Tourism in Mbozi Meteorite - Africa Natural Tours ( africanaturaltours.com )
Tourism in Mbozi
Meteorite: Africa Natural Tours
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Mbozi
Meteorite: World's eighth largest, located about 65km southwest of Mbeya is the
Mbozi meteorite, weighing an estimated 25 metric tonnes; it's around 3m long
and 1m tall
Mbeya
region is endowed with lots of tourist attractions although most of them have
not been fully exploited. Some classic examples include those within the
vicinity of the city such as Mbeya and Loleza Peaks and the Utengule and Mbozi
meteorite
Weighing
in at a cool 12 tons, the irregularly shaped Mbozi Meteorite – which lies on
the southwestern slope of Marengi Hill, 70 kilometers west of Mbeya, off the
road to Tunduma – is the world’s eighth largest known.
The
meteorite is a fragment of interplanetary matter that was large enough to avoid
being completely burned up when entering earth’s atmosphere.
But
the fragment is small enough to avoid exploding; of the estimated five hundred
meteorites that fall to earth each year, only thirty percent strike land, and
less than ten are reported and recorded.
The
Mbozi Meteorite has been known for centuries by locals, who call it Kimwondo,
but the absence of legends recounting its sudden and undoubtedly fiery arrival
indicate that it fell to earth long before the present inhabitants arrived, a
thousand years ago. The meteorite was officially discovered in 1930 at the time
when only the top was visible.
To
reveal the whole meteorite, the hillside around it was dug away, leaving a
pillar of soil under the meteorite, which was then reinforced with concrete to
serve as a plinth. The irregular notches on the pointed end were caused by
souvenir hunters hacking out chunks – no easy task given the strength of the
nickel-iron of which it’s made.
Most
meteorites consist of silicates or stony-irons, so Mbozi meteorite is uncommon
in that it’s composed mainly of iron (90.45 percent) and nickel (8.69 percent),
with negligible amounts of copper, sulphur and phosphorus.
A
visit to the Meteorite Site is always fascinating especially if you are in a
group and you travel using public transport as a means of getting a better
taste of the countryside and face some adventures. This enables the group to
also interact with the locals who are ever ready to share views with visitors
For more information
visit www.africanaturaltours.com
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