Grootfontein

Grootfontein is a city of 24,000 people (2011) in Otjozondjupa, Namibia. Like all the towns in the Otavi Triangle, Grootfontein is very green in summer but drier in winter. In spring, jacaranda and flamboyant trees bloom in profusion.

Understand

The economic mainspring of the area were for many decades the Berg Aukas and Abenab mines to the north east of the town. These produced zinc and vanadium but have since closed. This is dolomite country and the carbonate deposits in the upper parts of the mine have yielded interesting fossils of simian or pongoid creatures that lived millions of years before modern humans evolved.

Get in

Grootfontein is on the B8, a major highway in Namibia's north-east that leads from Otavi to the Caprivi Strip. When you arrive from the north or from the east you will cross the Red Line where all meat will be confiscated due to veterinary health regulations.

Grootfontein are is on the route of the big coaches that travel between Windhoek and Lusaka.

See

• 1 Hoba meteorite (24 km (15 mi) W of Grootfontein). World's largest meteorite. This tablet-shaped rock weighs over 60 tons and landed 80,000 years ago. It is also the largest single mass of iron anywhere in the world. (updated May 2021)
• 2 Old Fort Museum. Regional history museum housed in a Schutztruppe fortress constructed in 1896 by the German colonial government. (updated May 2021)
• The baobab. An African baobab tree (Adansonia digitata), also known as Reuse Kremetartboom, is a giant tree on the grounds of Farm Keibib No. 1063, about 60 km north of Grootfontein. The baobab, which was the largest known baobab tree in the country at the time it was named a monument, has a trunk circumference of 18.5 m, its branches are up to 12 meters long and its age is estimated to be up to 3,000 years. It is a National Monument of Namibia. 

Eat

• 1 Purple Fig Bistro, ☏ +264 81 124 2802. M-F 07:00 - 16:00, Sa 08:00 - 13:00. Closed Sundays and holidays. Fine café/restaurant that serves a wide range of coffees, light meals, lunches and desserts. (updated May 2021)
• 2 Arries Se Stoep. Pizza, meat dishes, traditional food, opened 2024. Guests are asked to provide their home town and distance, the most interesting destinations are displayed in the garden. Food is nice, prices okay. Friendly staff. Meals N$100-250. (updated Dec 2024)

Drink

• There is a water-tap at the Shell station where you can fill your supplies.

Go next

• travelling to the east: Tsumkwe and Bushmanland
• travelling to the northeast: Caprivi Strip
• travelling to the south: Otjiwarongo and the Waterberg Plateau Park
• travelling to the west: Etosha National Park