The Third Jungle Traditional Cache
SimDad: I really liked this cache, and appreciate everyone's enthusiasm about it. Time prohibits me from getting to city hall to verify its legitimacy, so I'm going to archive it. With a little better luck and planning, I'll place a 4th Jungle, someday...
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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What comes after the Urban Jungle and the Immaculate Jungle? A nondescipt location with some EXCELLENT features nearby. A truly unique container.
This is the third avatar of this cache, the first one having been inadvertently placed too close to another one, and the second one existing only in my imagination. The first one was called the Urban Jungle, and was situated on an abandoned railroad right-of-way between Berkeley Bowl West and Orchard Supply and Hardware. There were plastic bags everywhere, old railroad ties, weeds and evidence of the not-yet-housed. I made the container to fit in perfectly there, and invited others to add to it. But it fell too close to another cache.
ADVISORY - someone recently visited this cache and was accosted by a woman who claimed to own the field where the cache resides. I can neither confirm nor deny this claim. There are certainly no fences, signs or any other indications that ANYONE currently has an active interest in the lot. On the other hand, she says she's a neighbor in one of the adjacent houses and happens to own this land, too. My INTUITION is that she lives nearby and doesn't want people lurking around her neighborhood. But I will go to the County Recorder and determine the FACTS of the matter. In the meantime, if you choose to seek this geocache, please use extraordinary stealth, ambassadorship and respect for the neighbors. Once I get it straight with the county, I will update this advisory.
[I'm just a little wary of her claim because the last landowner who denied me access to a place DID NOT in fact own the place. He lived on a private road alongside one edge of it, but by no means had any authority to say that I could not be on the adjacent hillside. Technically, it was a City of Oakland Park with a PG&E easement; both allowed for hiking and geocaching.]
My next plan was to move it to the Emeryville train right-of-ways. These have been abandoned and RECLAIMED. They are now IMMACULATE walking paths, which means that every bush is is discrete from every other, every path is devoid of waste matter, and there are irrigation sprayers everywhere. Not so good for items that include paper, even if it is carefully packed. And there are shiny post-post-modern condopartments everywhere. I was reminded of a scene from _A Wrinkle in Time_, in which identical people pop out the doors of identical homes to examine the oursiders with horror and rage. A bit too muggly.
When I reached the end of the road, as it were, I discovered a number of jungly parking lots, abandoned lots and poorly weeded fence lines. The new location, THE THIRD JUNGLE, is in one such spot. To enhance the jungly theme, I've added 12 jungly swag items. Trade away, preferably for an animalish something, but whatever seems right.
When you're done, be sure to check out the Immaculate Jungle. It may not be so great for geocaching, but it's a pleasant urban walk. You'll spot one end of it close by. Or, drop by Ruby's cafe. You're relatively close:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/rubys-cafe-emeryville and it's pretty darned good.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[Please only choose as many hints as you need. You don't have to decrypt both of them if you don't want to. #1:] Rkcynva gur fabexryf. [#2] Vs lbh ner ng gur pbbeqvangrf naq pna'g frr gur pnpur, gura lbh znl or fgnaqvat ba vg.