Take a walk on The Wilds side Traditional Geocache
Take a walk on The Wilds side
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(micro)
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After finding Tower View the kids enjoyed it so much we decided to hide a cache here. There has been an unfortunate incident recently (September 2011) in The Wilds, so be careful. We suggest you do this cache on weekends when the park is busier and there is more activity. If you do want to go midweek do not go on your own, but in a group of at least 4 or 5 people. We have only been here on weekends when it is relatively busy and have felt secure doing that.
One of the oldest parks in the city, The Wilds offers Joburgers 40 acres of indigenous plants, shrubs and trees and beautifully laid stone pathways weaving up and down the koppies of the Parktown ridge. It has spectacular views of Hillbrow to the south and Sandton to the north. The paths crisscross the west and east sides of Houghton Drive, the latter slightly wilder than the west, with its lush green lawns and pretty ponds. Donated to the City by the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company in 1924 on condition that it remain in its natural state, the garden is planted with the best of South Africa's indigenous flora - Cape fynbos, huge strelitzias, beds of clivias, elegant arum lilies, proteas, and trees such as yellowwood and cabbage. It opened to the public in 1938. The Wilds has security guards at the parking at the main entrance in Houghton Drive, Parktown
Source: (joburg.org.za)
Parking coordinates are provided as an additional waypoint and the park is open from sunrise to sunset according to the sign at the gate. The security is only at the entrance to look after cars and control access through the official entrance. They do not patrol the park. Having spoken to them about the security issue, their advice is that the west side (the parking side) is fine, and the east side (this side) is normally fine, but sometimes they do have incidents on this side of the bridge, so please take care when caching, especially if in a small group or midweek. We also come here regularly to check up on these caches, so you are welcome to confirm with us when we are going and take the walk with us.
There is a series of three caches on the east side, it takes us around 30 minutes to walk this 1.3km route when we do maintenance on the caches. The most direct route to get to all three caches is to turn right after you cross the bridge, and go down to do Wilds Waterfall. After that, follow the path markers #3 and then #4 up the hill to Take a walk on The Wilds side. From there, continue up the hill and over the other side, following paths #10 and #11 (taking the right fork when the path splits on the way down). When you get to #14 follow that to Jozi View. From there, continue down the hill to the bridge again.
The cache is hidden a short distance from the main track, happy hunting. It gives you a wonderful view of St John's College across the road. It's a medium sized red bison containing only a log, so bring your own pen.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ybbx bapr, ybbx gjvpr, ybbx ntnva, vg'f haqre gurer fbzrjurer