Over the last weekend in July, I had the pleasure of flying across the Atlantic to attend CacheInPorto, a Mega-Event in Porto, Portugal.

Created & hosted by CITO_PT, CacheInPorto gave geocachers a chance to explore the Lipor Adventure Park, a former landfill site. The park offered beautiful panoramic views as the setting for the Mega-Event.

There were many activities on the agenda: a trackables competition, a postcrossing event, wood coin exchanges, lunches, a visit to the recycling management center, CITO event, and of course – the first GPS Maze in Portugal!

My experience began at the Central de Valorização Orgânica, where cachers checked in, exchanged coins, pinned their hometown to the map, and started exploring Portugal’s first GPS Adventures Maze.

The hosts were gracious enough to walk me through the GPS Maze experience. It was impressive to see so many parts of geocaching presented in one place. From the history of GPS technology, to the different cache types, it was clear that this interactive experience was created with great care.

One highlight of the event was exploring the park itself. A large hill overlooked several cities in all directions, and swings at the top pointed in each direction. There were Adventures to complete, a Virtual Cache at the top, and we all gathered where a stage was set up for the closing ceremonies.

Everyone I met was so kind and welcoming. I especially appreciate the locals for sharing recommendations for places to visit during my first trip to Portugal. It was also my pleasure to share some time with geocaching community volunteers while I was there – thank you Dumnonian, FloraAmantes, and Arnokovic!

At the end of the weekend, the CITO_PT team organized a CITO. They also hosted an event (GCBEKKK) at the top of the park. Along with Signal the Frog®, we all gathered to share our appreciation for those who put the work into making this event possible. It was a great way to end the weekend.

Thank you to the entire CITO_PT team for hosting such a memorable weekend and welcoming me to Portugal!

Obrigado!
-Alan