+ A
A -
Dipti Nair
Doha
So, what are you doing this Friday? Another trip to the mall? Why not something different, like finding hidden treasure or unearthing a secret that only a privileged few know about?
Geocaching is a modern-day high-tech treasure hunt that involves finding secrets hidden by other geocachers or hiding some yourself, all with the help of a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit. The game is a great motivator to go outside, get some exercise and explore. And the best part, it is not restricted to a city, country or even continent, there are millions of players around the world who play the game not just in their own country but every country they visit. International Geocaching Day, celebrated on August 19, is a testament to all players who have been playing the game for years.
Geocaching has been around for almost two decades and the first GPS-located cache was placed by Dave Ulmer of Oregon on May 3, 2000. The game soon caught up and today there are three million geocaches around the world.
For the uninitiated, here is how geocaching works:
A player takes some sort of container and puts in it a logbook and some knickknacks making a cache for the finder. They then hide the container in a publically accessible place and share the GPS coordinates of the location on the geocaching.com website for others to find it. A person wanting to go on a cache-hunt, can check for all caches near them by logging on to the website, and using a GPS, can then go to the location and search for the cache.
While it may sound easy, it really is not. A cache can be of any size from Micro (the size of a film roll) to Large (a five-gallon bucket), and it will be well hidden and camouflaged. It is required for all caches to be labelled as geocaching game pieces so it is not considered as garbage or worse, something suspicious. Some caches are also magnetic and are stuck to metal posts or sign boards. Once you find a cache, you need to write in the logbook and record your find on the website. You can take what is there in the cache but you must then also put back something of a similar value.
Geocaching caught up in Qatar in a big way after experienced geocacher Peter Little (Geocaching name: Cincol) started a Facebook group in October 2013. Little, who has been playing the game since 2007 and has found 2,294 caches in 32 countries around the world, created the group to provide a platform for local cachers in Qatar to communicate with each other on caching related issues. Though the number of active players residing here varies, Little says that in 2017, till date, 173 caches have been found, and this includes finds by tourists too. Little confirms that as of today there are over 700 active caches in Qatar, not including over 450 of which have been archived after events.
"Almost every corner of Qatar has a cache!" says Little."My favourites were those in the deepest parts of the desert that required careful planning to find. Within Doha there are many to be found as well."
South African Gary Von Berg (Geocaching name: Veebeez) was introduced to geocaching when he and his wife went caching with a small group of friends in Qatar, and were instantly hooked. Over the years, they have found all the caches in Qatar and are just waiting for new ones to be placed.
"One of the things that attracted us to geocaching was the fact that it takes you to places you would not normally go. Every cache has a description and reason why the location was chosen. Usually there is some significance associated with the location, which provides a learning experience. We have found caches in many places in Europe, South Africa, USA, Asia and GCC and have learned a lot about the places we have visited as a result," said Berg.
Berg did a lot of caching with Philip Thorpe-Willett (Geocaching name: Capt Tortuga), whom he introduced to the game. Willett, originally from Yorkshire in England, was so taken up by the game that he went on to write a book on his adventures. Titled Capt. Tortuga's Logge Booke Offe Inn Fan Ate Tayls Ande Hiss Komedie Off Herros, the book is a personal achievement and is full of his logs that were also uploaded to the geocaching website. The book is written in 'Pirate speak' and is available on Amazon. Willett is currently working on the second edition of the book which will be in English.
There can be a number of things inside a cache and what the geocacher enjoys is the whole experience of finding one."I have found many things inside caches but the scariest was finding a huge scorpion sitting on top of a container under a rock in Zikreet and near Abu Dhabi I came across a desert viper at a cache not funny at all," says Little.
Willett says the most interesting thing he found in a cache in Qatar was a silver ring with a black stone in the middle found in a cache called 'City Heights'.
Little says that almost every trip to the desert looking for caches has been memorable."I met some wonderful people caching in Qatar and have some very dear friends because of it, even though we might live thousands of kilometres apart now. One of my most memorable experience was when we came across a member of the royal family stuck in a sabkha (salt flat), far away from any help. After rescuing them from their predicament we were then introduced to the Sheikh who thanked us profoundly."
"Nearly every Friday, I and Berg would go caching and we got up to some fun adventures. We saw many interesting things like desert foxes, jerboas, lizards, snakes and many birds. We have also seen Qataris doing falconry in the desert. Along with live wildlife, we also spotted some dead ones like camels, a manatee and once even a dolphin," said Willett.
"Hunting for caches can be great fun but you also have to be very careful. Once on a cache hunt, I climbed a wall that gave way and I fell two metres onto a steel bolt sticking out of a concrete block. I was lucky I had no internal injuries and was only severely bruised," he added.
For Berg, one of the most memorable experiences, albeit for the wrong reasons was getting stuck in a sabkha with Willett for a number of hours and being rescued by fellow cachers who responded to their SOS.
Does geocaching call to the adventurous spirit in you? Then do something different this weekend and check out the geocaching website or download the app and look for caches near you.
