Darsantre

I first started geocaching when I was living in Arizona, then moved to Turkey where the caches are sparse, though I've found about 9 so far. Not to mention the six I've planted around the country for the geocaching tourists. Then I went to England and visited my sister for a couple weeks and have found about 30 caches in and around London. Geocaching in England is indeed very cool! One of the greatest caches I did was the Sherlock Holmes multi-cache in London; it takes you to some interesting areas and then when you find the cache, you get a commemorative keychain for your hunt, very cool!

I need to vent about this because I'm tired of inexperienced newbies complaining about my caches when they don't have the relative experience to realize that my caches are not bad or difficult compared to some of them out there. And where I am in the world, there aren't that many caches, so they should count themselves lucky to even be able to find a geocache in this country! If they are going to complain, then we'll just make this area a geocache-free area and they can find another country in which to geocache! Grrrrrrr!!! I live in Turkey, and when I came here, there were only about 20 caches in the entire country! Since then, we're up to about 45 caches or so. I've placed about 6 around the country, in various well-known tourist spots so that geocaching tourists can have a little extra fun. There was one cache in central Turkey, placed by American high school tourist before I ever came here. Then after a couple of years, it went missing. Since that kid is back in New York, and I live in Istanbul, I offered to make the 12 hour bus ride out there to check on it. I did, and discovered that it was indeed destroyed. So I requested an archive and established another cache (GCPQY5) close to the original one. I gave it a terrain rating of 3.5 stars and wrote in the desc: "Unlike the first cache, this one is more than a simple five minute stroll from the parking lot. It's more of a hike in and out due to the steep slopes and soft, ashen soil. You will pass the location of the original cache to find this one; look and see if you can see the X that was made to indicate the location. When you go looking for this, BE CAREFUL!!! Don't think you can find this one just walking around in sandals. You can't. You have been warned. " At the beginning of this month, I was out in that area, and did some cache maintenance. Everything was fine with the cache and I saw that there was even one more entry in the logbook than was posted on the corresponding webpage. Well today I get a notification email that someone logged a find for this geocache on September 28. Fine, just 2 months shy of posting the find. It was found by a newbie with 4 finds. Fine, I'm happy if _anyone_ finds my caches in Turkey. The newbie proceeds to complain about the cache location and writes "I think the you need to move this cache!!! As soon as you can. The damage to the hill the erosion from hiking up or down is bad. Please rethink this one. I is GEO-cache." NOT FINE. This newbie only has 4 finds as of yesterday. I gave ample warning about the terrain. It took him/her two months to log the find, so I didn't know there was a problem with it until too late for me to actually do anything about it. Not to mention the date he/she logged isn't even accurate with the logbook in the cache. This is the second newbie to complain about my one of my caches in Turkey. The first one only had 10 finds and couldn't find my cache located at the top of a hill under a pile of rocks, even though I even gave an altitude clue in the additional hints section. And he wrote a whole long complaint and then requested my geocache be archived. Now, I know that newbies are still learning and have to yet to acquire experience, but c'mon people! If it's not easy for you, that doesn't give you the right to complain. Stick to drive-up, urban micros if you want it easy. I'VE HAD IT WITH NEWBIE COMPLAINTS ABOUT MY CACHES IN TURKEY. NEWBIES, STICK TO URBAN MICROS, AND DON'T LOOK FOR MY CACHES IN TURKEY!!! IF YOU CAN'T FIND IT OR DON'T LIKE THE LOCATION, DON'T GO LOOKING!!! (whew, I feel better. I know this will somehow come back to bite me in the bum, but I needed to get this off my chest.)

From what I gather, all of you are talking about leaving business cards in caches in the US. I guess it's a different ballgame in other parts of the world. Since there are so few caches here in Turkey and most of the geocachers who find them are actually tourists, I always try to leave business cards of places that I've been to and enjoyed as a way to help other geocaching tourists find a good restaurant or place to stay or a cool shop to visit where the salesmen weren't pushy but rather polite. Of course, I leave these cards in addition to the regular items that I exchange. I've never had any complaints about business cards. In fact, I've gotten some rather appreciative emails from German and Dutch geocachers thanking me for passing along some information that helped make their visit more enjoyable. I'm going to continue leaving business cards for the geocaching tourists. Just my two kurus....

My two cents is that it is unethical for a log owner to delete a log post just because he or she doesn't like you. That's petty and immature. It doesn't matter if he has the right to or not, it's still wrong. Regarding others' comments that you shouldn't be thinking this guy is watching you, that's for you to decide and proceed as you see fit. Personally, I would be more cautious and stay away from this person. I say this from experience as early on in my geocaching experience, I started to receive EXTREMELY harrassing emails from someone via the geocaching website and started to become very worried that this person might be tracking me in person. He seemed to know info about me that wasn't on my profile and said things that really freaked me out. I went to great lengths to report him to the geocaching admin and Hotmail. The harrassment eventually stopped, but it certainly made me a LOT more cautious about how do I things when geocaching and how much I report online.

Just wondering if there are any active, regular geocachers in Turkey? We get a lot of geocaching tourists who come through, but are there any regulars out there? If so, let's do a roll cal! I'll start: Darsantre here in Istanbul

Thank you everyone for your ideas on how to deal with a falsely posted find. I sent an email to the geocacher before I ever posed this question on this forum. My response was something along the following lines: Thank you for looking for my cache in XXXXX Park. I'm sorry to read that you were unable to find the cache though I was glad to read that you enjoyed your visit to Istanbul. Since it seems that another cacher found this cache after you, perhaps your log should be a "NO FIND" or a "NOTE" rather than a "FIND." What time were you looking for this cache? If it was before 3:30pm when the other cacher found it, then your log should really be a "NO FIND" as you didn't actually retrieve the cache. If you were looking after 3:30pm, then why don't you change your log to a "NOTE" while I check on the cache. If it's not there, the "NOTE" log will stand. If I do find that it's intact and retrievable, your log should really be a "NO FIND." I think you know that you log finds only for caches that you actually retrieve. I'll give you two weeks after I check on the cache and email you its status to update your log more accurately. If you haven't done so in two weeks, your log will be deleted. You can always repost a more accurate log later. I'm locking this thread as I've gotten enough responses to compare to my actual course of action regarding this issue.

You're welcome. I guess I'm guilty of responding in kind to your initial condescending opinion. Goodness gracious people! I merely asked for your opinion on how to deal with a cheating log! I didn't ask for a full-scale critique of my cache. You don't like it, don't come to Turkey and look for it!

I would like to address this part about answering the question. Having additional logging requirements beyond signing the log is pointless. The proof is signing the log. Please don't delete the log without giving the person a chance to correct the log. That, like extra logging requirements, is counterproductive. Jamie Jamie, thank you for your comments. Though I am new to posting on the forums, I'm not new to geocaching. I do have some ideas how to approach things. I just wanted to gleen ideas from others how they would approach this issue. I wasn't looking for unpetitioned comments regarding my logging requirements. Nor do I need to be told not to simply delete a log; I am aware of caching ettiquette. However, so that you will understand without hastening to judge next time, let me explain why there is an additional, yet meaningful, logging requirement: I live in Istanbul Turkey where most of the geocachers who find my microcache in the park are geocaching tourists. The microcache is placed in the vicinity of the stature of a famous Turk. When creating this cache, I thought to myself, "Oh, a great hiding spot! And, people could learn something about this famous Turk if I placed a question about him in the cache that they had to find the answer to!" So to make their visit even more meaningful, they get to find a microcache in which they learn a bit more about the people they are visiting. That's why part of the cache is to answer a question that is related to where the cache is placed. It's not merely to make certain that they have actually found the log. Though today is a good example: someone merely finds the statue and then claims a find for the cache even though they didn't really retrieve it. They didn't learn something new, so I know they didn't really find the cache. Therefore, I disagree with your statement that "Having additional logging requirements beyond signing the log is pointless." It's not pointless, it's to help geocaching tourists learn something new. And isn't that one of the reasons we create geocaches? For others to learn about, see, or experience something new? All the logs and emails from the cachers who found this cache have been positive.

Though it was a bit of a challenge to get all worked out and approved, I recently placed a multi-/puzzle cache called All Things Turkish GCQCHP. Since I live in Turkey, I thought I'd leave some goodies behind for other geocachers to find. As these items came from over 6000 miles, I didn't want them plundered so easily, so I made it challenging with encryption and historical clues. Other than some kinks at stage 3 which finally got worked out, I've gotten some really positive feedback about this cache. So now I'm collecting more Turkish goodies to send back to AZ for a restock.

I'd like your advice on how to respond to this problem. I have a microcache hidden in a park and to make certain that the geocacher has really found it, there is a question inside the cache for which the cacher must email me the answer. That way I have verification that they really found the cache. Well today I had a geocacher with 30 finds log a find for my cache. In the log, the cacher noted that the cache must be missing as he/she couldn't retrieve it. And I never received an answer to the question in the cache. On this same day, another geocacher with 20 finds posted a find for my microcache and I also received an email with the answer to the question. So how should I respond to the cacher who posted a find but never actually found the cache? I appreciate your responses.

I agree, one of the cool side benefits of this sport is meeting other geocachers, no matter the way the encounter happened. I've never been to a geocaching event, so my list is not that long, but here goes: on the trail, I've met: Frieza, omniterranaut, Malthusian, Delci5, Brian from Team Binskeep, and most recently alburquerquebill (I met him on the trail in Assos, Turkey. How cool is that?!!) from the AZ Geocaching website with whom I later started geocacaching: Jessica of Chicks w/Trucks, Highpointer, and AZCelts (my very best geocaching buddy!) through a TB hand-off: HighwayHavoc from emails regarding a geocache I'm co-owner of whom I later met and geocached with in person: walkergeoff finally, my own Frankenstein's creation, someone I turned into a geocacher: Crazyebay

I don't subscribe to that line of thought. The cacher who's profile is linked from the cache page is the only one who can disable it when it's muggled, update coords, change descriptions etc. , so it's their responsibility to maintain. I see it as more of a recognition and a thanks for helping me place the cache, or when I've adopted their cache. I agree with BadAndy. A person who is a "co-owner" has no real control over the cache. They're just asked to do the "dirty work." I say this from first-hand experience.

Oh forget I even asked this question. I really don't want a barrage of reasons NOT to do this. Live spam-free, Darsantre PS HOW does one delete posts??

Whoops, just realized I typed in the wrong topic area. Please disregard.

I have been reading this thread with great interest because at one point, I did email the admin about this problem and felt that newbies should have at least 10 finds under their belt before they go hiding a new cache. That being said, let me give you all some background info. I am from the US where I did a lot of geocaching. 3 years ago I moved to Turkey and thought 'great, I can still geocache there!' When I arrived, there were about 20 caches in the whole country! In the last 3 years, that number has doubled. 'Yah!' you think, but not really. The Turks who leave a geocache have only found 0-3 caches at the most. When I've tried looking for their caches, they are placed in an unsuitable area, are poorly camoflauged, are cheap containers that don't seal well, are so off in the coordinates that they have you out looking in the water (by that I mean the Dardanelles Strait), and generally cause more misery and frustration than the 'thrill of the hunt' is worth. I got so frustrated with geocaching in Turkey, I almost gave up geocaching entirely. So I ranted and raved to a geocaching admin who calmly and politely (and amusedly I'm sure) read my ranting and raving email and then thoughtfully responded. He pointed out that geocaching was going through a growing stage in Turkey unlike other more developed areas of geocaching and that the Turks have to learn just like everyone else has. Point taken. So depending where I am, I evaluate my geocaching focus. If in Turkey, it's to place good caches. If in London, to hone geocaching skills, especially those micros, and when in the US, anything goes.

I highly doubt that. I live in Turkey and there are about 8 Turks who geocache in the whole of the country. So very few Turks have actually heard of geocaching. I would never say there are Turkish geocachers. I would say there are a handful of Turks who have geocached. Of those 8, the most caches any of them has found is 9. Some Turks have even left a cache without ever finding one! I don't know how, but a few have. The Turks find 3 or 4 caches and then you never hear from them again. And good luck trying to find a GPS receiver for sale in this country. Usually it's the geocaching tourists who find the caches and are more likely to place one in Turkey. Granted, there are only about 43 active caches in the whole country. I am working on getting more caches placed, but without a car, it's a bit difficult though.

Please, GAWD, tell me that I'm hallucinating! I just went to look up the guidelines for setting up an earth cache and when I went to the site, it said it was hacked by Turkish cyber-pirates and this horrible Turkish rap started playing. Does anyone else have this problem when they go to the site? And WHY hack into Earthcache.org when there are so many other, more important sites to mess with?!??? Darsantre

Congratulations to my UK geocaching friend, walkergeoff, for reaching geocache find #200 on Saturday, September 23, 2005! Geoff, may you find many more caches! Happily, Darsantre (in Turkey) PS I know this isn't under the Pinned: Congratulations thread, but after seeing it was 9 pages long on the discussion of whether to have a pinned thread on this topic or not, I didn't want others to get so bogged down by reading the whole 9 pages before they added their congratz to WG as well.

Thanks everyone for the congratulatory messages! And a BIG THANKS! to Walkergeoff for letting me tag along with him and bag my 100th find! Happily, Darsantre