Category: Local stories

News, stories, and updates in languages around the world.

/ Derek H /

Connecting the World With Geocaching — Köln-Seattle Exchange Multicaches (GC1GWEV and GC1H38J) — Geocache of the Week

Seattle – Köln
Seattle – Köln

Geocache Name:

Köln-Seattle Exchange Multicaches (GC1GWEV and GC1H38J)

Difficulty/Terrain Rating:

Seattle: 2/3

Köln: 3/2

Why this is the Geocache of the Week:

It’s often said that the best thing you find while geocaching isn’t the geocache, but the people you meet along the way. You can meet other geocachers at events, on the trail, or while coordinating your finds for this pair of geocaches. Completing the Köln-Seattle Exchange MultiCaches takes geocaching teamwork to the next level. To make the find, you’ll have to pair up with a geocacher across the world. Here’s how it works: you go to the first stage of the geocache. There you’ll find coordinates for the second stage of the other geocache. You send those coordinates to your international partner, and then bam! You can both go find the geocaches in your respective countries.

# of Finds:

Seattle: 107

Köln: 118

# of Favorite Points:

Seattle: 39

Köln: 52

What one of the geocache owners, Thoto, has to say:

“In 2005 we had a similar cache here in Cologne which inspired me to create this transatlantic cache. I just loved the idea to connect with people from the other side of the world and play the game together.”

“It is always a great feedback you get. I am very happy to see that a lot of cachers like the idea of a transatlantic cache as much as I do. Furthermore I am extremely proud when I look at the high number of cachers who have already visited and logged both “sites” of the cache. Someday I hope to find the Seattle cache as well.”

What geocachers are saying:

“This is the best Multicache I ever played! Together with Pico69 and Schwarzer Peter in Cologne we solved the challenges together. As a Cologne citizen working for a Seattle headquartered company, I was in town and had some time to go after this cache.” – Arnold1967

“It is actually an interesting place to visit and search, and very rewarding once you actually find the cache. Thanks for setting up another one of these “hands across the water” geocaches. They add a new dimension to the game.” – Scouting4Ever

“Great adventure between the two cities!!! Thanks to DieGroppis in Köln and Quigquay in Seattle! This idea it allowed me explore new areas and see how interesting and multi cultural Geocaching can be!!” – MedicineManOfSeattle

Read more logs

 

Photos:

A geocaching team in Seattle on the way to the find. Photo by geocacher SkyTrain
A geocaching team in Seattle on the way to the find. Photo by geocacher SkyTrain
One of the sites to see while you're in Köln: Kölner Dome! Photo by Geocaching HQ'er Prying Pandora
One of the sites to see while you’re in Köln: Kölner Dome! Photo by Geocaching HQ’er Prying Pandora
Found it! Photo by geocacher Aga & Deti
Found it! Photo by geocacher Aga & Deti

See more photos

This geocache is all about geocachers helping each other out. What’s your favorite way to help other geocachers? Tell us in the comments.

Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog.

If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, leave a comment below with the name of the geocache, the GC code, and why you think we should feature it.

/ Derek H /

13 Years Lisboa — Bryan Roth’s Trip to a Portugal Mega-Event

Bryan Roth with Signal.
Bryan Roth with Signal.

Geocaching HQ staff are joining geocachers at Mega-Events around the world to celebrate and share the adventure of geocaching. One of the founders of Geocaching.com, Bryan Roth, a.k.a. Bryan, traveled from Seattle, WA to Lisbon, Portugal last June for the 13 Years Lisboa Mega-Event (GC42FFG). He says he was inspired to go by the exciting and growing Portuguese geocaching community and by other Geocaching HQ staffers who attended a Portuguese Mega-Event and raved about their experiences.

The Seeker awards.
The Seeker awards.

After arriving in Portugal, Bryan did what any geocacher would do—look for a geocache near the hotel. There was only one problem: the geocache description was in Portuguese. However, this didn’t stop him from searching. Luckily, Boonieh&  Cllydeh, some super-friendly members of the Portuguese geocaching community showed up. They helped Bryan find his first geocache in Portugal and decided to attend the Mega-Event as well. With a geocache found, it was back to the hotel before meeting the Geocacherzone Portugal team for dinner and then a good night’s rest before the Mega-Event.

Fraldinhas, the Mega-Event's host.
Fraldinhas, the Mega-Event’s host.

The next few days brought tons of activities for geocachers from Portugal and many other countries around the world. In fact, the event gained so much popularity, there were a few stories on the local news channels about it. The Mega-Event host, Fraldinhas, with help from his parents, Xana and Nuno, and many volunteers, created an exceptional four-day event that included night caching, a Lisbon bus tour, a much-needed CITO Event (GC4BNP8), an awards ceremony, a traditional Portuguese singing group with a rendition of “Geocaching Portugal”, a number of meet-and-greets, “Bruning” with the local Geocaching Volunteer Reviewers, and (of course) plenty of geocaching. The awards, known as the “Seeker Awards”, were given out to geocachers in multiple categories, including Best Maintenance, Best Log, Best Cache and more. Bryan ended his trip with another Mega-Event Cache hosted by Fraldinhas, the Hike @ Belém, that featured a walking tour of a number of geocaches at historical places within Lisbon.

Bryan says, “It was truly an honor for me to attend this International Mega Event, spend time with so many exceptional geocachers and experience Lisbon, Portugal in such a unique way.  I would thank all of the organizers for all the work they did to plan multiple days of fun geocaching activities for everyone that showed up. I also want to thank all of the geocachers who took the time to speak with me and make me feel so welcome in Portugal.” He would also like to give a special shout-out to Fraldinhas, Xana and Nuno for all of their guidance and support during his trip.

 

 

Check out some more photos from Bryan’s trip:

Attendees of the Hike @ Belem.
Attendees of the Hike @ Belem.
"Bruning" in Lisbon. It's kind of like planking, but on your back.
“Bruning” in Lisbon. It’s kind of like planking, but on your back.
The Geocaching Choir
The Geocaching Choir
The 13 Years Lisboa pinboard. Can you find Bryan's pin?
The 13 Years Lisboa pinboard. Can you find Bryan’s pin?
Night caching in Portugal
Night caching in Portugal
/ Derek H /

Home sweet boulder. — Lameirinha (GC16670) — Geocache of the Week

Nestled in the hills of Portugal lies Casa do Penedo. photo by geocacher trinamixx
I’m expecting Fred and Wilma to walk out at any moment. Photo by geocacher trinamixx

Out of the numerous things geocaching has taught me, one of the special skills that has carried over into my day-to-day life has been to look more closely at everything. For example, at first glance, the photo above may just be a pretty picture of another amazing rock formation. However, if you look a little closer, you’ll notice a door…and windows…and a roof. Then you’ll see that it’s a stone house that looks like it came straight out of the Flintstones.  Once you see that, you can take an even closer look to find Lameirinha (GC16670), this week’s Geocache of the Week.

We're super excited about this geocache, too! Photo by geocacher acaferreira
We’re super excited about this geocache, too! Photo by geocacher acaferreira

The Casa do Penedo was built in 1974, between four enormous boulders in the northern hills of Portugal. The entire home, except for the doors, windows and roof, is constructed of rock. Inside, a more rustic style prevails with logs for stairs, furniture and railings. While it may sound pretty lush, there’s one caveat: the stone house doesn’t have electricity. Its owners had to use candles (and maybe GPS) to find their way through the halls.

The geocache! Photo by geocacher Hippocaching

The stone home is amazing, but that’s not all you get see from ground zero. The surrounding hills are dotted with windmills that help create a gorgeous vista. Most of the Found It logs on the geocache’s page mention something about the view.  “Magnificent place with spectacular scenery. Also enjoyed seeing the house, fits well in the environment. A cache this in a spectacular location. TFTC Team Ogalo,” said geocacher Ogalo (Translated from Portugese). A log from geocacher Hippocaching reads (also translated from Portugese),”The cache was in a spectacular site! The house, the landscape, windmills, horses are all elements that make it very desirable to cache! While we were out walking by the place we realized that two more teams found the cache! Thank you!”

Looking out on the windmills from GZ. Photo by geocacher trinamixx (who took some amazing photos of this geocache)
Looking out on the windmills from GZ. Photo by geocacher trinamixx (who took some amazing photos of this geocache)

This geocache is all about looking beyond the first thing you see. What special skill has geocaching taught you and what have you found because of it? Tell us in the comments.

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@geocaching.com.

/ Adela B /

Vytah – GC3A6Y9 – GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – August 20, 2012

A vintage elevator near the cache

The Geocache of the Week is sure to lift geocachers up – literally!

Vytah (GC3A6Y9), or “elevator”  is a difficulty 2, terrain 1.5 traditional cache located in Jihomoravsky kraj, Czech Republic.

The small cache container has been sitting on private property, with the land owner’s permission, since January 2012. Over the last 8 months, 625 geocachers have taken the time to log this cache and award it 227 Favorite Points.

berx.cz placed the geocache to showcase how the design of an elevator influences the retrieval of the cache container. The cache page provides significant insight to the purpose of an elevator, what it consists of, and how it works. Each of these factors provide small clues that could aid geocachers in their search for and retrieval of the cache.

The Vytah logbook

Berx.cz explains, “I love technical toys and I like a challenge. I wanted an urban cache that you’d have to put a little bit of thought into in order to find it. I was highly inspired by elevators when I came up with the idea for this cache.”

In order to avoid spoilers, berx.cz encourages geocachers not to take pictures exactly at the cache location.

One geocacher logging the visit says, “This is really the best, very creative, and very well executed cache! If I could, I would award this clever hide 10 points!  Hesitation to visit this cache is a mistake.”

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.

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

The elevator machine that inspired the cache