2014-01-07

【Aiden in English】

        Finally it was time to get off the cruise ship, Nautica Oceania. After 30 days of swaying and bumpy nights, I wanted to set myself free. But what I didn't want was to wake up at 4 am just to catch a flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. From the most populated city of South Africa, we were flying out to Victoria Falls National Park, Zimbabwe to see one of the largest falls in the world and a UNESCO Heritage Site.

        Once you've seen Iguazu Falls of Brazil and Argentina and Victoria Falls of Zimbabwe and Zambia, you may never go back to Niagara Falls of US and Canada because both Iguaçu and Victoria are at least twice the size of Niagara.

        The Victoria is famous for its width, which spans about 2 km/1.2 miles long. The Iguazu is popular for the number of falls, which consist of three major falls and 272 minor falls. The Niagara is unique for a tremendous volume of water it carries among 3 biggest falls on earth. All are shared by two countries internationally. In addition, there are Angel Falls in Venezuela which made the tallest in the world.

        Today I came to Victoria Falls in person. When I first laid my eyes on the waterfall, I was swept away like the water. A huge curtain of water gushed from above a giant granite ledge. And where the falls met Zambezi River below, enormous hazes of mist rose up underneath splendid rainbows against the sun. If you thought that was amazing, the Devil's Throat might give you a heart attack. The Devil's Throat was the closest that you could get to the waterfall. I don't recommend bringing the camera with you unless it was waterproof. The spray was so big that it formed rain drops like the size of a golf ball. I didn't stay very long at the Devil's Throat and nobody did.

        Victoria Falls are truly magnificent on the African savannah even though the Iguazu is the most beautiful and the Niagara becomes the most powerful in our planet. I still think the Victoria comes in a very close second to the Iguazu. Sooner or later I will go to eye-view the world's tallest Angel Falls back to the American continent. But for now, I surely had enough water.

【紅霞譯文】

        終於到了該下“航海·大洋”號遊輪的時候，經過30天搖曳不止顛簸不休的日日夜夜，我巴不得恢復正常生活，但萬萬沒有想到凌晨4點便要起床打點行裝，為的是趕赴開普敦國際機場乘坐飛往約翰內斯堡的班機，然後再從這個人口爆炸的南非城市轉去津巴布韋維多利亞瀑布國家公園，鑑賞世界上三大瀑布之一、聯合國科教文組織《世界遺產名錄》非物質文化保護地。

        如果你親眼見過巴西、阿根廷之間的伊瓜蘇瀑布，並且有幸目睹津巴布韋、贊比亞之間的維多利亞瀑布，想必你不願再光顧美國、加拿大之間的尼亞加拉瀑布，因為前兩個瀑布至少要比後一個大上兩倍之多。

        維多利亞瀑布寬幅最大，前後橫跨2公里／1.2英里之遠。伊瓜蘇瀑布數量最多，共由三個大瀑布和272個小瀑布組成。尼亞加拉瀑布流量最多，為北美水利發電創造了先決條件。上述三大瀑布各自跨越兩個不同國土，唯有地球上最高的天使瀑布獨居委內瑞拉境內。

        今天我蒞臨津巴布韋維多利亞瀑布，實地觀摩其壯觀場面，初來乍到立刻被滔天洪水淋成落湯雞。煙霞淼茫，洶湧澎湃，波濤沿巨大花崗岩斷面狂瀉直下，狠勁跌入贊比西河，由此掀起“霹靂之霧”，使得陽光下的彩虹七彩斑斕，份外妖嬈。如果你為之陶醉傾倒，那麼“魔鬼喉 ”轟鳴作響的浩大聲勢足以叫你心驚肉跳。“魔鬼喉 ”是遊客走近維多利亞瀑布的極佳景點，正因如此，我建議你最好不要攜帶相機，除非有防水功能。瀑布噴出的水珠大如高爾夫球一般，“魔鬼喉 ”絕非久留之地，大家有目共睹。

        在我看來，儘管維多利亞瀑布不及伊瓜蘇瀑布美妙秀麗，也不如尼亞加拉瀑布氣壯山河，但在非洲大草原的襯托下蔚為奇觀，因而僅次於排名第一的伊瓜蘇瀑布。相信不久的將來，我要親自考察位於美洲大陸全球落差最大的天使瀑布。不過時下，我已經看足了瀑布。