Contents of
Logo cache is sponsored by
Pumps and Transmission
Examples of paintings you can see at Bushman's Paintings Cache. Enter Busman's Paintings Gallery to see more and larger pictures.
Bushmen were the original inhabitants of Southern Africa. They lived in the valleys and in the caves of the cliffs for centuries before the arrival of present inhabitants. Their paintings in rock shelters has made them famous.
Team Gecko
Success at finding Eucalyptus cache
Goliath's Foot
Phallus
Mabola
Note:
Piet Retief firm Pumps and Transmission has sponsored beautiful Swazi candle for this cache.
The first geocacher who finds the cache can keep the candle
Logo Cache
by Stan
S 26° 38.584E 30° 45.782 (WGS-84)
Altitude 1465m
Nearest town: Amsterdam
Hidden on: 12/9/2001
Logo cache is
tough to get to by any means. You'll be hard pressed to make it in one
day by mountain bicycle from Piet Retief. If you go for it don't leave
Piet Retief - Amsterdam tar road before crossing the Ngwempisi River.
It's better bet to start cycling from Amsterdam. Leave your car at
local Police Station. Then pedal up Nerston road, the higher you get
the better.
Even if you go by 4x4 vehicle or bakkie, set aside at least half a day
for this expedition. Don't forget to mark your Waypoint on
leaving tar road. It is very easy to get lost in that area.
Cache is hidden under rocks on Eastern side of the mountain near the
top.
Bushman paintings cache
by Stan
S 26° 54.236E 31° 02.755 (WGS-84)
Altitude 922m
Nearest town: Gege in Swaziland
Hidden on: 12/4/2002
Note: Entrance fee to Swaziland is now R50 per any vehicle for any number of days. It is payable at every Swaziland border gate. Join our guided tour to the paintings. Next departure is middle of December.
Here is your chance to visit this cut-off area and see something nobody has ever seen before. I discovered these paintings myself only a few months back. Now anybody on this site can visit it.
The Bushman painting site is in fact in Swaziland, but only 35 km from Piet Retief. Even so, you will have to set aside at least one whole day to make sure of your success. Passport is required to enter Swaziland. Nearest border post to paintings opens at 08h00 and closes at 16h00. Mahamba border post closes at 22h00 and it takes over one hour to drive there.
Go by mountain bicycle, 4x4 vehicle or hiking. Transport can be arranged. To get to the paintings with passenger car is possible only if road is not washed away. It involves long detour and approach from other side of the mountains. Contact me for description and road condition.
There are quite a few Bushman paintings of good quality. It is possible you will discover more of them. This is just beginning of a gorge through which the river flows for another 12 km. This is also beginning of an exciting three day hiking and kloofing trail to Hlatikulu.
Area is sparsely populated. A few mud houses can be seen along the way, inhabited only by women and children. Local inhabitants do not know about the paintings. If you don't want to get lost don't ask them for any directions. Relay on your GPS. Be self-sufficient. Stock up in Piet Retief.
Coordinates given are in the middle of Ka-Dinga bridge. GPS doesn't work well in deep kloof where overhangs with paintings are located. From the bridge walk downstream, the river on your right. Soon your progress is stopped by rock face. Do your best to cross the river, but do not attempt crossing if it is in flood. Mind the rocks, they are very slippery.
Once safely on the other side, you find yourself in thick and thorny vegetation. There is no path. Remember, you are in fact the first person to visit this area. Make your way to the rock face and the first overhang. It is large, but there are no paintings there. Follow the rock band and series of smaller overhangs till you reach a larger overhang where painting are located. Explore and admire.
Eucalyptus Cache
by Stan
S 26° 59.527
E 30° 50.902 (WGS-84)
Nearest town: Piet Retief
Hidden on: 2/4/2001
This cache is within easy walking distance from Piet Retief. It will take you an hour and a half to get to the cache and one hour to return. It can make a pleasant family outing. View of Piet Retief and surrounding mountains is splendid.
Eucalyptus cache now contains large Swazi candle sponsored by Pumps and Transmission.
Goliath's Foot
by Stan
S 26° 18.043
E 30° 38.675(WGS-84)
Nearest town: Amsterdam
Hidden on: 2/2/2006
Goliath left his footprint here when drinking water from the Mpuluzi river 1km away. Print of his palm is at the river, but this cache is about his foot only. It is virtual cache but logbook is provided, hidden under stones at the above coordinates. At footprint visitors book for general public is also available. Make entries in both books if possible, as visitors book is sometimes removed by unauthorised persons.
Phallus
by Stan
S 26° 26.438
E 30° 41.620 (WGS-84)
Nearest town: Amsterdam
Hidden on: 2/4/2001
This place can be used as a base for geocachers seeking caches in surrounding area. Camping is very basic, no services are provided. You must take back all your rubbish. Comfortable accommodation is available in Piet Retief.
Cache itself consists of stone carving of elephant and tyre pressure gauge. This cache is sponsored and maintained by Pumps and Transmission, well known mechanical and electrical parts supplier to local municipality and industries.
Mabola
South 27° 16.358'
East 30° 21.801'
Nearest town: Wakkerstroom
Hidden: October 2006
This is a roadside cache, meaning that you can park your car at the side of
the road and walk from there. Not much traffic here, that's why this tarred road
is still in good condition. Park on South end of the bridge, then you do not
have to cross the Mabola river. Find your own way to the top of the nearby low
hill. Wear hiking shoes, some rock climbing will be necessary. There is a maize
of knee high stone walls on top, the remnant of one of more then hundred
blockhouses build and manned by British along the Natal - Transvaal border.
Cache contains Log book and pen, booklet about geocaching, road map of the area,
large Swazi candle and torch.
It is in large white plastic screw top green lid container wedged under an
overhang rock and plugged in with smaller rocks.
After success, go for a swim in Mabola river. Water there is always cold. Good
swimming hole is in sharp, 90deg. bend of the river.
