"WHAT THE HECK IS "GEOCACHING"
It's a high tech Easter egg hunt. Someone hides a container of inexpensive knickknacks -- a cache. Then they post its latitude & longitude on the internet, and other people go hunting for it. If they find it they trade knickknacks and sign a log to record their visit. The pictures above are an example of a classic cache. They come in all shapes and sizes and hidden in some unique locations around the world.
In Mid. '03 few people had heard of geocaching -- it was almost a secret game. It's grown a lot since then to over 5 million worldwide.
The minimum you have to have to play is a handheld GPSr (Global Positioning Satellite receiver). Global Positioning Satellites are used in all forms of navigation today. They send signals that these receivers use to figure out where on the surface of the earth they are.
As the game has grown it's developed a number of variations. There are micro caches that are only large enough to contain a rolled up, or maybe folded flat paper log for you to sign. There are puzzle caches, and other spin-offs. There used to be locationless (also called reverse caches) and virtual caches, but as of the end of 2005 locationless caches are no longer supported by geocaching.com . Most (many?) preexisting virtual and webcam caches can still be hunted and logged as finds, but no new ones are being approved.
There's more than one website that supports this game, but far-and-away the most extensive and most popular is, what else, geocaching.com -- also called Groundspeak. You get cache locations there and then return there to record your success or failure to find them. Near the upper middle of the main page you can enter your zipcode or address and get a list of the caches near you. Another geocaching site is Terracaching.com. They still support the wider variety of forms, but are quite small.
When I explain geocaching to friends the inevitable question is, "Well if the GPS gadget takes you right where it is, what's the game?" First, the gadget only gets you close -- typically about 10-15 feet away. And, the cache is hidden -- either from geocachers to increase the challenge/fun, or to conceal it from muggles. Muggles are the uninitiated -- people who don't know about geocaching, and may stumble on the cache and take it, ruin it, or throw it away.
But, the real fun is discovering endless new parks and interesting places near you that you never knew were there. It's absolutely astounding how many interesting places there are near you that you're probably unaware of. If you resist the temptation to make this a contest and just have fun and enjoy the places it takes you, it will be a more rewarding activity. Kids love it, so it provides a setting for outdoor family fun.
Note: In recent years geocaching has moved more and more toward microcaches. They are cheap and easy to hide and people who play the game to compete for number of finds can go from location to location quickly.
I learned about "GEOCACHING" from one of my guest that requested to do some "CACHING" on their REVERSE Tour.
When we started out they told me that there are over 180 hidden CACHES on Maui. We found out that there were 10
different CACHES on the Hana Highway that we could explore while still staying on the tour. We were able to find 8 out of the 10. Besides being well hidden, some of the clues you receive from the person who hid the CACH, are sometimes hard to decipher.
So in closing, last count, there were over 180 different CACHE locations on Maui. Most you can find on your own while driving on Maui. However, the ones I'm talking about are located throughout the Hana Highway, where most people choose not to drive themselves because of it's hairpin twists and steep cliffs.. If you take a van tour to Hana you might make a few stops where you can look for CACHES, time permitting.
Because it takes about 11 hours to go all the way around on the Hana Road, I am not offering a GEO TOUR at this time. What I am offering you GEOCACHERS is a way to find some of the locations throughout the day during our regular stops, while still enjoying everything else the Hana Experience has to offer at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE !!!
So if you want to experience GEOCACHING and you have your own handheld GPS gadget, let us know when you book our Reverse Tour and you and your group can experience a TREASURE HUNT TO HANA.
