German geocachers travel to the UK for 12 hours of caching with locals
A group of German geocachers packed more than their GPS devices on a recent geocaching adventure to the UK. They also packed good intentions. Their epic international caching trip doubled as a fundraiser.
At the end of January, 80 geocachers made their way from Düsseldorf and Aachen, Germany to London, UK to spend an entire weekend treasure hunting with geocachers from several different countries.
The event, “London 2012” (GC38HZA), took place at the Joy of Life Fountain. The German cachers met an international group of geocachers at the event. Adventurers from Norway, France, U.S., and of course the UK joined to embark on a 12-hour treasure hunt. The teams found 64 caches. The favorite cache for many was “London – Beatles Abbey Road” (GC6F12). Geocachers got to transform into a “Beatle” for the cache. Others visited platform 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter movies.
The trip there and back across the English channel was about more than the event; it was also a chance to help others.
German geocachers make their way from from Düsseldorf to London
Janina Hering aka Döskopp says, “We thought about how to best utilize our time on the bus.” So, with some planning and the help of German geocaching shops and other businesses, Janina and her team collected prizes for a raffle that would take place on the bus drive back to Germany. The raffle money went to an organization for sexually abused children.
“We knew we wanted to support this organization. Their work is absolutely admirable,” she explained.
Janina was in charge of the collection of prizes, such as Geocoins and gummy bears. The team was busily selling raffle tickets and ended up raising more than 500 Euros for the association.
Board Member Monika Schiffer (left) and Geocacher Janina Hering (right)
“Such private, dedicated fundraisers are unfortunately rare,” says an excited Board Operator, Monika Schiffer. “The great thing about this initiative is that their hobby connected them to such a great gesture.”
Congrats to Janina and her fellow geocachers on a successful, well planned event. To find a geocaching event near you check out the Geocaching.com Events Calendar.
View Carre’ (GCE02C) perches high atop a New Orleans landmark. The cache ranks as the most ‘favorited’ geocache in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It’s accumulated more than 550 Favorite Points. With a view that stretches from horizon to horizon, it’s easy to see why.
Bamboozle hid the cache, with the permission of the facility owner, in 2003. He works at the building where the cache is located. He writes, “Many years ago I would notice tourist photographers in front of the building and occasionally offer to take them where they could get some really nice shots….the roof. They would be almost overwhelmed by the experience. When I started geocaching in 2003 I thought it would be a nice experience for geocachers as well.”
He was right. More than 1800 geocachers have claimed smileys on the geocache so far. The cache page offers details on finding the difficulty one, terrain one cache. A geocacher who found “View Carre'” over the past weekend logged, “Absolutely the coolest cache I’ve ever done. Alfred was great to us and gave us a wonderful tour. Simply the best cache I’ve ever done. Anyone who has not done this must add it to their short list. THANK YOU and all involved for making this happen. So much fun!”
The cache is close...
Bamboozle and his staff, like Alfred, often offer more than just finding the cache. He says, “My staff and I were all born and raised in the city and act as tour guides for the visiting geocachers. Over the years the View Carre’ has hosted events and has been the destination of school field trips and visits by geocachers from surely every state and many foreign countries.”
And geocachers didn’t forget Bamboozle when Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans in 2005. “I received at least a dozen emails from cachers all over the country offering us a place to stay in their homes until we could return to ours. This added to the already high esteem that I held for geocachers having met so many nice folks at the cache.”
A geocacher serving in the U.S. Army after the hurricane even helped Bamboozle restore the cache. “Hurricane Katrina had blown down the roof elevator and collapsed a wall on top the cache container. Johann Panholtz, a cacher from Indiana serving in the U.S. Army which occupied New Orleans, came by to make the grab and we “unearthed” the cache together and it has been available ever since.”
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Latitude 47 blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.
View Carre' cache container
If you’ d 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.
February’s Featured Geocacher of the Month Nominees show such creativity, innovation, and helpfulness that their fellow geocachers sit back and say, “wow.” Groundspeak Lackey’s selected these three nominees because of their ability to give selflessly to the geocaching community. Now you get the chance to comment on who you believe should be February’s “Featured Geocacher of the Month.”
January Featured Geocachers of the Month, SerenityNow
Write a comment on this blog post about which of these three geocachers you feel should be the featured Geocacher of the Month. Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month.
Here are your nominees for the February Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.
Nominated by RayandLynn, “Magicman65 is Vice President of the BC Geocaching Association. He is a member of the Mid Island Geocaching Association and a member of the Vancouver Island Geocaching Association. He teaches geocaching, creates and attends events. Magicman65 encourages geocachers to be respectful of the environment, caches, each other and of course (be respectful of) Muggles. When he comes across a cache that needs maintenance, he will fix it right there on the spot.”
Nominated by HotBarbecuered, “My first encounter with this AMAZING cacher was when I moved to the Windsor Ontario Canada area for my university studies. I later went to my very first caching event in Michigan and found out that Rattrak was behind organizing many of the events in the Metro-Detroit area. Each year, Rattrak is one of the organizers of the Annual Detroit/Belle Isle Event. Rattrak also hosts an semi-annual CITO event and potluck on the island each spring and fall.”
Nominated by rvjn, “Steve ‘n’ Nancy has given their all to promoting caching in the North Bend/Coos Bay area. Caching was very limited when they began so they started getting the local cachers together, inviting visitors to dinner, meeting with all, and putting on events on a regular basis. Ask anyone in Oregon and they’ll tell you that the best caches are to be found in Coos Bay/North Bend area. Steve ‘n’ Nancy make every cacher who comes to the area feel special!”
Comment below to tell us who you think should be the featured February Geocacher of the Month. A panel of Lackeys 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 and a certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. We will be accepting comments for February’s award through Monday March 12th.
Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin
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.
Every nomination must meet the following requirements:
Please include your name, the name of your nominee, their username, at least one picture of the nominee and a description (500 or fewer 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 March 27th.
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.
More than 70,000 geocachers from around the world celebrated Leap Day by stepping outside for a GPS-powered treasure hunt. Their motivation was an opportunity that comes once every four years — going geocaching on February 29. They joined friends and family to explore the world around them, exercise, and earn a digital reward. The Leap Day goal was ambitious. Geocachers rallied to double the number of accounts – 36,696 – that logged geocaches last Leap Day in 2008.
Here are the latest numbers:
Current Accounts w/Logged Caches: 83,516!
GOAL: 73,392
Updated: 2:30 pm PST – March 7, 2012
Share Your Leap Day
Share your geocaching Leap Day pictures and video on the official Geocaching.com Facebook page. The best video and pictures may be chosen to appear in a Geocaching.com video. Subscribe to the Geocaching.com YouTube to be one of the first to see the video when it’s released later this week.
See a Leap Day geocaching adventure – watch the new video below
January’s featured nominees are fabulous examples of uniquely talented geocachers. Though many other qualified candidates were nominated, Groundspeak Lackeys selected these three helpful, innovative, and creative nominees. Now it’s your turn to help select one of them as January’s featured “Geocacher of the Month.”
AbbeyAckbar, December Featured Geocacher of the Month
Write a comment on this blog post about which of these three geocachers you feel should be the featured “Geocacher of the Month.” Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month.
Last month, AbbeyAckbar was chosen as the December Featured Geocacher of the Month. AbbeyAckbar, a geocaching couple, was recognized for organizing some of the most creative and popular events in Dublin, Ireland. They were also acknowledged for their consistent willingness to assist geocachers in need. Congratulations again to AbbeyAckbar and all other December nominees.
Here are your nominees for the January Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.
Nominated by BigAI437, “Kevin has not only started the geocaching blog, Cachecrazy.com, that reaches international geocachers, but he is constantly getting involved with the local community. Recently he set up a geocaching day for a group of local Girl Scouts. He took them out to find some caches after teaching them all about geocaching. Kevin made sure that these young girls had lots of fun and learned about a new sport that is not only fun, but takes you to places that you might have never visited. I am totally inspired by his commitment to geocaching, the geocaching community, and to his local community.”
Nominated by TeamDotOne, “SerenityNow is responsible for the largest annual events in Ohio known affectionately as the Grand Caching Events (GCE). An example of one of these events is CSI: Cleveland. Not only do to they go way out of their way to host the best events ever but they always seem to come up with something new each and every year to make people want to keep coming back. We have spent countless hours enjoying their company, enjoying their events, enjoying their caches and most importantly, enjoying their friendship.”
Nominated by Horseshoechamp, “Memomls has put on many 101 events and always embraces new cachers with her friendly charm. She is the back bone of North Florida and is known far and wide for her giving- not only her knowledge but her wisdom of caching to all she comes in contact with. Memomls is part owner in a starting Geo-Business here in North Florida called The Cache Station which supplies all sorts of items for both new and old cachers alike. She looks out for many geocachers and willingly hosts events for different people’s accomplishments, even when they are new to geocaching.”
Comment below to tell us who you think should be the featured January “Geocacher of the Month.” A panel of Lackeys 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 and a certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. We will be accepting comments for January’s award through Monday February 6th.
Geocacher of the Month Geocoin
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.
Every nomination must meet the following requirements:
Please include your name, the name of your nominee, their username, at least one picture of the nominee and a description (500 or fewer 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 February Geocacher of the Month must be received by February 17th.
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.
