Tis’ the season for giving. And every season is “the season” for geocaching. As you start to wonder how you are going to fill a huge stocking full of awesomeness this year, look no further. Here are some of our favorite “wee” Shop Geocaching items that will fit perfectly in your loved one’s stocking over the fireplace. P.S. We sent this gift list off to Santa Claus and asked him to add all of the geocaching community’s usernames to his “nice” list. Hopefully he’s feeling generous this year ;-).
And there’s a little hidden gem of a deal for you waiting at the bottom of this post. Keep reading…
Dress up your tree with the 7 Ornaments of Geocaching! Each ornament features a geocaching personality on the front, and each also has a unique tracking number on the back.
The geocoin concept just got a whole lot faster! Each of the cars feature the Travel Bug® emblem on the top and the official Geocaching logo on the side.
A pioneer in geocaching containers, Bison Design micros are the standard in the industry. These containers come with a rubber o-ring to keep the elements out, a small and large key ring, and feature the official Geocaching logo.
On December 22, we’ll be celebrating our love for geocaching around the world by releasing six new country souvenirs. One of those countries is Belgium. Stealth is one of the key skills needed for urban geocaching. This geocache, located at one of the most popular attractions in Brussels will put you to the test.
Country souvenirs are virtual pieces of art that are displayed on your Geocaching profile page when you find a geocache in certain locations. We revealed Croatia will also be among the six new country souvenirs on Tuesday.Souvenirs that are currently available can be found here. You can view which ones you’ve already earned by checking out your Souvenirs on Geocaching.com.
What geocachers are saying:
“Thank you for showing this nice location and the great cache!” – Kirmesboxr
“Very nice to see this installation! Greetings from Norway! TFTC!” – ninad
“I always wanted to visit the Atomium in Bruxelles but never been there…after a short walk to the other side of the complex I can’t believe that scenic view. Definitely one of the European World Wonders. Thanks for hiding that special cache there – especially in regular size. Manx thanks and another blue flag for this monument. I will come back for sure.” – do.se_gotcha
Photos:
Two happy geocachers who avoided the muggles! Photo by fxpieltainClose up view of the atom. Photo by geocacher ParoHBAll lit up. Photo by struffel
How do you keep yourself from being seen by muggles? Tell us and post photos in the comments.
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog. If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, just fill out this form. Thanks!
had it’s first geocache placed on Christmas day in the year 2000
has a geocache located 5,564 m (18,253 ft) above sea level on an inactive volcano called Pico de Orizaba
is an extremely popular geocaching vacation destination, and…
…is the newest Geocaching Country Souvenir to be released this month? Yes it’s true! If the allure of white sandy beaches, ancient civilizations, rich culture, delicious food, and tequila wasn’t enough, now you can also earn a geocaching Souvenir for Mexico (this, in addition to Croatia, Italy, and three other new Souvenirs to be revealed soon). Souvenirs are virtual pieces of art that are displayed on your Geocaching profile page when you find a geocache in certain locations.
To wet your whiskers for this occasion, we’ve put together five must-see geocaches from the birthplace of the sun. Enjoy!
We begin our journey on the verrrrrrrrrrrrry southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, El Arco de Cabo San Lucas, a.k.a. Lands End Arch. Make sure you travel by boat to find this geocache, otherwise you’ll have come a long way for a DNF. Besides, it’s really the ideal way to view the Cabo San Lucas rock formation. There are several small beaches located in this area, and according to the geocache page, “…an entire Love Life-Cycle can run it’s course at Lands End. Fall in Love at Lover’s Beach, conceive children in Pirates Cave, and ends at Divorce Beach.”
Now onto the mainland, and the Mexican beach resort city of Puerto Vallarta. There you will find an old lighthouse from the 1930’s that has been decommissioned and restored as a landmark. It is now a navigational beacon and popular tourist attraction. And if you make the trek and climb to the top of the spiral staircase, the geocache page promises you’ll see, “…one of the finest views of Puerto Vallarta’s traditional red-tiled roofs, not to mention the entire bay, from Yelapa at its southernmost end to Punta De Mita at the northern tip.”
And here’s a little known fact: Puerto Vallarta was catapulted into international consciousness in 1963 when The Night of the Iguana directed by John Huston, was filmed there. This film starred Richard Burton, and he brought his soon-to-be-wife Elizabeth Taylor to the location during filming. Their relationship had recently become public knowledge and they were hounded by the press.
Our next stop on the tour is located about 40 kilometers (25 mi) northeast of Mexico’s capital city, Mexico City. There you will find the pre-Columbian Mesoamerican city known as Teotihuacan, The New World’s First Great City.
Enormous in size, at its zenith, Teotihuacan housed up to 200,000 residents and encompassed 12 square miles. The civilization which flourished at Teotihuacan was contemporary to that of ancient Rome. However, unlike that fallen city, Teo’s civilization lasted centuries beyond Rome’s demise. Remarkably, Teotihuacan seems to have sprung up out of nowhere, having no precedent in the ancient world. Archaeological evidence does indicate that the geographic area of Teotihuacan was inhabited by humans as early as 500 B.C. However, actual construction activities of the great city didn’t commence until 1 B.C. with the initial building phase of the site’s famous Pyramid of the Sun.
Our final destination is a D4/T4 full of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and helictites. “What are those?” you may ask. Well, you’ll just have to visit this EarthCache to find out. The cache page describes this experience in alluring beauty:
Close your eyes. You hear nothing but silence and the faint sound of trickling water in the background. Imagine you are 80 feet below ground with your eyes open in the pitch black. You are one with Mother Earth. You are somewhere along an 800 meter stretch of a 14 kilometer underground river that originates in the interior of the peninsula and empties into the sea. The lights come back on. Look up and see thousands of jagged-edged stalactites pointing towards your head like the tips of poison Mayan arrows. It looks like you are either on another planet or on the set of a blockbuster Hollywood movie.
GC2NTRK – The Secret River
So there you have it, amigos. Five glorious reasons to travel to the wondrous land of Mexico and earn yourself yet another souvenir.
Each month, geocachers nominate the person they think is the ultimate community-minded geocacher for the ultimate geocaching community award: Geocacher of the Month. Nominees range from incredible event hosts, those who introduced new geocachers to the game, and geocache makers whose out-of-this-world inventions inspire others to think outside the plastic container.
We’ll peruse the nominations and choose three geocachers as finalists. From there, the community takes the reins and votes in the form of comments on the blog post. Each of the finalists receives a gift pack from Geocaching HQ, plus a virtual high-five from the entire geocaching community.
Nominiere Deine Geocaching-Helden als “Geocacher des Monats”
Monat für Monat nominieren Geocacher diejenigen Hobbykollegen, von denen sie denken, dass sie die ultimativen Geocacher der Community für die ultimative Auszeichnung “Geocacher des Monats” sind. Die Nominierten reichen von genialen Event-Ausrichtern, die neuen Geocachern das Spiel gezeigt haben, bis hin zu Geocachekünstlern, die mit ihren Nicht-von-dieser-Welt-Kreationen andere zum Denken außerhalb von Plastik-Behältern angeregt haben.
Wir werden die Nominierungen prüfen und wählen drei Geocacher als Finalisten aus. Dann übernimmt die Community die Zügel: Die Stimmabgabe erfolgt über Kommentare im entsprechenden Blog-Posting. Alle Finalisten erhalten ein Geschenkpaket vom Geocaching-Hauptquartier, und zusätzlich gratuliert virtuell die gesamte Geocaching-Community.
