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Zambia’s Natural Wonders 赞比亚的自然奇观

 

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Come to this African country for the wildlife, but stay for Victoria Falls  到这个非洲国家欣赏野生生物，更要为了维多利亚瀑布多待一会儿

 

Oddly, the high point of my trip to Zambia in Africa wasn’t watching nearly extinct white rhinos from 30 paces, or seeing so many hippos in a river that I lost count, or walking next to zebras, or even the surprise bubble bath with a river view.

奇怪的是，在我游历非洲赞比亚的旅程当中，最高潮的时刻并不是在三十步之外的近距离观赏濒临绝种的白犀牛，也不是在一条河里看到多不胜数的河马，不是行走在斑马身旁，甚至也不是能欣赏河景的惊喜泡泡浴。

 

No, it was jumping into a pool literally on the edge of Victoria Falls and being able to swim to the very rim.

都不是，因为我这场旅程中的最高潮是跳进一座位于维多亚瀑布边缘的水池，而且还能游到瀑布边端。

 

Zambia is where you go in Africa for a more intimate view of nature …. after you’ve done the wildebeest migration with 30 other safari cars on the Masai Mara.

在非洲，赞比亚是能以更近的距离欣赏大自然的好去处……前提是要先随着另外三十辆游猎车辆到马赛马拉观赏牛羚大迁徙。

 

My group of friends wondered initially about splitting the trip between a game park and Victoria Falls, but in the end, it was a perfect combination.

我那群朋友对于把这趟旅行分成野生动物保护区和维多利亚瀑布这两种行程，起初原本心存疑虑，结果却证明这两者是完美的组合。

 

First, you watch animals, which means getting up before dawn and going out again at dusk, sometimes not finishing dinner till quite late. It can be exhausting. Then you go to Livingstone. Here, you make your own schedule, tasting the array of wild adventures.

首先是观赏动物，这代表必须在黎明前起床，然后又必须在黄昏时刻再次外出，有时到很晚才能吃完晚餐。这样的活动不免相当疲累。接着，则是到李文斯顿。在这里，你可以自己安排行程，尝试各种不同的野外冒险。

 

Elephants, impalas and more  大象、黑斑羚及其他

 

Any trip that starts with an elephant sauntering past the front door of your lodge promises to be good. And it was.

由一头大象漫步经过你的旅馆前门而揭开序幕的旅程，想必能够带来美妙的体验；结果也证明的确如此。

 

“A couple of weeks ago, we had an elephant up on the deck drinking from the pool,” said one of the staff at Robin Pope Safaris Luangwa Safari House. “He was very careful not to step on the cushions.”

「几个礼拜前，我们有一头大象在露天平台上喝着池里的水，」罗宾波普游猎团卢安瓦游猎旅馆的一名工作人员说：「牠很小心，脚都没有踩到坐垫。」

 

We got to see elephants around the lodge and all sorts of other game, but the walking safari was better. It’s different when you are on foot. The animals let you get closer. We practically strolled into a group of zebras.

我们在旅馆周围看到了大象以及其他各式各样的野生动物，但步行游猎更好玩。用双脚行走的情形是不一样的，动物会让你靠得更近。我们几乎走进了一群斑马当中。

 

Elephants just went on drinking. Impalas shone like gold against the shimmering sand of the dried-up Luwi River.

大象继续不断喝水。有卢威河干涸的河道上闪闪发光的沙子为背景衬托之下，黑斑羚像黄金一样耀眼。

 

 

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high point 高潮, 高峰时刻 a moment or occasion of great intensity, interest, happiness, etc

intimate [ˋɪntəmɪt] adj. 亲密的

safari [səˋfɑrɪ] n.〔在非洲的〕野外观兽旅行

lodge [lɑdʒ] n. 旅舍；山林小屋

impala [ɪmˋpɑlə] n.【动】黑斑羚（产于非洲中南部）

 

 

 

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All of this took place in the 3,500 square mile South Luangwa National Park in central Zambia. This place really is a Garden of Eden…. elephants, baboons, giraffes, birds of all kinds, and in front of Norman Carr Safaris Kakuli Bush Camp, more rhinos than anywhere else in south Africa. I lost count at 100.

这一切都发生在赞比亚中部占地三千五百平方哩的南卢安瓦国家公园里。这个地方真的是伊甸园……大象、狒狒、长颈鹿、各种鸟类；在诺曼卡尔游猎卡库里野外营地前面，犀牛的数量更是比非洲南部其他地方都还要多。我数到一百就数不清了。

 

Norman Carr originally was an elephant control officer and learned to love walks in the bush. Before the 1950s, it was thought you had to be in a vehicle to be safe, but Carr wanted to share the wonder of walking and worked out how to do it safely. We went out with a guide to explain things and a scout who carried the gum. And then we were off to Livingstone and Victoria Falls.

诺曼．卡尔原本是个大象管制官，后来爱上了在荒野中漫步。在1950年代之前，一般都认为必须搭乘车辆才安全，但卡尔想要和别人分享漫步的美妙体验，于是设计出了一套安全的方法。我们随着一名负责解说的导游出发，同时又有一名带枪的侦查员。然后，我们就前往李文斯顿与维多利亚瀑布了。

 

Dr. Livingstone, I presume?  我猜那就是李文斯顿医生吧？

 

Yes, that Livingstone: the one who discovered Victoria Falls. Don’t miss the museum in town and the room devoted to David Livingstone’s expeditions, which were unbelievable slogs through the wilderness. He died on the third one of malaria and dysentery.

没错，就是那位李文斯顿：当初发现了维多利亚瀑布的那一位。别错过镇上的博物馆，以及专门展示戴维．李文斯顿探险历程的展示厅。他的探险旅程令人难以置信，都是徒步跋涉穿越荒野。他在第三次的探险旅途中死于疟疾和腹泻。

 

But that’s not really what the area is known for these days.

可是这个地区现在并非以此着称。

 

“When I first came here,” said Tongabezi lodge owner Ben Parker, “the shops just had red plastic plates, blue plastic plates, Vaseline and peanut butter.”

「我刚来到这里的时候，」东加贝吉旅馆老板班．帕克说：「商店里都只有红色塑料盘、蓝色塑料盘、凡士林和花生酱。」

 

Parker was among the first to build a lodge in the mid-1990s. Today there are some 15 “A-class” lodges, though most were built only in the last decade. We stayed in Tongabezi on the Zambezi River where I got to soak in a huge old-fashioned bathtub while watching rhinos swim past my window.

帕克是在1990年代中期最早在这里兴建旅馆的其中一人。如今，这里约有十五家「A级」旅馆，但大多数都是过去十年来兴建的。我们住在尚比西河上的东加贝吉，我因此得以在一个老式的大浴缸里泡澡，还可一面看着犀牛游水经过我的窗前。

 

 

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work out 想出 come up with

scout [skaʊt] n. 侦察兵

dysentery [ˋdɪsn͵tɛrɪ] n. 痢疾；腹泻 infection of the intestine with bacteria or amoebae, marked chiefly by severe diarrhea with the passage of mucus and blood

 

 

 

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Adventures at Victoria Falls  维多利亚瀑布的冒险之旅

 

But the star here is Victoria Falls, a rip in the earth that’s 1.7 kilometers wide and 110 meters high. And though the first thing you’d think of at a place with a gigantic waterfall is honeymoons, that’s not the half of it.

不过，这里真正的明星是维多利亚瀑布。这是地表上宽1.7公里、高110公尺的裂口。巨大的瀑布虽然总是让人先联想到蜜月胜地，但这里可不仅仅是个度蜜月的好地方。

 

I thought Swakopmund in Namibia was Africa’s adventure capital but Victoria Falls gives Swakopmund a run for its money. Whitewater rafting, game viewing from canoes, walks with lions by your side, flights in microlights (think glider with a lawnmower engine), bungee jumping, and some craziness that involves swinging on a cable like a pendulum over the falls.

我原本以为纳米比亚的斯瓦科普蒙德是非洲的冒险首都，但相较之下维多利亚瀑布却一点也不逊色（译注：give…a run for …money指竞争激烈、丝毫不逊色）。激流泛舟、搭乘独木舟欣赏野生动物、徒步行走在狮群身边、搭乘微型飞机飞行（就像滑翔翼挂上割草机的引擎一样）、高空弹跳，还有吊着钢索在瀑布上方来回摆荡的疯狂之举。

 

And, of course, Devil’s pool.

当然，还有魔鬼的水池。

 

You take a boat to Livingstone Island, which is where Livingstone first saw the falls on November 16, 1855, and named then after Queen Victoria. Devil’s Pool was discovered by fishermen around 1970, but didn’t become a tourist destination until the ’90s. You hike a bit, swim through a shallow pond and scramble over some rocks. Then you jump into the pool – a large basin 10 meters across and 3 meters deep with a sturdy rock lip at the very edge of the waterfall.

首先是搭船登上李文斯顿岛。当初李文斯顿在1855年11月16日就是在这里首次见到这座瀑布，而以维多利亚女王为其命名。魔鬼的水池在1970年左右由渔夫发现，但直到1990年代才成为观光景点。你得健行一段路，游泳穿越一座浅水池塘，再爬过一些岩石，然后即可跳进这座水池──这是一个大凹坑，宽十公尺，深三公尺，在瀑布边缘有一道坚固的岩缘。

 

Our guide and his buddies scrambled over the rocks like they were crossing the street. We, meanwhile, let the current push us against the rocky rim where we clung, watching the sparkling water thunder from our shoulders to the chasm below.

我们的导游和他的伙伴爬过岩石就像穿越街道一样轻松，我们则是让水流把我们推向岩缘，然后攀附在那里，看着闪闪发亮的水从我们的肩膀旁随着震耳欲聋的声响冲向底下的深谷。

 

The guides stood on the lip where their ankles formed a sort of fence. It was tempting to grab a foot but, well, it’s such bad form to knock your guide over the edge. So we just hung there and gawked.

导游都站在岩缘上，他们的脚踝形成一道栅栏。看着这样的情景，实在让人不免有想要伸手去抓那些脚的冲动。不过，把自己的导游推下深渊未免太过恶劣，所以我们只是攀附在那里，瞠目结舌地望着。

 

In the end, my most vivid memory of Zambia was watching a waterfall, up close and personal. I did love the animals, but when I close my eyes and think back, it’s the thundering water I see.

结果，我对赞比亚最鲜明的记忆，就是近距离观看那座瀑布。我也非常喜爱那些动物，可是每当我闭上眼睛回想这趟旅程，脑中浮现的就是那轰隆作响的水流。

 

－by Yvette Cardozo

 

 

单词发音

 

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rip [rɪp] n. 裂口；裂缝；破洞

the half of it 【口】最重要的部分; a portion of something, typically implied to be the most important or significant part

give someone a run for someone’s money 争得难解难分; 丝毫不逊色 to be as good at something as someone who is known to be extremely good

whitewater [͵hwaɪtˋwɑtɚ] n. 急流

lawnmower [ˋlɔn͵moɚ] n. 割草机

cling [klɪŋ] v.〔尤指感觉不安全而〕紧紧抓住[抱住]

thunder [ˋθʌndɚ] v. 发出雷鸣般响声 to move fast and heavily

chasm [ˋkæzəm] n. 深渊; （地表的）陷窟 a deep, steep-sided opening in the earth's surface; an abyss or gorge

up close and personal 近距离地; 亲密地 intimately

 

 

 

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Vocabulary Focus

migration [maɪˋgreʃən] n. 迁移；（候鸟等的）迁徙 the process of animals traveling to a different place, usually when the season changes

game [gem] adj. 狩猎的；猎物的 wild animals and birds that are hunted for food or sport

saunter [ˋsɔntɚ] v. 闲逛；漫步 to walk in a slow and relaxed way, often in no particular direction

stroll [strol] v. 散步，溜达；缓步走 to walk slowly in a relaxed manner, especially for pleasure

shimmering [ˋʃɪmɚlɪ] adj. 闪烁的 reflecting a gentle light which seems to move slightly

expedition [͵ɛkspɪˋdɪʃən] n. 远征；探险 an organized journey for a particular purpose

slog [slɑg] v. 步履艰难地行（路）a long and difficult walk, for example through wet, sticky soil or snow, or when very tired

pendulum [ˋpɛndʒələm] n. 摆锤；钟摆 a device consisting of a weight on a stick which moves from one side to the other, especially one which forms a part of some types of clocks

scramble [ˋskræmb!] v. 爬行，攀爬 to move or climb quickly but with difficulty, often using hands to help

sturdy [ˋstɝdɪ] adj. 强健的；坚固的 physically strong and solid or thick, and therefore unlikely to break

gawk [gɔk] v.【美】【口】痴呆地看；张口瞠目 to look at something or someone in a stupid or rude way

 

 

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