Geocaching - a ´treasure hunting´ sport played in Andalucia, Spain, and throughout the world by people equipped with GPS devices.

We often have guests who go walking/hiking in the fantastic Andalucian countryside near Los Curriches in southern Spain. We've recently become aware of the new sport called Geocaching which we believe might be of interest to these walkers/hikers. The basic idea of Geocaching is that enthusiasts set up ´caches´, and they then share the locations of these caches via the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates listed on the internet to find the caches.

We think this is a great way of exploring the historic towns and beautiful Spanish countryside around Malaga and the Axarquia region of Andalucia because these caches are generally to be found in interesting, scenic, or out-of-the-way locations which you might not otherwise discover. And rather than following carefully written up routes, walkers have to navigate to the cache using only maps and their GPS.

Once found, a Geocache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of ´rewards´ - usually just small trinkets, or interesting objects like stones or feathers. If you take something that is already in the cache, all you are asked to do is to leave something else for the cache, and to write something in the cache's Logbook. But, in our opinion, it's the act of locating the Geocache and reading other walker's comments that is the most fun, not the ´rewards´ you find there!

We think one of the best things about Geocaches is the idea of the ´Hitchhiker´: an item that wants you to move it from cache to cache, preferably between locations hundreds or even thousands of miles apart. A Hitchhiker is attached to a note which contains the history of where the item came from and can make for very interesting reading! There are even high-tech versions of Hitchhikers which have a unique tracker id, which allow you to update the item's new location on the relevant Geocache website. You and the original owner of the Hitchhiker item can then view online where the item has travelled from or to!

If you want to know more about Geocaching, why not take a look at the official Geocaching site: www.geocaching.com.