KOO Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This cache is situated on the original Farm which gave this fertile valley its name. And here at 980m you might even see some snow in Winter :) in addition to the brilliant views of the valley.
The History of the KOO:
The different stories, reach from as far as Panjim in India to as close to home relating to the KhoiSan people.
Although the exotic version via Panjim, also known under the name of Goa, seems the most likely to have given this valley its name: The second farm in the old Swellendam district that was granted grassing rights in the late 1700s was situated here and named De Goa.
The name Goa was also spelled Ghô or Ghoa and was what the San people called “Kamma-ghoa” (kamakoo) a tiny plant that grows from an enormous underground bulb, which served as food and water source and can be found in the area, its botanical name: Fockea edulis.
With time the farm changed its name to: De Coo, The Coo, De Koo, even Witkoo at one stage and today the original farm is called Langdam.
Koo remained as the name of this valley and the farmers traded their fruit (apples, pears, peaches and apricot...) under its name. When the factories of Langeberg and Ashton Canning began processing the fruit from the Koo down in Ashton it adopted the KOO name and made it a world famous brand in apricot jam tinned fruit AND baked beans... Many years later the Koo farmers pack and export their fruit on their own again but "lost" their brand to Langeberg and hence traded under the name of Concordia Kooperasie.
Around 2005 and interesting change happened, the words Concordia Kooperasie on the packing shed near the Koo settlement were painted over BUT all that remained was the short but distinct word KOO (of KOOperasie)...
End of 2011 the complete change took place and the packing & cooling facility is now called KOOPAK.
Langdam farm were the KOO geocache is situated also underwent some changes and is today a working-holiday farm with still plenty of fruit trees and lots of animals for guest to enjoy. Check www.langdam.co.za if you like to stay over while visiting many more cached in the Koo valley.
PLEASE let the owners or manager know that you are Geocachers when stopping at the reception and heading for the cache.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Trgnsvk jbhyq unir ybirq guvf cbg
Treasures
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