How many of you have heard of geocaching? For those who haven’t it’s a kind of game that uses GPS coordinates to find cache containers filled with surprises, a grown up treasure hunt that turns the globe (or your neighborhood) into a giant Cracker Jacks box! Sound like fun? Our longtime volunteer Dale Martin, who is a fan, told me all about it.
First, I wanted to know what exactly everyone’s looking for. Cache containers are waterproof and durable — usually made of metal or plastic — and should be small enough to be well hidden yet large enough to actually be found. Translated, that means you’d be looking for something that could be the size of a pill bottle or a shoebox and anything inbetween. Each houses a log book where the player can leave their mark to let the next person know they’d been there; Most will also have little toys or gadgets that can be traded. Sound cool?
Here’s an example of a cache box and the kinds of things you might find in it. Note the log book in a ziplock to the right.
Of course seasoned players like Dale may want more of a challenge, so there are some searches that require you to solve a puzzle in order to gain the coordinates. Others might have coordinates inside the first container that lead you to another, and so on until you find the actual treasure.
The other end of geocaching is just as fun: you can put together as many of your own boxes as your heart desires and get creative about hiding them. There are universal guidelines to follow which can be found on this easy to use website: www.geocaching.com. If you become a member there (it’s free), they provide a datebase where you can list your cache coordinates so other members can start looking for them. If you click around on the site, it’ll tell you a whole lot more.
Fascinating! It just might make you look at things around you in a whole new way. Dale told me “People hide them behind street signs, under the lamppost bases in shopping center parking lots, in gardens, under rocks.” So the next time you park at the store or sit on a park bench, if you find yourself wondering if there are geocache’s nearby, this game might be for you!
“If you like things technical, this is a great hobby,” says Dale. “But also, if you like the outdoors, it provides an endless variety of locales and terrain to get around. It opens up a whole new world.. every where you go you think — this would be a good place to hide a cache!”
The guidelines state that none can be hidden in places that aren’t open to the public 24/7 or charge admission, therefore there are none exactly on the Houston Zoo’s grounds. BUT there are some close enough! It could be fun to combine your next visit with a geo cache hunt! Last we spoke, Dale said there are some in Hermann Park (up to a dozen), on the Rice University campus (approx 6), in and around the Texas Medical Center (check the above mentioned website for the most up to date information). I think Dale himself has been behind a few of those!
Whether you’re new to Geocaching or an old hand at it, do you think you can find them? Is this new to you or have you already played the game? Let us know in the comments area!
Written by Rochelle Joseph. Please visit my animal and nature blog at http://naturegirrrl.blogspot.com
Photos by Dale Martin
Great idea about the caches. A good GPS makes this alot of fun and you can get them pretty cheap now. Is truly a great way to see an area and enjoy a treasure hunt. Great story. Keep it up.
Oh Goody, a new idea for a Scavenger Hunt as the kids want to involve more of their “electronics”. Thanks so much.