Liesbeek River

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Liesbeek River (also spelt Liesbeeck) is a river in Cape Town in South Africa. It is named after a small river in Holland. The first "free burghers" of the Dutch East India Company were granted land to farm along the river in 1657, shortly after the first Dutch settlers arrived in the Cape. The river was originally called the Amstel or Versse Rivier.

The river starts in mountain gorges above Kirstenbosch and runs through parts of the southern suburbs. It is canalised in parts, with a path known as the Liesbeek River Trail running alongside.

It joins the Black River to empty into Table Bay at Paarden Island (Island of horses).

The Liesbeeck is home to the Platanna, an amphibian that has been important in certain areas of medical research.