Geocaching can bring us to beautiful places, as well as teach us about the history of an area—this geocache does both. Ground zero gives you sweeping views of the Cape of Good Hope. You can see the crystalline blue water and sandy beaches for miles. By reading the geocache’s description, you’ll also learn about the history of this area—a tragic shipwreck took place just off shore.
What geocachers have to say:
“Easily found while visiting the Cape. Very nice hide, very very nice spot!” – AlteGurke
“While a great tour we found this Cache together with xhanmanx! Great spot, thanks a lot for hiding!
Greetings from Germany!!!” – LÖ8277
“Had a few trips up and down the stairs until I found the right direction to go. This is a great area for sightseeing. I went to Cape Horn last year and now I’ve been to the Cape of Good Hope. Cool! Thanks for putting a cache here.” – kayst
Photos:
Scenery + history. Photo by geocacher flyMIKEven when there is no view, the view is still amazing. Photo by geocacher josan08The beach. Photo by geocacher flyMIKEpic view from GZ. Photo by geocacher Geo Peet
What has been the most interesting piece of history you’ve learned through geocaching? Tell your story and post photos 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, just fill out this form. Thanks!
That’s how many geocachers around the world collected garbage, restored natural areas, and worked on community improvement projects last weekend.
If each person picked up one 5 lb bag of trash, that’s over 40 metric tons of garbage. That’s (approximately) 7.4 elephants, or 7 elephants and two cows. C’mon geocachers–Give yourselves a round of applause!
Each of these geocachers earned the CITO 2015 souvenir, which celebrates the thousands of geocachers who care for the geocaching game board—also known as planet Earth. On International Cache In, Trash Out Weekend geocachers around the world hosted and participated in Cache In, Trash Out events in their area. Events might be focused on litter clean-up, removal of invasive species, revegetation efforts, or building trails. The environmental impact of these efforts is felt tangibly by communities across the globe.
We’ve seen hundreds of photos from CITO events around the world. One attendee from each of the following two events will receive a special prize package from Geocaching HQ, for sharing their “Attended” log with us!
GC5P590 – CITO Hent ar Pennglaouig
GC5MGFB – Buns, Boats and Bin Bags 2015
How do you pronounce the acronym, CITO? Let us know!
Share your CITO Weekend 2015 pictures, stories, and accomplishments!
This month’s nominees for the very special Geocacher of the Month award take the geocaching cake for their contributions to the game we love.
Among them are a geocaching event organizer extraordinaire, the founders of a popular geocaching trivia series, and a maker of intricate and clever wooden caches.
The earned, never for sale, Geocacher of the Month Geocoin.
The decision won’t be easy. Luckily, we have you to help. Post your vote below and let us know who you think should take home the earned, never for sale, Geocacher of the Month Geocoin (at left).
March 2015 Geocacher of the Month, Schlurie
Although all the nominees will receive prizes, the featured Geocacher of the Month will receive the exclusive special edition Geocoin, a Geocacher of the Month hat and a profile icon. They’ll also receive a certificate that recognizes their contributions, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com.
Schlurie was the March 2015 Geocacher of the Month. Of Schlurie, Geo-Tootles says, “There are lots of cachers outside in the woods, searching for caches, for great and for special moments. But without having creative owners these experiences would be reduced to a minimum. Schlurie spent months of crafting new hides, this time with an incredible range of different bird-houses to let cachers smile and especially children laugh.”
Now it’s your turn to decide which geocacher should be further recognized. Read the profiles of this month’s three nominees, and write a supportive comment below this post describing why you think this person should be recognized.
A panel from Geocaching HQ will then use your comments to help guide the decision of which geocacher is awarded the Geocacher of the Month honor.
Here are your nominees for April 2015 Geocacher of the Month.
Editor’s Note: Geocaching HQ holds an all company meeting once a month. The 80 folks from HQ; engineers, designers, IT pros, community managers, the volunteer support team, all the way through to the creators of Geocaching.com Jeremy Irish and Bryan Roth, discuss all things geocaching. The meeting changes each month. But there’s one constant.
Every meeting starts with a community story. The story showcases the best of the geocaching world, inspiring and connecting HQ even further to the lifestyle we help power and support.
If you have a story you think we should read in the next Geocaching HQ meeting, tell us about it in comments below!
This month’s story comes from the robust geocaching community in France. And was read by Carly.
Jacques and Laurent. Image from “ouest france.”
January 2015
Geocacher Jacques, aka username “jajatitine”, was bored one day and decided to spend his afternoon -like any reasonable person would- geocaching. As he explored his local neighborhood in Angers, France, he searched for a nearby geocache Le Nôtre à Angers placed in a bed of shrubs. While rummaging around, the wedding ring, which had lived on his finger for the last 38 years, fell into the brush. He headed home without his wedding ring and without finding the geocache.
March 2015
Fast forward a few months later, another geocacher named Laurent or “mr_mulot”, decided to hunt for the same geocache. After searching through bushes for 45 minutes, he stumbled across a gold wedding ring hidden beneath a pile of dead leaves. The ring was engraved with two names -Martine and Jacques- and a wedding date. He never found the geocache he had set out to find, but he had a new challenge. Laurent made it his mission to locate the owner of the wedding ring before the couple’s upcoming 40th anniversary. He had less than two years to succeed.
A Few Days Later
Social media by itself is a powerful and viral tool. If you post an update on your Facebook page, chances are a number of people will see it and may even share it. Now, combine Facebook viral nature and a robust geocaching community, and your message will be unstoppable.
Laurent didn’t know this when he initially created the Facebook post. He had already contacted every geocacher who had logged the geocache and didn’t think his odds were good. However, the facebook post, which contained a picture of the ring and a note that it was found by a geocache, was shared to the local geocaching facebook group and voilà, the internet blew up.
Laurent’s Facebook post. Shared over 140,000 times.
Happily Ever After
Geocachers shared the post with family and friends and asked them to share the post as well. 140,000 shares and a few days later, the post found it’s way to the computer screen of Jacques’ daughter Stephanie. She was one of many who had contacted Laurent inquiring about the ring, but she knew a detail no one else did; the name of geocache where the ring was lost. Stephanie surprised her father one evening with Laurent and the ring, and the rest is history.
“This story was a wonderful human adventure, and was marked by all those values that we cherish and like in geocaching…” said Laurent.
What started out as a two year mission for Laurent, turned into a few days with the help of social media, a determined geocacher, and an amazing geocaching community.
Martine and Jacques (and their long lost ring), with LaurentAll smiles!
The End
A special thanks to Jacques for sharing his story.
May 2nd marks the 15th anniversary of when Geocaching began. Get out on May 2 and May 3 to find a geocache—any geocache—or attend a Geocaching event—any event or CITO— you’ll earn a special 15 Years of Geocaching souvenir. Plus, you’ll discover your geocaching mission for the summer.
On the new search page, we’ve put together three new one-click searches to make choosing the geocache you want to find—and earn your souvenir with—easier. Just click the box to find events near you, the oldest geocaches in your area, or nearby geocaches with favorite points.
