Geocaching is delightful because of the people who play it — adventure-seekers, makers, parents, astronauts and (sometimes) celebrities. Read their stories.
Since the two-millionth geocache is right around the corner, we thought this would be a great time to take a look back into Geocaching’s past. This week’s Geocache of the Week takes us to the capital and most populous city in Germany: Berlin. First Berlin Cache (GC2EB4) was hidden by geocacher error404 on December 29, 2001—that’s only about a year and a half after the first geocache was placed in the United States. Since then, this geocache has earned over 1,000 smileys and (as of this writing) 48 Favorite Points.
An old stone road that leads to the geocache. Photo by geocacher Ezh_gps
This historic geocache is on the must-find list for many geocachers worldwide. However, just because it’s been around for a long time doesn’t mean it’s an easy find. The difficulty and terrain ratings are both 1.5, however, according to the description, a bit of stealth and a decent walk are required. “Oh man, that was a long a bitter march to this historic place. But it was worth it and we were able to log Berlin’s first geocache,” said geocacher wullebaer in their log. (The original log is in German and was translated for this blog.)
Geocacher Rumpel. with the First Berlin Cache.
A lot has happened in the 12 years since the geocache was first hidden. The surrounding environment, land-owners and land-use policies have all changed, which meant the geocache had to evolve. Berlin’s first geocache has began as a small traditional geocache, changed to a multi-cache, and is now a micro. This geocache has even changed owners: the cache is now maintained by geocacher Jack_Sparrow and crew. Regardless of the changes, this geocache remains a significant part of German geocaching history.
As we get closer and closer to the two-millionth geocache, be sure to take a moment to look back at the historical geocaches in your area. Who knows, you might find inspiration for your next hide.
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.
If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, send an email with your name, comments, the name of the geocache, and the GC code to pr@groundspeak.com.
Let’s celebrate the crisscrossing global journey of thousands and thousands of Geocaching Travel Bugs. The Travel Bug Travels video shows the movements of each and every Travel Bug in Geocaching history as it moves around the world from geocache to geocache. Can you find your Travel Bug? Watch and share this video to wow your friends with the worldwide phenomenon of Geocaching.
There’s much more to see and experience as we close in on the 2 millionth active geocache. Check out and share the Geocaching Celebrating 2 Million Active Geocaches infographic for a look at some of the wonders of geocaching.
You can also see the evolution of geocaching since 2000 by watching the video below. Watch and share 2 Million Geocaches in 1 Minute.
This week, we’re going to stay on the theme of amazing EarthCaches. And just like last week, this EarthCache is a volcano, but this volcano is a little different…
Volcan de Lodo El Totumo
Go Play in the Mud at Volcan de Lodo El Totumo (GC1KKQC) takes you to one of the rare mud volcanoes located in South America. This particular mud volcano is near Cartagena, Colombia. Instead of the red-hot molten lava that most volcanoes spew, here you’ll find harmless warm mud.
The top of the mud volcano. Photo by geocacher Team Bear-Cat.
Mud volcanoes are thought to be formed when the heat generated by tectonic movement moves up through the soft, sedimentary soil and bubbles to the surface. The mud-mountain itself is formed after sediment builds up over the years. Volcan de Lodo El Totumois has a mud-depth of about 60 feet (18 meters), but mud-bathers are so buoyant in the mud that there’s no risk of sinking.
To complete this EarthCache, you must take a photo of yourself and your GPS next to the volcano and answer a few questions. And while it’s not required to log the find, no visit to Volcan de Lodo El Totumois would be complete without a mud bath and massage from one of the locals. “We have gotten wet and/or dirty while geocaching in the past, but NEVER like THIS,” said geocachers Team Bear-Cat in their log.
Geocachers becoming mud-people. Photo by geocacher Veet Voojagig.
For those of you that haven’t had a chance to join the ranks of mud-people in Colombia, what’s the dirtiest you’ve ever gotten while geocaching?
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.
If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, send an email with your name, comments, the name of the geocache, and the GC code to pr@groundspeak.com.
As we approach the 2 millionth active geocache, the February Geocacher of the Month nominees help celebrate the geocache creators. This month’s nominees have collected hundreds of Favorite Points for their amazing hides in America, Africa, South America, Europe and beyond. Each is already a winner and will receive a prize package from Geocaching HQ.
January 2013 Featured Geocachers of the Month
Now it’s your turn to help select one of them as the Featured Geocacher of the Month for February.
Write a comment at the bottom of this blog about which of these geocachers you feel should be awarded the featured Geocacher of the Month title.
In January, Tim a.k.a. The Weasel, was recognized for organizing Cache In Trash Out (CITO) events, helping guide local geocachers as a board member of the Iowa Geocacher Organization and spreading the word about proper geocaching etiquette by conducting and assisting with over 50 geocaching classes throughout the State of Iowa and abroad.
Here are your nominees for the February featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.
louwtjievdw nominee for featured Geocacher of the Month
louise_gerhard and Henzz write, ” Uncle Louwtjie van der Watt AKA louwtjievdw… is a legend and cachers are travelling vast distances to find his unique and challenging caches. Uncle Louwtjie has at the time of writing 1178 finds. He also has 269 caches that he maintains vigorously. If a cache is gone then it will be replaced as quickly as possible. More important is his techniques of hiding caches. He does not use the normal conventional Tupperware or other commercial containers as a rule, but rather manufacture caches from household items found in the home. This technique is unique in South Africa and it creates a different feel for geocaches. His caches are high quality and it will challenge even the hardiest cache finder. Due to his unconventional technique of hiding these customised items cachers from all over the country at one stage or another does a sort of a pilgrimage trip to Bloemfontein. His logs, friendly advice, the cup of coffee at his home to anyone that wants to share some time with him and the willingness to contribute his time towards all of us is something that must be recognized.”
CAMOURA and ankhesenamon nominees for the featured Geocachers of the Month
VICTOREMM writes, “I would like to suggest Mr. Carlos (CAMOURA) and his wife Carla Moura (ankhesenamon) to the Geocachers of the month. They are the greater ambassadors of Geocaching in Brazil. They hid together about 196 caches, about 23% of the caches in our state SAO PAULO, and 18% in all Brazil. In addition to several meetings and interviews that they gave to magazines and newspapers. CAMOURA’s last work was to create a Power Trail to help everyone from leaving Sao Paulo to Intervales Park, where you will find the Project APE. They hide caches in a separate to be possible to one get the cache of the other because of few geocachers in Brazil. We have a very different reality here in Brazil, geocaching is not very popular, and their effort is enormous to keep this great adventure alive.
du duintoppers nominees for featured Geocachers of the Month
Team Bever.vw says, “In the Netherlands we have ‘De Duintoppers’ who are making very nice caches with for everybody, easy traditional geocaches, walking, biking and even boating Multi-Caches, mysteries and so on and so on. All this caches are in perfect condition. They are always helpful as well as for beginning Geocachers as long with experienced Geocachers. This team De Duintoppers adopted a lot of Geocachers and it always feels like coming home when we met Dick eand Ineke the De Duintoppers. They are the best promoters of Geocaching in The Netherlands. They have very good contacts with authorities in the area to place the Geocaches and it happens that they contacting them with the question to place something in a new nature part. They are an alternative tourist-information due to the good description in each Geocache.
Comment below to tell us who you think should be the February featured Geocacher of the Month. A panel of folks from Geocaching HQ will use your comments to help decide which geocacher is awarded the honor. Each featured Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat, a Geocacher of the Month profile icon and a certificate acknowledging their contributions, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching. We will be accepting comments for February’s award through Sunday, March 3rd.
Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month. If you know an outstanding geocacher you would like to nominate to be a featured Geocacher of the Month, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com and include the following information:
Your name, the name of your nominee, their username
A picture of the nominee
Description (200 or more words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Geocacher of the Month
Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award.
Nominations for the March Geocacher of the Month must be received by Friday, February 22nd.
Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so we might learn from each other.
