April 1652 - A refreshment station was established at the Cape of Good Hope by the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie). It was to supply fresh vegetables to the Dutch trading ships sailing between the Netherlands and the East. Under the direction of the first commander Jan van Riebeeck and his gardener Hendrick Boom 18 hectares of land was cultivated. Initial efforts were fraught with failure as strong winds and unfamiliar seasonal elements wreaked havoc on early crops. But perseverance and hard work eventually paid off. Channels or gragten were dug to lead water from streams through the garden. By November 1653 it was reported to the VOC headquarters in the Netherlands that the garden was producing enough crops to supply the passing ships. The first Cape wine was produced in 1659 from grapes grown in the garden.
The history regarding the gardens from then till now is most fascinating. It is with deliberate intent that I omit this information from this listing. I sincerely hope that you delve into said history yourself by taking a slow stroll through the gardens. Sign boards and plaques and statues and memorials will take you on a journey of times past. For once, I plead with you, do a cache slowly. If you choose to rush through here to collect the answers, so much history will pass you by in a blur. Duck into side paths, take photos, take time to read. There are more to see than you could imagine.
And if history is not your thing, there are so much more to do. Feed the squirrels, adorable little nutters that they are. Pigeons will peck seeds from your hands. Play on giant swings in ancient trees. Have cake and tea under huge old trees. Have a picnic on green grass. Chill on park benches, and watch the world go by. Just do not rush the cache, I beg of you.
The Virtual Cache: The coordinates will take you to a map. On this map, you are at no 9.
Sadly the map has gone missing, so I added a photo of the map below the listing.
Time to put your GPS away, no need for it no more.
Seven tasks – Six answers & 1 photo.
Number 11 – Year of erection. (careful here – not rededication, but year erected)
Letter R – Year that the hand pump was dated. (Plaque is missing - Answer = 1842)
Number 19 – Year engraved at the bottom of the dial.
Number 21 – Year on the Bell.
Opposite Number 25 – Year of the historic plan.
Number 43 – To the right of entrance – Wounded animal.
Photo – Anything of interest as long as it does not reveal an answer.
Please mail me the answers to the questions above, and add the photo to your log.
Logs without answers will be deleted after an appropriate time.
Please note: The Public Garden is only open during daytime from 07h00 to 19h00. No dogs allowed.
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.