vlei

1. (Southern Africa) A shallow wetland or minor lake, generally a seasonal one, or the lowland where such a wetland appears seasonally.Examples: "The country thereabout was a succession of vleys or gulleys, then filled with excellent clear water, teeming with water-fowl."; "She remembered the pleasurable warm smell of the cow droppings […] as if the four-divided stomachs of the great oxen were filled with nothing but concentrated memories of hours of grazing along the water heavy vleis."; "Although rare, it takes an unearthly amount of rain to fill the Tsauchab River and penetrate the dune area, bringing water into the vlei. During these rare times, the vlei takes on a life of its own, much different than in the absence of water[…]"Southern-Africa