[meteorite-list] Fw: Namibia: So Much Potential But Not EnoughFunds (Hoba Meteorite)

From: Jose Campos <josecamposcomet_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:56:19 -0000
Message-ID: <002e01c73d85$7524a8f0$34ea16d5_at_paular2wuci4vh>

Hi Sterling and List,

The first europeans to sail along the coast of present day Namibia, was the
portuguese sea navigator Diogo Cam in 1483; he erected on the coast a
padr?o (a limestone column with the portuguese coat of arms and an engraved
inscription and a small cross on top). In fact, on another trip further
south, he erected another one, I think in 1485. One of these padr?o has been
kept in a german museum for quite a number of years. Next, was Bartolomeu
Dias, who also placed aonother padr?o at Dias Point, he went on sailing much
further down the east african coast and rounding the Cape to which then, he
called it the Cape of Storms, but on his return voyage back to Lisbon, King
Dom Jo?o II of Portugal changed the name to Cape of Good Hope, as it is know
to this day. The Namibian coast (previously South West Africa), become known
as the Skeleton Coast because of the many shipwrecks that happened on that
feared stretch of coast land, with sandbanks, dangerous currents and fog.
In those days of sea discovery, there were no known maps and they knew
nothing about winds and sea currents. No GPS either! :)

NAMIBIA has, I think, 13 know meteorites, the most famous ones are the HOBA
~60 Tons and the GIBEON (several large masses) of which I have seen the 880
kg one (among others), at the South African Museum, Cape Town in 1982.
Jos? Campos
Portugal


----- Original Message -----
From: "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>
To: "Meteorite List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 9:28 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Namibia: So Much Potential But Not EnoughFunds
(Hoba Meteorite)


> Hi, Dave, List,
>
> Somebody's doing some good PR for Namibia.
> Take the name "Namibia." If you look at the nice
> Wikipedia article on Namibia, the facts are all there:
> one of the lowest population densities in the world,
> one of the most rain-deprived countries in the world
> (like none), one of the least blessed by economic
> resources, a sad history, and so forth. But nowhere
> in the article will you find the name that "Namibia"
> went by for centuries: THE SKELETON COAST.
>
> Getting people to stop calling you "The Skeleton
> Coast" is a good job of PR. There's just something
> about the name "The Skeleton Coast" that puts people
> off, don't you think?
>
>
> Sterling K. Webb
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dave Freeman mjwy" <dfreeman at fascination.com>
> To: "Ron Baalke" <baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
> Cc: "Meteorite Mailing List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 1:53 PM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Namibia: So Much Potential But Not Enough
> Funds (Hoba Meteorite)
>
>
> Sounds like a great tourist destination, a big rock, alcoholics and drug
> addicts, crime, town in debt up to their ears, danger of electricity amd
> water being turned off, high unemployment, and a large military presence.
> Well pack my bags!
> Poorly thought out release by Mr. Kangueehi, maybe the spoof and phish
> people will move to Namibia for the new center of commerce.
> Dave F.
>
>
>
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Received on Sun 21 Jan 2007 12:56:19 PM PST