- Mpumalanga
- Emgwenya
- Waterval Boven
Waterval Boven, Emgwenya, Mpumalanga
- Information
- Restauration & Bars (1)
- Commerces & Services (3)
Things to do and see
- Waterval Boven NZASM Historic Tunnel
- Krugerhof
- Five Arch Bridge
- Adam’s Calendar
- Elangeni Hiking Trail
- Bermanzi Trail
- Num Num Hiking Trail
- Horse Trails
- Stone Circle Museum
- Fishing & Birding
- Rocky Drift Nature Reserve
- Elands River Falls
- Long Tom Pass
- Drakenzicht The Mountains Golf Course
Climate
Emgwenya receives approximately 660 mm of rain annually with most rainfall occurring during Summer.
Summer months, November to March will have average temperatures of between 14˚C and 24˚C.
Winter months, May to August will have average temperatures of between 3˚C and 16˚C.
Transport
There are daily flights into Lanseria Airport, approximately 283 km’s away along the N4 and O R Tambo International Airport, approximately 244 km’s away via the N4 and N12. Car hire facilities are available at the Airport.
History
The Dutch railroad company, NZASM, established the town as a supply depot while constructing the Eastern Line Railway, a railway link between Pretoria and Komatipoort in the late 1800s. The Transvaal Republic acquired about 78 hectares of the farm Doornhoek, lying on either side of the line.
Waterval Boven, means 'above the waterfall' in Dutch and it received its name due to its location on the fringe of an escarpment in the Drakensberg Mountains which is above the 75 meter high Elands Falls. Its sister town, Waterval Onder, 'under the waterfall', lies at the base of the escarpment.
The cog wheel rail ascending the slopes of the mountain between Waterval Onder and the town is the only one of its kind in Africa, and a depot for the cog wheel locomotives was established at Waterval Boven. The town was administered by the railways until 1946, when it was transferred to a health committee.
2006 marked the 67th year since the historic train disaster where 63 Mozambican labourers died in a train accident in the early hours of the morning of Wednesday, 16 November 1952. This is a tragedy never to be forgotten in history of Waterval Boven.