Vaal River Accommodation House Boats

Vaal River Accommodation House Boats

Why not get a House Boat in Vaal River. It can be a super place to have House Boat. You may want a cheap or expensive boat. You may want a luxury one. You want one that is A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a human dwelling. Some houseboats are not motorized, because they are usually moored, kept stationary at a fixed point. You may want to enjoy the river wildlife, or the culture of the surrodining area or the nearby cities and towns to the river.

You may want to hire, rent, loan, buy, purchase a houseboat in the river.
The Vaal River is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source in the Drakensberg mountains in Mpumalanga, east of Johannesburg and about 30 km north of Clarens in the Free State at a source known as the Ash River. It then flows southwest to its conjunction with the Orange River southwest of Kimberley in the Northern Cape. It is 1120km in length, and forms the border between Mpumalanga, Gauteng and North West Province on its north bank, and the Free State on its south.

Importance to industry and agriculture

Water is drawn from the Vaal to meet the industrial needs of the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area and a large part of the Free State Province. As a part of the Vaal-Hartz Scheme it is a major source of water for irrigation. Water drawn from the Vaal supports 12 Million consumers in Gauteng and surrounding areas.

History
Gong Gong on the Vaal river: one of the first locations where alluvial diamonds were found.

Vaal is a Dutch name (later Afrikaans), translated by the Griquas or Boers from an earlier Kora Khoikhoi name Tky-Gariep (/hei !garib, drab river). Both Vaal and Tky mean "drab" or "dull", which alludes to the colour of its waters, especially noticed during flood season when much silt is carried. In the upper reaches the river was named Likwa (Sindebele), Ikwa (isiZulu), Êjkwa (siSwati) or cuoa by the Khoikhoi, all referring to the plain it traverses.

Historically, the river formed the boundary between two Boer republics, and later provinces, Transvaal and the Orange Free State. The geographic name Transvaal comes from the name of this river, meaning "Beyond the Vaal river". This was in respect to the Cape Colony and Natal, which were the main areas of European settlement at the time, and lay south of the Vaal.

The Orange River ( Afrikaans / Dutch: Oranjerivier ), Gariep River, Groote River or Senqu River is the longest river in South Africa. It rises in the Drakensberg mountains in Lesotho, flowing westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. The river forms part of the international borders between South Africa and Namibia and between South Africa and Lesotho, as well as several provincial borders within South Africa. Although the river does not pass through any major cities, it plays an important role in the South African economy by providing water for irrigation, as well as hydroelectric power.

The Orange rises in the Drakensberg mountains along the border between South Africa and Lesotho, about 193 km west of the Indian Ocean and at an altitude of over 3000 m. While in Lesotho, the river is known as the Senqu and parts of it freeze in winter, because of the altitude there.

The river then runs westwards through South Africa, forming the south-western boundary of the Free State province. In this section the river flows into first the Gariep Dam (this largest in the country), and on to the Vanderkloof Dam. From the border of Lesotho to below the Van der Kloof Dam the river bed is deeply incised. Further downstream the land is flatter, and the river is used extensively for irrigation.

At the western point of the Free State, southwest of Kimberley, the Orange meets with its main tributary, the Vaal River, which itself forms much of the northern border of the province. From here the river flows further westwards through the arid wilderness of the southern Kalahari region and Namaqualand in the Northern Cape Province to meet with Namibia at the 20th degree of east longitude. From here it flows westwards for 550km, forming the international border between the province and Namibia's Karas Region. On the border, the river passes the town of Vioolsdrif, the Customs and Excise post between South Africa and Namibia.

In the last 800 km (500 miles) of its course the Orange receives many intermittent streams and several large wadis lead into it. In this section, the Namib Desert terminates on the north bank of the river, so under normal circumstances the volume of water added by these tributaries is negligible. Here the bed of the river is once again deeply incised. The Hundred Falls or Augrabies Falls are located on this section of the Orange, where the river descends 122 m in a course of 26 km (16 miles).

The Orange empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Alexander Bay, which lies about equidistant between Cape Town and Walvis Bay. Some 33 km from its mouth it is completely obstructed by rapids and sand bars and is generally not navigable for long stretches.

The river has a total length of 2200 km.

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