Grootfontein

The name of this place in the Otavi triangle is afrikaans and means "great spring". In 1885, 40 Boer families from the northwest of South Africa settled here. Like all places in the fertile Otavi triangle, Grootfontein looks green. In spring, the numerous Jacaranda trees provide a violet blooms. In between, bougainvillea bushes glow in intense reds. The small town - it has about 17,000 inhabitants - is well suited as a stopover and accommodation place, if you want to travel the Caprivi or the Bushmanland at Tsumkwe.

And there is something more interesting to discover: On the grounds of the farm "Hoba", 24 kilometers from Grootfontein, lies one of the largest meteorites ever found. It is 3 meters long and 1 meter wide, weighs more than 50 tons, has a volume of 9 cubic meters and hit here about 80,000 years ago. The meteorite of Hoba consists of 82% iron, 16% nickel, 1% of cobalt and various trace elements. In recent years, the Hoba meteorite has become a little smaller. Visitors have repeatedly broken off a piece of rock and taken it as a souvenir, which of course is strictly prohibited.

Worth seeing is the "Alte Feste", the old fort of the German Schutztruppe from 1896, which today houses a museum of local history.