This Earthcache takes you back 253 million years - 50 million years before the first dinosaurs...
During this time - called the Permian Period, Africa formed part of a supercontinent called 'Pangea' and this Karoo area, as we know it today, painted a very different picture from what it does today. At the time the area around the present day Nieu-Bethesda was covered by huge meandering rivers which flowed in a northerly direction. In the floodplains, many pre-historic animals roamed freely.
Take a half-hour stroll with a guide to the nearby Gats River bed to find real fossils and log this Earthcache find. The guided tour starts at the Kitching Fossil Exploration Center (see coordinates listed as a reference point, below). A nominal fee per person is charged for visiting the centre and for taking the guided tour.
Note that you won't necessarily find a fossil at the exact coordinates given for the Earthcache. It merely indicates the general area of the fossil bearing rock. You need to find the fossils yourself.
Ginger at one of the fossils in the rock
Fossils are protected by law and may not be collected or traded.
To claim this Earthcache please complete the following tasks:
- To get credit for this earth cache, find the fossil bearing rock and identify which body part/s is visible. Project the full size of this animal/body part. Write down the coordinates (take a photo of the fossil and your GPS with coordinates) of the fossil your chose to work with.
- Explain how the rock with fossils formed (how it was preserved).
- I have mentioned the 'Permian Period’. Supply the names of at least one predator and two herbivores (plant eaters) who wandered the now, Karoo plains, in this Period.
Please send your answers to 'teamginger@gmail.com' for approval of your log (don't post them in your log).
Do post other photos (not giving away any answers) and share your experience with others.
Find-logs posted without the required answers will be deleted, thanks for your understanding.
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Also take the time to visit the Exploration Center. It has a wealth of information about the pre-historic animal- and plant life of the Permian Period. Coordinates for the Visitors’ Center (Kitching Fossil Exploration Center) is listed as a reference point below.
Take care, and I hope you enjoy your visit!