Weighing in at a cool twelve tons, the irregularly shaped Mbozi Meteorite – which lies on the southwestern slope of Marengi Hill, 70km 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, and 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. Mbozi 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 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 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.

The turn-off from the highway is signposted 4.5km before Mbozi village; catch one of the frequent minibuses plying the highway between Mbeya and Tunduma. Bicycles can be rented at the junction (Tsh3000 is a fair price) to cover the remaining 13km. Sisi kwa Sisi combines trips to the meteorite with visits to coffee farms (five hours in all), but at $30 per person it's much cheaper to visit on your own. Entrance costs Tsh1000; the guardian also sells photocopies of Hamo Sassoon's brief but informative Guide to the Mbozi Meteorite. If you want to stay overnight, arrange things with Sisi kwa Sisi, who have a campsite 7km from the site, in a plot donated by the government to enable unemployed youths to start profitable agricultural projects ($5 per person; tent rental $5).