Arc of 30th Meridian #12 - Umtamvuna Traditional Geocache

This cache has been archived.

erik88l-r: Archived. Please contact me if it's replaced.
Thanks for the past fun,
erik - geocaching.com admin

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Hidden : 9/24/2003
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
4 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

Follow the footsteps of Sir David Gill, whose work on the Arc of the 30th Meridian has formed the basis for the modern geodesy of today.

This cache is one in a series of 26, which are the first set of historic astronomical stations measured in order to establish the groundwork of the Arc of the 30th Meridian. The Arc of the 30th Meridian is a set of triangulation measurements effectively creating an arc from Port Elizabeth in South Africa to Cairo in Egypt through the entire African continent.

To get to the cache you need to follow the N2 between Port Shepstone and Kokstad (the turnoff is between Harding and Port Shepstone). You can also approach from Port Edward by going to Izingolweni and then join up with the N2.

Once you are getting closer to the cache you need to take the turnoff to Nqabeni and then Gundrift. Once you get within 1 km you need to follow the road "around" the cache and then you can get within walking distance.

The high terrain rating is because the cache is located in a rural area, but having been there myself it should not be of great worry. The cache itself is easy to find.

At the cache is a microcache in the form of a 35mm film canister, which has been spraypainted red (see picture of typical microcache). The cache is lying at the foot of the concrete beacon below a little pile of rocks.

The rules of this cache are:
• Post a picture of yourself with your GPS in front of the beacon AND send the code by email to the owner of this cache or;
• Only send the code by email to the owner of this cache.

To log this cache you must preferably supply a digital photo of yourself in front of the beacon AND submitting the code/text of the beacon to the owner of this cache.

Alternatively, you can locate the microcache. There is nothing in the microcache, but on the back of the information leaflet is a code written (which is the same as the text stamped into the concrete on the top of the beacon). Submit this code by email to Global_Viking through Geocaching.com to have your log approved.

DO NOT LIST THE TEXT OR THE CODE AS PART OF YOUR ON-LINE LOG!

You may enter your log in good faith on the web-site, but logs that have not sent the code or logs indicating the code/text will be deleted without further warning.

The beacons in this series are still in use by surveyors in South Africa, but this beacon has a particular important historic role. Here you are walking in the footsteps of the very first surveyors and their work making a link between Africa and Europe. Below follows a brief abstract of why these beacons have this historic role. Information on the Arc of the 30th Meridian can be found by clicking “User’s Web Page” on the top of this page.

All the relevant information about the Arc of the 30th Meridian in general and of this cache in particular have been supplied by The Chief Directorate: Surveys and Mapping of South Africa, which holds all copyrights in respect of this information. Special thanks goes to Mr Richard Wonnacut and Mr Tom Zakiewicz, who have provided the information.

ABSTRACT:
The measurement of the Arc of the 30th Meridian of east longitude was initiated by Sir David Gill (1843-1914), Her Majesty’s Astronomer at the Royal Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, between 1879 and 1907. He visualised this project as very important for practical as well for scientific purposes. Gill’s idea was to extend a chain of triangles from the Cape to Egypt and even further north to the Arctic Ocean. The geodetic survey of South Africa, which formed the southern end of this arc, commenced in 1883. The remaining gap of about 1000 km in the chain of a triangulation, between Sudan and Uganda, was surveyed in 1954. By this time the trilateration across the Mediterranean Sea connected the European Datum with the primary Arc of the 30th Meridian, making real Gill’s vision.

Happy historic Arc hunting
Global_Viking

(For more information click “User’s Web Page” on top of this page. You might want to look for more caches in this series, but because of current rules each site has to be set up physically, which can only take place once we have located people in those areas. Therefore only a few are available at present.)

If you are interested in participating in setting up these caches please check the discussion forum for South Africa on the URL: (visit link)

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