2009 Great SA TB Race

[+Team Ginger]

Travel in Style

Taken by Team Ginger

We're impressed that you still managed to take pics with your Racer while on honeymoon!!! Well done...this was an interesting structure.

 

Shame - this poor racer... it just doesn't seem to get to take-off regarding miles. hehe

It did go all the way to Bazaruto with us as well, but it didn't get to stay in any caches there - and alas! no photos on the beach either..

At least we had best intentions..

[+Wazat]

Photo nominations for November 2009 continued ....

 

Wazat's Love Bug:

 

taken by Wazat

Wow - great shot of little Love Bug on top of a REAL tortoise! Looks like Mr Tortoise didn't mind to have some more weight on his back!

 

taken by Wazat

Nice one of a pet Rat...thank goodness it's not our pet though (although Rolf did have a pet rat when he was growing up ...)!

 

taken by Wazat

WOW - look at that huge croc on the far left....scary stuff...but nice shot!

 

More nominations to follow shortly!

 

Thanks guys. The Tortoise was at your event, saw him on our way out. Love Bug just had to go for a ride.

 

That rat was caught in my place. I stay on a farm and we have a problem with rats coming in from the field. This was taken at around 4 in the morning. I had set up a trap in the cage so when the rat grabs the food it triggered the door and shut it in. I personally hate the thing and wanted to let it go far away from home. It made a lot of noise in the cage so I left the cage outside till I left for work. When I got outside later the rat was gone.... it had somehow managed to squeeze through the bars.

 

The crocs are at my Lion Den cache in Vrede. The crocs have just fed and the one at the back had a piece of steak covering it's one eye.... looked quite odd. I took a pic with the lions too but they are far away and Love Bug was right out of focus.

[+GEO936]

Photo Nomination for November:

 

besem's Purple Dragon:

 

Taken by GEO936

 

We know this is not the best pic of the Racer, but it was difficult to get close to this juvenile Burchell's Coucal. How often do you get to see a baby coucal in the parking lot of your company?

[+Carbon Hunter]

Glad to see that the World Cup TB seems to have been found?

Not MIA anymore?

Great news

[+cincol]

Glad to see that the World Cup TB seems to have been found?

Not MIA anymore?

Great news

 

Yep, waiting for it to be placed in a cache to know that it really is not MIA anymore.

[+GEO936]

Some more photo nominations for November 2009:

 

The Love Bug

 

Picture taken by Wazat

We like this "bug" meets bug.....but we know how big Love Bug is, so that real bug is HUGE!

 

Picture taken by Wazat

Hee hee! We know EXACTLY what this sign is warning about!! Nice that little Love Bug got to enjoy one of

the most beautiful spots in South Africa!

[+BruceTP]

Quote:

"We like this "bug" meets bug.....but we know how big Love Bug is, so that real bug is HUGE!"

 

 

That looks like a solifuge.

[+cincol]

DISCRETIONARY BONUS POINTS FOR DECEMBER

 

I will be away from tomorrow until 3 December without regular internet access. Monthly scores will be published 3/12/2009. Apologies for any inconvenience. Please note that the same will apply to end of December as well. I will be in South Africa for a week over Christmas and will be back on line around 3 January with scores, etc.

 

Here are the bonuses for December.

 

50 points for any TB left in a cache on Christmas Day.

10 points for any TB placed in a Botanical Gardens cache - substantiate fact with a note to administrator if name of cache does not mention Botanical Gardens.

Any TB that was dipped PRIOR to 25/11/2009 will receive total amnesty under "Day of Reconciliation Rule". [All forfeited points due to dipping to date will reinstated.] Note that this Rule will NEVER be repeated so don't even THINK of dipping your TB's hoping that there will be another amnesty - it will NOT happen again!

 

Happy caching everybody.

[+GEO936]

Quote:

"We like this "bug" meets bug.....but we know how big Love Bug is, so that real bug is HUGE!"

 

That looks like a solifuge.

 

I don't think so Bruce? Aren't solifuges those insects that look like spiders but aren't real spiders? The common name "sun spiders"....nasty looking things that run so fast and make me very scared of them! See this link: http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/arachn...ugids/index.htm

I think this is another type of beetle....I know an entomologist and will ask him if he knows its name!

[+GEO936]

Photo of the Month nomination:

 

The Love Bug

 

Taken by Wazat

 

Absolutely beautiful Wazat! Well done...we love it.

Edited November 30, 2009 by GEO936

[+GEO936]

Some more photo nominations for November 2009:

 

The Love Bug

 

Picture taken by Wazat

We like this "bug" meets bug.....but we know how big Love Bug is, so that real bug is HUGE!

 

 

We found out (thanks to Robin Hills) that this beetle is one of the "Long Horn" Beetles from the Ceroplesis genus. They are pretty much harmless, unless you allow one to bite you (then it will be very sore)!!

Edited December 1, 2009 by GEO936

[MnCo]

Quick question... are events caches excluded from the dipping rule or will it be counted as a dip, assuming the bug is not taken by someone else at the event?

[besem]

50 points for any TB left in a cache on Christmas Day.

 

If a racer is placed twice on Christmas day, does that score double points?

[+cincol]

Quick question... are events caches excluded from the dipping rule or will it be counted as a dip, assuming the bug is not taken by someone else at the event?

 

An Event is treated as a cache so no dipping. The ONLY exception that was allowed was for FTF's as many are micros that do not take TB's and coins. Unfortunately that has created opportunity for TB's to be dipped even if the cache was large enough to take a TB. Lesson learned for future races!!

[+cincol]

50 points for any TB left in a cache on Christmas Day.

 

If a racer is placed twice on Christmas day, does that score double points?

 

50 points will be awarded ONCE only otherwise there will be some wise guy who will manipulate the bonus somehow.

[+cincol]

SCORECARD SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER SCORES

 

International Racers

 

1. Cacheachu

2. besem's Purple Dragon in The Great SA TB Race

3. JustinDett's Tools of the Trade Geocoin

4. The gold diggers free state Ferrari

5. 2009 Great SA TB Race - Flags of the World Post Card

6. Leopardo

7. Klippies met Eish

8. 2009 Great SA TB Race ~ SA World Cup

9. Eager Beaver Fever

10. Mrs GliderS Racer

11. Cabey's Tree Frog

12. Gluteus Maximus

13. Jemma's Green Gem

 

SA Racers

 

1.Sir Henry Morgan Pirate of the Caribbean

2. DiePienaars N.Ireland Racing Coin

3. Love Bug

4. 2009 SA Bug Racer - The Capital TB

5, Mom's Marathon Racer

6. Zulu Love Letter TB

7. 2009 Great SA TB Race ~ The Big Five

8. Worm's RoadRunner

9. Priceless Geocaching

10. BruceTP's 2009 Great SA TB Race Medallion

11. Pongo the Racing Dalmatian

12. Bouncing Smiley TB

13. Nash'Geo, God of Travel and Exploration

14. Rhino and Hedgehog's Northern Ireland 2008 Geocoin

14. Vakashele

16. GreenJAM's Caching Time

17. Travelling Beads

18. Arwen's Bling-Bling Mini Cooper

19. GreenJAM's Jersey Devil

20. Mr Raccoon TB

21. Ferrari F2007 Racing TB

21. Travel in Style

21. cincol's 2009 Great SA TB Race Travel Bug

24. Geitjie

25. Welsh Rugby Union

26. Fifa 2010

27. Bouts777's Saturn Coin

28. Zebbie

28. 2009 SA Bug Racer - The BLUE BULLS TB

30. 2009 Great SA TB Race - Money Bribe Post Card

31. Phyllis Fairy

32. Glider Racer #7

33. DAN404's Space Shuttle Geocoin

34. Strider's Racing Subaru

Edited December 2, 2009 by cincol

[+Wazat]

DISCRETIONARY BONUS POINTS FOR DECEMBER

Any TB that was dipped PRIOR to 25/11/2009 will receive total amnesty under "Day of Reconciliation Rule". [All forfeited points due to dipping to date will reinstated.] Note that this Rule will NEVER be repeated so don't even THINK of dipping your TB's hoping that there will be another amnesty - it will NOT happen again!

 

Don't quite understand.... does this mean no more dipping (except FTF's) after 25/11/2009?

[MnCo]

Quick question... are events caches excluded from the dipping rule or will it be counted as a dip, assuming the bug is not taken by someone else at the event?

 

An Event is treated as a cache so no dipping. The ONLY exception that was allowed was for FTF's as many are micros that do not take TB's and coins. Unfortunately that has created opportunity for TB's to be dipped even if the cache was large enough to take a TB. Lesson learned for future races!!

 

Ok, so bugs must be placed into an event for it to count as "attending an event"... it does not literally mean just attending the event?

[+cincol]

Quick question... are events caches excluded from the dipping rule or will it be counted as a dip, assuming the bug is not taken by someone else at the event?

 

An Event is treated as a cache so no dipping. The ONLY exception that was allowed was for FTF's as many are micros that do not take TB's and coins. Unfortunately that has created opportunity for TB's to be dipped even if the cache was large enough to take a TB. Lesson learned for future races!!

 

Ok, so bugs must be placed into an event for it to count as "attending an event"... it does not literally mean just attending the event?

 

Correct - and it will then be "retrieved" by somebody else from the Event otherwise it is a dip.

[+cincol]

DISCRETIONARY BONUS POINTS FOR DECEMBER

Any TB that was dipped PRIOR to 25/11/2009 will receive total amnesty under "Day of Reconciliation Rule". [All forfeited points due to dipping to date will reinstated.] Note that this Rule will NEVER be repeated so don't even THINK of dipping your TB's hoping that there will be another amnesty - it will NOT happen again!

 

Don't quite understand.... does this mean no more dipping (except FTF's) after 25/11/2009?

 

Dipping was NEVER allowed. The FTF rule was to facilitate nanos and micros that were too small for TB's to fit in. In hindsight it should have not been allowed but then hindsight is an exact science. This can be a learning point for the administrators of the next race.

 

However, a very small number of TB's were dipped by cachers who were ignorant of the race prior to 25/11 and as a goodwill measure from the bottom of my heart I have decided as it is Christmas and the Day of Reconciliation in SA and have decided that those who did forfeit will have the points reimbursed as a Christmas / Reconciliation present from me!

 

So, to answer your question - NO dipping will be tolerated in the future and if it DOES happen there will NOT be another amnesty such as this one! FTF's still apply as that is a RULE and not a Discretionary Bonus.

[+cincol]

ADDITIONAL SCORES FOR NOVEMBER

 

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

 

Love Bug

 

MOST COUNTRIES VISITED

 

2009 Great SA TB Race - Flags of the World Post = 6 COUNTRIES

 

MOST SA PROVINCES VISITED

 

DiePienaars N.Ireland Racing Coin = All except N. Cape

 

Congratulations all

[+GEO936]

Nomination for Photo of the Month - December:

 

Bouncy Smiley

 

Photo taken by MnCo

 

We thought this was a great photo with this tortoise. We can see it is a different species to what we usually see (Leopard tortoise). I wonder if anyone knows which species it is?

 

 

Photo taken by MnCo

 

Oh! This is absolutely BRILLIANT! What a great idea of Bouncy in the cannon! We love it! Well done.

[+the pooks]

My question would rather be: what is cincol's avatar meant to symbolise? It looks like breasts lying on their side with a sawblade on the left?

[+cincol]

My question would rather be: what is cincol's avatar meant to symbolise? It looks like breasts lying on their side with a sawblade on the left?

 

My avatar is the flag of my country - Qatar. The "9 sawblade teeth" represents the 9th member of the reconciled Emirates of the Arabian Gulf at the conclusion of the Qatari-British treaty in 1916. It is also the ONLY flag in the world that has the colour maroon in it. For more information see Qatari Flag

[MnCo]

We thought this was a great photo with this tortoise. We can see it is a different species to what we usually see (Leopard tortoise). I wonder if anyone knows which species it is?

 

I believe it is a Parrot Beaked Tortoise.

[+DamhuisClan]

The cannon must be in South Africa.

... the wheels are gone....

 

Jokes aside, I am glad I did not have to get that cannon up there.

And wonder what the log would have looked like if yellow smiley rolled down the barrel.

Edited December 4, 2009 by DamhuisClan

[+Louise_Gerhard]

It would be a simple log if smiley ran down the barrel. !@##%^. &*^%$@!.

Gerhard

[MnCo]

... wonder what the log would have looked like if yellow smiley rolled down the barrel.

 

I was very concisions of that possibility.... so I stuck a large stone in there first

[+GEO936]

We thought this was a great photo with this tortoise. We can see it is a different species to what we usually see (Leopard tortoise). I wonder if anyone knows which species it is?

 

I believe it is a Parrot Beaked Tortoise.

 

Thanks MnCo....I did some reading up on the little fella and found out that this tortoise (Homopus areolatus) is endemic primarily to the Southern Cape in South Africa. It belongs to a genus of the smaller tortoises in our country. So I still think it was an AWESOME shot - well done!

[+timmo1977]

DISCRETIONARY BONUS POINTS FOR DECEMBER

 

I will be away from tomorrow until 3 December without regular internet access. Monthly scores will be published 3/12/2009. Apologies for any inconvenience. Please note that the same will apply to end of December as well. I will be in South Africa for a week over Christmas and will be back on line around 3 January with scores, etc.

 

Here are the bonuses for December.

 

50 points for any TB left in a cache on Christmas Day.

10 points for any TB placed in a Botanical Gardens cache - substantiate fact with a note to administrator if name of cache does not mention Botanical Gardens.

Any TB that was dipped PRIOR to 25/11/2009 will receive total amnesty under "Day of Reconciliation Rule". [All forfeited points due to dipping to date will reinstated.] Note that this Rule will NEVER be repeated so don't even THINK of dipping your TB's hoping that there will be another amnesty - it will NOT happen again!

 

Happy caching everybody.

 

Starting to sound a bit like SARS!!

[+cincol]

 

Starting to sound a bit like SARS!!

 

hehe At least I won't send the auditors around to you. BUT, I hope that I am more generous than what they are. BTW, at least my racer is completely out of it otherwise I could have manipulated the bonuses to suit myself - and then we WOULD have needed the auditors to come in.

[+Carbon Hunter]

Sad news - looks like another racer is MIA - Leopardo seems to be muggled this past weekend

[+GEO936]

Photo nominations for December 2009:

 

Cacheachu of iNokia

Photo taken by The Hotties

Stunning pic of the Bryce Canyon with snow!

 

Cacheachu of iNokia

Photo taken by The Hotties

Loved little Cacheachu totally surround by snow. Such a contrasting landscape to what we have in RSA at present.

 

DiePienaars N.Ireland Racing Coin of DiePienaars

Photo taken by DiePienaars

Interesting shot of this sign at a new cache. This is how our 3 year old sees geocaching - it's all about Treasure!

 

more to follow....

[+GEO936]

Some more nominations....

 

2009 SA Bug Racer - The Capital TB (ZA - WC) of Carbon Hunter

Photo taken by besem

Loved the hieroglyphs....

 

Mom's Marathon Racer of Far-Jar-Hug

Photo taken by PurpleGeckoGirl

 

More nominations to follow.....

[+Carbon Hunter]

Some more nominations....

 

2009 SA Bug Racer - The Capital TB (ZA - WC) of Carbon Hunter

Photo taken by besem

Loved the hieroglyphs....

 

 

Thank you - and having travelled to Egypt a few times - I can decipher them:

 

"Oh you - pharoh of the TB Race - this is definitely worthy of the photo of the month and bonus points to it owner who rides a camel!"

 

Or something like that

 

Thanks guys - I liked the photo too

[+GEO936]

And some more photo nominations for December 2009....

 

Arwen's Bling Bling Mini Cooper of Arwen SA taken by Srider SA

Nice one at this old car!

 

Bouncing Smiley TB of HeinG taken by MnCo

Excellent shot … took us a while to find where Smiley was sitting!! What a beautiful rock formation…..possible spot for an Earthcache too?

 

Bouncing Smiley TB of HeinG taken by MnCo

What a stunning picture – look at the blue on that sky! And to be placed on Christmas Day – what a special experience for Bouncing Smiley!

 

Pongo the Racing Dalmatian of MeganZA taken by RedGlobe

We know this spot well and we can agree with Pongo for wanting to take a dip!

 

2009 Great SA TB Race ~ The Big Five of MnCo taken by RedGlobe

Excellent!! Don’t hoot once or twice – must be 4 times exactly….wonder if the owners of the place are German?

 

BruceTP's 2009 Great SA TB Race Medallion of BruceTP taken by M2C2

It’s a long and dusty road….but we loved this landscape shot of contrasts!

 

BruceTP's 2009 Great SA TB Race Medallion of BruceTP taken by WaynesWorld

Loved the idea with the plants!

 

Love Bug of Wazat Photo taken by Wazat

At St Josephs train (we thought it was cute to see little LB on top of the building!)

[+DamhuisClan]

Last day for nominations!

 

Happy new year to all racers from the Damhuis clan.

[+Carbon Hunter]

Well done - 20th Counhtry just reached - New Zealand.

[+cincol]

DECEMBER SCORES

 

Apologies for the late posting but I was in SA for a few days over Christmas and New Year with very limited Internet access. Enough of my excuses, here is a summary of what you will find on the Race Webpage in more detail.

 

INTERNATIONAL RACERS

 

1. Cacheachu

2. JustinDett's Tools of the Trade Geocoin

3. besem's Purple Dragon in The Great SA TB Race

4. 2009 SA Bug Racer - The Capital TB

5. The gold diggers free state Ferrari

6. 2009 Great SA TB Race - Flags of the World Post Card

7. Travel in Style

8. Leopardo

9. Mom's Marathon Racer

10. Klippies met Eish

11. 2009 Great SA TB Race ~ SA World Cup

12. Eager Beaver Fever

13. Mrs GliderS Racer

14. Cabey's Tree Frog

15. Jemma's Green Gem

16. Gluteus Maximus

 

SA RACERS

 

1. Sir Henry Morgan Pirate of the Caribbean

2. DiePienaars N.Ireland Racing Coin

3. Love Bug

4. Zulu Love Letter TB

5. 2009 Great SA TB Race ~ The Big Five

6. BruceTP's 2009 Great SA TB Race Medallion

7. Arwen's Bling-Bling Mini Cooper

8. Bouncing Smiley TB

9. Pongo the Racing Dalmatian

10. Priceless Geocaching

Worm's RoadRunner

Vakashele

Rhino and Hedgehog's Northern Ireland 2008 Geocoin

Nash'Geo, God of Travel and Exploration

Travelling Beads

GreenJAM's Caching Time

Fifa 2010

Geitjie

Welsh Rugby Union

GreenJAM's Jersey Devil

Mr Raccoon TB

Ferrari F2007 Racing TB

cincol's 2009 Great SA TB Race Travel Bug

2009 SA Bug Racer - The BLUE BULLS TB

Bouts777's Saturn Coin

Zebbie

2009 Great SA TB Race - Money Bribe Post Card

Phyllis Fairy

Glider Racer #7

DAN404's Space Shuttle Geocoin

Strider's Racing Subaru

 

OFFICIALLY MISSING RACERS Sad News!

 

Leopardo

Mr Raccoon

Money Bribe Post Card

DAN404's Space Shuttle

 

JANUARY DISCRETIONARY BONUS POINTS

 

January is a quiet month so let's see which SA Racer can move the furtherest for the month. This will earn 50 points!

 

Happy caching all.

[+iPajero]

Now that the "dust" has settled after the festive season, which picture took "photo of the month" for December?

[+cincol]

Now that the "dust" has settled after the festive season, which picture took "photo of the month" for December?

 

OOPS - both DamhuisClan and I slipped up. He forgot to update the website and I forgot yo announce it with the scores. It was the one taken in Egypt with the hieroglyphics.

[+cincol]

MID-MONTH UPDATE FOR JANUARY

 

 

TOP 10 OVERSEAS RACERS

 

1. Cacheachu

2. besem's Purple Dragon

3. 2009 SA Bug Racer - Capital TB

4. JustinDett's Tools of the Trade Geocoin

5. The gold diggers free state Ferrari

6. Arwen's Blin Bling Mini Cooper

7. 2009 Great SA TB Race - Flags of the World Post Card

8. Travel in Style

9. Leopardo [has been marked as being MIA]

10. Mom's Marathon Racer

 

TOP 10 SA RACERS

 

1. Sir Henry Morgan Pirate of the Caribbean

2. DiePienaars N.Ireland Racing Coin

3. Love Bug

4. Zulu Love Letter TB

5. 2009 Great SA TB Race ~ The Big Five

6. Bruce TP's 2009 SA Race Medallion

7. Vakeshele

8. Bouncing Smilie TB

9. Pongo the Racing Dalmation

10. Priceless Geocaching

 

Happy racing and good luck for the rest of the month.

 

Who will win the bonus of furtherest traveled in SA?

[+cincol]

Congratulations to DiePienaars N.Ireland Racing Coin at being the FIRST racer to visit all 9 SA Provinces.

 

WELL DONE!

[+cincol]

Some pictures for this month.

 

 

 

 

[+GEO936]

Thanks cincol....we have been so bogged down with work that we have not been able to spend much time on geocaching. We will check out the coins for some more pics and will post this weekend if we can. We still have our own pics to post from our holiday in December!!

[+cincol]

Because the Bonus Points are to see which of the local and overseas racers moved the furtherest during the month on January AND month-end falls today, a Sunday, I will wait a couple of days for the moves to be logged before posting the winners. I would hate to announce a "winner" only to have a TB logged the next day with a bigger distance covered.

[+cincol]

FEBRUARY DISCRETIONARY BONUS POINTS

 

50 points for any TB being placed or retrieved on Valentine's Day [14th] AND having a photo posted with a RED HEART

 

This should get us some interesting photos!

[+Wazat]

FEBRUARY DISCRETIONARY BONUS POINTS

 

50 points for any TB being placed or retrieved on Valentine's Day [14th] AND having a photo posted with a RED HEART

 

This should get us some interesting photos!

Very interesting.... Love Bug is a natural... as the bug has a heart in every picture.... mmm

[+cincol]

 

Very interesting.... Love Bug is a natural... as the bug has a heart in every picture.... mmm

 

wazat - don't push your luck too far with that one - I won't buy it!!

Edited February 1, 2010 by cincol

[+cincol]

JANUARY SCORES

 

INTERNATIONAL RACERS

 

1. Cacheachu

2. besem's Purple Dragon

3. JustinDett's Tools of the Trade Geocoin

4. 2009 SA Bug Racer - Capital TB

5. The gold diggers free state Ferrari

6. 2009 SA TB Rac - SA World Cup

7. Arwen's Blin Bling Mini Cooper

8. 2009 Great SA TB Race - Flags of the World Post Card

9. Travel in Style

10. Leopardo [has been marked as being MIA]

 

SA RACERS

 

1. Sir Henry Morgan Pirate of the Caribbean

2. DiePienaars N.Ireland Racing Coin

3. Love Bug

4. Vakeshele

5. Zulu Love Letter TB

6. Pongo the Racing Dalmation

7. 2009 Great SA TB Race ~ The Big Five

8. Bruce TP's 2009 SA Race Medallion

9. Bouncing Smilie TB

10. Priceless Geocaching

 

PHOTO OF THE MONTH = Vakashele

 

FURTHEREST TRAVELED Bonus Winners

 

Overseas = Cacheachu

Local = Blue Bulls TB

Edited February 1, 2010 by cincol