caching by taxi

[sandstonegirl]

Hiho,

 

I also posted this in the Arabian Peninsular forum as I am looking for local advice. but I'd also like to see this discussed here. Maybe there are more people with similar experience here or who'd just like to give their opinion.

 

I'll be moving to the Peninsular for work soon. I'm not a confident driver and the city I'm about to go to sounds like hell from what I hear. Someone told me Palermo traffic is quiet and peaceful in comparison. That was the most terrifying driving experience I'd ever had! I now wonder if I should get a chauffeur and/or take taxis instead of renting or buying a car. Though: how to cache then? Has anyone ever cached by taxi or similar means? The driver would of course be a muggle and I'm afraid he'd harm the cache or see it as something potentially dangerous. The landscape is mostly saltflat desert and many caches are hidden under rocks not too far from the road. So whatever I do I'll most likely be overlooked by the driver.

 

Has anyone ever cached with a driver, and how did that work out?

[+Chris & Renee]

Would be a very expensive trip, not sure what taxi's charge over there, but i can imagine that the cab driver would probably charge a hell of a lot for waiting time, especially hunting for some caches, what seems like 2 mins could easily turn out to be 30+.

[sandstonegirl]

Would be a very expensive trip, not sure what taxi's charge over there, but i can imagine that the cab driver would probably charge a hell of a lot for waiting time, especially hunting for some caches, what seems like 2 mins could easily turn out to be 30+.

 

Well, from what I heard taxis are really cheap, and I'm getting a transport allowance which should get me to and from work and to shops every day plus around the (admittedly small) country several times each month. So that's not a problem.

 

It's rather that I don't know how to cache if my means of transport is a muggle.

[+The Blorenges]

I think that if I wanted to use this method of getting to a cache...

 

First of all I'd wait until I could get at least two trusted muggle friends to accompany me in the taxi...

 

Then using local maps, I'd look for a suitable roadside spot where the taxi could stop, within walking distance of the cache. Then you need to think of some sort of plausible reason to give the taxi driver as to why you need to go there...

 

Ummmm

 

You're doing a photographic project on the local landscape? (I don't know what the local situation is regarding random foreigners taking photographs 'off the beaten track'.)

 

How about taking a small geological hammer and the story that you just want a few interesting rock samples?

 

You could all take picnic stuff with you - Scramble out of the car, head off for the cache location, then all sit down and start eating sandwiches while you wander off randomly examining the surrounding landscape... (This would work well if you happened to be British - We'll picnic anywhere )

 

Failing that you could always try explaining to your taxi driver that you just need to find a small plastic box with a pencil and notebook in it ...

 

Thinking about all this a bit more, I think my first move would be to contact the cache owner and do a bit of homework about the area... see if they can give you any helpful thoughts about how easy/difficult it would be for you to attempt their cache by taxi.

 

Good luck

 

MrsB

[sandstonegirl]

I think that if I wanted to use this method of getting to a cache...

 

First of all I'd wait until I could get at least two trusted muggle friends to accompany me in the taxi...

 

Then using local maps, I'd look for a suitable roadside spot where the taxi could stop, within walking distance of the cache. Then you need to think of some sort of plausible reason to give the taxi driver as to why you need to go there...

 

Ummmm

 

You're doing a photographic project on the local landscape? (I don't know what the local situation is regarding random foreigners taking photographs 'off the beaten track'.)

 

How about taking a small geological hammer and the story that you just want a few interesting rock samples?

 

You could all take picnic stuff with you - Scramble out of the car, head off for the cache location, then all sit down and start eating sandwiches while you wander off randomly examining the surrounding landscape... (This would work well if you happened to be British - We'll picnic anywhere )

 

Failing that you could always try explaining to your taxi driver that you just need to find a small plastic box with a pencil and notebook in it ...

 

Thinking about all this a bit more, I think my first move would be to contact the cache owner and do a bit of homework about the area... see if they can give you any helpful thoughts about how easy/difficult it would be for you to attempt their cache by taxi.

 

Good luck

 

MrsB

 

Oh, that's brilliant, MrsB!

 

I should have thought about that. I never go into the countryside without my trusted rock hammer, be it to fend off wild dogs (only happened once, fortunately) or to collect rocks. The whole country is full of geologists anyway, so I'd guess such weired stops aren't totally uncommon. The roads will most likely be endless and straight but it should work out if the car is parked a bit away, and once summer is over. I don't want to get barbecued out in the desert

 

My target is to find each and every cache in that small country while I'm there. It should be doable with some preparation as there are only 130 or so in total.

 

And related to that: I so often take taxis from airports and always get annoyed if the travel bug hotel is just out of walking distance and the taxi is passing it, and there's no cache near my hotel. Maybe I for once should ask a driver to stop nearby, also good preparations assumed.

Edited June 8, 2009 by sandstonegirl

[+NYPaddleCacher]

 

Failing that you could always try explaining to your taxi driver that you just need to find a small plastic box with a pencil and notebook in it ...

 

Thinking about all this a bit more, I think my first move would be to contact the cache owner and do a bit of homework about the area... see if they can give you any helpful thoughts about how easy/difficult it would be for you to attempt their cache by taxi.

 

Good luck

 

MrsB

 

Contacting a few cachers from the local caching community would be a good idea. There may even be a regional forum where you can do this. I have on several occassions written a note in a cache log in an area where I was going to be traveling and started corresponding with either the cache owner or a local cacher and then had offers to join them on a cache outing. You might try picking a few caches and post a note indicating that you're looking for a cache partner. Then, once you get the lay of the land, you can figure out what caches you might want to try via public transportation and/or taxi.

 

Finding a good taxi driver would be your next tesk. Many taxi drivers are more than happy to give you their card with their cell phone number so that you can call them directly rather go through dispatch. Find one or two good ones and use them frequently (tipping them well won't hurt either).

 

I see from your profile that you're new, which is all the more reason to try and find a cache partner to help give you a bit of exerience finding some caches. Start with larger size cachers that have been recently found before hiring a taxi to find some micros.

[+Rick618]

Hiho,

 

I also posted this in the Arabian Peninsular forum as I am looking for local advice. but I'd also like to see this discussed here. Maybe there are more people with similar experience here or who'd just like to give their opinion.

 

I'll be moving to the Peninsular for work soon. I'm not a confident driver and the city I'm about to go to sounds like hell from what I hear. Someone told me Palermo traffic is quiet and peaceful in comparison. That was the most terrifying driving experience I'd ever had! I now wonder if I should get a chauffeur and/or take taxis instead of renting or buying a car. Though: how to cache then? Has anyone ever cached by taxi or similar means? The driver would of course be a muggle and I'm afraid he'd harm the cache or see it as something potentially dangerous. The landscape is mostly saltflat desert and many caches are hidden under rocks not too far from the road. So whatever I do I'll most likely be overlooked by the driver.

 

Has anyone ever cached with a driver, and how did that work out?

 

How about carrying a bike? Have the taxi take you to the farthest one you want to attempt then bike your way back to town caching along the way.

[Dj Storm]

I'm in a similar situation. There are only 5 caches within 100km of my house, and I don't have a car. I use public transportation to travel to and from cache locations. Hunting for a cache usually takes a full day, and needs more than trivial preparation. This caching mode might not please someone used to drive to cache locations, but every hunt will be remembered. The obstacles are:

- you have to do some research, to find the bus/train stop(s) closest to the cache.

- you have to find the bus/train schedules between your location and the location researched above.

- you have to plan the caching day: leaving time, arriving time, time to travel from bus stop to cache location (sometimes a few kilometers), searching, returning in time for transport back home; it gets trickier when you have to change transport 2 or 3 times. You should have a "Plan B" ready, in case you miss the last bus/train.

 

You can use a taxi the same way I use public transportation, for one or both legs of the trip. Go to the nearest town, and from there walk to the cache location, make the find, walk back, and take another cab home. If the cache is "in the middle of nowhere", ask the driver to stop about 500m-1km (about half mile) from the cache, and walk the rest of the distance. Check Google Earth before, so you know where will you stop.

 

If your time is too valuable to be wasted by walking to and from caches, then you must find a trustworthy driver. You won't be able to hide what you're doing from someone waiting for you a few yards away; you'll have to tell them "the secret".

Edited June 8, 2009 by Dj Storm

[+Arrow42]

Go with a taxi service. They are a little more expensive but they are higher class and the driver is much more likely to be cool with geocaching. Once your dealing with a service you can actually request the same driver (or one of a few drivers) that you know you can trust and who knows what your doing. The services can also bill whoever your employer is directly - save you the pain of an expense report.