Some thoughts after 2008

There are a few things that I will rember from 2008:

1) Discovering the power of GPS and using it for Geocaching
2) The political turmoil in South Africa
3) The "Blue Light" motorcade scandals

1 -- The power and pleasure of GPS
I gave myself a Garmin Nuvi 200 as a Christmas gift in 2007, but really understood its capcity in mid-January 2008 when we went to Johannesburg for an Elton John consert. Joburg is a 6 million city with very heavy traffic. Our destination was in Randburg, west of Joburg. We were on the eastern side of Joburg when a terrible thunderstorm with extremely heavy rain hit us. Visibility was less than 25 meters. You have to have your eyes fixed on the rear lights of the car in front of you, so you have no chance to look for road-signs. But "Sally" was giving us voice directions, and we arrived at the B&B without any problems.
In June I bought a Garmin Garmap 60CSx which is a handheld GPSr suitable for hiking and other activities (not just for driving directions). It had an icon for Geocaching in the dispkay, so I Googled Geocaching, and found out about this wonderful activity! When doing some work in Sweden during July-August I found my first 18 caches, and when back in South Africa started serious Geocaching.
In November I had a problem with the 60CSx... My PC and Laptop couldn't "see" it. I felt a bit desperate about that, but quickly found a solution: I bought the newest Garmin device, the Oregon 300. It is also a handheld GPSr (but of course with a sucction cup mount for the car). The Oregon 300 is designed for "paperless" Geocaching. Wonderful gadget!!!

To be continued