Oshakati

History

In Oshiwambo, the language of the Ovambo people, the town's name means "that which is in between", although some believe that the name (Oshakati, also Otshakati) was used to refer to the broadcasting tower, which at high was the tallest structure in the town centre and Namibia. On 19 February 1988, a bomb blast at the First National Bank in Oshakati killed 27 people and badly injured nearly 30 others, most of them nurses and teachers. No one was ever convicted of the bombing, and the issue was dropped upon independence in 1990 in favour of national reconciliation.

Geography

Oshakati is situated in the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin and is cut by the Okatana River. Both of these geographic features make the town prone to flooding; in 2008, it was last hit by heavy floods. The Oshakati Master Plan Project is underway to build a dike around the town, to deepen and straighten the river, and to resettle people living near the riverbed and clogging the flow of water. Oshakati has a semi-arid climate (BSh, according to the Köppen climate classification), with hot summers and relatively mild winters (with warm days and cool nights). The average annual precipitation is , with most rainfall occurring mainly during summer.

Most-observed species

• balsamtree

  Colophospermum mopane (J.Kirk ex Benth.) J.Léonard · Magnoliopsida
  11
• Red-faced Mousebird

  Urocolius indicus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  9
• Cattle Egret

  Bubulcus ibis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6
• Pied Crow

  Corvus albus Statius Muller, 1776 · Aves
  5
• Cape Crow

  Corvus capensis Lichtenstein, 1823 · Aves
  4
• African Hoopoe

  Upupa africana Bechstein, 1811 · Aves
  4
• African Palm-Swift

  Cypsiurus parvus (M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1823) · Aves
  3
• Southern Masked-Weaver

  Ploceus velatus Vieillot, 1819 · Aves
  3

Most recent

• M 4 — 2010-04-11
  50 km S of Ondangwa, Namibia