Otjikoto Lake

Nghitotelwa (talk) 11:29, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

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

The lake is small with a diameter of about 102m, but very deep, with a depth estimated to be in excess of 142m in placesand is on the way from there to the Namutoni entrance to the Etosha National Park. However, the Lake Quinas which is believed to be the sister of Lake Otjikoto is located southwest of Otjikoto, a 50km (31miles) round trip from the main road, but it is usually bypassed in favour of Otjikoto. The detour is well worth the effort, as Guinas is not only deeper, but more scenic than its more famous counterpart. However, even though this lake is considered to be the most tourist attraction in the country, and the source of income to the government, it still remains the ugly place in the eyes of the Namibian citizens due to the dirty history that it contains. One can now tell that the natural beauty of the well created Lake is tempered with and destroyed by the German Colony, because they used it as dumping place something that I believed it was not intended for. As tourist are flowing today in the large number to come witness the beauty of this place, my questions still remain unanswered. What are the bad effects that are going to be caused by these harmful objects thrown in this Lake in hundred years to come? Who is going to be hold responsible for the damage it may arise? And Will this Lake going be attractive again and beneficial to Namibian people as the nature wanted it to be? I believe everybody can agree with me that weapons, artillery, guns and ammunition wagons that are dropped in this Lake are the most poisoning and destructive substance n the ground. And to worsen the history nobody can tell up-to-date where the dropped large safe, the edges and keyhole sealed with molten lead with it 6 million gold marks went and how harmful it can be to the land of the brave. The worse should be expected as years goes due to the result of the German Colony I don’t care attitude.

References

http://www.namibian.org/travel/namibia/otjikoto_lake.html

References