The Old Man himself Traditional Cache

Andrew Geddes Bain did not leave much “litter” behind (a historian’s nightmare), he built everything back into the road as he moved along. This ruin may be one of the few relics in Bainskloof connected to the old man himself.

Many people must have seen this sign when driving past and some may even have tried finding the relic. It took some searching when I did too, hence this cache to let geocachers in on the secret.

Historians could not yet determine what the exact use of this building was. From Bain’s logs, we know that, apart from the big convict station at Eerste Toll, there was another one further west. This western convict station’s position could not be determined yet and it’s not clear whether this ruin could have been related to it. It was not the residence of Bain and his family either – they stayed on the farm Doolhof, lower down and he walked to work daily using a footpath known as “kettingpad” (chain trail). The discovery of a steel wedge, a steel chisel and potsherds here, strengthened the possibility that this ruin could have been connected to Bain.

Trader, Explorer, Soldier, Road Engineer and Geologist, Andrew Geddes Bain was an amazing character. Born in Scotland, he arrived in South Africa at 19 years of age. His first job was making and trading in saddles in Graaff-Reinet. Without any formal training as a surveyor or engineer, Bain first got involved in road building as a supervisor and eventually ended up building 8 passes, of which Bain’s Kloof was his second (his son, Thomas built 14). Working with rock, sparked off Andrew's interest in geology which he then taught himself so well that he is regarded as the "Father of South African Geology" when he published the first comprehensive geological map of South Africa, a work of great merit. Likewise, he became interested in fossils and can also be regarded as the father of South African Paleontology after he discovered and described the "Blinkwater Monster", a mammal-like reptile that lived in the Eastern Cape more than 250 million years ago. A completely different side of Bain was poetry. He is regarded by some to have laid the foundation for the development of South African literature with his satirical and humorous 1830 poem, Kaatje Kekkelbek, later staged in Cape Town in 1838.