Year: 2014
Croatia! Hrvatska! New Country Souvenirs! Ura!
Croatia, a.k.a. Republika Hrvatska, is a centuries-old country that is situated between central and eastern Europe and the Adriatic Sea. It covers 56,594 square kilometers (21,851 square miles) with a population of over 4.3 million. Croatia has it all – mountains, beaches, bustling cities, big outdoor adventures, culture, art, and of course, geocaches. Lots and lots of geocaches.
Country Souvenirs are virtual pieces of art that are displayed on your Geocaching profile page when you find a geocache in certain locations.
Today we proudly unveil the Geocaching Souvenir for The Land of a Thousand Islands: Croatia! To celebrate, we are also highlighting five must-see geocaches from this marvelous land. Ura!
1. GC34ZA7 – Tkalca – Zagreb – Traditonal Geocache
We begin our tour in the capitol city of Zagreb on Tkalčićeva Street. Full of restaurants, pubs, coffee shops, and plenty of nightlife, this is a great place to meet up with friends, take a stroll, or grab a traditional geocache. And while you’re there, make sure to visit the statue of Marija Juric Zagorka, a Croatian journalist, novelist, and dramatist.
2. GC1FNKR – plitvice lakes – Earth Cache
Next we head south to the very famous series of 16 cascading lakes known as Plitvice Lakes. This breathtaking natural wonder ranges in color from tropical blue to slate grey depending on the amount of minerals and/or organisms, and the angle of the sunlight. At 282 Favorite Points, this geocache is the most geo-beloved in the entire country.
If you need more, check out this link to a virtual panorama and an interactive map from the Plitvice Lakes National Parks website.
Third stop on our tour is in Cape Kamenjak. So says the geocache page:
…one of the most beautiful areas in the vicinity of Pula, near the small and pittoresque village of Premantura. It’s the southernmost part of the peninsula of Istria, a strip of land fully exposed to the sun and the sea.
The coastline and beaches of Cape Kamenjak are rocky, some small gravel beaches are situated in beautiful coves – and you wouldn’t believe it, but there also exists a tiny and small sandy beach in this area, one of the very few sandy beaches all over Istria! In summer it is crowded, of course, but in spring or autumn it’s a nice place to take a bath in the clear and blue waters of Cape Kamenjak. This little traditional will lead you to this cove…have fun!
So grab a picnic basket, some sunscreen, and your cache-bag, and start searchin’!
4. GC322MF – Zadar Sea Organ – Zadar – Traditional Geocache
The amazing sculpture/instrument known as the Sea Organ (Croatian: Morske orgulje) is made up of tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps underwater. The movement of the waves crashing over the tubes creates music. At sunset, the Sun Salutation switches on and displays a series of bright colorful lights. The motion of the lights depends on the solar energy collected throughout the day as well as the power of the waves and mimics the motion of the solar system. All eight planets are represented by solar lights placed at their proportional distances from the sun. Both installations were designed by the architect Nikola Bašić. Far out!
5. GCG8XE – Port a Foot – Dubrovnic – Virtual Geocache
Our final destination is Dubrovnik (also spelled Dubrovnic), known as the ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’. Dubrovnik is believed to be one of the ten best preserved medieval walled cities in the world. It’s full of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque churches, monasteries, palaces, and fountains. Absolutely gorgeous!
Yep. It’s definitely time to book your flight to Croatia to see the amazing sites and earn this sweet souvenir!
We will unveil two new souvenirs each week until all SIX are officially released and awarded on Monday, December 22, 2014 to be proudly displayed on your profile. 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.
Follow us on social (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or right here on our Blog) to find out which countries are next!
What’s your favorite geocaching souvenir that you’ve earned?
NOPE. – Arachnophobia (GC2XHEQ) – Geocache of the Week
Geocache Name:
Difficulty/Terrain Rating:
2/1
Why this is the Geocache of the Week:
Some geocaches make us face our fears. For the acrophobic, a tree climbing geocache is a test. For hydrophobics, paddle caches are terrifying. For arachnophobics, like me, this geocache is a big fat NOPE. However, just looking at the logs and photos shows that plenty of geocachers aren’t afraid and are even elated to see a gigantic arachnid coming down from a tree. The furry spider looks pretty friendly, so I’d probably conquer my fear and give it a shot.
What geocachers are saying:
“Jeepers had to drag me to this cache! 
I gave in pretty quickly, actually, when he looked in the car window with a big grin on his face. That was fun! Fave point! SL TFTC!” – jeeperspeepers
“This was a great cache, especially the day after Halloween. This is one of the best caches that I have ever seen. Thank you for the creativity. This gets my first Favorite Point!” – barefootfamily
“Pulled up and almost immediately spotted this awesome cache. We both laughed with delight (as did a few muggles passing by, who seemed to think we were getting an early start on Halloween) Very clever! Gets a favorite point from me.” – twofalls
What the Geocache owner, fobofobic, has to say:
“Many years ago in my neighborhood, somewhere around Halloween time, somebody placed a big black hairy spider on the post of a stop sign. I would drive by it numerous times a day and it always brought a smile to my face…When it was time to hide my first geocache, I remembered that silly spider. The idea rolled around in my head for quite some time before I came up with the final idea of where and how to place the geocache.
Photos:
What’s your biggest geocaching fear? 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!
Tools for the First To Find Hound: Getting Ready for the FTF Race
There are Few Things Better Than a Blank Logbook
Lace up your running shoes, charge your phone or GPS, make sure there’s fuel in your geo-mobile’s tank—it’s time to go on an FTF hunt.
What’s an FTF? It’s the most popular unofficial stat in the geocaching community. It stands for First to Find. To achieve a FTF you must be the first person to sign the logbook after a geocache is published on Geocaching.com.
Want to join the race? Here are a few tips:
– Instant Notifications – Geocaching Premium members can receive an email as soon as a new geocache is published. Click to set yours up now.
– Keep Your Geocaching Tools With You – A new geocache can be published at any time, so be ready to go!
– Develop Your Geosenses – Knowing the right places to look can mean the difference between an FTF and searching for hours.
See even more FTF tips and then share your advice for making the FTF on the Geocaching Facebook page.
Werkzeuge für den FTF-Jäger: Mach Dich bereit für das Rennen um den Erstfund
Nur wenige Dinge sind besser als ein nagelneues Logbuch.
Schnür Deine Laufschuhe, lade Dein GPS-Gerät oder Smartphone auf und vergewissere Dich, dass genügend Sprit im Tank Deines Cachemobils ist — denn es ist Zeit, auf FTF-Jagd zu gehen.
Was ist ein FTF? Es ist der vielleicht populärste inoffizielle Wettkampf innerhalb der Geocaching-Community und die Abkürzung für den Erstfinder (“First To Find”). Um einen FTF zu erreichen, musst Du die erste Person sein, die sich in ein Logbuch einträgt, nachdem ein Geocache auf Geocaching.com veröffentlicht wurde.
Willst Du bei diesem Wettkampf mitmachen? Hier sind ein paar Tipps:
- Sofortbenachrichtigungen – Geocaching-Premium-Mitglieder können eine Benachrichtigung per E-Mail erhalten, sobald ein neuer Geocache veröffentlicht wurde. Klicke hier, um jetzt Eine für Dich einzurichten.
- Habe Deine Geocaching-Hilfsmittel immer dabei – Ein neuer Geocache kann jederzeit veröffentlicht werden. Sei also stets bereit.
- Entwickle Deine Geo-Sinne weiter – Die richtigen Orte zu kennen, kann den Unterschied zwischen einem FTF und stundenlangem Herumsuchen ausmachen.
Teile Deine Tipps für einen FTF auf der Geocaching-Facebook-Seite.
