Underberg is an administrative town in a

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

farming community in the Mzimkulu River valley of

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is situated at the foot of the 1,904 m Hlogoma Peak ''(place of echoes)'' in the foothills of the southern

Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Zulu language, Zulu: uKhahlamba, Sotho language, Sotho: Maloti, Afrikaans: Drakensberge) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, Southern Africa, Great Escarpment, which encloses the central South Africa#Geography, Sout ...

, KwaZulu-Natal. Underberg was established in 1917 when the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

from

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

reached the area. It is an important commercial centre for the region's farming industry providing many of the support services. It is also a trading center for people who come down the nearby Sani Pass from

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

. The town also houses provincial offices of the ministries of

Social Welfare Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance p ...

and Transport, a

clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

; as well as the municipal

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

. The Underberg School offers pre-primary and primary education. Churches in town include the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Congregational Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

, The Underberg Baptist Church and Highlands Church International. Tourism is the second biggest industry in the area, next to farming. The area surrounding Underberg provides a large variety of tourism offerings, as a gateway to the Southern Drakensberg. The Southern Drakensberg Community Tourism Organisation was established by the community in 2007 and serves to promote tourism under the ''Southern Berg Escape'' brand. Underberg offers a variety of accommodation and eatery options, mostly of casual nature to suit most tastes. The Underberg district is, along with

Dullstroom Dullstroom, also known as Emnothweni, is a small town in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The town lies north of Belfast and some south-west of Lydenburg on the R540 road. Along with Barkly East and Underberg, it is one of South Africa's p ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

one of South Africa's premier

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is in ...

destinations. Splashy Fen, an annual outdoor music festival, is held on a farm near Underberg. The internationally acclaimed Sani2C Mountain Bike race held annually starts in Underberg, while. Home of the world class wedding venue, Glencairn Farm. Paddlers from far and wide gather annually for the Drak Challenge canoe race held on the Mzimkulu river. File:ZA-KZ-underberg.jpg, Shopping center in Underberg File:Splashy Fen 2009 Aerial.jpg, The Splashy Fen music festival, held yearly on a farm outside Underberg

References

* Brandon-Kirby, Robert - Fly-Fishing in Southern Africa * Nagy, D. De F. (ed) - The First 100 Years of the Underberg-Himeville District 1887-1987

External links

Southern Berg Escape

Splashy Fen

Sani2C MTB Race

Joberg2C MTB Race

Drak Challenge Canoe Race

Underberg School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Underberg, Kwazulu-Natal Populated places in the Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Local Municipality