Blow You Away
The seemingly somnambulant rural atmosphere and mundane grassland scenes visible from the N4 highway will not prepare you for the old world charm of this former railway village of Emgwenya.
Set upon the precipitous edge of the Drakensberg Escarpment and encompassing a region rich in Boer War history, Boven is sure to blow you away. Plunging quartzite cliffs of immense beauty at the edge of town lure rock climbers from around the world to ‘The Restaurant at the End of the Universe’. Here, tall tales and legends are created while man faces off against vertigo on literally hundreds of mind-blowing routes seamed within the crags epitomising this little piece of climbing heaven.
Place of the Crocodile
History shows that the town dates back to 1895, when the Eastern Line railway was constructed between Pretoria and Delagoa Bay (as the modern-day Maputo was known then). Paul Kruger was the original owner of much of the land surrounding Waterval-Boven; it was the Elands River and its magnificent waterfall that gave rise to the town original name, Waterval Boven (meaning ‘Above the Waterfall’ in Dutch).
As with many towns in South Africa, a name change has seen signage in the village change to Emgwenya, or the ‘Place of the Crocodile’. Little else has changed as far as the landscape is concerned, and Boven is still serenely perched upon the edge of the inland escarpment, with the Lowveldt sprawled far below.
Boven maintains a semblance of cool throughout the year, with radical thunderstorms rolling in to strafe the region in summer. The winter sees crisp, cooler conditions, and there is always a good chance that you will feel the sun on your back while exploring the grasslands, gorges, waterfalls and forests.