Statistics - bend it anyway you like!

[+TechnoNut]

Thanks Danie for the great stats - allow me to present them in pure numerical form.

 

Kicking off:

 

By Difficulty / Terrain for SA and each Province.

 

[+TechnoNut]

And now by Size and Type

 

[+TechnoNut]

Finally - the top hiders in South Africa and each Province. Note: Filtered by "Placed By", not User ID / Owner.

 

[+AndyT1]

Great stuff TechnoNut !!!

[+Danie Viljoen]

Do you have a graph of finds per year and a cumulative?

[+Danie Viljoen]

Finds per month of the year:

 

Interesting that November is so low.

[+TechnoNut]

Finds per month of the year:

 

Interesting that November is so low.

 

But there seems to be a strong correlation with school holidays ....

[+Danie Viljoen]

South African finds per day of the week:

 

More than half (53.3%) of the finds are made over week-ends.

[+Danie Viljoen]

Finds per day of the year:

 

(The highest point is on 22 July, the day the Gauteng Power Series was published. For this day the number of finds is 5.9 times the average. The minimum is 6 September, at 43% of the average.)

Edited August 20, 2013 by Danie Viljoen

[+Carbon Hunter]

Congratulations to the Table Mountain TB hotel for reaching 150 Favourite Points - by far the leader in SA!

[+Danie Viljoen]

When do we really cache?

 

This graph is similar to my previous one, but it shows the yearly trend better. (I used a running average of a week to smooth it out a bit.) The three highest peaks are the Gauteng Power Series, the MEGA event and the December holidays, respectively. Over time the effect of the first two will of course be diluted, since they were once-of events.

[+Carbon Hunter]

I wonder how the current August 31 days of caching is going to affect the stats both ocally and globally. I certainly get the feeling it has given caching a bit of a "vitamin boost."

[+Danie Viljoen]

I wonder how the current August 31 days of caching is going to affect the stats both ocally and globally. I certainly get the feeling it has given caching a bit of a "vitamin boost."

The number of finds for the first 20 days of August (in South Africa) is 28% more than the seasonally adjusted expected number.

[+Danie Viljoen]

Number of new caches in South Africa, per province:

 

For the year 21 August 2012 to 20 August 2013:

1. KZN:	           715
2. Gauteng:	   671
3. Western Cape:   496
4. Eastern Cape:   298
5. Mpumalanga:	   151
6. Free State:	    85
7. North West:	    68
8. Limpopo:	    25
9. Northern Cape:   20
  Total:         2529

[+Danie Viljoen]

Municipalities with the most new caches:

 

For the year 21 August 2012 to 20 August 2013:

1.  Ethekwini,	          Kwazulu Natal: 338
2.  City of Cape Town,    Western Cape:	 303
3.  City of Tshwane,      Gauteng:	 247
4.  Nelson Mandela Bay,   Eastern Cape:	 206
5.  iLembe,	          Kwazulu Natal: 201
6.  City of Johannesburg, Gauteng:	 177
7.  Ekurhuleni, 	  Gauteng:	 149
8.  Ehlanzeni,            Mpumalanga:	 102
9.  West Rand,	          Gauteng:	  69
10. Cacadu,	          Eastern Cape:	  62
10. Umgungundlovu,	  Kwazulu Natal:  62

Edited August 23, 2013 by Danie Viljoen

[+Hesamati]

I wonder how the current August 31 days of caching is going to affect the stats both ocally and globally. I certainly get the feeling it has given caching a bit of a "vitamin boost."

 

Based on the nr of alerts I'm getting it also had a big impact on the nr of new caches.

[+Danie Viljoen]

I wonder how the current August 31 days of caching is going to affect the stats both ocally and globally. I certainly get the feeling it has given caching a bit of a "vitamin boost."

 

Based on the nr of alerts I'm getting it also had a big impact on the nr of new caches.

As soon as this month is past I'll post statistics about its effect on the number of finds and new caches.

[+Danie Viljoen]

Busiest Reviewers:

 

Over the years there have been at least 36 reviewers reviewing African caches. There may have been more; the first 741 caches, before 29 July 2005, do not have "Publish Listing" logs. Of these 36 reviewers, the following have published the most caches:

1. ROTSIP:      5550
2. Fish Eagle:  3016
3. erik88l-r:   2573
4. Pte Curb:    1789
5. skeetsurfer:  824

Edited August 30, 2013 by Danie Viljoen

[+Danie Viljoen]

Most caches archived:

 

The following list includes the reviewers (and cache owners) who have archived the most African caches:

1. Fish Eagle:	 839
2. ROTSIP:	 827
3. Crow T Robot: 227
4. erik88l-r:	  88
5. dakardrix:	  78

[+Danie Viljoen]

Most prolific note writers:

 

The following cachers have logged the most note logs. (These are often retrospective TB visits.)

1. iPajero:	      4078
2. The Huskies:	      1741
3. Louwtjie&Vroutjie:  979
4. Fish Eagle:	       779
5. TechnoNut:	       689

[+Danie Viljoen]

13000th Cache in South Africa:

 

GC4KT1Q - Going Golfing 4, placed by Raybos on 25 August, is the 13000th cache to be published in South Africa. (We are currently standing on 9294 active caches.)

[+CapeDoc]

Ther are a LOT of puzzle caches in the WC. Who has hidden the most?

[+Danie Viljoen]

Ther are a LOT of puzzle caches in the WC. Who has hidden the most?

Most Mystery caches placed in the Western Cape:

1.  PieterM:	        35
2.  Cism:	        16
3.  OneMatchFox:	11
4.  The-Eaves:	        10
4.  Henzz:	        10

 

Most Mystery caches placed in South Africa:

1.  Cism:	        57
2.  TechnoNut:	        35
2.  PieterM:	        35
4.  CrystalFairy:	30
5.  Antron:	        16
6.  Wazat:	        13
6.  HeinG:	        13
8.  NotBlonde:	        12
8.  FlyingSyringe:	12
10. OneMatchFox:	11
10. Rhino and Hedgehog: 11

[+Danie Viljoen]

The effect of Difficulty and Terrain:

 

The following graph shows the average number of finds per Difficulty/Terrain rating, for active South African caches:

 

This clearly shows a linear correlation - the higher the Difficulty (or Terrain), the fewer the finds.

[+Danie Viljoen]

Longest unfound South African caches:

 

The following South African caches, all of which have been found before, have remained unfound for at least 4 years:

1.  GCHB5H   Facing the Knife Edge, Montagu	 Western Cape	7.54 years
1.  GCHB5J   Bald Ibis Heights, Montagu	         Western Cape	7.54 years
1.  GCHB5K   Beyond the Great Mystery, Montagu	 Western Cape	7.54 years
4.  GCTP9F   De Bruin Dam	                 Eastern Cape	5.92 years
5.  GC16KQ6  Croc	                         Limpopo	5.76 years
6.  GCYMH6   Majubasnek	                         Eastern Cape	5.56 years
7.  GC199Z5  Black Holes	                 Eastern Cape	5.50 years
8.  GC1902T  Ivory Trail - Camp Ntomeni	         Limpopo	5.50 years
9.  GC17Y0Z  Nsami View	                         Limpopo	5.27 years
10. GC1C24G  Upper Kei	                         Eastern Cape	5.14 years
11. GC1CVKC  WOODY'S HUT	                 Eastern Cape	5.07 years
12. GCJ6RE   Droster's Pass Cache (Western Cape) Western Cape	5.06 years
13. GC1GA7A  Lagoon View	                 Eastern Cape	4.95 years
13. GC1GB7M  Takazi Waterfall	                 Eastern Cape	4.95 years
15. GCWZNY   Creepy Cracks	                 Eastern Cape	4.93 years
16. GC199YE  Transkei Special	                 Eastern Cape	4.93 years
17. GC167JP  Christmas Rock II	                 Eastern Cape	4.84 years
18. GCKN2F   IMC No. 2 S-ZA- Wind Erosion	 Western Cape	4.40 years
19. GC14CBM  Row, Row, Row your boat	         Eastern Cape	4.40 years
20. GC13NHT  Three Billy Goats Gruff	         Eastern Cape	4.36 years
20. GC1G5TY  Izele Convent	                 Eastern Cape	4.36 years
22. GCXBXX   Mpande	                         Eastern Cape	4.32 years
23. GC14R3H  Ivory Trail - Camp Blouberg	 Limpopo	4.31 years
24. GC12GZG  The Pig	                         Kwazulu Natal	4.30 years
25. GCT1XM   Tshani Point	                 Eastern Cape	4.29 years
26. GC1J7Q6  Rocky Fo-by-Fo	                 Kwazulu Natal	4.21 years
27. GC1A25N  Coram Deo	                         Limpopo	4.16 years
28. GC1G7V3  Land's End	                         Eastern Cape	4.15 years
28. GCPRDK   Frosty Rock	                 Gauteng	4.15 years
30. GCWYBB   Blouberg Views	                 Limpopo	4.06 years

[+Danie Viljoen]

Oldest never found South African caches:

 

The following caches, all older than one year, have never been found:

1.  GC2V443  Sapphire Pool,	                      Uthukela	     2011/04/26
2.  GC31CK9  Giants Castle Pass,	              Uthukela	     2011/08/01
3.  GC35P0W  Mhlwazini Peak,	                      Uthukela	     2011/10/09
3.  GC35P15  Champagne Castle Ridge Peak,	      Uthukela	     2011/10/09
3.  GC35P1A  Champagne Castle,	                      Uthukela	     2011/10/09
3.  GC35P1M  Ships Prow,	                      Uthukela	     2011/10/09
7.  GC39HCP  80/20-Bluegumspoort Schoemansdal,	      Vhembe	     2011/12/20
8.  GC39MEP  Rockeries,	                              Uthukela	     2012/01/03
9.  GC3HTE4  Granddad's Dynamite,	              Central Karoo  2012/04/06
10. GC3PVPD  View Point: Lookie-Lookie by Tinktinkie, Waterberg	     2012/07/04
11. GC3TMGJ  Tugela Bushveld - Climate Change II,     Uthukela	     2012/08/01

[+Danie Viljoen]

Most found caches:

 

The following South African caches have been found the most during the year 28 August 2012 to 27 August 2013:

1.  GC31WXR  Table Mountain Travel Bug Hotel                CapeDoc	 City of Cape Town  292	finds
2.  GC2GG2C  Nobel  Square	                            Cape Trio	 City of Cape Town  248	finds
3.  GC3B0EJ  MEGA South Africa 2012	                    GoSA	 City of Tshwane    210	attended
4.  GC3X91A  MEGA SA 2012 – Keep me Posted                  Wormgeocash	 City of Tshwane    181	finds
5.  GC3WPYX  9Icon Walk – Sterculia murex                   Leon St	 City of Tshwane    175	finds
6.  GC3XCM1  9Icon Walk – Starting with a Puzzle            Wormgeocash	 City of Tshwane    173	finds
7.  GC2JMX3  Gate to knowhere	                            fspirit	 City of Cape Town  165	finds
8.  GC3WE2H  9Icon Walk - WHERE SHALE WE GO?	            Jors	 City of Tshwane    163	finds
9.  GC3WXG3  9Icon Walk - Voortrekker Monument Postal Tree  Leon St	 City of Tshwane    162	finds
10. GC2CG7X  Hiddingh Security TB Hotel	                    mr panda	 City of Cape Town  158	finds
10. GC37VF3  Tip of Africa	                            Zephyr2	 Overberg	    158	finds

[+Hesamati]

The effect of Difficulty and Terrain:

 

The following graph shows the average number of finds per Difficulty/Terrain rating, for active South African caches:

 

This clearly shows a linear correlation - the higher the Difficulty (or Terrain), the fewer the finds.

 

This is an interesting stat! Shows that there's almost no difference between a specific difficulty and terrain rating, i.o.w. our interpretation of the relative "toughness" of a cache doesn't differ for these two parameters, which is great. Also show that on average CO's rating are on par.

Might of course also just reflect superficial choice based on the rating...

 

[+Danie Viljoen]

Also show that on average CO's rating are on par.

Personally I think the higher ratings simply scare off some of the potential cachers - it does not mean the caches are really difficult, in my experience! Especially the 5/5 caches are suspect in my opinion - very few of them really deserve their difficulty rating of 5.

Edited September 2, 2013 by Danie Viljoen

[+Danie Viljoen]

Least frequently found South African caches:

 

Excluding caches that have never been found, the following active caches are found the least frequently:

1.  GC17X73  Radical pools	         Uthukela	     5.73 years/find
2.  GC1BWFF  Towercache	                 Eden	             5.70 years/find
3.  GC1902T  Ivory Trail - Camp Ntomeni  Mopani	             5.60 years/find
4.  GC1AT7D  Boegoeberg Rocks	         West Coast	     5.45 years/find
5.  GCF9FC   Just Climb It	         Thabo Mofutsanyane  5.20 years/find
6.  GC1GA7A  Lagoon View	         Amathole	     5.00 years/find
7.  GC1GB7M  Takazi Waterfall	         Amathole	     4.99 years/find
8.  GCJN7F   Getowerdekop	         Eden	             4.85 years/find
9.  GC1KNCX  JohanChristel	         Nkangala	     4.64 years/find
10. GCKZ2P   All the way down Moorfield	 Amajuba	     4.42 years/find

[+AndyT1]

Thanks again Danie. I think far more people read this than you realise .....

[+Danie Viljoen]

The effect of container size:

 

For active South African caches:

 

 

The only surprising thing here is that Small appears to be slightly less popular than Micro. It probably has to do with where the different container sizes dominate (many more micros in the cities, where the people are.) Except for Virtual, I get the impression that most of us do not really care what size a cache is. (Pity, I still prefer a decent Regular or Large with lots of stuff in it. )

[+Danie Viljoen]

Percentage of available caches found:

 

Looking only at available South African caches, i.e., excluding archived caches and taking into account own caches:

1.  iPajero	           68.9% found
2.  Danie Viljoen	   30.4% found
3.  Louise_Gerhard	   30.0% found
4.  rodnjoan	           28.9% found
5.  Antron	           27.2% found
6.  Leon St	           26.8% found
7.  cownchicken	           26.0% found
8.  TechnoNut	           25.9% found
9.  Tricky Vicky & Mickey  25.7% found
10. PORKY2	           25.0% found

 

Gauteng:

1.  Leon St	           76.9% found
2.  rodnjoan	           74.8% found
3.  Danie Viljoen	   70.3% found

 

Western Cape:

1.  cownchicken	           89.8% found
2.  terunkie	           77.8% found
3.  The Huskies	           76.4% found

 

KZN:

1.  TechnoNut	           86.4% found
2.  iPajero	           65.1% found
3.  hovelj	           60.3% found

 

Eastern Cape:

1.  iPajero	           90.6% found
2.  iNokia	           57.0% found
3.  NaviMate	           55.0% found

[+cincol]

Danie always loves a challenge!! Here is one for you. Which non-South African caches have had the most SA finds over the last say 5 years? Here I would be referring to cachers who have never been in SA permanently before so would exclude cachers such as Crystal Fairy, Batsgonemad, and the like.

Edited September 4, 2013 by cincol

[+Danie Viljoen]

Which non-South African caches have had the most SA finds over the last say 5 years? Here I would be referring to cachers who have never been in SA permanently before so would exclude cachers such as Crystal Fairy, Batsgonemad, and the like.

As mentioned before, there is no sure way to know the origin of a cacher, not to mention where he used to live before. It is simply not part of the available data. If you can give me a list of names I'll be able to do the rest.

Edited September 4, 2013 by Danie Viljoen

[+Danie Viljoen]

Effect of cache type:

 

For all South African caches (including archived caches):

 

 

No real surprises here, except maybe the relative low average number of attendees at Events.

[+Carbon Hunter]

Out of interest - have there been any trends w.r.t. event attendance over the years? Also the number of events have trended amazingly upwards.

 

From one event in a blue moon - we now seem to have them almost every week or two.

 

Please can you crunch you magic on event?

 

Thanks

[+Danie Viljoen]

Frequency distribution of South African finds:

 

The following graph shows the number of South African caches with 0, 1, 2... finds:

 

 

For active caches, the average number of finds is 44.1, the median is 32 and the peak is 8 finds.

The South African cache with the most finds is GCMYYZ - Table Top Trove, with 758 finds.

[+Danie Viljoen]

Top archived RSA caches:

 

The following caches are the archived caches with the most finds:

1. GC182QZ  Gotteshaeuser: St. Martini Kirche	City of Cape Town  316 finds
2. GC26XH1  Signal Hill Pines	                City of Cape Town  289 finds
3. GC10ER6  Bugs' World	                        Cape Winelands	   281 finds
4. GC2G27Z  "O".... I'm famous	                City of Cape Town  269 finds
5. GC13PJC  Don't Drink 'n Drive  -  WC	        City of Cape Town  220 finds

So if you are looking for a good spot to place a cache, this may be it!

[+Danie Viljoen]

have there been any trends w.r.t. event attendance over the years? Also the number of events have trended amazingly upwards.

 

 

[+TechnoNut]

have there been any trends w.r.t. event attendance over the years? Also the number of events have trended amazingly upwards.

 

 

 

Danie: How would it look if you removed the events surrounding the 2012 Mega - these events could skew the data.

(say all events on 5/6/7 October)

 

PT

Edited September 5, 2013 by TechnoNut

[+Danie Viljoen]

How would it look if you removed the events surrounding the 2012 Mega - these events could skew the data.

(say all events on 5/6/7 October)

Excluding the normal events from the week of the MEGA changes the numbers for 2012 as follows:

Total number of events: 92

Total number of attendees: 1290

Average number of attendees per event: 14

[+Danie Viljoen]

Elevation distribution of active RSA caches:

 

 

The first peak mainly represents the coastal cities (Cape Town, Durban, P.E. and E.L) and the second peak is mostly Gauteng.

The average elevation is 892m.

The median elevation is 1085m.

Only 1.5% of the caches are above 1800m (not shown on the graph).

[+Danie Viljoen]

The effect of the August 31 days of caching challenge in South Africa:

 

New caches per month:

 

The number of new caches in August is 2.26 times the trend, i.e., +126%

(July was very high as well.)

 

Finds per month:

 

The number of finds in August is the highest ever, 35% above the trend. (1258 cachers logged a total of 18936 caches during August 2013.)

It is remarkable that August is higher than both October 2012 (MEGA Event) and July 2011 (Gauteng Power Series)!

Edited September 6, 2013 by Danie Viljoen

[+Danie Viljoen]

Millionth find in South Africa?

 

We currently stand on 516 000 finds. Based on the current trend, we should reach a million finds on about 23 December 2015, .

Edited September 6, 2013 by Danie Viljoen

[+Danie Viljoen]

Cache density heat map:

 

Here is an update of a graph published by DamhuisClan many years ago:

 

 

And in 3D:

 

[+Danie Viljoen]

Gauteng cache density heat map:

 

 

Western Cape cache density heat map:

 

 

KZN cache density heat map:

 

[+Danie Viljoen]

Cache density: Africa

 

[+Danie Viljoen]

Cache elevation map: South Africa

 

[+Danie Viljoen]

Terrain rating distribution:

 

 

(Where there are many caches close to each other, the average for that particular grid cell is displayed. For this reason the cities are not really visible, but isolated mountain peak caches are disproportionally visible.)

 

Let me know if there are any areas that you wish me to zoom into.