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A little bit of down, damp and dirty urban exploration with the potential for unexpected wildlife...a cache you could find in half an hour, but it will require you to get dirty and very likely wet. The nav and hide are not complex, nor is it inherently dangerous but it may push your comfort boundaries.
While out geocaching and mountain-biking in the rain one day, I found the Elsieskraal River running hard and fast in it's canal, with dark muddy water surging under these bridges at least 2m deep. Imagine my suprise the next day to under sunny skies to find the water reduced to a clear flow not more than 20cm deep. Kaptein wanted to swim, so we clambered into the canal and began to explore. Just above the road and rail bridges is a small weir underneath a footbridge where Kaptein plunged in... and then leapt out again in shock as something large thrashed in the water. We discovered the culprit - many lurking catfish, some almost a meter in length! Where did they come from? Are they always here? What (or who) do they eat?
The Elsieskraal is a very urbanized river, not famed for its fish for some time. Quoting Wikipedia:
"The Elsieskraal River (Afrikaans Elsieskraalrivier) is a small river that flows through the Cape Town metropolitan area, in South Africa. It rises in the Tygerberg Hills and flows in a generally south westerly direction to its confluence with the Black River just south of Pinelands. 65% of the course of the Elsieskraal River has been canalised to prevent flooding. Its catchment is part of the Central Management Area of the City of Cape Town. As most of the catchment area is urbanised and the river receives rapid runoff from roads, roofs and other impermeable surfaces it is prone to rapid increases in discharge after rain." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsieskraal_River)
Catfish, however, seem to be quite adaptable. Once again skimming from the font of all knowledge known to man (ie. Wikipedia):
"Catfishes (order Siluriformes) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores (species that eat dead material on the bottom), and even to a tiny parasiticspecies commonly called the candiru, Vandellia cirrhosa. There are armour-plated types and also naked types, neither having scales. Despite their name, not all catfish have prominent barbels; members of the Siluriformes order are defined by features of the skull and swimbladder. Catfish are of considerable commercial importance; many of the larger species are farmed or fished for food. Many of the smaller species, particularly the genus Corydoras, are important in the aquarium hobby. Catfish are nocturnal. Extant catfish species live inland or in coastal waters of every continent except Antarctica. Catfish have inhabited all continents at one time or another. Catfish are most diverse in tropical South America, Africa, and Asia. More than half of all catfish species live in the Americas. They are the only ostariophysans that have entered freshwater habitats in Madagascar, Australia, and New Guinea. They are found in freshwater environments, though most inhabit shallow, running water. Representatives of at least eight families are hypogean (live underground) with three families that are alsotroglobitic (inhabiting caves). Most catfish are bottom feeders. In general, they are negatively buoyant, which means that they will usually sink rather than float due to a reduced gas bladder and a heavy, bony head. A flattened head allows for digging through the substrate as well as perhaps serving as a hydrofoil. Most have a mouth that can expand to a large size and contains no incisiform teeth; catfish generally feed through suction or gulping rather than biting and cutting prey. Catfish may have up to four pairs of barbels: nasal, maxillary (on each side of mouth), and two pairs of chin barbels, even though pairs of barbels may be absent depending on the species. Catfish also have chemoreceptors across their entire bodies, which means they "taste" anything they touch and "smell" any chemicals in the water. Because their barbels and chemoreception are more important in detecting food, the eyes on catfish are generally small. Catfish have no scales; their bodies are often naked. In some species, the mucus-covered skin is used in cutaneous respiration, where the fish breathes through its skin.[6] In some catfish, the skin is covered in bony plates called scutes; some form of body armor appears in various ways within the order. Catfish have widely been caught and farmed for food for hundreds of years in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Judgments as to the quality and flavor vary, with some food critics considering catfish as being excellent food, while others dismiss them as watery and lacking in flavor. While the vast majority of catfish are harmless to humans, a few species are known to present some risk. Perhaps the most notorious of these is the candiru, due to the way it is reputed to parasitize the urethra, though there is only one documented case of a candiru attack on a human. Many catfish species have “stings” (actually non-venomous in most cases) embedded behind their fins; thus precautions must be taken when handling them."
There is plenty more to read on the Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catfish
To find the cache, you are going to have to act a bit like a catfish: Be nowhere around here if the river is in flood; come out when it gets shallower; be prepared to get wet; get down on your belly and wriggled into a sheltered spot out of the current. Fortunately, you won't need gills for this one, but I hope you don't mind the occasional bug...
The cache is smaller than I originally planned (I hit a technical snag and plan to upgrade it to something larger) and is very obvious once you're in the right position. You need to approach via/in the canal. You don't absolutely need a torch, but you will want one. Please take along a pen. There is no room for swag at the current time.
Congrats to trevorh7000 for the snappy FTF!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Svaq fbzrjurer bhg bs gur sybj
jurer zbfg jbhyq abg jnag gb tb
Pna lbh pngpu pngsvfu jvgu n yher
Be qb ohtf unir zber nyyher?