Umkomazi River
The Umkhomazi River is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Course It rises in some of the highest eastwards-facing slopes of the Drakensberg mountains, near the mighty Thabana Ntlenyana. The river flows southeastwards towards the Indian Ocean, which it enters through a navigable estuary at Umkomaas, about 40 km southwest of Durban. Its main tributaries are the Loteni, Nzinga, Mkomazane, Elands and the Xobho River. Towns on the Umkomazi basin include Bulwer, Impendle, Ixopo, Craigieburn and Boston. Presently the only dam in its catchment area is the Ixopo Dam, but other dams are planned. The Umkomazi is part of the Mvoti to Umzimkulu Water Management Area. Ecology The Mkhomazi State Forest and the Mkhomazi Wilderness Area are protected areas in the upper course of the Umkomazi River. The scaly yellowfish ''(Labeobarbus natalensis)'' is a fish found in the Umkomazi River System as well as in the Umgeni, Umzimkulu, Tukhela and the Umfolozi. It is a commo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zulu Language
Zulu (), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal of South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa (24% of the population), and it is understood by over 50% of its population. It became one of South Africa's 11 official languages in 1994. According to Ethnologue, it is the second-most-widely spoken of the Bantu languages, after Swahili. Like many other Bantu languages, it is written with the Latin alphabet. In South African English, the language is often referred to in its native form, ''isiZulu''. Geographical distribution Zulu migrant populations have taken it to adjacent regions, especially Zimbabwe, where the Northern Ndebele language ( isiNdebele) is closely related to Zulu. Xhosa, the predominant language in the Eastern Cape, is often considered ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Impendle
Impendle is a town in Umgungundlovu District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Impendle town is 48 km west of Pietermaritzburg and 37 km north-east of Bulwer. It was founded in 1894 and since 1948 has been administered by a health committee. The name, of Zulu origin, means ‘uncovered’ or ‘exposed’, referring to a hill west of the town. The Impendle Local Municipality is located within the uMgungundlovu District in KwaZulu-Natal. It is Category B municipality. It is distance away from the major tourist and trade routes, even though two important roads mark its borders. The road inter-linking Pietermaritzburg and Underberg serves as an important access route to the Southern Drakensberg. Drakensberg is a popular tourist destination, and is situated and runs alongside Impendle's southern boundary. The connecting road between Mooi River and Underberg, which is an alternative tourist route, travels along the municipality's north-western bound ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Umfolozi River
The Umfolozi River (also uMfolozi, Imfolozi or Mfolozi) is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, a province of South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Black (''Imfolozi emnyama'') and White Umfolozi (''Imfolozi emhlope'') Rivers near the southeastern boundary of the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve. The isiZulu name ''imFolozi'' is generally considered to describe the zigzag course followed by both tributaries, though other explanations have been given. The river flows in an easterly direction to the Indian Ocean at Maphelana, a coastal resort just south of the St Lucia River mouth. It originally meandered over the Monzi Flats, where it split into numerous slow-flowing channels before entering the St. Lucia Estuary at Honeymoon Bend. The slow-moving water and reed beds in channels operated as a natural filtering system that removed silt from the Umfolozi floodwaters and created a rich habitat for numerous species. Ecology During the 1950s, the Umfolozi Landowners Association contai ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tugela River
The Tugela River ( zu, Thukela; af, Tugelarivier) is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. With a total length of , it is one of the most important rivers of the country. The river originates in Mont-aux-Sources of the Drakensberg Mountains at an elevation of almost 11,000 feet This has a very detailed description of the river's course. and plunges 947 metres down the Tugela Falls. The Mont-aux-Sources is also the origin of tributaries of two other major South African rivers, the Orange River, Orange and the Vaal River, Vaal. From the Drakensberg range, the Tugela follows a route through the KwaZulu-Natal midlands before flowing into the Indian Ocean. The total catchment area is approximately . Land uses in the catchment are mainly rural subsistence farming and commercial forestry. Tributaries The Tugela has a number of tributaries coming off the Drakensberg, the largest being the Buffalo River (KwaZulu-Natal), Mzinyathi ("Buffalo") River (rising near Maj ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Umzimkulu River
The Mzimkulu River is a river in South Africa. In the past, the Mzimkulu formed part of the border between Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. Presently this river is part of the Mvoti to Umzimkulu Water Management Area. In late February of every year, the river is host to one of South Africa's most popular canoe races, the Drak Challenge. Course It rises in the Drakensberg mountains just north of Rhino Peak, with the source being on the Lesotho border. It flows southeast towards the Indian Ocean, which it enters through an estuary at Port Shepstone. Its main tributary is the Bisi River which joins its right bank about halfway down its course. Towns on the Umzimkulu include Underberg and Umzimkhulu. Ecology The scaly yellowfish ''(Labeobarbus natalensis)'' is a fish found in the Umzimkulu River System as well as in the Umgeni, Umkomazi, Tukhela and the Umfolozi. It is a common endemic species in KwaZulu-Natal Province and it lives in different habitats between th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Umgeni River
The Umgeni River or Mgeni River ( zu, uMngeni) is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It rises in the "Dargle" in the KZN Midlands, and its mouth is at Durban, some distance north of Durban's natural harbour. The name is taken to mean "the river of entrance" in Zulu, though other meanings have been proposed. The river is approximately long with a catchment area of . The Howick Falls are some famous waterfalls on the Mngeni. Tributaries A noteworthy tributary is the Msunduzi River, which joins it between Nagle and Inanda dams. Higher up its course, the Msunduzi (or 'Dusi' for short) passes through the KwaZulu-Natal capital Pietermaritzburg. A famous downriver race, the Dusi Canoe Marathon takes place between the capital and Durban, attracting thousands of canoeists for the three-day event held in January every year. A small tributary that has an impact exceeding its size and length is the Lions River which joins the Umgeni about 4 kilometers upstream of Midmar Dam (near Li ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Protected Area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international organizations involved. Generally speaking though, protected areas are understood to be those in which human presence or at least the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood, non-timber forest products, water, ...) is limited. The term "protected area" also includes marine protected areas, the boundaries of which will include some area of ocean, and transboundary protected areas that overlap multiple countries which remove the borders inside the area for conservation and economic purposes. There are over 161,000 protected areas in the world (as of October 2010) with more added daily, representing between 10 and 15 percent of the world's land surface area. As of 20 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mkhomazi Wilderness Area
The uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park is a protected area in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, covering , and is part of a world heritage site. The park includes Royal Natal National Park, a provincial park, and covers part of the Drakensberg, an escarpment formation with the highest elevations in southern Africa. The park and the adjoining Sehlabathebe National Park in the Kingdom of Lesotho are part of the Maloti-Drakensberg Park, which was first declared a World Heritage Site on 30 November 2000. It is described by UNESCO as having "exceptional natural beauty in its soaring basaltic buttresses, incisive dramatic cutbacks, and golden sandstone ramparts... the site’s diversity of habitats protects a high level of endemic and globally threatened species, especially birds and plants... nd italso contains many caves and rock-shelters with the largest and most concentrated group of paintings in Africa south of the Sahara". The paintings mentioned are parietal art, some of w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mvoti To Umzimkulu Water Management Area
Mvoti to Umzimkulu WMA, or Mvoti to Umzimkulu Water Management Area (coded: 11), Includes the following major rivers: the Mvoti River, uThongathi River, Mdloti River, Ohlanga River, Mngeni River, Sterkspruit River, Lovu River, Mkomazi River, Mzimayi River, Mzimkulu River and Mtamvuna River and covers the following Dams: * Albert Falls Dam Mgeni River * Hazelmere Dam Mdloti River * Inanda Dam Mgeni River * Midmar Dam Mgeni River * Nagle Dam Mgeni River The Umgeni River or Mgeni River ( zu, uMngeni) is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It rises in the "Dargle" in the KZN Midlands, and its mouth is at Durban, some distance north of Durban's natural harbour. The name is taken to mean "the r ... Boundaries Primary drainage region U and tertiary drainage regions T40, T51 and T52. References {{reflistHydrology Water Management Areas Dams in South Africa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ixopo Dam
Ixopo is a town situated on a tributary of the Mkhomazi River along the R56 highway in the midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Background Ixopo was formerly known as Stuartstown, was laid out in 1878 and named after M Stuart, Resident Magistrate of the Ixopo district, who was killed at the Battle of Ingogo in 1881. Its name is derived from the Zulu onomatopoeic word, ''eXobo'', describing the sound made as cattle squelch through mud. The 'x', in Zulu, is pronounced as a lateral click). Ixopo is most famously described by Alan Paton in the opening lines of Cry, The Beloved Country: "There is a lovely road which runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it." Until the mid-1980s, Ixopo was served by a railway station on the narrow gauge Umzinto - Donnybrook narrow gauge railway. Notable people * Thabo Nodada (Footballer) * Purity Nomthandazo Malinga (Bishop) * Ray Zondo Raymond Mnyamezeli ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |