What is geocaching?
Geocaching is an international game that often takes you to places you have never been, to a range of sights or to otherwise naturally beautiful spots, and introduces you to many new things. Geocaching makes you see things you never noticed before or didn't even know existed.
Geocaching is an outdoor treasure hunting game in which participants use GPS or other navigation technologies, or detailed maps, to hide and seek special geocaches. The game is played in at least 184 countries (including Antarctica), and there are already more than three million hidden caches worldwide. Over 3300 of them are in Estonia, and the number of caches keeps growing as new players join and stay active.
How to get started?
If you'd like to try your hand at geocaching, here are some tips on where to begin.
First, we recommend reading the articles on what geocaching is and, without fail, the rules of the game. It also doesn't hurt to take a look at the frequently asked questions. Once everything is clear, choose a cache near you. At first it's wise to stick to a traditional cache – puzzle and multi-caches may prove too difficult at the start and dampen your enthusiasm. Make sure you understand everything in the cache description, enter the coordinates into your smartphone or GPS, or print out an aerial photo from the Estonian Land Board, and head out to find the cache.
When you reach the cache coordinates, look around carefully – is there a suitable hiding spot that could hold a box, jar or container of the size given in the description? Caches are usually camouflaged so that bystanders don't notice them. Your job is to see through the camouflage and take the cache out of its "nest". If you don't spot the hiding place right away, search more carefully – hiders can be quite clever, and even experienced geocachers may spend hours searching for a cache or need to come back several times. Always make sure you don't damage nature or tear apart historic buildings etc. while searching. In most cases there is no need for that. You should also make sure your search – especially the moment of finding and re-hiding the cache – isn't noticed by bystanders, or "muggles", who might take, break or loot the cache out of ignorance or malice.
If you find the cache, you may take a trade item from it, and if you do, be sure to leave something of equal or greater value in its place. Note that the game instructions, the logbook, the writing tool and, if there is a pencil, the sharpener are not to be taken from the cache. Be sure to write a note in the cache's logbook that you visited – the date, preferably also the time for a first find, the name(s) of the finder(s), what you took from the cache and what you left, and, if you wish and there's room in the logbook, your impressions of the search.
If you're interested in geocaching, visit the following sites:
