+warthog Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 On a sad Note, it has come to light that the JHB Travel Bug Hotel was "mugged" and my travel bug "Take Note", did not even Take Off, maybe a suggestion is to do the same as for KZN Travel Bug Hotel. Is there any of the GP cachers that has a contact or can suggest a contact that can accomodate a travel bug hotel in a secure area/shop nearby or inside the JHB International Airport? If we are going to keep on having our caches being vandilised or stolen, I don't think we are going to see many Travel Bugs from other countries coming to South Africa and with the Sweden-South Africa-Sweden travel bug race on the go, it may be a concern for other cachers. I think this is the only way we are going to be able to manage travel bugs that needs a quick pick up/drop off for travel bugs coming into SA or intend leaving SA. Any comments or suggestions? Quote Link to comment
Azaruk Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 I can't remember who established the "KZN TB Hotel" in Hillcrest, but it IS a good idea. It's in a secure area, is impossible to muggle and is easily accessible. I would suggest that ALL TB Hotels be situated in similar places to ensure their safety. TB tags are, in South Africa, an expensive item and I would rapidly lose interest in the TB concept if mine were to continually be muggled. As far as TB hotels go - the safer the better - no need to make them difficult cache hides, or be out in 'muggle' land! Quote Link to comment
+Africard Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 I placed the KZN TB hotel in an friend of mine's shop, who is also a geocacher (although not very active at this stage...) for exactly that reason! I visited JHB international three times last year and could not locate the cache without being seen by either muggles or security... Quote Link to comment
+GlobalRat Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 I had exactly this idea before the JHB Travel Bug Hotel was established. Had much coms with BjBez at the time. I even contacted Groundspeak to see if I could get some banners and stuff, and some advertising. I was thinking of either using one of the shops or even better coming to an agreement with the tourist office to set up something there. I had the idea to establish a lockable see through cache in the toursim office, key managed by the tourism office. And then some Geocaching banners and some brochures. With the establishment of the JHB TB Hotel though, I lost interest and stopped pursuing the matter. The question I guess is around security. The bottom line is that Airports are very sensitive areas. Quite a few of the TB hotels in europe have been axed due to security, and some weren't even on the airport premises Quote Link to comment
Azaruk Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 I placed the KZN TB hotel in an friend of mine's shop, who is also a geocacher (although not very active at this stage...) for exactly that reason! Sorry I didn't give you credit! It's an excellent idea. A bit 'out of the way' for the airport, but it is safe and secure. Thanks Quote Link to comment
+Africard Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 No problem Azaruk... From KZN's side we obviously like to see more international TB tourists, and the only way to achieve that is to have more caches and more cachers. In the description I clearly stated how we feel about our TB's and I have made it my mission never to place a TB in a place that is relatively open to muggles. Personally I agree that a shop is not the best place, but a TB hotel needs to be accessable and secure to tourists in order to attract touring TB's. Quote Link to comment
Azaruk Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 Personally I agree that a shop is not the best place, but a TB hotel needs to be accessable and secure to tourists in order to attract touring TB's. I disagree. As I mentioned before, the TB tag is expensive here in RSA, added to which, the items I have seen represent a lot of careful thought in their selection, as well as a fair bit of additional cash! I have seen some amazing travel bugs, the little African statue comes to mind, as well as the Shield. ANYTHING that can be done to protect our valuable bugs as they prepare to travel must be done. A shop holding a TB Hotel, is, IMHO, one of the best methods to assure their safety, however temporarily. Quote Link to comment
Bjbez Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 I support the idea of a cache in a shop of some sorts where TB's can be exchanged. Unfortunately I won't be able to persue the matter because of limited time and the distance from Pretoria. It isn't viable to continue with the cache at its current location. Could somebody advise on what would be the best: transfer Jhb Travel Bug hotel to another owner, or rather archive it and allow someone else to start clean with a new cache? Quote Link to comment
perdix Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 Hi all Vaalies, Is there any progress with this? I often travel through JHB Int on business, but rarely have time to leave the airport. I recently took a TB with me, but could not place it, it would have been ideal to drop it off at a TB hotel. Also now with the sin police publishing lists of offenders, my name is sure to come up. I have been sitting with a TB for quite a while and a TB hotel in CapeTown or Jhb would really save my bacon. Alternatively, can yo suggest a cache that is close to the airport that could be done in under an hour? Quote Link to comment
+warthog Posted June 29, 2005 Author Share Posted June 29, 2005 Same as for some of the other cachers, I have not managed to look at this any further, even though I think about it every time I travel past JHB International. On the short term, the nearest quick one to JHB International is Gillooly's. However this would require a walk/hike up a hill, but should be possible within an hour. If you are just passing through, maybe one of the local cachers can arrange to collect it from you at the airport and it can then be placed by them. Quote Link to comment
+geocacher_coza Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 I travel through the airport often as well. Give me the dates you are there and we can work something out. I have looked at a cache at the airport but it seems like not a good idea as the security etc is high and I do not think you will get permission from the airport authorities. On the other part of the tread I also do not think a TB hotel is a good idea. Like Azaruk has pointed out the TB's are expensive and with a hotel a lot of them can go AWOL very quickly. I see that the guy in the USA is debating the same thing and most guys are in favor of not having TB hotels for the same reasons. We just need to help each other out on this one! One idea is maybe to go and see the people at the 4x4 shop not far from the airport and ask them if we can place something like Globalrat suggested! We can then have our Vaalies making turn to look after the cache stocking the brochures! The 4x4 shop will be a good place as it is an outdoor shop and most people going there have a GPS! It will also give us some other publicity. Cannot remember the name of the 4x4 shop but in two weeks time when I get back to Sa I could go around there and find out if they will be interested. Or maybe someone else can go and find out? Quote Link to comment
Bjbez Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 I just like to test an idea. I'm prepared to sponsor a postbox at the airport in the international arrivals lounge. The idea is then to hide the key somewhere near which will give access to the postbox where Travel bugs can be exchanged. I'm a bit worried that it might cause suspicion whith onlookers when someone open a postbox to put in an envelope, instead of taking it out. Please let me know whether you think this is feasable. Quote Link to comment
+GlobalRat Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 I just like to test an idea. I'm prepared to sponsor a postbox at the airport in the international arrivals lounge. <<snip>>Please let me know whether you think this is feasable. Hi Bjbez.... has been a while... welcome back After the demise of the previous cache.... I had a relook at my idea and did enquire at tourism and some of the stores. Even with a seethrough box, none of them were overly keen. Some liked the concept, but security seemed to be an overriding factor, and they couldn't accept liability. The postbox is neat because it is a neutral party and it's available 24/7. I guess the only concern would be if those hundreds of little hidden camera's start getting suspicious There are plenty of neat places to hide a key though... give me a shout offline if you want to pursue and we can chat about it again as we did with the first. Quote Link to comment
+geocacher_coza Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 Good Idea We can hide the key in the CNA. Top shelf, glued to the centre page of the Playboy magazine. Bottom copy More seriously we can hold a collection for the postbox hire! Quote Link to comment
perdix Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 On the short term, the nearest quick one to JHB International is Gillooly's. However this would require a walk/hike up a hill, but should be possible within an hour. If you are just passing through, maybe one of the local cachers can arrange to collect it from you at the airport and it can then be placed by them. Thanks for the feedback. Sadly I seem to always have more time flying out, then flying back, as I want to get home (PE) asap. It seems that I will have to get dirty if I want to get Gollooly's (stream crossing etc) and hence it is not an option for flying out. The postbox is an idea, but you guys need to think about it responsibly as well. I am not so sure that I would want my name as the responsible person for a PO Box in which I have little control of what goes in. Paranoid, I know, but these are the times we live in. Quote Link to comment
+Sparrowhawk Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 (edited) Pardon me... I hope that my shyly putting my non-south-african nose into this discussion is OK... Near Los Angeles, a TB cache owner solved this problem with a metal box and a padlock. This is the cache. This is the kind of box they used. It's a metal box for protecting electrical stuff. It has a padlock on the bottom. It iis hinged at the top and the door swings outwards. The cache owner has a business and the cache is on his property. He mounted this box on a metal pole on his chain-link fence. It works quite nicely. Everyone ignores it except for geocachers. That cache or the bugs inside it are not going away anytime soon. Edited July 3, 2005 by Sparrowhawk Quote Link to comment
+geocacher_coza Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 One idea is maybe to go and see the people at the 4x4 shop not far from the airport and ask them if we can place something like Globalrat suggested! We can then have our Vaalies making turn to look after the cache stocking the brochures!The 4x4 shop will be a good place as it is an outdoor shop and most people going there have a GPS! It will also give us some other publicity. Cannot remember the name of the 4x4 shop If the postbox at the airport is not such a good idea I think we still need to check if we can ask the 4x4 shop just down the raod if we can put a box inside the shop. The shop is in the same road as the Macro Any volenteers to go and speak to them? I'm overseas at the moment. Will not be back for another two weeks. Quote Link to comment
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