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Waterberg literally means "water mountain". It is thought the area got its name from the early Voortrekkers. During the rainy season water appears to flow out of the mountain rock itself and rock faces higher up on the slopes continually glisten with water making its way down from the mountains to the many streams and rivers on the plains below.     Waterberg Biosphere Reserve The Waterberg Biosphere Reserve was formally launched in 2001 as one of some 400 UNESCO-registered biosphere reserves established around the world. It is the only "savanna" reserve of this type in southern Africa. The Waterberg Biosphere Reserve  covers an area of about 400 000 hectares and is home to about 80 000 people. The Waterberg is made up of an area consisting of low mountain ranges and escarpments with poor soils and a relatively low level of economic activity. The vegetation is dominated by different veld types, which are characteristic in mountainous savanna areas. Tourism is the major source of income. However, people also practice cattle rising, crop production and, since the 1970s, have increasingly switched to game farming, hunting and eco-tourism. The biosphere reserve concept aims to help strike a balance between the pressures of the tourist industry, the need to generate direct benefits to the local communities and the conservation of the natural assets. Source: UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory   Vegetation of the Waterberg Sour Bushweld characterised by African Beechwood (Faurea saligna), Common Hookthorn (Acacia caffra), Red Seringa (Burkea africana, Terminalia sericea and Peltophorum africanum) etc. The steep slopes and cliffs with bare rock, home to the same tree species as above, also have Albizia tanganyicensis and Combretum molle. The riverbank and freshwater habitats include wetlands and are characterised by Mimusops zeyheri, Clerodendrum glabrum, Ficus thonningii etc. Farming activities include cattle raising and game farming, irrigated tobacco cultivation, mixed faming.   Animals of the Waterberg White Rhino were re-introduced into the area in 1972, Black Rhino in 1990, Hippos in 1985, Elephant and disease-free Buffalo in the early 1990's and later Lions in the late 1990s. Some endangered species were saved by game farming for eco-tourism and hunting, e.g. Sable antelope.   Eugene Marais Eugene Marais, much loved South African poet, is known as the "first son of the Waterberg" and the father of the scientific study of the behaviour of primates. He was a poet, philosopher, doctor, lawyer, and a naturalist and, later in his life, addicted to morphine and suicidal. In 1910 Marais moved to the Waterberg where he first studied termites and then became the first person to conduct a prolonged study of baboons in the wild, living with a troop of chacma baboons for three years. This provided the basis for his book The Soul of the Ape. Marais wrote in Afrikaans, a language spoken only in South Africa and he refused to have his works translated into English. Revolutionary concepts developed by him therefore remained almost unknown to the rest of the world until his The Soul of the White Ant was plagiarised by Nobel Laureate Maurice Maeterlinck in 1926 under the title The Life of the White Ant. Maeterlinck's book was met with outrage in South Africa, but most Europeans were unaware that an unknown South African observer had worked for years to develop the new theories. American author and social anthropologist Robert Ardrey (1908-1980) checked and confirmed forty years later that "Maeterlinck's guilt is clear". In South Africa Eugene Marais is probably most fondly remembered for his contribution to Afrikaans literature. His writings drew attention if not to the existence then certainly to the magnificence of the Waterberg. Marais killed himself with a shotgun in 1936.   Read more about Eugene Marais:

Reservations Werner Powroznik +27 82 567 6993 Axel Powroznik +27 82 567 6991 Manager Jacques Blignault +27 82 225 8826 Ditoro Game Lodge South Africa Vaalwater  S24 08.875 E28 26.070