Otjikoto Lake

Otjikoto Lake
Otjikoto Lake
Coordinates 19°11′41″S 17°32′59″E / 19.19472°S 17.54972°E / -19.19472; 17.54972Coordinates: 19°11′41″S 17°32′59″E / 19.19472°S 17.54972°E / -19.19472; 17.54972
Basin countries Namibia
Surface area 0.51 ha[1]
Average depth 45 m
Max. depth 58 m
Water volume 229500 m3

Otjikoto Lake is the smaller of only two natural lakes in Namibia. It is a sinkhole lake, created by a collapsing karst cave,[1] located 20 km outside of Tsumeb, a few meters from the main road B1.

The lake was known to the San under the name Gaisis ("ugly"). When the Herero moved into the area, they named it Otjikoto (Otjiherero: "deep hole"). The first Europeans to discover the lake were Francis Galton and Carl Johan Andersson, who during their search for Lake Ngami came upon Otjikoto Lake in 1851.[2]

The lake was a dumping ground for German Schutztruppe at the end of World War I; In June 1915 German troops dumped war materials in the lake before surrendering to stop the South African and British troops from using them. Most of the larger pieces have been recovered and are displayed in Tsumeb Museum. The ammunition is still in the lake and can be viewed with a special diving permit. According to legend, the Germans also dumped a sealed safe into the lake. The search for it and the 6 million Mark it is said to contain has as yet not been successful.[2]

Tilapia guinasana, a mouth-breeding species of fish which naturally was only found in Otjikoto's sister lake, Lake Guinas, was introduced to Otjikoto Lake.[3] The claim that lake Guinas is indeed connected to lake Otjikoto by underground caves is frequently made but not proven as yet.[1]

The entire lake

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Otjikoto tilapia — Conservation status Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1) Scientific classification …   Wikipedia

  • Liste der Seen in Namibia — Die ist eine Liste der Seen in Namibia. In Namibia gibt es nur wenige natürliche Süßwasser Seen, die das ganze Jahr permanent Wasser führen. Alle perennierenden sowie ephemeren beziehungsweise episodischen Gewässer fallen unter den Begriff… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Tsumeb — is the capital city of the Oshikoto region in northern Namibia. It is located at: coord|19|15|S|17|42|E|scale:100000. Tsumeb is seen as gateway to the north of Namibia Fact|date=November 2007. It is the closest town to the Etosha National Park,… …   Wikipedia

  • Otjikotosee — Panorama Otjikoto See Geographische Lage Namibia Größere Städte in der Nähe Tsumeb Daten …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • List of endangered animal species — This is a list of endangered animal species according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List. The list includes endangered species of the kingdom Animalia. NOTOC A* Acheilognathus elongatus * Acipenser Endangered * Acrocephalus… …   Wikipedia

  • Green swordtail — Taxobox name = Green Swordtail status = secure regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Actinopterygii ordo = Cyprinodontiformes familia = Poeciliidae genus = Xiphophorus species = X. hellerii binomial = Xiphophorus hellerii binomial… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”