腊八节，2014-01-08

【Aiden in English】

        The first night of sleep in Chobe Marina Lodge, Botswana after a 30-day cruise made me feel like landing and sleeping on the moon, which seemed really hard. When it was time for the boat cruise down the Chobe River in Chobe National Park between Botswana and Namibia, I still had black spots under my eyes.

        This afternoon, the 3-hour boat cruise was for wildlife. As soon as the cruise began, we immediately spotted a pod of hippos in the water. Once in a while, they would come up for air. Occasionally, the hippos exposed more of their bodies. They behaved so unpredictable that they would come out when we least expected it. One time, the hippo even jumped stretching his neck high into the air. Only a handful of people on board could capture the moment, while only a few had a good one. Mom became one of them.

        As we went on, we saw more and more hippos, but none of them really exposed themselves until the end. When everyone was all tired and bored, a hippo decided to put on a show and mark his territory in front of the crowd. It climbed out of the water onto an islet and began spraying a brown smelly gooey, but also a remarkably lot of poop. The goo flew all over the land. So whenever another hippo came by and wanted to grace on this land, it not only knew the land had already been claimed, but also got some goo on its feet.

        Nature has its own way of things. No matter whether it's eating or scent-marking (especially scent-marking), it's always different. We may never understand the hippos. However, it's so much fun to see what Nature has in store for them.

【红霞译文】

        卅天来当首次结束游轮生活入住博茨瓦纳乔贝码头酒店下榻之际，我感觉犹如登上月球并在那儿过了一夜，心里仍然飘忽不定，难怪第二天乘坐乔贝河游轮巡弋博茨瓦纳和纳米比亚两国之间乔贝国家公园时，我眼圈发黑，一副彻夜未眠无精打采的样子。

        今天下午，我们要花三个钟头水上观赏乔贝河上的野生动物。开船后不久，我们很快发现几只河马，它们时不时浮在水表换气，冷不丁也会腾空而起，露出庐山真面目。河马行踪不定，我们往往难以预料下回什么时候才能重见其膘肥体大的魁梧形象。有一次，一只河马突现从水中蹦出河面，连同脖子以下大半条身段赤裸裸地暴露在光天化日之下，立刻忙坏了船上游客，大家纷纷按动相机快门，希望捕捉到如此难得一见的精彩瞬间，可是只有少数人如愿以偿，妈妈便是其中一位。

        我们顺流而去，途中看到越来越多的河马，除脸面漂浮水上，身体其它部位全部埋在水里，半天原地不动。久而久之，我们逐渐失去了原有兴趣。快要返程时，一只河马从水面爬到附近小岛，公然在我们眼前拉屎撒尿，棕乎乎、糗轰轰、黏糊糊的粪便狂泄一地，似乎郑重告示天下，此地老子为大，谁都不许越雷池一步，否则惹得一身骚臭不算，还将拳脚相迎。

        世上万物各有自个迥然不群的存在方式，甚至连吃的闻的(特别是与气味相关的)东西也不例外。也许我们无法理解河马这种动物本能，但丝毫不会影响我们探索大自然内在奥秘的高涨热忱。