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.

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