旅程博客。通過旅行聯係世界。

Zambezi河幾乎不是一條小溪。的確，正是非洲的第四大河流收集了中部非洲中南部降雨的近一半，並在經過1700英裏長的旅程後將其收集到印度洋。它的名字從湯加語中翻譯為“大河”，這是一個合適的綽號。史密森尼非洲野生動物園是對這條強大水路的現代探索。我們的行程將我們帶入了最傳奇的非洲探險家大衛·利文斯通（David Livingstone）的足跡。但是，與利文斯通博士不同，我們擁有現代運輸的奢侈，可以在兩周內掩蓋他花了很多年的艱苦開創性。我經常想知道是什麼驅使利文斯通尋求將“上帝的高速公路”開放給非洲內部的是什麼，我想我可能已經找到了他最大的動力之一。

通過津巴布韋，博茨瓦納和讚比亞的史密森尼人野生動物園，幾乎利用了每輛現代運輸車吧火車。We do game drives in specially adapted 4x4’s, boat cruises on luxury river craft, view the Vic Falls from helicopters, move from one country to another in luxury coaches or private aircraft, and skim along the Zambezi in small power boats in search of the formidable Tiger Fish. We are so habituated to the sound of the internal combustion engine (or as I call it, the infernal combustion engine) that we consider its intrusive racket as normal. Dr. Livingstone, I presume, would not approve.

When our group of Smithsonian Travelers reached the Royal Zambezi Lodge in Zambia’s remote Lower Zambezi National Park (after a bus ride, ferry crossing, another bus ride, a private charter flight, and a transfer by 4x4) many of us were ready for the tranquility that epitomizes this destination. The lodge offers a wide variety of activities including two of Livingstone’s preferred modes of transport: walking and canoeing.

我們的向導和事實上的保護者Simeon向我們指示我們出發前的嚴厲演講。他說：“記住。不要飛濺，因為這吸引了鱷魚。”說夠了！

實際上，劃獨木舟是一個安全的，因為沿著繁忙的街道行走 - 如果您遵守交通信號燈，就不太可能被汽車撞到。我們爬上了14英尺的加拿大獨木舟，隻有我們的攝像頭和雙筒望遠鏡，即我們是無界的！這是因為每個獨木舟都是由一個來自旅館的年輕人劃的，他親密地了解這些水域，並擅長使我們擺脫潛在的麻煩。

一旦我們出發，河的寧靜幾乎立即接管了。Zambezi的流動使我們柔和地掌握，我們迅速擊中了單獨的靜音按鈕。同時，我們的“其他”感官開始工作，我們開始注意到我們以前錯過了很多。Every bird chirp is a loud proclamation of territory, the snap of twigs gives an elephant’s position away, the unmistakable smell of a baboon roost, the sucking noise of antelope drinking, the audible snap of a bee-eater hawking an insect on the wing, the blast of air from a surfacing hippo’s nostrils. The only intrusion to this is the dip and splash of our helmsman’s paddle. The afternoon sun is at our backs and bathes the scene before us in a magical light that emphasizes the verdant river banks of giant mahogany and winter-thorn trees. It picks up the glisten of the crocodiles’ scales as they sunbathe, mouths agape to show off their weaponry, and illuminates an elephant in a halo as he throws clouds of dust over himself. It was at about this point that I was struck with a thought. David Livingstone conducted the first ‘European’ canoe safari on the Zambezi River and what we are witnessing is a scene that must have been a daily experience for him. Ageless wild Africa becomes apparent and, at this moment, a thread through time connects us. Generations of bee-eaters have made their nests in the sheer clay banks we drift past; the lineage of elephants that have drunk from these waters is unbroken; the fruits of the giant trees have provided sustenance for countless baboon dynasties, and always the river flows in a never ending continuum.

太早了，我們到達了頻道的盡頭，由於摩托艇收集了我們的舒適旅館，因此連接丟失了。利文斯通（Livingstone）在蟲洞的一側正在河岸建立營地，在強大的Zambezi上凝視著一場烹飪大火，並期待明天再做一次。

***

點擊這裏了解有關我們非洲野生動物園的更多信息。