Visiting South Africa next month...

[+BigFurryMonster]

Hi everyone,

 

I've just booked my holiday to SA and am looking forward to seeing my GPS show 'S' instead of 'N' ...!

 

We're going cycling from Cape Town to Port Elisabeth, 1100km, and like to do some geocaches along the way.

Second half of October and first week of November.

 

Which area / geocaches of interest shouldn't I miss? Maybe someone living in the area can give me some pointers? Or perhaps we could cache together?

 

Rough itinerary: Cape Town - Stellenbosch - Hermanus - Agulhas - Swellendam - Mossel Bay - (Oudtshoorn) - George - Knysna - Plettenberg Bay - Jeffreys Bay - Port Elisabeth.

 

Where to buy a good GPS (topo) map of SA?

 

Advice very welcome!

 

BigFurryMonster

[+GlobalRat]

 

Where to buy a good GPS (topo) map of SA?

 

 

Have a look at Garmap which produces the African maps for Garmin GPSr's

 

There's plenty to see and do along your route so I'm sure the Cape contingent will give you plenty of pointers.

Edited September 10, 2009 by GlobalRat

[+trevorh7000]

Where to buy a good GPS (topo) map of SA?

Have a look at Garmap which produces the African maps for Garmin GPSr's

 

If you have a Garmin then you could purchase the mapset from Garmap as GlobalRat sugested - Topo is R1299 and the plain street map R999. You could buy the map set on a SD card and then sell it after you have finished with it.

 

If you do not want to shell out the cash for a once off holiday use you could try the Open Street Maps converted to Garmin format for free. South Africa is pretty wel mapped especially in major centres and the map should be able to route as well Download from http://garmin.na1400.info/routable.php

 

What ever you do please do not buy the South African Maps from Garmin they are out of date compared to the Garmap maps

 

If you have something other than a Garmin perhaps someone else could help

 

Trev

Edited September 10, 2009 by trevorh7000

[+CapeDoc]

Which area / geocaches of interest shouldn't I miss

What kind of caches do you like?

Have a look at my favourites list for my opinions on which are great Cape caches.

[+GEO936]

Wow, it sounds like an awesome trip! We can't believe you will be cycling all the way - eish - as we say in South Africa!! But we take our hats off to you and wish you all of the very best!

 

The route you plan to follow takes you across some of the most beautiful areas in our country. Unfortunately, when we last did that route ourselves we were not geocachers, so we cannot offer any advice on good caches along that route.

 

Not many of the local geocachers frequent or visit the forum, so you may want to contact some cache owners for advice or to accompany you, if you see a number of interesting caches along the way (I'm referring to your using Google Earth to check out the available caches along the route).

 

Good luck!

[+BigFurryMonster]

Well, I returned yesterday from my trip to ZA. Cycled from Cape Town to PE (800 km) and found 12 geocaches. Could have been a lot more if I'd brought hints and did not get so unlucky on caches that were removed the day before we passed through the area. In one case, the cache owner reported the cache had been stolen by a seagull! Anyway - geocaching was not the #1 priority. Enjoying the country was. We ended our trip near Addo park for some very nice game viewing.

I used tracks4africa.com to buy some really good maps (including hiking paths and gravel roads).

Thanks for the advice!

[+Carbon Hunter]

Well done - I see you did the Cape Aghulas cache - there is an Earthcache next door that you could log from the info you picked up there if you still have a photo to post.

 

Check out the 2 Oceans cache.

Also - if you rode up sir Lowry's Pass - there is an Earthcache at the top there - I'm sure you stopped to admire the view there if you rode that way.

[+The Huskies]

Hi everyone,

 

Where to buy a good GPS (topo) map of SA?

 

 

Have a look at this site.

 

http://www.gpstravelmaps.com/