試了幾次後，湯尼終於發動了船的馬達。大家總算鬆了一口氣。
河河口散佈著許多大大小小的島嶼，讓它在地圖上看起來就像蟲啃過的芭蕉葉。船穿梭在島和島之間，等待著落日，也讓我們盡情觀賞著鳥獸生態。近傍晚時分，河兩岸突然熱鬧起來，我們看到水鳥紛飛，羚羊、疣豬、大象都來汲水，但令人吃驚的是，大象群還成縱隊步入湍急的河中，走向其中一座島。
「這河不深嘛，連大象都走得過去。」有人望著河面說。
「不，不，不，牠們游過去的。」湯尼語出驚人說：「大象很會游泳的。」
簡直匪夷所思—這麼龐大的軀體和噸位，竟可以浮起大半個身子？要不是我親眼目睹，加上後來又在國家地理頻道看過大象四腳在水底划動的畫面，我絕對難以置信。
我們在船上邊喝飲料邊聽湯尼對於三比西河的解說。他熟悉這條南非洲大動脈的水流速度、深度、潛伏危機等等，就如同醫生熟悉人的脈膊一樣。他是辛巴威佔大多數的索那族（Shona）黑人，在河上開船多年，也算繼承祖業，因為此地很早就開發了，最早可溯自19世紀末，便開始吸引觀光客來此欣賞「維多利亞瀑布」—這是英國探險家李文斯敦（David Livingstone）於1855年11月16日「發現」此瀑布時，以當時英國女王的名字命名的。在前往魔鬼瀑布的步道旁，有一尊雕像就是紀念李文斯敦的「發現」，同時也感謝他的「發現」讓辛巴威成為英國殖民地，暨後來獨立成為白人國家「羅德西亞」，但羅德西亞在1980年又蛻變為「辛巴威社會主義共和國」—這是典型的非洲式財富轉移機制—由黑人獨裁者執政，將老百姓的財富下降到相同的標準，變成世界上赤貧最平均的國家之一。
在我住的象嶺酒店（Elephant Hills Hotel）大門外，永遠有一群小孩等著兜售你東西，像是木雕、工藝品類，或說要幫你帶路導覽，但有的乾脆就伸手討錢—他們顯然很有經驗，皆會說幾句英文。
「先生，你是日本人嗎？」
「不是。」
「先生，請告訴我，你哪裡來？」多彬彬有禮的小孩啊。
「台灣。」
「我知道你們台灣人都很有錢，能給我一點錢讀書好嗎？」露出真正的意圖了。但我極為驚訝，他們怎知道台灣有錢呢？
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「誰告訴你台灣人有錢的呢？」
「我聽人說的。」可見耳語的傳播還是非洲的主要傳播工具。如果我說是香港人、新加坡人、韓國人、或日本人，不知道他們又有何看法？
我就像被一群非洲孑孓蠅糾纏著，走到哪裡跟到哪裡，不得已只好丟下一支原子筆給他們搶，轉頭逃回酒店。希望我的棄筆有助於提升他們的識字率。象嶺酒店是本地僅次於維多利亞酒店的五星級旅館，擁有自己的高爾夫球場，你打球時會發現換了另一批更囂張的小黑鬼來招惹你，牠們有時霸佔著果嶺不走，還多挖幾個坑洞給你增加桿數，甚至把你的小白球咬走，換一堆小黑球給你打—各位，你們知道我在說什麼嗎？疣豬黑屎，是的，如高爾夫球般大小的黑屎—如果你敢追牠們，小心牠們用獠牙對付你。 |
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面具舞，早期都帶有宗教色彩，現在變成迎賓舞。
Traditional dancing had become some kind of welcome performance now. |
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順帶一提維多利亞酒店。它最大特色是，貴極了。其次是，歷史見證。它建於1904年，以紅瓦白牆的殖民風格建築引人注目，非常值得來此喝杯咖啡或吃個餐，我推薦後院露天餐廳的遮陽傘雅座，有很好的瀑布觀景視野，現任英國女王也曾於1947年來此遊歷。
晚餐之前，循例會安排一場「面具舞秀」。
主持人解說這種戴著面具、伴著鼓聲的傳統舞，早期都帶有宗教色彩，現在則用來表示對客人的尊敬和友好。此地面具極為巨大，大的幾乎有一個人高，多數雕刻成飛禽走獸的面貌，以代表祖先的幽靈，製作材料包括了木頭、植物纖維、泥土、獸皮、獸牙等多種。舞蹈粗獷有力，常有高難度近乎瑜珈似的肢體語言，但博得滿堂彩的通常是搞笑的滑稽動作—為了賺外匯，祖先想必也見怪不怪吧。
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「河面怎會有那麼多浮木啊？」有人指著稍遠處河面喊著，把我的思緒拉回三比西河現場。
「等它們漂過來，撿幾塊來雕刻吧。湯尼，你們索那族不是最擅長雕刻嗎？」有人說著說著便將手伸出去，準備好撈一把的手勢。
握著方向盤的湯尼，轉頭一看，急忙道：「小心，手不要去伸出去，那是鱷魚。」這句話像榔頭打到手膝蓋，那人手立即倒彈縮手，嚇得魂飛魄散。
大家定睛一瞧，真的咧，一群鱷魚似乎聞到什麼野味，正往河岸方向游去—啊，羚羊喝水的地方。我們緊張地注視即將發生的一切，可惜有隻羚羊突然連續叫了幾聲，一群羚羊便跟著拔腿往後撤退，保持安全距離。隨即鱷魚看到口的肉跑了，又轉移到其它地方。 |
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長得牛頭馬面的牛羚，是非洲草原上常見的大型野生動物。群居，又名角馬，常作大規模遷徙，東非動物大遷徙又叫做角馬大遷徙 。
With a look of horse face-bull head, the wildebeest is a commonly seen animal in the big grassy plains in the eastern Africa. |
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其實，鱷魚對船的威脅並不大。船再怎麼小也比牠巨大。湯尼戒慎恐懼的反倒是河馬。雖說河馬看似肥肥笨笨，一副害羞的樣子，但脾氣一來會主動攻擊船，尤其牠在水中行動更是如魚敏捷，誰都拿牠沒輒。
湯尼小心翼翼將船與河馬群保持十多公尺距離，把引擎暫熄，給大家有機會謀殺底片。當大家拍得不亦樂乎（其實牠們只露出鼻孔，一點都不把人瞧在眼裡），突然嘩啦的一陣破水聲，一隻大河馬從船邊躍出，大吼一聲，嚇得大家有幾秒鐘愣住了，並濺了一身水。接下來，就是我在文章開頭敘述的情況，船順著水勢失控地漂流，直至湯尼啟動了幾次引擎才脫離險境。
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「為什麼河馬會追逐馬達船？」有人問。
問倒湯尼了。他說不出所以然，猜想可能船侵入了牠們的地盤。但我在想，河馬會不會誤以為馬達聲是異性的叫春挑逗？
有時水面看似平靜，但無人能預測底下是否有河馬潛伏，所以我特別佩服那些划小舟的人。如果他們看過河馬那張大嘴巴，像打開的汽車行李箱露出隧道般的食道之後，不知道是否還有勇氣繼續划船？對於河馬耙釘似的利牙足以一口咬爛小舟，我可一點都不懷疑。
每當置身類似危險，我都會想起一個老問題：「那一剎那，我會想到誰？」那個「誰」其實就是我平日應該要珍重的人。如果你不是這麼想，請問最後一刻你想到什麼？該不會是風景明信片忘了貼郵票？
太陽逐漸西沈，金黃色的光線投射在瀑布那頭，輝映著升起的煙霧。我想起飛機降落前，機長除了例行報告此地幾乎終年晴空萬里的炎熱狀況， |
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河馬看似肥肥笨笨，一副害羞的樣子，但脾氣一來會主動攻擊船
Although hippos appear funny and shy because they are big and fat, sometimes when they get really angry, they will ram into boats! |
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也提醒旅客注意窗外有股直衝雲霄的曇雲狀煙霧，說那就是維多利亞瀑布水氣沖天的奇景。我想他要是不說，乘客從飛機上看到底下雨林密佈，恐怕會誤以為火燒森林囉。
機長說那就是「打雷的煙霧」（The Smoke With Thunders），但當地土語是：「MOSI-OA-TUNYA」，亦即維多利亞瀑布正名後的官方名稱。
瀑布公園管理處在入口的地圖，舉了一些數字說明瀑布的驚人，例如每分鐘500個百萬公升的流量（旺水期），數目大到無法思考，誰有概念啊？還不如我一個南非朋友說得好：「大概是約翰尼斯堡三年用水量總和。」請容我提醒各位，約堡是南非大城，人口200萬。
當我清晨沿著步道觀賞瀑布，還沒走完全程就被噴灑成落湯雞。在此特別提醒女士們，穿比基尼泳裝最好，不然請在入口處租好雨衣和雨傘再進來。
試想以每分鐘五億公升的降水量灌注下去，聲勢當然有如閃電雷鳴，而且，激起的水霧竄升上來簡直是鋪天蓋地，加上風向忽東忽西，防不勝防，不要說拍照，有時連眼睛都睜不開，我看到有人穿雨衣打傘也撐不住，還不如我短褲短衫和涼鞋。嘿嘿，幸好我有先見之明，用塑膠袋套了相機。要拍到全貌可真難喔。
瀑布中的魔鬼和東方，英文名稱中有「白內障」（Cataract）一字，顧名思義，想是瀑布視而不見，雙眼白茫茫一片，有如患了白內障。另外，彩虹瀑布真的就在上方拉出長虹，沒騙你，我回頭又去了一次，還在，只是換個位置擺而已。這是世上少數名符其實沒有詐騙之嫌的風景。
但是，逛走瀑布最刺激之處莫過於，站在又名「危險岩」的突出斷崖上。我不鼓勵各位學我這麼做，除非你想不開（可沒有欄杆攔你）。可是當勇敢十足的我稍稍靠近時，不知怎麼回事，雙腳直打哆嗦、痙攣，甚至渾身毛髮豎立—就那麼一瞬間，想到家中老的小的、內的外的，便立即決定回頭是岸。唉，找個地方尿尿也無須冒如此大的危險吧？還是忍著吧，快到盡頭了。
湯尼要我暫替他掌握方向舵，他要為大家調雞尾酒，舉杯互祝。此時大象群舉鼻長嘯，魚鷹掠過水面啄食河魚，空中更不時有烏雲般的鳥群迴旋，使得21世紀的泛舟獵遊，仍有19世紀非洲的氣息—夜晚睡覺請記得將蚊帳撐起來喔。
river.
“This river isn't very deep, even the elephants can walk through it,” someone said.
「到底哪個瀑布世界最大？巴西伊瓜蘇瀑布或你們的什麼的？」湯尼希望大家不要再叫「Victoria Falls」，但「MOSI-OA-TUNYA」沒人記得住。我懷疑辛巴威政府也是用台灣政府那一套「正名」的手淫法，攏絡討好原住民。象徵意義大於實質意義。殖民者的地理命名，通常被視為一種傲慢的態度，一種對土地的褻瀆。唉，爽就好。
「當然我們的最大。」湯尼接著解釋：「伊瓜蘇瀑布雖然寬達4,000公尺，其間卻有275個礁巖島分隔，造成無數個大大小小的瀑布群，所以嚴格說來不能算是一個〝完整的瀑布〞。」
「反觀高度、落差，伊瓜蘇只有82公尺，但MOSI-OA-TUNYA卻從90至107公尺不等。像美國佬引以自豪的尼加拉瀑布，無論寬度與落差，也才我們的一半而已。」不用結論就知道誰是「世界第一」了。這和我去看伊瓜蘇瀑布時，聽到的巴西說法剛好次序顛倒，他們說伊瓜蘇是世界面積最大、開口最寬、數量最多的瀑布。
我啜飲著雞尾酒，不理孰勝孰負，只是欣賞著沾染滿天雲彩的河面倒影，突然大家不約而同靜默了，彷彿怕說任何一個字去破壞它的美麗。這是非洲式的日夜交替，真想噴灑一把凝固劑把它給固定起來。此時湯尼也將馬達熄火，別慌，離河口夠遠了。結果不到三分鐘，夕陽掉落三比西河了，我的心也跟著漂流到維多利亞瀑布了—啊，我的維多利亞美人在遙遠的地方，我的青春小鳥一去不再回！
Our tour guide Tony kept trying to start the engine of the motorboat until it finally started. Everyone felt great relief. A moment earlier, Tony didn't want to bother any nearby hippos so he turned off the engine. After waiting some time, the hippos were still underwater so we had to go.
Going against the current, the boat went up the Zambezi River, leading us back to safety and dry land. We all knew that our lives had just been saved. That morning, our group had visited Victoria Falls and experienced firsthand the ferocious power of water. That's why we were so worried about what might happen to us on the river.
Zambezi River runs between Zambia and Zimbabwe, forming a waterfall at its end. It is 1.7 km. at its widest area and over 100 meters in height at its highest area. In front of the waterfall are two island-like rocks that break up Victoria Falls into smaller waterfalls. These waterfalls sound as in it were thundering and lightning and they all pour into the deep river which goes on through a canyon and out into the Indian Ocean. The crashing waters are calling “The Boiling Pot.” But frankly, I feel it's more like “The Roaring Toilet,” as if the River God is flushing the pot. According to an ancient local legend, if you have nightmares or bad luck, you can bring a chicken or sheep and throw it into the waterfall to wash away all your ill fortune. Well, I wonder if they also have the custom here like they do at the River God's Wedding.
At the mouth of Zambezi River, there are lots of small islands which on a map look like many worms devouring a banana leaf. The boat meandered through the islands waiting for the sunset as we enjoyed the wildlife around us. At evening time, things became quite animated with birds flapping their wings, gazelles running, warthogs snorting and the earthquake of elephants on the move as these beasts all came to drink at the river's edge. After having a drink, the elephants walked in a group over to one of the islands in the
Tony replied, “No, no, no. The elephants swim there. They know how to swim.”
It's quite incredible that such huge and heavy animals can float on the river. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, and if I hadn't seen elephants swimming on The National Geographic Channel, I wouldn't have believed it at all.
We drank soft drinks and listened while Tony told us about the Zambezi River. He knows everything about the river. It's like the main artery of life for the southern Africans. Tony is from Zimbabwe and belongs to the Shona tribe and he's been taking people on boat tours for many years. British explorer David Livingstone discovered Victoria Falls on November 16, 1855. Since that time, many tourists have come to marvel at it and have made Zimbabwe into a rich British colony. But the British rulers decided to change the name of the country to Rhodesia and then in 1980, the local rich people was decided to revert back to its original name, Zimbabwe, now under native rule, which turned it into a poor Communist country.
Outside my hotel door at the Elephant Hills Hotels, there are many children begging, selling souvenirs and asking people to be their tour guides. They all speak English and have a lot of experience in dealing with foreign tourists.
“Sir, are you Japanese?” asked one of the little tour guides.
“No.”
“Sir, could you please tell me where you come from?” asked the same boy in a polite and gentle manner.
“Taiwan.”
“I know Taiwanese are all rich people. Can you give me some money for my studies?”
(At last, the boy revealed his true nature to me. I'm really surprised, though, at how he knows Taiwan is a rich country!)
“Who told you Taiwanese are rich people?”
“I hear people always say that.”
I realized that the main way of communicating in Africa is orally. But if I told the boy I was from Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea or Japan, I wonder if I'd get the same answer.
The boys are just like tsetse flies who harass me wherever I go, so as I ran back to my hotel, I threw them a ballpoint pen to help raise their literacy skills.Somebody pointed to the river and asked, “Why are there so many logs on the river?” which brought my thoughts back to the river we were on.
He further asked, “When the logs get to our boats, can we get some to make carvings? Your tribesmen know how to make masks, right?” The person then tried to grab a log that came alongside the boat.
Tony was steering the boat and warned the man, “Be very careful and don't put your hands outside the boat because those are crocodiles!” Tony's words hit him like a hammer and he fell back in fear.
Everybody looked very closely at the supposed logs and they were really crocodiles. Crocodiles aren't a threat to boats. The real danger is hippos. Although they appear funny and shy because they are big and fat, sometimes when they get really angry, they will ram into boats! So Tony always keeps at a distance from the moody hippos. When he turned off the engine to let the passengers take photos of hippos, all you could see was their nostrils in the water. Suddenly, there was a thrashing about and a monstrous hippo jumped up at the side of our boat, growling loudly. It shocked us all and Tony lost control of the boat until he finally got the engine started again after many tries. That was the situation at the beginning of this story.
Somebody shaking with fear asked Tony, “Why do hippos try to ram into motorboats?” Tony didn't know why but guessed that we were on their territory. But I personally believe it was a male hippo and the sound of the motorboat was a female's love call to him. From this experience, I learned that although the water's surface seems smooth and calm, below it could be many dangers. During this frightening event, I kept asking myself, “Who do I think of at such a moment?” This person is the one I need to treasure all the time.
The sun was setting, sending golden shimmers along the face of the river and the rosy mist rising from the waterfalls looked so lovely. I recalled on my flight that the pilot said this was called “The Smoke That Thunders” and the locals call it “Mosi-oa-Tunya,” which became the official name of Victoria Falls.
At the entrance of Victoria Falls Park, a sign said that 500,000,000 liters of water poured down per minute but who can fathom that amount? An African friend told me a better way to describe it:
The water that falls in a minute can provide enough water to last Johannesburg for three years.
Johannesburg is the biggest city in South Africa with a population of 2 million. Thinking about all that water flooding down, of course it sounds like God and thunder. Even wearing a raincoat and holding an umbrella, there's no way to stay dry until the falls. I'm lucky that I had forethought and covered my expensive camera in plastic before going there. Yet even while walking on a path near Victoria Falls this morning, I got soaked to the skin. I advise all ladies who want to come here to bring your bikinis!
Tony wanted me to take the steering wheel while he made cocktails for everybody. Elephants raised their trunks and trumpeted loudly, kingfishers swooped down to catch fish, and birds above us were like clouds in the sky. This is a 21st Century-style safari—hunting by boat. Still, the atmosphere has remained in the 19th Century—so remember at night before you go to bed, to use a mosquito net.
I drank cocktails and looked up in wonder at the amazing clouds at sunset and their reflections in the river below. All of us were quiet in the midst of such beauty, unwilling to shatter its magnificence. Within three minutes, the sun sank into the Zambezi River. My heart floats to Victoria Falls--- Oh, my faraway beauty, Victoria, and my fleeting youth have both disappeared and shall never return!
Related Website 相關網站
1、http://www.africaonline.com/site/Articles/1,10,2605.jsp（非洲網站）
2、http://www.zambezi.com/vicfall.html（辛巴威官方網站）
3、http://www.hoole.easynet.co.uk/（1891年老照片）
4、http://sth-africa.com/VictoriaFalls/index.php（維多利亞瀑布訂房中心）
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可不要惹疣豬。牠會把你的小白球咬走，換一堆「小黑球」給你打。 |
| Wart hog is some big boss you don't to mess around |
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