Maybe you’ve never heard of it and it all sounds like double Dutch, or on the contrary, you may think that it is already out of fashion … well, neither one, nor the other!
Geocaching is a location game that consists in finding treasures that other people have hidden in different places in a certain area or country. It had its origins at the beginning of the century merely as a training method. By 2013 more than 2 million treasures were hidden in over 200 countries. In Andorra we are not being left behind in this activity, which is a great opportunity to discover cities and countries while playing.
How to play?
In this game, suitable for all ages, a person hides objects in different places and then marks the geographical coordinates of that location with a GPS receiver. Once that is done, they post them on Apps and specialized websites so that other people can find them.
Web pages and specialized Apps show treasure seekers places close to their homes, but also in more distant areas (for example in their holiday destinations). When a treasure hunter manages to find one, they write their name in the small logbook they will find there and must then hide the treasure in the same place again so that another hunter can find it.
What is the treasure?
As we mentioned, the treasures include the logbook to record your name. You will also find small objects that you can take if you want, as long as you replace them with others of equal or greater value.
Among the objects that can be left in the container, there are also travelbugs and geocoins. These are “travelling objects”, which means that you must remove them from the container to take them to another “geocaching”. By doing this, you will help those objects to fulfill their mission (which is described in the code they carry on the geocaching page).
In Andorra, where do I start looking?
An ideal place to start is the Camí de les Pardines. From El Tarter, drive to Encamp and take the Cortals road. Halfway up the the road you will see the parking area and the path which, through playing, will take you to the lake of Engolasters. Download one of the available Apps, connect the data on your mobile and start playing! (before connecting your data in Andorra, please check if your operator offers you data in our country. If not, get a prepaid Andorra Telecom card to avoid unwanted bills)