Have you ever tried Geocaching? I had never tried it until recently and now I’m hooked!!
Geocaching can best be described as a high tech worldwide treasure hunt game using a GPS enabled device. The Geocache is the treasure. Not treasure in the true sense of the word but a container (cache) which holds the log book for you to date and sign and leave in the cache. It’s interesting to see how many people have been there before you and when. You pinpoint the location for each Geocache by using GPS technology. The details and coordinates for which are listed at www.geocaching.com/seek. Simply download your chosen cache coordinates along with any instructions into your device ready for use. (There are over 8000 in Portugal and rising).
Our friends who have the GPS gismo had downloaded the coordinates and instructions to locate the St. John’s Bread Geocache, near Lagos in the Western Algarve.
After a hearty lunch and a glug or three of wine, GPS switched on, coordinates set, we set off in the car carefully following the GPS compass. However, unlike “Tom Tom” we did not have to suffer an annoying voice telling us we were going in the wrong direction and “Turn around when possible”
A couple of wrong turns and a dead-end road later we soon found ourselves within half a mile of the Geocache. Abandoning the car we set off across country and up a track carefully following the compass to locate the first clue.
As I surveyed the surrounding countryside I realised that the great thing about Geocaching is that it provides a wonderful opportunity to discover different areas of Portugal we would not have found under normal circumstances.
Not only that, but because we were looking for clues along the way, we were also more in touch with nature and aware of our surroundings.
The GPS device also meant we could find our way back to the car if we did lose our way. 
It took us about 2hrs to find the first clue and locate the St. John’s Bread Geocache.
What a great way to walk off lunch, have fun with some friends and enjoy the countryside. A GPS device is now top of my Christmas and Birthday list!!
This is definitely a game to be enjoyed by people of all ages. Have you tried it?
If anyone has any advice on a reasonably priced GPS I am open to suggestions…
Further information about Geocaching can be found at<a href="
Piglet in Portugal 
Wow! I had never heard of geochaching-what a great idea! Sounds like a wonderful way to get out and explore and discover new places. I’m going to check and see if there’s any such thing in Chile yet!
Thanks for the tip and will let you know!
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The moment we tried Geocaching we were hooked – as you can probably tell from my blog post 🙂
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