Welcome to Steenbok Nature Reserve!
This is a little idyllic oasis on the island. Steenbok Nature Reserve is open to all at all times of day and free of charge and is a favourite with locals for a little walk, fishing on the shore of the estuary or walking their furry friends (watch out for little brown heaps!).
This multicache is a 3-station cache that will take you on a short walk through this eastern part of the reserve to a point where you will eventually (hopefully) find the cache container (the coordinate checker at the bottom will tell you if you got your answers right).
As you walk along and find the answers, enter the cooridinates into the pre-entered "Waypoints" section of the app to guide you on safely.
It should not take you more than 15-20 minutes to complete and it is all on foot within a 200m radius. You need to do a bit of reading and adding up and fiddling with your phone or GPS to enter coordinates - all the fun you expect from a multi/mystery cache! Enjoy!
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You are standing in front of the main entrance gate to Steenbok Nature Reserve. The Reserve covers a precious area of 17 hectares and forms part of the greater Knysna Protected Environment Area regulated by SANParks in terms of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 2003. Steenbok Nature Reserve is a joint initiative by Leisure Isle Residents Association and Knysna Municipality in close association with SANParks and with the support of The Friends of Steenbok Nature Reserve.
Whilst the Reserve contains most beautiful areas of original salt marsh, coastal dune and coastal thicket vegetation and probably one of the finest areas of the former, it also contains an indigenous garden featuring flora representative of the Garden Route and the coastal regions of the Eastern Cape, tree copses featuring Knysna forest trees, and small "cultivated" gardens. The reserve boast some 200 species of flowering plants and over 100 trees!
If you are lucky you will get hold of a little pamphlet with information on those as well as some of the fauna at the entrance gate's info box next to the info board. Much more information (in addition to the above courtesy of that website) can be found here: https://www.steenboknaturereserve.org.za
Proceed to your first waypoint at: S 34 03.969 E 23 03.672
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This is an interesting stop whether you are from Knysna or just visiting. There is a beautiful piece of art that was initiated by two local residents and crafted and installed by local businesses in commemoration of the Great Knysna Fires that raged in our town on June 7, 2017 and lasted in some areas for nearly two weeks. The winds were so strong (120 km/h at times with even stronger gusts) that no fire helicopter could fly and a ring of fire surrounding the town made an evacuation impossible and threatened the lives and homes of many of the 77,000 inhabitants. Many volunteers alongside firefighters and NSRI helped evacuate people throughout the night and hundreds of firefighters helped putting out reoccuring fires in the following days and weeks. The fires left a great number of people traumatised and without home, work, anything left. It took a huge communal effort as well as donations and support from the whole country and beyond and invaluable work of charitable organizations to get Knysna and its community back on a path of recovery.
The artwork in commemoration of the Knysna Fires is a seed pod. It is inspired by the overwhelming emotion of the initial tragedy, and then more importantly the spirited response from Knysna residents, giving birth to hope and encouragement.
Enjoy the artwork (at time of publishing it was under refurbishment - there is a lot more interesting background information in the photos attached here) and study the commemorative plate next to it to answer the following..
Question: The next waypoint is unthinkable without pride in Knysna's sense of community, (A) and generosity (B)
Which leads you to the next waypoint at: S34 03.(A)50 E 23 03.(B)63
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Here you find some interesting signboards on:
The natural Shape of Things
Question: Butterflies and Bees are linked here to geometric shapes that altogether have how many corners? Answer: C
Insects in Nature.
Question: Altogether how many legs and antennae do insects have? Answer: D
Your next waypoint is at S 34 03.8(C)0 E23 03.67(D)
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Follow the boardwalk to find the answers to the following questions that hold the secret to your cache coordinates:
“The Knysna Estuary”:
How many water bird species are named here that live in the estuary? = E
“The Knysna Seahorse”:
How many babies does hubby seahorse give birth to at a maximum? Add the values of the digits to get F
“Salt Marsh Plants”:
How many plants are depicted here with a photograph? = G
Your final destination and film canister sized cache container is at:
S34 03.(A)(F)(B-1) E23 03.(C-F)(E)(D-5)
