Signal the Frog in Saudi

[+OH2TH]

Let us welcome Signal to Saudi Arabia

http://www.geocaching.com/goodies/2007-06/800.jpg

[+mhfares]

He’s more than welcome.

 

I like his Ghutra (head cover). A dhub should probably show him the way on those nicely colored dunes.

 

Well done.

[+NetworkCacher]

It prompted me to check out the caches in Saudi. My first thought was, "How could there be any caches in Saudi Arabia?" Surprisingly there are 142 active! Not that I'll ever get to any of them in my lifetime but its fun to think about it. I envy those cachers that can safely travel the kingdom to find them.

 

I really like the orange color, it makes my desktop light up.

[+mhfares]

Surprisingly there are 142 active! Not that I'll ever get to any of them in my lifetime

 

Who knows …

 

Actually, the 142nd cache is by my dear friend flydad who came all the way from Virginia to cache in Saudi. Here is a brief look at his trip:

http://saudicacher.blogspot.com/2007/05/th...ears-later.html

[+GeoCRAt]

He’s more than welcome.

 

I like his Ghutra (head cover). A dhub should probably show him the way on those nicely colored dunes.

 

Well done.

 

I am pleased to see so many active caches in Saudi ( ). I lived in Riyadh for four years, and would quite willingly return anytime. I still have four active caches under my name in Saudi, and was lucky to find my very first cache outside of Mecca about two weeks before I moved to Dubai. I am surprised, though, that Saudi has more caches than the UAE.

[+mhfares]

 

I am surprised, though, that Saudi has more caches than the UAE.

 

Geocaching started early in Saudi before any of the other gulf states. The first cache in Saudi that is still active today was placed in April 2001 … only few months after the launch of Geocaching website (Sept. 2000). In the Emirates, the first cache that is still active today was placed more than a year later (in Nov. 2002).

 

26 caches have been placed in Saudi during that first year alone which gave it a head start in the game not to mention the enthusiasm of early geocachers. Four years later (April. 2006) there were only 11 caches in the UAE while there were 116 caches in Saudi. Then things picked up quickly for the UAE and the curve for cache hides has gone steeper since then while it stayed steady for Saudi. Since April 2006, there were 52 more new cache hides in UAE while only 25 in Saudi.

 

Active caches, as of today:

Saudi 141

UAE 63

Oman 25 (some are common with UAE)

Qatar 25

Kuwait 17

Bahrain 6

 

That is a total of 277 caches spread across an area of more than 2.4 million square km. By comparison, a 100 miles search radius around the city of Los Angeles reveals 15049 caches .. long way to go.

[+Desert Trekker]

To be honest, I hope that the UAE does not become as cache saturated as LA. Given that there are only 70 or so caches in our hunting area we know the names, general location, terrain, difficulty of all of them but it will still take us several years to get around them all. It was easy to pick off the first 20 or so, but now we have to plan special trips to get the rest. It’s also fun to watch who finds the caches that we have already done. I think that if there were 15,000 in a 100 mile radius around Dubai it might loose some of its appeal to me at least.

[+mhfares]

I think that if there were 15,000 in a 100 mile radius around Dubai it might loose some of its appeal to me at least.

Probably so.

 

While the small number we have now makes the geocaching experience perhaps more personal and close encounter, I still like to see more caches than there are now – especially outside city limits.

 

It’s also fun to watch who finds the caches that we have already done

 

Couldn’t agree any more. It’s almost like doing it again – so that will multiply the number of caches then

[M&Ms]

So flydad is a Virginian well I'll be!

 

This post raises some interesting discussion points.

 

Saudi has remained largely free of drive through caches where the aim is to bag cache as quickly as possible with scant regard of the location or what it offers. The challenge of the bag is the soul of geocaching and that does not include being able to claim over a hundred in a day.

 

Saudi has not suffered the affliction of the Emirates where robbing caches remains prevalent. A legitimate DNF is part of geocaching but not when the cache has been removed!

 

M of M&MS.

[+mhfares]

M&Ms .. what a nice surprise. (Miss your hides and those were really good ones in very special places).

 

Drive through caches .. that term should be added to the glossary of GC site. We don’t have any of those here in Saudi (except may be for The Garage and Trog SAH-1 and AlKhobar Cornish - if it still exists- ). I too find an important part of the game is the cache surroundings and the joy I get while there at the site experiencing the geography and history of the place .. sometimes even spending the whole day/night at the place.

 

For some and with new comers to the game I think it’s only imperative that we’ll see more hides close to or within city limit. We have to be prepared for those .. though they may not be our best.

 

A legitimate DNF is part of geocaching but not when the cache has been removed!

 

M of M&MS.

Well said .. but take a note:

What I’m advocating here is more cache hides, not necessarily more drive through caches.