December 9, 2014 / Janelle /

Viva la Mexican Geocaching Souvenir!

Mexico Geocaching Souvenir will be officially released on Monday, December 22, 2014

Officially known as the United Mexican States, did you know that Mexico:

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 P ico 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!

1. GC319DN – Lands End – EarthCache

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.”

2. GC3B5XW – Gringo Gulch Lighthouse – Traditional Geocache

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.

3. GC1DDE – Pyramid of the Sun – Virtual Geocache

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.

4. GC1JX5J – Ruinas Arqueologicas – Traditional Geocache

Do you like animals? We mean all types of animals – feathered, fuzzy, or scaled. If so, head on over to the Yucatan Peninsula and the surrounding grounds of the Ruinas Arqueologicas. Three Mayan Pyramids are located on this site with many native animals making this non-commercial piece of property their home as well. You’ll see plenty of birds, an occasional coatimundi, and quite a few iguanas. And oh yeah – look out for the snakes. 🙂

5. GC2NTRK – The Secret River – EarthCache

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 — 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.

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. A list of of currently available Geocaching Souvenirs and even the ones you’ve already earned can be found on Geocaching.com.

Have you found a geocache in Mexico? How was your adventure?

December 1, 2014 / Paige Edmiston /

Can You Pass the Geocache Hiders Quiz?

December 1, 2014 / Paige Edmiston

Quiz für Geocache-Verstecker

November 18, 2014 / Carly /

Before GPS and Geocaching Existed: Three Navigation Systems

Nowadays, we’re lucky to have an abundance of smartphones and GPS devices to help us navigate to different locations (and to our beloved geocaches). But did you know that personal navigation predates the invention of Global Positioning Systems (GPS)? Prior to Sputnik, TRANSIT, and GPS devices, there were three personal navigation maps that we still see glimpses of in today’s modern technology. Get ready to learn!

Cane Maps

It started at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago… In celebration with the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s entry into the New World, the Columbian Novelty Company created “Cane Maps”. The cane map was a 10″ x 16″ sheet with maps printed on both sides. It rolled in and out of a wooden cane. The front side contained a map of the fairgrounds and the back side of the map was of Chicago, showing popular tourist attractions in the area. These maps were sold in gift shops at the fair and paved the way for future mapping and navigation techniques.

Plus Fours RouteFinder

Watch-you-wearing? Worn around the wrist, the Plus Fours Routefinder was a fashionable and efficient way to transit. These watch-like devices contained miniature scrolls with driving directions that rotated and updated as the motorist moved. The scrolls could be switched out and changed depending on what route was taken.

Inter-Auto or “Iter-Avto”

Zoom Zoom! In 1932, an Italian company releases the Inter-Auto, the world’s first personal navigation system for an automobile. This device also contained a scrolling map and additionally, connected to the car’s speedometer to maintain an accurate scrolling rate. Similar to a modern day Garmin or Tom Tom, this device showed a motorist’s position in real-time.

Navigation systems today have come a long way since Cane Maps and Inter-Autos. With the addition of the GPS, geocachers today have numerous devices to choose from. As technology advances, it will be fascinating to see the direction navigation systems will head in the coming years.

What is your preferred device for geocaching?

Not done reading yet? Check the ghosts lingering in your GPS in this Who’s Hiding in Your GPS Device? post from 2010.

Sources and Images: Before There was GPS: Personal Navigation in the 1920s and 1930s, Cane Maps, The antique route show: ‘First ever built-in sat nav’ from 1930 which used a map on a scroll to guide motorists

November 12, 2014 / Alex

Find the Right Geocaching Party for You

Word on the street is, Mega-Events are the best thing since sliced bread

These geocaching parties of 500+ people offer more than a meet-and-greet of other geocachers—though that’s bound to happen too. Mega-Events are more like a celebration of all facets of the hobby we love. Often centered around a theme (ahem, *Pirates*), Mega-Events happen all over the world and are a must for every geocacher. Find one near you.

Geowoodstock — Were you there? Can you find yourself? GeoWoodstock XII.

Living in or visiting Germany? You'll never be short on awesome events. — Living in or visiting Germany? You’ll never be short on awesome events.

Not sure if Mega-Events are your thing?

Geocaching HQ’er Chris (Rock Chalk) discusses his experiences at four Mega-Events this past year, and you can be sure that no two Mega-Events are alike.

By Chris Ronan

I’ve had the good fortune (and the necessary vacation time) to attend four Mega-Events in 2014. I’ve found Mega-Events to be much like any geocaching event in that they reflect the personality and geocaching style of the host community. However, they’re larger than typical events, as an event must have 500+ attendees to achieve Mega-Event status.

At this time last year, I had no idea what a Mega-Event was about, or whether I’d enjoy attending. Perhaps my experiences might be useful as you peruse the list of upcoming Mega-Events around the world.

S*W*A*G’s Yuma Mega #11
Held in Yuma, AZ, this was my first Mega-Event. I lived in Kansas at the time, so this was a wonderful mid-winter break from Midwestern winter. It was my first experience with Lab Caches, which took me on a great tour through the area. There’s a great variety of caching around Yuma—from power trails such as the Arizona Star Geo-Art and the S*W*A*G Geo-Art to higher-terrain hiking and climbing caches.

Logbook at the S.W.A.G. Yuma Mega event. — Logbook at the S.W.A.G. Yuma Mega-Event.

MOGA 2014
Unlike the Yuma Mega-Event, MOGA is held in a different place each year. The 2014 version took place in Athens, OH in late March. The perfect time for a road trip from Kansas! MOGA was where I experienced my first and only geocaching competition. The organizers took a different approach to Lab Caches, but they were just as enjoyable as what I’d seen in Yuma. The area offered a wonderful variety of geocaches. MOGA 2015 will be held in Jackson, MO, less than two hours from St. Louis.

A map-style logbook at the MOGA Mega-Event.

Geowoodstock XII
Geowoodstock XII was held just 30 minutes from St. Louis, in the historic river town of St. Charles, MO. The immediate area is more urban than Yuma or Athens, which meant yet another different style of caching. Fittingly, the Lab Caches focused on the area’s amazing history. Speaking of history, GeoWoodstock XIII is to be held in Boonsboro, MD. I could talk for days about all the great caching in that area, but definitely don’t miss the Wherigo at Antietam National Battlefield. It’s one of my favorite caches ever!

If you're lucky, you might see Signal at a Mega event. — If you’re lucky, you might see Signal at a Mega-Event.

3IEE
Shortly after joining the staff of Geocaching HQ, I took a weekend to enjoy my first international Mega-Event in Duncan, British Columbia. 3IEE was a complete departure from my previous three Mega-Events, as it focused on EarthCaches. I’m no geology genius, but I walked away feeling like even I might be able to construct an enjoyable EarthCache, thanks to the many educational opportunities at the event. The Lab Caches introduced me to the beautiful Cowichan Valley. And, of course, I nabbed my first Canada caches, which were very cool!

At the International EarthCache Mega-Event!

I’ve had the chance to meet geocachers from around the world and enjoy very different geocaching experiences in some neat places. In fact, I’ve already booked another vacation to sunny Arizona for S*W*A*G Yuma Mega Event #12 on February 8, 2015. See you there!

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