津巴布韦万基国家公园 津巴布韦：马纳潭国家公园独木舟探险记

　　提到津巴布韦,除了雄壮的维多利亚瀑布和严重的通货膨胀(前段时间该国曾发行面值为100万亿的世界最大面额的钞票)外,你还知道哪些呢?事实上,津巴布韦的旅游项目多种多样,是绝佳的户外探险目的地。在这里,你能观赏到上千种其他地方看不到的野生动物,体验独木舟以及漂流的刺激,攀登寒冷的
　　高峰……本期“环球风情”将带大家前往位于津巴布韦北部的马纳潭国家公园,体验原始的非洲风情。
　　
　　The sun had reached its 1)zenith. My friend, Mia, and I saw elephants a little distance upriver. Against the advice of our guide, Englibert, we walked toward them to get a closer look. At a spot with a good view, I climbed a small tree and stood in a fork five feet above the ground.
　　Farther off, a second group of elephants 2)ambled near the river. A large herd of 3)gazelles and a half-dozen 4)warthogs 5)grazed quietly.
　　Then a bull elephant moved toward us. Mia slipped back toward camp while I stayed and watched. The bull ate 6)shrubbery on a trail leading alongside my tree, then it was too late to move. As he passed downwind six feet away, he stopped eating and 7)sniffed.
　　I could smell him, too. He had an 8)odor as big as his body. He paused. I kept quiet (except for my heart) and he moved along.
　　The other elephants came down the same path and, like the bull, seemed anxious when they passed by me, but they didn’t do anything rash, and neither did I.
　　Then all the animals started to move off.
　　9)Antelopes went all at once. Warthogs 10)trotted. I heard Englibert yell, “You can come down now.”
　　He had been worried that I might panic and try to run, or that the elephant would attack. He had gotten out his gun just in case, and watched from a distance.
　　I was on a canoe 11)safari in Mana Pools National Park, a spectacular World Heritage site in the north of Zimbabwe. The Zambezi River, which divides Zimbabwe from its neighbor, Zambia, forms its northern boundary. The river draws many wild animals, especially in September and October, the end of the dry season. One of the best ways to experience the river and its wildlife is in a canoe.
　　I’d met two women in Harare, Amy and Mia, and we had signed on with Kasambabezi Safaris, which provided transport, a guide and all our equipment and 12)provisions for about $100 per day. Our guide, Englibert, and a driver met us in Makuti, three hours from Harare.
　　When we reached the river, we unloaded the truck and packed the canoes, then Englibert told us: hippos, those great 13)vegetarians, are the main danger to canoeists. They 14)submerge when threatened, then surface suddenly, potentially 15)capsizing the canoe. A panicked or angry hippo might attack a canoe. We must watch for them, give them time to move to the deep water, and pass them along the bank, in the 16)shallows.
　　Crocodiles are only a problem to people in the
　　water or on the banks. No swimming! Likewise, the shore animals are only dangerous when people are ashore.
　　We 17)paddled off in two canoes. The river was broad, perhaps a half-mile wide or wider, and as steady and smooth as a highway.
　　As it runs through a desert-like environment, the river was warm. And it was clean. I would happily have swum in it, except for the crocodiles. The sun was 18)blazing. We had three hours of hard paddling, then a fly-19)infested lunch stop, before we reached our camping spot, on a pleasingly breezy 20)sandbar.
　　Englibert was a good cook. Dinner was a stir-fry of beef, onions, tomatoes and at least three different vegetables, with rice. After dinner, Englibert told stories of his life as a guide.
　　He told tales of hippo and crocodile attacks with great 21)enthusiasm, but mostly he talked about
　　everyday economics: living through a slow-motion economic 22)collapse, working in an industry that has almost disappeared.
　　While we had tents with mosquito netting, I slept outside, where it was pleasantly cool. With no moon and no 23)artificial light for miles, the stars were brilliant. I heard only the 24)murmur of the river, and the calls of night birds and animals.
　　Every day we started out at sunrise, after tea and 25)cereal. After paddling for four hours, we stopped for brunch and rested for a few hours under some shady trees.
　　We had tea and a snack before setting off again, paddling until nearly sunset to camp on a bare
　　sandbar. Timing is critical: from sunrise to sunset, a sandbar is too hot.
　　As we paddled, the Zambian 26)escarpment rolled by on the north, and to the south, in Zimbabwe, a flat flood plain extended for miles. This 27)stretch is national park land, with no human 28)habitation.
　　On the Zambian side of the river bank, however, we saw occasional huts. Near these huts, people fished, bathed or washed clothes in the river.
　　29)Baboons and 30)vervet monkeys 31)scampered along riverbanks and island shorelines, and herds of elephants, African buffalos, zebras, gazelles, water bucks and impalas grazed.
　　The antelopes and zebras moved away at our approach, but the buffalos and elephants stood and watched us glide by.
　　The park is a magnet for birds, with more than 380 species found here. We saw 32)storks, 33)egrets, 34)ibises and cranes fishing in the shallows quietly. There were also numerous geese and ducks, and a great variety of shorebirds, as well as many different types of swallows; several types of 35)kingfishers; and many eagles, including the Zimbabwean national bird, the African Fish Eagle.
　　Crocodiles � motionless in the water or sunning on the bank � were a common sight as we paddled. Sometimes when we were on the bank, one would station itself nearby in the river to watch us. Never once did we see 36)throngs of them 37)churning up bloodstained river water.
　　Hippos dotted every stretch of river. We wove our way through them. When we saw a group standing in the shallows, we would wait upstream. They would study us for a while. Then they would slowly move to deeper water, submerging when we started moving and resurfacing after we passed.
　　As we paddled away from them, we would hear them 38)splashing and calling. Once we spent half an hour entirely surrounded by 20 hippos. Eventually they moved off and we were free to go.
　　Hippos stay cool in the water all day, then come ashore to graze after sunset. One 39)blundered into our camp one night, adding to our adventures. I heard him climb out of the water nearby. Englibert clapped his hands, and the creature froze, then returned to the river with a huge splash.
　　
　　日正当午,我和朋友米娅在上游不远处看见几头大象。我们没有听从导游英格力伯特的建议,朝它们走过去,想看个仔细。在一个视野良好的地点,我爬上了一棵小树,站在离地面五英尺(1.5米)高的一个树杈上。
　　远处,另一群大象正在慢悠悠地往河边走去,一大群瞪羚和六只疣猪正在安静地觅食。
　　随后,一头雄象朝我们走来。米娅溜回了营地,我则继续留在原处观察。这头雄象正在啃食灌木丛,而我站的小树就在它行经的这条小道上。要离开已经太迟了。它朝着下风方向走了六英尺(1.8米),然后停止进食,用力吸了一口气。
　　我也能闻到它的气息,它身上的气味和它的身体一样大。它停了下来。我保持静止(心脏除外),它慢慢地靠近。
　　其他大象也沿着同一条路走来。经过我身边的时候,它们也像这头雄象一样,显得焦躁不安。不过它们并没有做出什么鲁莽的举动,我也没有。
　　随后,所有动物渐渐散开了。羚羊一下子都走开了;疣猪匆匆地跑了。我听到英格力伯特喊道:“你现在可以下来了。”
　　他一直很担心我可能会因为惊慌失措而试图逃跑,或者那头大象会攻击我。他已经拔出了枪,在不远处盯着,以防万一。
　　马纳潭国家公园位于津巴布韦北部,是一处壮观的世界遗址。我正在这里进行独木舟旅行。赞比西河是津巴布韦的北部边界,将它和邻国赞比亚划分开来。这条河流吸引了许多野生动物,尤其是在九十月间的旱季末尾。体验这条河及其野生动物资源最好的方式之一就是乘坐独木舟。
　　我在(津巴布韦首都)哈拉雷遇到两位女士――艾米和米娅。我们一起报名参加卡桑巴比西旅行社的探险旅行。旅行社提供交通工具、一名导游以及所有设备和供给,每日价格约为100美元。我们的导游英格力伯特和一位司机在距离哈拉雷三小时车程的马库提接我们。
　　到达赞比西河后,我们卸下卡车上的物品,装上独木舟,然后英格力伯特对我们说,对划独木舟的人而言,河马这种大型草食动物才是最大的危险。它们受到威胁时会潜入水里,然后突然浮出水面,可能将独木舟弄翻。一头受惊或被惹怒的河马可能会攻击独木舟。我们必须对它们保持警惕,让它们有时间潜到深水处,然后沿着河岸的浅滩绕过去。
　　至于鳄鱼,它们只会对水里和岸上的人造成威胁。所以不要下水游泳!同理,岸上的动物也只会对在河岸上的人构成危险。
　　我们划着两条独木舟开始旅程。河流很宽,可能有半英里(0.8千米)或者更宽,河面安稳平坦得像高速公路一样。
　　由于途经的环境近似于沙漠,赞比西河的水温暖和,而且干净清澈。要不是因为有鳄鱼,我真想在河里畅游。骄阳似火般灼目。我们艰难地划了三个小时的独木舟,停下来吃了一顿饱受苍蝇干扰的午餐,然后终于到达位于一片凉风习习的怡人沙洲上的宿营地。
　　英格力伯特是个好厨师。我们的晚餐是炒牛肉、洋葱、番茄,还有至少三种不同的蔬菜,配上米饭。吃过晚饭后,英格力伯特讲起了自己当导游的故事。
　　他热情洋溢地讲述了河马和鳄鱼袭击人的故事,不过他讲的大部分还是关于日常的经济生活:比如在缓慢的经济崩溃中挣扎求存,从事一种快要消失的行业等。
　　虽然我们的帐篷有蚊帐,但我还是在外面睡觉,因为外面很凉爽。这里没有月亮,几英里范围内也没有人造光源,因此星星看起来格外璀璨。我只听见河流的呢喃,以及夜鸟和动物的呼唤。
　　每天,我们用过早茶和谷类早餐以后,便在日出时分出发。划了四个小时独木舟之后,我们便停下来吃早午餐,而后在岸上找了几片树荫,休息几个小时。
　　吃过茶点后,我们再次出发。我们划着独木舟,直到将近日落,最后在一片裸露的沙洲上宿营。时间选择很关键,因为从日出一直到日落这段时间,沙洲都是滚烫炙人的。
　　划独木舟的途中,赞比亚境内的悬崖绝壁在北面一路铺开,而南面的津巴布韦则是一片平坦的、绵延数英里的河漫滩。这一带是国家公园的土地,没有人类居住。
　　然而,在赞比亚那边的河岸上,我们偶尔能见到一些小棚屋。在这些小屋附近,有人在打渔、洗澡,或在河里洗衣服。
　　狒狒和长尾黑颚猴沿着河岸和岛岸奔跑跳跃;一群群大象、非洲水牛、斑马、瞪羚、水羚和黑斑羚在吃草。
　　当我们靠近的时候,羚羊和斑马跑开了,而水牛和大象则站在原地,看着我们慢慢滑过。
　　马纳潭国家公园吸引了大批雀鸟,在这里有超过380种鸟类。我们看到鹳、白鹭、朱鹭和鹤在浅滩安静地捉鱼。这里有多不胜数的鹅和鸭、品种繁多的水鸟和燕子、数种翠鸟,还有各种各样的鹰,其中包括
　　津巴布韦的国鸟――非洲鱼鹰。
　　我们沿途经常看见鳄鱼――它们要么静悄悄地隐没在水里,要么就在岸上晒太阳。有时候当我们在岸上,会有一条鳄鱼潜伏在不远处的河水里盯着我们。至于一大群鳄鱼翻起血染的河水的情景,我们
　　倒是一次也没有见过。
　　河里到处都有河马,我们在其间穿行。看到一群河马站在岸边浅水处时,我们会在上游等待。它们会研究我们一会儿,然后便慢吞吞地挪到深水区。我们开始划行前进时,它们便潜入水里,直到我们通过以后才再度浮出水面。
　　独木舟渐渐远离它们时,我们能听到它们溅起水花和叫唤的声音。有一次,我们被20头河马团团围住,整整半个小时动弹不得。最后它们离开了,我们才得以继续前进。
　　河马一整天都会待在水里纳凉,直到日落以后才上岸吃草。一天晚上,有一头河马闯进了我们的营地,为我们的旅程平添了一分惊险。我听见它在附近的水面爬了上来。英格力伯特大声拍掌,那头河马吓了一跳,然后,随着一阵巨大的水花声,它返回河中了。