Omicron
The fifteenth in the
Greek Alphabet series ….
South Africa
has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world and we
don’t even need to go far to enjoy a bit of respite from our
daily hustle and bustle. It turns out very few people know
about the Groenkloof Nature Reserve, in the heart of
Pretoria. Seems you need to know people who know mountain
bikers, 4X4 enthusiasts (or geocachers) who frequently engage in
mountain biking, 4X4ing (or geocaching) to find out about this
little slice of heaven in our urban jungle.
Situated
next to the Fountains Valley Resort just off Christina de Wit in
Pretoria lies the picturesque Groenkloof Nature
Reserve, home to impala, kudu, blue wildebeest, ostrich, giraffe,
red hartebeest and a flourishing bird life.
The Nature
Reserve is reached via the entrance to the Fountains Valley
Resort. On weekends and public holidays use the alternative
entrance gate 800m from the Fountains Valley main entrance gate at
S 25° 47.373 E 028° 11.826.
Tariffs and
other information can be found at http://www.tshwane.gov.za/groenkloof.cfm.
A little
known fact is that the Groenkloof Nature Reserve became the oldest
nature reserve in South Africa and the second oldest in the world
when President Paul Kruger proclaimed the valley a game sanctuary
in 1895.
The reserve
has loads to offer for the family and nature enthusiast, with
mountain biking, hiking and 4×4 trails, while the picnic area
provides a haven for relaxing those tired muscles.
History
In the 1820's Mzilikazi arrived in this beautiful valley,
by which time the baKwenas had already driven the San people
out. He stayed at Meintjieskop while his impis built
two of his cities in the
area. The women used to fetch water from the Apiesriver and
called it Enzwabuhlungu. This means "something that hurts"
which refers to the sharp dolomite rock that used to hurt their
feet. The Sotho name is Entsabohloko and refers to the
circumcision rites where the young men of the tribe used to stand
in the water during the ceremony.
On 25 February 1895 President Paul Kruger proclaimed the
valley on the southern outskirts of Pretoria as a game sanctuary -
this was the first game sanctuary on the African continent. I ts
main purpose was to protect the large herds of animal on the
outskirts of town from hunters who were responsible for their
demise as well as protection for the shy and timid Oribi which
occurred here.
In 1910 portions of the area were rented out for the
establishment of commercial wood plantations because of the wood
and paper shortages due to the world wars. By the late 1950's
the City Council of Pretoria became the owner of the area. In
1994 the reserve became the responsibility of the Department of
Nature Conservation and preparation started for the re-release of
game. 1 999 was the year wherein impala, kudu, blue wildebeest and
ostrich were re-introduced on to the reserve and 2002 saw the
release of giraffe and red hartebeest.
Currently big clean-up operations are being done to
restore this area to its original vegetation of woody
bushed.
The location of this
cache is just off the 4X4 course where you can drive to within a
few metres of it. The cache is in a round 1 litre ice-cream
container.
The above
co-ordinates will NOT take you to the
cache. To find the exact
location you will need to solve the following simple word
problems:
Calculate: S25 47.x
E028 13.y
x = A pharmacist has 8 litres of a 15 percent
solution of acid. How much distilled water must she add to
reduce the concentration of acid to 10 percent? + 797
b = By installing a R120
thermostat that reduces the temperature setting at night, a family
hopes to cut its annual bill for heating oil by 8 percent, and
thereby recover the cost of the thermostat in fuel savings after 2
years. What was the family's annual fuel bill before installing the
thermostat? - 548
You can
check your answers for this puzzle by clicking on this
link
Omicron
Enjoy the
hunt!