Tanja von Spaness and the Brodenbach organization team came up with something very special. We were allowed to experience the Saturday afternoon, divided into different groups the #AbenteuerBrodenbach in the truest sense of the word adventurous. Depending on our interests, we could join one of three groups: Adventure Herbs & Cuisine, Adventure Thunderhole, Adventure Ehrbachklamm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
I chose the adventure Donnerloch – here the theme was geocaching with a hike on the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is Geocaching?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Geocaching is, if you look at it closely, a kind of scavenger hunt. However, one does not follow a visually visible trail, but works with modern technology and works with coordinates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2000, Bill Clinton had the jammer, which artificially degraded the GPS satellite signal, switched off. Now it was possible to use the satellite signals for civil navigation. An accuracy of a few meters can be achieved. In May 2000, an American near Portland had the idea of hiding a bucket filled with some things in the middle of a forest. He published the coordinates on the Internet and after a short time the hiding place was found by someone with the help of a GPS device. This was the “birth” of the idea of documenting geocaches with coordinates and recording them on a website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today you can find geocaches all over the world, there are said to be about 3 million. Even on the European space station you can find a geocache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Geocache – what do they look like?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The ideal geocache is a solid, waterproof and lockable container in which the contents are well protected. The shape of the cache does not matter, from a film can to a Tupperware box – from a steel box to a safe, whatever fits the location of the hiding place is used.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Geocachers have “agreed” on a size classification:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nano: tiny container usually under 1 cm in diameter, sometimes magnetic Often contains only a small note as logbook<\/li>
Micro or Mini: very small container (film can or PET blanks) often contains only pen and logbook<\/li>
Small: small container contains logbook and small items<\/li>
Regular or Medium: Containers can hold contents from one to several liters offer space for several trackables or exchange items<\/li>
Large: large containers can contain unusual barter items<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
When you find a geocache, you can sign the logbook and, if you wish, barter for the items you have found. Make sure that the value of the objects is as equal as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Task of the geocaches<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A geocache is usually associated with a task. There are different categories, which place different demands on the searcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Traditional Geocache This is the most common type of cache. For the search, the user directly receives the coordinates of the hiding place. Nevertheless, the search can be difficult, because the camouflage of the cache is particularly important in geocaching. Non-geocachers – so-called muggles – should not find the hiding places if possible.<\/li>
Multi-Cache Here the searcher must complete several stations until he finds the final hiding place. Each station contains clues, which finally result in the coordinates for the final cache. Often the clues have been specially placed and it may be necessary to travel longer distances between the individual points.<\/li>
Puzzle Cache Riddles of various types and difficulty levels help further in the search for the desired coordinates. Often they are mathematical puzzles, picture puzzles, Sudokos, \u2026 Sometimes you need tools like code tables, Morse code or Braille to solve the puzzle.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
What do I need for geocaching?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The basic requirement is a GPS receiver. It does not matter whether it is a pure GPS device or, for example, a cell phone, notebook, mobile navigation device with the possibility to receive GPS data. It is important to have a long battery life, otherwise you stand in the middle of the terrain and find neither cache nor the way back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the website Geocaching.com exists a database that contains more than 3 million geocaches worldwide. Should you now want to try geocaching, you can make a free registration here. Then it can actually already start. You look for a geocache description, print it out and load the coordinates into your device. Attention! For some caches additional tools are needed, but they are indicated in the task description.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geocaching in Brodenbach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Achim from ErlebnisZeit provided us with this knowledge before we could start our adventure. To be honest, my head was spinning and until our first port of call, I still didn’t know what he actually wanted from me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/vonortzuort.reisen\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/minicache.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Geocaching\"](\"https:\/\/vonortzuort.reisen\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/cache-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Geocaching\"](\"https:\/\/vonortzuort.reisen\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/geocaching-ausgangsmaterial.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Geocaching\"](\"https:\/\/vonortzuort.reisen\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/weg-durch-das-brodenbachtal.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Geocaching\"](\"https:\/\/vonortzuort.reisen\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/wanderung-in-brodenbach.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Geocaching\"](\"https:\/\/vonortzuort.reisen\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/schild-donnerloch.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Geocaching\"](\"https:\/\/vonortzuort.reisen\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/donnerloch.jpg\")
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