Chrissiesmeer (Chrissie's Lake)

Chrissiesmeer is in the Mpumalanga (place of the rising sun) highveld of South Africa, near the town of Ermelo.

The area was originally named "New Scotland" by Scottish immigrants in the 1860s. Alexander McCorkindale changed the name of Zeekoeivlei (hippo pan) in honour of Christina, the daughter of Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, the first president of the Transvaal Boer Republic.

Chrissiesmeer is one of only a handful of natural lakes in South Africa. The area is renowned for its rich biodiversity, and in particular for the birds that frequent the wetland.

The area is also a contender for the location of the legendary "Kruger Millions" hoard of gold coins, removed from the Pretoria Mint under the authority of Paul Kruger to prevent its falling into the hands of the British during the (second) Anglo-Boer War / War of Independence. Stashes of coins have been found, but these very likely belonged to farmers who left to fight the "khakis".