpha Male and Alpha Female will be in the Sudwala region in November.

The Meerkats were thinking of heading to Sabie for the "long weekend" to have a relaxing weekend but I just heard that the area has been declared a disaster zone due to the fires . Can any of the local cachers down there let me know what the damage is like and whether it is worth going through there right now?

The event, "Pancakes, Potjies, Waterfalls and Caches" has been published; Click Here Hope to see you there.

A great idea! We're for it.

Okay, after much thought and deliberation, we have decided to host a geocaching event to be held in Sabie (for the conveniance of most cachers in the area and coming from places like Jhb, etc.). There will be a bunch of activities which will be spread in and around the Sabie/Graskop/Pilgrim's Rest Area. The event will be hopefully be published this weekend.

Hang in there. It took four months for me to get mine. How long ago did you order? Fish Eagle gave me some good advice, ask them to tape the envelope. Mine was rather worn and delapidated when I received it and hd a tear in the side almost large enough for the coins to fall out.

I was thinking about that, possibly meeting at Smoky's. They make a great cappucino and have plenty of seating space. What does everyone think? Will you be ale to attend, and if so, which would suite you better Sabie/Graskop/Pilgrim's Rest/e) Any of the above?

Yes!!!! My coins have finally arrived. The first batch, that is. Took just under four months to get here. Now to contact geocoin store and ask them what to do with the second batch when it gets here.

Following on from the great idea of Guineafowl's, the 27th of April is a public holiday. Anyone interested in meeting in the morning for a pancake breakfast at Harrie's Pancakes in Graskop? The Meerkats will be in the area from the 19th and we'll be placing a couple of new caches, so might try and organise a geocache event if anyone from that side of the world is interested in assisting with some of the arrangements/details?

Nooooooo................................ Great idea... but we're only coming down on the 19th.

The coins were ordered from The Geocoin Store in the US. According to most cachers I know they are quite reputable. The replacements were shipped again on the 8th of this month (exactly three weeks ago). Unfortunately with no method of tracking I don't know where the parcel goes missing. Airlines, customs, postal service... Good question. Will keep on hoping that they are just stuck somewhere and will arrive in the next week, but me's thinking they are sitting in someone else's hands.

Hey there all you fellow cachers. I want to find out how many of you have experienced the frustration of ordering geocoins from overseas only to have them never arrive in SA, or at least to our postboxes. I ordered two geocoins from the US in January this year. Needless to say the shipment never reached me. Fortunately I opted for shipping insurance and the coins were resent. Unfortunately it looks like the same thing is happening again. Does anyone have any suggestions on how the heck we can get coins here safely? The new SA geocoin would be really great to get but I'm wondering if they will ever get here.

All our faves are down in Mpumalanga. Unfortunately Jhb doesn't have the wild, out in the open feel that you get down in the escarpment area. Our favorites are: 1. Sabie Saunter (Alpha Male) and Pilgrim's Secret (Alpha Female) 2. Sabie Saunter (Alpha Female) and Pilgrim's Secret (Alpha Male) 3. Mauchsberg (On a clear day).

Sorry for the late reply. My ADSL has been down for the last two weeks. Unfortunately with studies and preparing for our wedding next year, I have had no chance to arrange anything. Larks I would really appreciate it if you could take the reigns from me for this one. Suggestion, don't bother contacting JHBCity parks. They still have not bothered to get back to me. Sorry once again to everyone.

Brilliant! Now if we can only lure them into throwing away the junk. I remember someone once spread the word that their was a millionaire out there who used to give people money if he saw you picking up litter. Pity the scam didn't last long.

I agree that everyone is entitled to voice their opinion, but unless it is going to add value don't post it on the forum. If you have a problem with what someone has said PM or eMail them and take it up with them on a personal level without having to involve those of us who are here to enjoy ourselves. Realistically we can't expect to get on with everyone in this world. Colour should not be an issue in this game. Going back to the original issue of the first posting in Signs of Our Times, a muggle is a muggle, irrespective of colour. Caches get muggled worldwide so you can't blame any person based on race. Statistically the chances are greater that a black person picks up your cache in this country. Go to America and it changes to white. So please, let's leave race out of this.