Cape Town - Treasure hunters are bound for the Western Cape, but there won’t be a gang of bedraggled pirates digging for buried coins along the Garden Route.
Instead, maps and masts will make way for global positioning systems and 4x4 vehicles as part of a modern-day treasure hunt known as geocaching.
Wesgro, the company responsible for bringing the sport to the Western Cape, will be hiding chests across the province.
Nils Flaatten, chief executive of the official Destination Marketing, Investment and Trade Promotion Agency for the Western Cape, said it would be Africa’s first officially branded geocaching tour.
Sixteen caches will be hidden in different places in Cape Town, the Winelands, the Karoo, West Coast, Cape Overberg, the Garden Route and the Klein Karoo.
“The caches could be on beaches, in caves, under waterfalls or in a vineyard, but thanks to technology, it won’t be as hard as finding the proverbial needle in a haystack, and a whole lot more fun,” said Flaatten.
Treasure hunters will plug the co-ordinates of these troves into their GPS devices and zip around the province to unearth their riches.
Each cache will contain a small token gift related to the area. But not straying too far from the script, intrepid adventurers are still awarded with platinum, gold or bronze coins once they have discovered a set number of chests.
“Geocaching is being used more and more to promote destinations around the world, with tour operators designing (geo)tour packages to grow their businesses.
“Wesgro has decided to use the growing geocaching tourism market to give people even more reason to visit the Western Cape,” added Flaatten. - Cape Argus