If you’re just joining the geocaching adventure, DNF stands for Did Not Find. It’s a log type when you’re searching for a geocache, and guess what, didn’t find it. But what you should also know, is that a DNF log can transform into a “Found it!” The log type doesn’t mean you’ve given up, it means, well, that you didn’t find the geocache—this time. A DNF also means, “I care.”
When you log a DNF, you’re telling geocachers that the geocache may be more difficult to find than anticipated or may even be missing. You’re also letting the geocache owner know that they may need to double check that their geocache container can still be found at the posted coordinates.
If you’re a geocacher who’s logged one of the millions DNF’s posted to Geocaching.com so far, thanks from the geocaching community. It’s a small way to help ensure the quality of geocaching. Plus, you can always go back and search again. Who knows, maybe this time you’ll catch a break and log a “Found it!”
Share the geocache that you’ve DNF’d the most in comments below.
Geocachers like a challenge! The Yanamarca Valley floor is at 11,300 feet above sea level, and the surrounding hills go up to 13,000 feet. You’ll explore all of that. We recommend spending the first day walking or biking around the valley floor if you need to acclimatize to the altitude. It’s a lovely area to explore. Over 90% of the buildings are traditional adobe with red tile roofs. Farming is the center of the economy. You’ll see grandmothers in their colorful mantas watching their sheep, pass fields of quinoa, and complete a challenge that will take you to 10 brightly-painted neighborhood chapels. This area is bursting with genuine Peruvian folkways, and as a geocacher, you’ll see it all up close. Above the valley floor, you’ll hike into the hills to find archeological sites, interesting rock formations, and lovely views of the distant Huaytapallana glacier. This is a great location for geocaching because here are so many little delights to be discovered, that you would definitely not come across without geocaching.
When people think of Peru, they think of Machu Picchu and the Inca Empire. Over the span of the history of the Andes, that was just the blink of an eye, less than 100 years. Before that, there were hundreds of cultures spread like a patchwork quilt across the Andes. In our valley and the surrounding hills, it was the Xauxa culture. I’m from the American Southwest, and the Xauxa culture is very similar to the Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) culture. Lots of little stone buildings remain to tell the tale of a vanished civilization. In this tour you’ll build up a picture of these people as you visit the remains of their towns, roads, aqueducts and graves. You can even hire a local shaman to do a traditional ceremony with you to thank the ancient spirits for letting you explore these sites.
We hope that people from around the world will visit us. Many people here take their home for granted. Seeing it through the eyes of visitors will help build local pride. This valley is in the lowest 25% of communities in Peru, economically. If you visit us and spend a little money in the valley, that truly matters for us. Young people are migrating out of this rural area. A little bit of tourism income might entice a few of them to stay. We’d like to see a small but steady stream of visitors. We don’t want to become Machu Picchu—a GeoTour is a perfect way to generate some light tourism without destroying the traditional way of life of the valley. We’d like to have some friends from around the world stop by to share the gentle beauties of our home.
