Warm and fuzzy

[+Brick]

Many moons ago, a good friend introduced me to the Botshabelo cultural village outside Middelburg. Since then I have visited often and the place holds a whole lot of very special memories for me. As I drive in, past the blue gum trees I smile mischievously. The nearby koppie has very special memories of long hours spent in absolute silence where the act of eating a croissant seems to disturb the silence. The church with the rustic smell you cannot describe in words, the blanket under the poplar trees just lying there, the horserides...and so the list goes.

 

I decided to place a cache there, but realised that one cache sometimes is not enough to draw cachers. So I placed three more. And THEN the cachers came. Reading cacher logs with people's reactions gives you a warm a fuzzy feeling for showing other people a part of you. Well, I was pleasantly surprised at the latest logs by g.i.s. Seems their association with the place goes further back than mine. I quote :

 

It was so good to be back in Botshabelo! We used to come here often when I was a child - my mother (Gastrow) grew up here, so lots of memories abound! She was just out of high school when thousands of people were forcibly removed from this area in 1972. The little stone ruins were their houses, which were bulldozed as they were driven away in trucks. Botshabelo, as a village, then ceased to exist. The people, fortunately, won the land claim, and are doing a good job of preserving and restoring this last remaining Berliner Mission Station. TFTC! TNLN

 

... Early on Easter morning, the whole valley used to be embraced by singing, when family members went to visit the graves of the deceased. This graveyard was used until the early 1970s, then a newer cemetary was built on the ridge behind Botshabelo.

 

...Near the horse stables, you might chance upon a small reservoire like pool. It's fed by a spring that starts not far from the Fort. Lovely to swim in in Summer!

 

...My grandfather helped restore Fort Merensky back in the day. Lovely cache, thank you so much!

 

Sometimes in our hectic caching, chasing the numbers, sometimes it’s worth having a cache just for rekindling a long-lost memory, and to just make people stop for a while and appreciate life for a while....

Edited March 6, 2008 by Brick

[+Team Ginger]

I recall a log from one of my caches which gave me a warm & fuzzy feeling too!

 

Farmer Human (GC14BX4) in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park:

Farmer Human is My Great Grandfather. Been there quite a few times and I think its a very nice place for a cache.

 

I experienced a personal warm & fuzzy feeling after my visit to the cache in Nieu-Bethesda, SA one December..

I deviated 26km off the N1, on a gravel road to find a cache in a small, quiet & quaint little town, that morning. Little did I know that the paleontologist who found the fossils in this town, was my grandfather's brother (the surname matched my mom's maiden name and I started asking questions)..

As I spoke to my mom that evening, memories from her childhood came out. She told us about playing on the stoep of the 'Owl House' and other tit-bits from her past.

 

Little did I realise the significance of my visit when I 'just drove to find a cache'.

Who knows where else caching may take me in the future.

Edited March 6, 2008 by Team Ginger

[+RedGlobe]

What give me warm and fuzzy feelings is when a cacher experiences a better feeling doing the cache than what we had in planning and hiding the cache itself.

 

Quote on my Kwalata cache GC12VW0:

 

 

Decided to make a Fathers Day outing to find this cache and explore this relatively unknown area that’s on our door step.

A young German exchange student and I went by bike, while the rest of the family went by car.

 

After finding the cache we had the delicious breakfast / brunch in the main huge thatched dining area. This was followed by a high energy dance demonstration by the local children.

 

The highlight that followed was the meeting of the two tame and well trained resident elephants. The trainer gave us the history of why and how the elephants came to be there as well as a wealth of information about elephants in general. The elephants then demonstrated their skills, kicking and tossing a ball, rolling over onto their sides and whisking volunteers high in the air with there tusks.

 

It was a really interesting morning and particularly appreciated by the German Student whom I believe will take home fond memories of his stay in South Africa.

 

Thanks for the cache - took and left nothing but signed the log book.

 

Best

RobSA

[+Carbon Hunter]

I also really like finding logs from non-cachers that stumbled onto the cache.

 

I liked one I saw at Kloof Falls View in KZN when some "snake-catcher" found the cache a day before me.

 

They left a message about respecting the rules, took some swag and were on their way again.

[+Rhino and Hedgehog]

This cache rates among the best we have done up to date. Before the clue was added, I printed out the code and carried it with me hoping I would snap out of no idea, I even asked collages at work bribing them to get the answer, but no luck. Until the clue was posted I realized actually how easy it is and could have kicked myself of not recognising the Rhino signature. Steve contacted us and we teamed up to do the cache early this morning. Thanks for a great cache.

TNLNSL TFTGC

 

Logs like that just make us just want to get out there and place another cracker! Ohh warm and fuzzy...

[+Bosveldklong]

Does cunningness also count when you get a warm and fuzzy feeling? I love a log with a bit of humour!

 

Quote "September 13, 2007 by Bakkie (18 found)

Wow, the best find to date!!!! It was a hard find in many ways. We searched the whole lighthouse which was a mission because i'm not a small guy. Made it right to the top but Jarrad had to make his way to were the cache was!

Bosveldklong jou bliksem!"

 

Those that have done my cache in PE "PE VISTA" would know exactly what he refers to when you make your way up the stairs!

[+CapeDoc]

As a cache owner, I just enjoy any log that makes even the slightest effort into recognising that you have tried to achieve something in hiding your cache.

Thanks to The Pooks, CnC, Goofster, GlobalRat, Battlerat and Pussycat, The Huskies, Discombob, Capeccr and CapeRat, Hectic, Robin and Family, The X-philes, carlstein, Speedstripe, McBirdie, Tomtwogates, princeOrs...AND OTHERS

that have consistently written logs of interest for my caches.

 

[+Megaben]

I was completely stunned with a very warm feeling when I read a log that was placed when I found a cache close to Krugersdorp. This shows me that we do not know our fellow cachers even if we think we did,

 

its a long log so enjoy the read

 

"I was in Pretoria for a communication meeting at Kievits Kroon Conference Centrum to decide how we are going to sustain growth in the present economic climate. One of the issues that we had to deal with was to decide if we should shut one of our factories. The guys from this specific factory were present and it was very hard for me to see how the teams give their recommendation and to watch their reactions. They did not do any networking and stayed in their rooms during the evenings. We left early on Sunday morning and I decided to do caching – run the hills and valleys to get rid of the bad feelings. The vote for closure was 50/50 - top management will now decide. This is bad – it leaves a lot of frustration and fear. It should be easier if the teams recommend shutting the factory. Then you know that it is time to search for something. Then it is the point of no return.

 

I was in no mood for any people and I stopped about 300 meters away from the cache and walked back to it. As I was busy climbing the hill I noticed a vehicle stopping at the hill. I noticed that the person was answering his cell phone and then he started to climb the hill coming towards me. My first reaction was that he is now coming towards me with a lot of questions such as why and what I am doing on top of this hill. I immediately decided that I will tell him the following story.

 

If he asked me what I am doing then I will answer him “I have this little female voice in my head, I am actually from Ermelo but I had to drive to this point. The little voice is saying that they will beam me up from this point. Please stay here then you can see. No, get closer maybe they will beam you up as well. No, where are you going”.

 

Normally the muggles scatter at this point. I then noticed that the muggle is carrying a GPS. The muggle has now turned into a cacher, but I could not place him. It was Megaben. A very nice person and we had a little chat which I enjoyed. We found the cache together. Only my second time of meeting a fellow cacher at the cache. He gave me a lift back to the vehicle and saved me the 300 meter walk. Strange how people can lift your spirit and what influence they can have and sometimes this happens without them realising it. I felt better after our chat. Thanks for the chat – you had positive karma on me."

 

Good luck Gerhard. I hope all went well

[+LeonW]

My warm and fuzzy feeling on this cold night came with the log today for GC146B7 "Gold Receipt" where GreenJam wrote: "This cache sets the standard!" and BruceTP added: "This is one of the best caches I have seen so far. It is well organised. There was plenty of stash and the setting was beautiful.

TFTGC, SL"

 

Thanks, I think I am going to sleep in the clouds tonight.

[+Louise_Gerhard]

I have a cache at Constantia Cherry farm. I notice tonight that there was a find on it but I was worried about certain comments. We immediately contacted the cacher to find out if there is a problem. The following events were discovered.

 

1. Jack visited this site two weeks after the cache was published but the cache was not there. He never logged a DNF and I was not aware of the missing cache.

2. He visited the site today and he found it. So what happened – do we have a cache that is walking around at night? Must be pretty hard to find this sneaky one.

3. It turned out that the workers found the container after placement and they removed it and placed it in the kitchen for safe keeping.

4. Some time went by and no one bothered to look inside the container. Probably thought that it was lost by someone and that that person will come back to claim his property. How is this for honesty?

5. The owner then discovered it in the kitchen a while later and placed the cache at his original location.

6. All people at this location are now aware of this cache. At least the cacher has no worries now.

7. Today when the cacher was walking around at this location the workers told the owner “there are people outside looking for insects again”. I smiled when I read this one. The owner then informed the cacher about the events and why the cache was missing in action. The mystery of the walking cache is thus resolved.

 

Ok, now where is the warm and fuzzy feeling?

1. The owner took care of the cache and replaced the cache at the correct location when she noticed that it was removed. That is good and it worth the placement of the cache and I know that this cache will always be there for the next cacher. She has my business card and she will contact me if there is a problem.

2. The workers did not steal it or muggled it but they placed it in a place of safety.

3. When the cache was found the owner informed the cacher when he visited the site again to the reasons why the cache was gone. This is a nice action from the owner of the property. At least the cacher now knows what happened during his previous visit.

4. Jack, the cacher, at the same time offered to assist if there are any problems with this cache. This is very nice and positive from him.

5. I placed the cache during July 2008 and I noticed that there was no finds on this one and I had a negative feeling about it. We were ready to remove the cache and to archive it. At the same time there was a lot happening behind the scenes and a cacher that could not find it. The bad feeling that I had is now replaced with a very nice feeling towards this cache. I am glad we had the permission from the owner – without the permission the cache would have been gone forever.

 

At least this was a success for the cacher and the location. So nice to see there is still honesty left. Thanks Jack for your input.

Gerhard

[+Rhino and Hedgehog]

Ohh I feel all warm and fuzzy with Ipajero logging his #2000 cache with one of ours. Glad you had a good time!