Geocaching - Treasure Hunting Around The World

Some people describe it as “using millions of dollars worth of satellites to find plastic containers in the bush”. It is not a totally inaccurate description but Geocaching, the high-tech treasure hunt that has gotten hundreds of thousands hooked all over the world, is more than that. It’s a whole new way of travelling.

Geocaching is an adventurous way to get off the beaten track!

It all started back in 2000, when the US government put an end to GPS Selective Availability, which made GPS units accurate to metres rather than hundreds of metres. To celebrate, Dave Ulmer hid a container (called a geocache) somewhere in Oregon and posted the coordinates on a newsgroup. It took only a few hours for the first person to announce on the newsgroup that they had found the container.

Nearly ten years later, people all over the world travel around – domestically and internationally – to find these geocaches. The idea is simple: someone hides a container, gets coordinates for where it is hidden, publishes them on a website (the most widely used one being www.geocaching.com). Then it’s up to other geocachers to go hunt for the treasure, armed with their GPSr devices. Inside the container, there are usually some objects that geocachers can swap but, most importantly, a logbook that must be signed before each person claims the find online.

Let’s be honest here: who doesn’t love the thrill of treasure hunts? I do too! And if, at first, the whole idea of going through all that trouble because of a plastic container didn’t exactly fascinate me, I quickly discover the real value of geocaching. It has very little to do with the container. Signing the logbook will give you another happy face on the website and add a new listing to your stats but what really drives the true geocacher are the wonders of the world that the sport reveals.

Geocaches can be hidden anywhere, including underwater!

Geocaches can be hidden anywhere. There’s probably one really close to where you’re reading this right now. Seriously. One fundamental characteristic of geocaching that makes it so valuable for travellers is that the geocaches that exist in each area are all hidden by locals – people that really know the place. The obvious touristic attractions always have hidden treasures nearby but geocaching also takes you off the beaten track, to places that only the locals know about and that no guidebook will ever mention.

If you really want to find hidden spots in a country, a handheld GPS should become an everyday item in your backpack. While travelling, it is essential that you do your homework and select which geocaches you think you will be able to find in any given location. A lot of these treasures are hidden in easy to find urban areas but others are further away and require you to have a more profound knowledge of the place. They are literally everywhere – from the top of mountains to the bottom of oceans. Even in challenging locations such as Iraq (where there are currently no less than 290 geocaches), or remote landmasses like Antarctica (with 32 listings at the moment). Ethiopia? Yep – there’s four of them there. Virtually everywhere in the world you choose to go, there’s a treasure to find, often in places that you probably wouldn’t even visit otherwise.

The standard tools of the trade

Don’t ditch your guidebook, though, as it’ll give you plenty of information on the main sights. However, it’s geocaching that will give you the opportunity to explore beyond where everyone else goes, to see places that not even an internet search will return many results for.

Five things to consider when choosing a GPSr for geocaching:

If you’re thinking about getting started in the game, a handheld GPSr is the most recommended type of device for your treasure hunts. There are also other features that can be useful:

1. Mapping – so that you can find the best route to a geocache or a waypoint. Sometimes geocaches appear close to a road but access to that road is impossible
2. Waterproofing - you want your GPSr to handle all sorts of environments and of course you don’t want to run the risk of having it fall on a stream and never work again
3. High-sensitivity receiver - to get the best possible reception
4. USB connection - to connect to the computer and download geocache coordinates
5. Memory card slot - to allow you to add extra memory for maps