Tanzania The Promised Land Tanzania The Promised Land | Page 20

MBOZI METEORITE
is one of the World’s Largest Meteorites
One of the world’s largest, the Mbozi Meteorite
is located at Marengi Hill in the Mbozi District
of Southern Tanzania. The meteorite is three
meters long and one meter wide and weighs
around 16 tones. This massive meteorite
consists of 90%iron, about 9% nickel, and
small amounts of cobalt, copper, sulfur, and
phosphorus. Mbozi has been long known to
locals, who call it kimondo, yet it became known
to outsiders only in the 1930s. It is named after
the Mbozi District, in Mbeya (Tanzania). When
it was discovered by scientists in 1930 it didn’t
have a crater.
Besides visiting the Mbozi Meteorite, there
are a lot of other popular destinations in the
green City of Mbeya. The Kiwira River has two
popular and well-known tourist attractions,
and both are within the Kiwira Prisons Training
College at Kiwira. The first is Kijungu Falls,
situated at Kijungu village. The second is
the Natural Bridge, also known as Daraja la
Mungu (meaning made by god). These two
attractions can be reached within a one
hour drive from Mbeya city on the Mbeya
Kyela highway.
Kijungu Falls is an attractive natural wonder
where the entire river flows into a pot-like
hollow before flowing down the rocks and
take its natural course. Activities for a day
Tanzania The Promised Land
along the river include hiking, bird watching and
canoeing.
From Kijungu, the river winds its way through
the volcanic rocks some eight kilometers to
the Natural Bridge. Before reaching the natural
bridge, there is a man-made bridge, at a point
where the river banks are a bit close together. 
The Natural Bridge formed around 1800 million
years ago as a result of volcanic lava flow, which
merged with the fast moving river and formed a
bridge-like feature over the Kiwira River.
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