What To Do Saturday: Geocaching With The Kids


Happy Friday people!

Man I am glad that it’s almost the weekend, this week has been a long and tiring one.  Being sick and having sick kids is just not conducive to packing, or well, anything really.  So that’s why I am so glad to be able to hand over to Jared, a real life friend who blogs over at Cape Trail.

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Jared has the unfortunate job of working with Seth and also being his friend.  I seriously admire Jared and his wife Brittlee, because not only have they recently welcomed their gorgeous baby boy Eli into their world, Brittlee has also started her own marketing business called Trendo Marketing.  And when Jared isn’t home with the family, he likes to get out and about.  Today he sheds some light about something that I have always seen, but never known what on Earth it was about.  He’s got me so excited about it, I’ve already registered, downloaded the app and started praying for warmer weather.  But let him tell you more about it:

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One of the things I promised myself before I had a child was that I would make his / her life full of adventure. Life is about exploring and I think sometimes we take it too seriously and forget to just have fun. So here I am now married to my high school sweet heart and a father of a 6 month old baby boy and, *gulp* it’s time to keep my promises.

Fortunately adventure is not quite on the top of his list at the moment so I have a bit of time to plan… Adventure no. 1 (of many)

I came across a website called www.geocaching.com – quite simply it’s a ‘global treasure hunting game’ – it doesn’t get cooler than that! The idea is that containers (full of random items) are hidden all over the world, their GPS coordinates recorded and uploaded to the website from which you can retrieve them. There are thousands in Cape Town alone! All you need is a GPS enabled smart phone and app (I recommend, “c:geo” for Android, though there would be free versions on Apple too), an account with the website (free) and some time for adventure. The website is very informative and user friendly and I was quickly out the door in search of my first ‘geocache’. Each item comes with coordinates, a set of clues and a write up about why it was created – something interesting to discuss with your kids. Share your experience afterwards with others and read their stories on the website. It’s definitely something the whole family can enjoy – maybe it will even bring out the kid in you again.

Hidden-Geocache

photo credit: Schrottie via photopin cc

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photo credit: climbnh2003 via photopin cc

Now that I had the ‘what’ I needed the ‘where’. A great place to go exploring is the ‘pipe track’ – a contour hiking trail that runs along the Twelve Apostles above Camps Bay. The trail begins at the top of Kloof Neck (turn off to Cable Car) where there is always lots of parking and a well-kept pubic toilet. The path is, for the most part, fairly level and not too strenuous – great for energetic kids – and has some amazing views. What’s awesome as well is that there are a number of geocaches along the route. Your family walk in nature can now be filled with adventure as you and the kids scramble to hunt down the next treasure. The path is a straight route so go as far as you feel comfortable with kids – pack a picnic and make a day out of it.

Panoramic view taken on my iPhone from Slangolie Ravine on Table Mountain

photo credit: DanieVDM via photopin cc

I’m really looking forward to trying this out with my family in the future – I hope you can give it a go too!

P.S Remember that if you want to feature in this spot, drop me an email with your favourite thing to do on a Saturday – cindyalfino@gmail.com

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