A river runs through it

Some of the most desirable - and correspondingly expensive - real estate in the world is located beside rivers, and South Africa is no exception. Alan Duggan went looking for people with an affinity for flowing water... and came away with a plan for the rest of his life.

- Alan Duggan

Thirty years ago, Robert Redford directed a film adaptation of a semiautobiographical novel by author Norman Maclean about a river, flyfishing and complicated family dynamics. Audiences around the world were captivated by the characters, mesmerised by the river's everchanging moods and moved to tears by the narrator's final words: "Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters."

We humans are fascinated by oceans, rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. You might think it's because our very distant ancestors emerged from the sea hundreds of millions of years ago, or because the trillions of cells in our bodies are composed mainly of two hydrogen atoms linked in a single chemical bond to an oxygen atom. You know, water molecules.

Personally, I find these conjectures something of a stretch. But when someone tells me that living beside a river is "good for the soul", I absolutely get it, which is slightly weird because I don't believe in souls or the afterlife (or the Kardashians, for that matter). 

Best of all worlds

Take the case of the Van Zyl family, who enjoy an idyllic waterside lifestyle far from the cacophony and myriad stresses of the city. Pierre and Annalien van Zyl divide their time between a waterfront home at the Vaal Marina and a houseboat moored at the Emerald Resort & Casino on the Vaal River in southern Gauteng.

They never cease to marvel at the passing show: the occasional antelope on the river bank, the flurries of water as a boat passes, even a modest-sized tornado. It's all part of nature's everchanging show, and they love it.