This monument is dedicated to the mythical king-priest, Prester John, and the Portuguese explorers who discovered South Africa.
The short version of the story take us back to 1145. This was the first mention of Prester John. The story of a king-priest, ruling over a vast empire. At first it was thought to be in Asia. The Portugese send out explorers to find this king. A search that would go on for 500 years. At first the exploration was overland, but later the route by sea was explored.
Then it was rumoured to be in Africa. At first the search went down the west coast and overland through the middle east. The exploration along the coast eventually lead to the opening of the trade route around Africa to the East.
This is as much a story about West and East, Christian and Islam, rich and poor, and man's insatiable lust for power and wealth.
A quick search on the internet, makes for some interesting reading.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John
www.historytoday.com/miscellanies/search-prester-john
The 'Prester John map' by Abraham Ortelius, 1527-1598.
Logging requirements:
1. Take a picture of your team, or team name with the monument in the background. Be creative, or not, up to you. Post that with your log.
2. At waypoint 1 there is a monument for one of these Portugese explorers. Via my profile, send me his name and the date on the plaque at the bottom of the monument.
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This is also a good spot to start an adventure. Be it The age of the sail and how it influenced the history of the city, or just going on a walkabout exploring how the city developed to this day.
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.