Waterval-Boven is the first place in South Africa with a Grade 33 rock-climbing route (the highest grade is 36). More then 200 routes are suitable for beginners
Seven years after taking a Spoornet severance package, Willie van Rooyen has just applied to get his old job back.
"I miss it terribly,” he says, as he chews on a matchstick. “All that weight behind you. A train pulls at least 40 truckloads – and all of that is in your hands!”
We’re chatting at the Steam Inn on the main road of Waterval- Boven, only a few blocks from where Willie was born 48 years ago, in a building next to the railway.
“I like seeing nature,” Williesays excitedly. “It has to rain and it has to hail. You set the little wiper on the maximum speed and it still can’t keep up with the storm.”
Trains and the railways are the reason Waterval-Boven came into being. This was one of the stations built on President Paul Kruger’s railway line between Pretoria and Delagoa Bay
(now Maputo Bay). The town lies beneath the red quartzite cliffs of the Elands Valley, where the N4 freeway starts descending to the Lowveld, Mozambique and the sea.
“After De Aar it was the biggest railway town in South Africa,” says local historian Colonel Piet Schoeman, who lives in the Elands Valley.
Willie says from Waterval- Boven you can travel in nine different directions – but not in one of the steam trains of old.
Until recently you could take a 10 km steam train journey from “Boven”, as the locals call the place, to Waterval-Onder. But since the Oosterlijn Steam Company went under, the seven locomotives have been parked in sheds and now the sign at the Waterval-Onder platform welcomes only the breeze blowing through the bluegum trees.
Since then, Spoornet has banned steam on its main lines countrywide, but intense negotiations are being held to try to keep some locomotives puffing away – such as the Jan Wintervogel, which ferried President Paul Kruger around, and Griet, one of the last steam locomotives to haul the Trans- Karoo passenger trains.
While the train owners fight off the rust and scrap metal dealers, new blood has been moving into the old railway homes. Gertha Havermahl, who used to be a fashion designer in Pretoria, moved to Waterval- Boven 10 years ago. And then Gustav Janse van Rensburg and his French wife Alex arrived to start a rock-climbing business in the town.
I can’t help but envy the owners of the town’s red-brick houses, which might once have been seen as very modest, even poor. By today’s standards, they have generous gardens, shiny wooden floors and inviting fireplaces. And each house has a view of the majestic cliffs towering over the town.
“My husband used to curse and say the world ends at Boven,” says Martie du Toit of the Rack Rail Inn, “but it’s a great place to live.”
1. See the falls
Next time you travel through the N4 tunnel, stop off to see the waterfall that gives the town its name. It’s safest to do this between 8am and 4pm, when the tourism monitors are on duty. There are four of them, wearing yellow reflective jackets, and they will also light your way in the pitch-dark tunnel of the Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg- Maatschappij (NZASM), which dates to 1893.
If you want to feel the spray of a waterfall on your face, walk along the path on the right of the tunnel to the foot of the Elands River Falls. The water plummets about 75mdown a cliff into a deep pool.
About a kilometre further is another relic from the NZASM days, the five-arch bridge. Like the tunnel, the stone that was used to pave the bridge was quarried in Italy.
Once again, if you stop at the bridge, only do so when the police are on duty, as people have been robbed here. You can also ask one of the tourism monitors at the tunnel to accompany you for extra security.
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2. Scale a cliff
If you’ve ever wanted to discover your inner gecko, this is the place. The more than 600 climbing routes, combined with the beautiful surroundings, make Waterval-Boven one of the best rockclimbing venues in the country.
Roc ’n Rope’s weekend courses for beginners are highly regarded. “You don’t have to be tall to be a rock climber, but you need a good ‘ape index’ – your armspan should ideally exceed your height,” says Gustav Janse van Rensburg of Roc ’n Rope. “In other words, if you can slap your knuckles on your knees, you’ll probably be good at it.”
Why rock climb? Guillaume de Swardt, who regularly climbs at Waterval-Boven, says: “Personality profiling might conclude that two people won’t get along at all, but after an epic climb they’ll be the best of friends.”
Gustav can also help you tackle abseiling, white-water rafting and mountain biking in the region.
Cost: R950 for the rockclimbing course. Contact: 01...; www.rocrope.com.
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3. Go on a ghost hunt
What is a townwithout a ghost? In Waterval-Onder a British soldier and his beloved, a nurse from the local military hospital, used to meet under a pepper tree for years after their death in 1900. Theman, Lieutenant John Lawlor, could apparently be identified by his regiment’s uniform, that of the Inniskilling Dragoons – his grave is in the local graveyard. The pepper tree was hit by lightning in 1966 and the remaining part fell over soon afterwards. The two ghosts were never seen again after that.
A group of labourers who died while working on the railway line also lie buried in the graveyard. Legend is that one man died for every sleeper on the line!
Behind the graveyard is Krugerhof, where President Paul Kruger lived in the winter of 1900, before going into exile in Europe. The square house of corrugated iron is now a neat little museum. When you look across town towards the mountain, you’ll see the winding route of the Old
Coach Road. Arrange beforehand with Helen Maddison of Round the Bend farmtowalk up the path – the view from the top is impressive.
When? Krugerhof is open daily between 9amand 4pm. Contact: 01... (Helen).
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4. Sightsee from the saddle
“I love animals,” says Sue Yates of Blaauwboschkraal Trails, the owner of 23 horses, 15 dogs and 10 cats.
Saddle one of Sue’s horses and trot up to the Blaauwboschkraal ruins in the mountains above Boven. Half an hour of easy riding brings you to a lookout from where you have a view of the town, surrounded by green mountains.
“On a clear day you can see as far as Machadodorp,” Sue says. You’ll also see ruins. Most consist of one or more circular stone structures. The origin is a mystery – some people believe they were Indian temples, others that people from further north in Africa built them between 1500 and 2000 years ago. – Lawrette McFarlane
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5. Tickle a trout
Trout fishing in Waterval-Boven is for anglers who like to take it easy. The town’s three dams are within walking distance of the shops, you can picnic and braai on the shore, and the ablution facilities are spick and span.
“The grass is mowed regularly and the branches of the trees are not in the way,” says Stuart Ormerod, who owns the Elands River Fly Shop in town. “So if you’re a beginner, your line won’t keep getting caught on branches.”
You can fish for trout along 8km of the Elands River. Lower down in the river, between the Elands and Montrose falls, a species of yellowfish occurs that is found nowhere else in the world.
Get your permit from Stuart or at the clubhouse. You can take two fish home, but not the rare yellowfish – that’s for catch and release only.
Cost: Arrange with George McAllister to fish in the Elands Valley 08.... In town it’s R70 for a permit, and you can hire a rod from him at R50 a day. (R100 deposit). Contact: The Waterval-Boven Trout Association (WBTA) www.linx. co.za/wbta; 082 87...; 082 457 3716 (Stuart).
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The ABC of Waterval-Boven
On the menu
• Steam Inn. Enjoy a delicious pizza for R50, and buy a bottle of Oom Oubaas’s mampoer for R60
( 013 257 1008).
• Bergwater Eco Lodge. Lunch is only R80 per person; book in advance ( 013 257 7081).
• Waters van Rus bakery. Buy six muffins for R12 on the main road.
Dates to diarise
• 19 July. Waterval-Boven Trout Association Ladies’ Day.
• 9 August. Oosterlijn Bike Rally – about 100 motorbike riders will show off their bikes and riding
skills.
• 30 August. Waterval-Boven Trout Association Spring Festival – the town’s main trout-fishing
competition.
• 26-28 September. Boven Roc Rally – teams of two compete in this annual endurance rock
climbing event.
Where to stay The town’s well-known Elandskrans Mountain Resort is open
again. Three guards now patrol the area day and night, but visitors are still urged to keep their cars locked and leave things such as laptops and expensive jewellery at home. Contact. Call Travellers’ Info 013 257 0444; www.linx. co.za/waterval-boven.
Visit www.krugergateway.co.za for more information on the Elands Valley.
How to get there
Waterval-Boven is about 250km east of Pretoria. The two toll gates en route there charge R33 (Middelburg) and R49 (Machadodorp).
Outside of the rainy season you can take a gravel detour of 17km around the Machado tollgate – if you really want to…Call Gustav of Roc ’n Rope for directions.
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