Tsumeb & Grootfontein
Tsumeb is a small mining town and the capital of the Oshikoto region, famous for the Tsumeb Mining Museum and Lake Otjikoto. The town of Grootfontein is the last centre en route to Rundu and the Caprivi Strip. It is especially known for the Hoba meteorite.
Tsumeb
The area where Tsumeb is located was originally inhabited by the San or Bushmen. They were also the ones who discovered copper ore around the Tsumeb. These ores they melted in "termite ovens, old termite nests that were used as ovens to make copper. From this moment the Bushmen began to deal with the Ovambo, who used it to produce copper rings and necklaces out of it.
Tsumeb Mining Museum
In the Tsumeb Mining Museum you can see rare minerals and it is designed for those interested in history and geology and mining in this area. In Room Khorab one can see cannons, and other items that once were dumped in Lake Otjikoto.
Lake Otjikoto
Tsumeb is located just outside the Otjikoto Lake, the largest permanent natural lake in Namibia. It is part of the underground river system. After the roof of a large sandstone cave collapsed, it became more exposed has created a green paradise. Otjikoto is Herero for "deep hole". In 1915 the retreating Germans dumped weapons and ammunition in the 55 meters deep lake to prevent it from falling in South African hands.
Grootfontein
The town of Grootfontein is the last centre en route to Rundu and the Caprivi Strip. It is especially known for the Hoba meteorite. In 1885, 40 farm families in northwestern South Africa settled here. The "Dorstland tractors" were on their way to Angola, but when that became a Portuguese colony, they established the "Republic Upingtonia" in Grootfontein. The Grootfontein Museum, housed in a historic fort, talks about local history and is well worth a visit. Like the other seats in the Otavi triangle Grootfontein is very green and full of purple jacaranda's.
Hoba meteorite
Meteorites are of extraterrestrial origin. The vast majority come from the asteroid belt, a small number comes from the moon and Mars. Some micro-meteorites come from comets and possibly a part of this microscopic material is stardust from other stars. Meteorites with a diameter of tens of meters or more make large craters. Of the more than ten thousand meteorite(fragment)s which were found during the last centuries, people think 13 came from the moon and 14 originated from Mars. The largest known meteorite on Earth, the Hoba IVB iron meteorite, was discovered in 1920 on a farm near Grootfontein and has a mass of about 60 tons.
