This cache is located below a very large Marula tree. Sclerocarya birrea, commonly known as the marula (Ancient Greek, sklerós, "hard", and káryon, "nut", in reference to the stone inside the fleshy fruit), is a medium-sized tree indigenous to the woodlands of Southern Africa, West Africa, and Madagascar. The trees are dioecious, meaning that there are male and female trees.
This large female Marula tree (and a male tree about 50m away) are the not only the most western marula trees in South Africa, but also about 400km or even more from any other marula trees, all to the east and north east.
Marula trees are single stemmed trees with a wide spreading crown. The tree is characterized by a grey mottled bark. The tree grows up to 20 m tall, mostly in low altitudes and open woodlands like that of Mpumalanga Province (on the other side of South Africa) where these trees are quite common.
The fruits, which ripen between December and March, have a light yellow skin with white flesh. They fall to the ground when unripe and green in color, and then ripen to a yellow color on the ground. They are succulent and tart with a strong and distinctive flavour. Inside is a walnut-sized, thick-walled stone. These stones, when dry, expose the seeds by shedding 2 (sometimes 3) small circular plugs at one end.
If you visit the cache between January and March, you can collect marula fruit to taste. Look for green or yellow fruit without too many marks on from falling to the ground. Yellow fruit can be eaten by rolling and squishing the fruit to soften the flesh under the skin before biting or cutting it open to suck out the centre. Green fruit should ripen within a few days, so take a few for your friends at home to taste.
It is suggested that this cache be found before going on to Mystery Cache “Eeyore” as the first two digits to unlocking the combination lock at the mystery cache, are written on the underside of the lid of the cache. Alternatively you can complete the Sudoku puzzle provided as a picture to this cache and use the grid to determine:
1st Digit = C 7
2nd Digit = H 3