Oshikoto is an Aandonga name meaning ‘deep hole’, which is said to refer to ‘the place that is too deep for cattle to drink water.’ It has been shrouded in mystery and myths for centuries, and the HaiIIom living in the area believed that whoever swam in Oshikoto would disappear forever. It has also been said to be bottomless, linked by a subterranean tunnel to Lake Guinas, 20km west, and that there is a whirlpool at its centre.
Oshikoto played an important role in the early trade in copper ore between the HaiIIom and the Aandonga. The ore was mined by the HaiIIom at Tsumeb and carried to the lake where they bartered with the Aandonga for other goods. The Aandonga smelted the copper ore into rods in a furnace at Oshikoto, and these rods would later be fashioned into jewellery, as well as other goods, and bartered with other communities.
The Swedish explorer Charles John Andersson wrote,” Many bushmen resided near Otjikoto (an Otjiherero name); and, as everywhere else in these regions, they lived on excellent terms with the Ovambo, to whom they brought copper ore for sale, which they obtained from the neighbouring hills.”
Carl Hugo Hahn, a German Rhenish missionary, gave the following account of his meeting with a group of men carrying copper in 1866. “On Friday, 17th July we saw the first Ovandongo Ovambo coming from the south with copper … The party consisted of seven men. They carried the ore in neatly woven baskets, with a palm branch as a handle. We weighed one load and found it to be 90 lbs., (41kg) and in addition to that they had to carry their provisions. Altogether it must have been 110 – 120 lbs (50 – 54kg) and over a distance of at least 250 miles (402km).”
Oshikoto is not a lake but a collapsed sinkhole. Situated in an area of porous dolomite, it was formed by rainwater that seeped into fractures in the dolomite. A huge underground cavern formed as the dolomite dissolved and the roof eventually collapsed, forming an elliptical sinkhole of about 100m by 140m. Its depth varies from 62m to 71m at its centre and it reaches a depth of over 100m at its deepest.
Andersson and his English companion Francis Galton were the first Europeans to visit Lake Oshikoto, They camped at the edge of the lake in May 1851 and Andersson described Oshikoto as ‘so effectively … hidden from view, that a person might pass within 50 paces of it without being aware of its existence.’
Andersson and Galton ignored warnings not to swim in the lake – much to the consternation of their Ovaherero guides and the HaiIIom. Andersson gave the following description of Oshikoto: ‘The transparency of the water, which was of the deepest sea-green, was remarkable; and the effect produced in the watery mirror by the reflection of the crystallized walls and roof of the cavern, appeared very striking and beautiful.”
Oshikoto is home to the critically endangered Otjikoto tilapia which was collected at Lake Guinas in 1933 and classified as Tilapia guinasana in 1936. It was introduced into Lake Oshikoto around the 1940s and became commonly known as the Otjikoto tilapia. Measuring only about 10cm in length, they have colours ranging from black and olive green with dark stripes to combinations of yellow, blue, white and grey. The bright colours are thought to have developed because camouflage was unnecessary in the initial absence of predators.
Lake Oshikoto became a dumping ground of large quantities of German arms and ammunition in 1915 (during World War 1). Rather than letting the armaments fall into the hands of the South African forces, the retreating Germans disposed of their armaments in the lake. Many cannons, cannon rounds, gun carriages, machine guns, rifles and ammunition have been brought to the surface since the first salvage operation in 1916. Many more pieces, including eight cannons, are being conserved in their watery grave as an underwater museum.
Tragedy struck when the Tsumeb postmaster Johannes Stephanus Cook went for a swim with his friends on 16 October 1927. He apparently dived off the rocks into the lake – never to be seen again. It has been suggested that was knocked unconscious and drowned when he tried to surface under an underwater overhang where his body was trapped.
Lake Oshikoto was declared a national monument in 1972 and the Oshikoto Region was named after this well-known attraction reached about 20km from Tsumeb. It is managed by the National Heritage Council of Namibia. A three-tier entrance fee is charged for Namibians, SADC residents and international visitors.