非洲最大的瀑布
The Biggest Waterfall of Africa
The Victoria Waterfall. First impressions
Our trip to the waterfall was not an easy one. We had to take several airplane routes, travelled through different time and climatic zones and, as a result, it took us more than 24 hours to get to Livingstone. As soon as we got to the hotel, we left our luggage there and immediately headed for the waterfall. The sun was already on its way to the horizon.
维多利亚瀑布，第一印象。
我们的瀑布之旅并不轻松。我们不得不乘坐几条飞机路线，穿越不同的时间和气候带，因此，我们花了 24 多个小时才到达利文斯通。一到酒店，我们就把行李寄存在那里，然后就直奔瀑布而去。太阳已经快到地平线了。
In October the water level in the Zambezi river is rather low, so the waterfall canyon was partly dry. But that was exactly what we needed: at this time of year one can walk on foot to the small island of Livingstone and get into the Devil’s Pool. We were standing near the edge of the canyon while the sun illuminated the splashes of the main waterfall. Long ago when the discoverer David Livingstone first saw the waterfall from a distance, some say, he mistook it for a fire in savannah. The point is that when the water falls from the height of one hundred meters, it splits into thousands of drops that create giant clouds that can be seen from a distance of many kilometres. The locals call it ‘Mosi Oa Tunya’ which means ‘Thundering smoke’.
10月，赞比西河水位偏低，瀑布峡谷部分干涸。但这正是我们所需要的：每年的这个时候，人们可以步行到利文斯通小岛，然后进入魔鬼池。我们站在峡谷边缘附近，而太阳照亮了主要瀑布的飞溅。很久以前，当发现者大卫利文斯通第一次从远处看到瀑布时，有人说，他误认为是大草原上的一场大火。关键是，当水从一百米高处落下时，它会分裂成数千滴水滴，形成从数公里外都可以看到的巨大云彩。当地人称它为“Mosi Oa Tunya”，意思是“雷鸣般的烟雾”。
Wildlife in the National Park
The next day we spent exploring the area and getting all the needful permissions for taking pictures in the National Park. At the same time we got acquainted with the inhabitants of the park. The mighty waters of Zambezi attract many animals. Here one can meet monkeys, hippopotami, elephants and giraffes. The elephants can easily walk in the river breaking trees on their way. Having witnessed that, I put off my plans to go to the park in the night: the thought of meeting an elephant on a small path in the middle of the night was not pleasant at all. And as for the giraffes, one day I managed to come quite close to them: in order to take some good photos of these animals, you have to be at a several meter distance. But despite the fact that the giraffes got used to the presence of people, still they were quite suspicious and were walking away from me on their long legs. Only several hours spent in the blaze of the sun brought me closer to success. Their curiosity got stronger and they came closer to have a look at that noisy man with a camera. My patience was rewarded by several good pictures that I managed to make.
国家公园的野生动物
第二天，我们花了很多时间探索该地区并获得在国家公园拍照所需的所有许可。与此同时，我们结识了公园的居民。赞比西河的浩瀚水域吸引了许多动物。在这里你可以遇见猴子、河马、大象和长颈鹿。大象可以轻松地在河中行走，途中会折断树木。目睹了这一点，我推迟了晚上去公园的计划：想到半夜在一条小路上遇到大象，一点也不愉快。至于长颈鹿，有一天我设法离它们很近：为了给这些动物拍一些好照片，你必须保持几米的距离。但是尽管长颈鹿已经习惯了人的存在，但它们仍然很可疑，用长腿从我身边走开。只有在烈日下度过的几个小时，我才离成功更近了一步。他们的好奇心越发强烈，凑近了看那个拿着相机吵闹的男人。我的耐心得到了我设法制作的几张好照片的回报。
Monkeys are worth special mentioning. They are creatures that are not afraid of anyone. Monkeys attack suddenly, they pull your backpack and the strap of your camera, show their teeth. If they notice food on you, you can say it goodbye. Actually, a group of monkeys in your way is quite dangerous. They look nice and lovely only in cartoons. In real life it is better to stay away from them. Monkeys were not allowed to appear on the territory of our hotel. But I witnessed how one rather impudent baboon managed to climb over the fence, steal the breakfast of two scared women and run away being accompanied with laughter of two security guards.
猴子值得特别一提。他们是不怕任何人的生物。猴子突然袭击，拉你的背包和相机的背带，露出牙齿。如果他们注意到你身上有食物，你可以说再见。其实，一群猴子挡在你的路上是很危险的。他们只在卡通中看起来很漂亮可爱。在现实生活中，最好远离他们。猴子不允许出现在我们酒店的领土上。但我亲眼目睹了一只相当无礼的狒狒如何翻过栅栏，偷走两个害怕的女人的早餐，并在两名保安的笑声中逃跑。
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Livingstone Island and the Devil’s Fall
Destinations that interested us more than others were Livingstone Island and the Devil’s Pool. The island is situated in the middle of the river and usually is surrounded by water. During a dry season the water level decreases, and you can walk on foot to the island. However, this island is a private territory, so the number of people permitted to visit it is limited and they have to be accompanied by the guide. The demand for the visits is high, so we managed to reach the island only on the next day.
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利文斯通岛和魔鬼的陨落
我们比其他人更感兴趣的目的地是利文斯通岛和魔鬼池。该岛位于河流中间，通常四面环水。在旱季，水位会下降，您可以步行到岛上。不过，这个岛是私人领地，所以允许参观的人数有限，必须有导游陪同。参观的需求很高，所以我们只能在第二天到达岛上。
The most interesting thing that attracts the visitors here is the Devil’s Pool. Near the very edge of the waterfall there is a small deepening with a weak water flow. You can look over the edge and see how the huge amount of water falls into nowhere. It looks absolutely amazing! In order to get to the pool you have to swim across a small channel, walk on a stone ridge and then slide down into the pool. At first we were going to take pictures using a long pole with a camera attached to it. I even managed to swim with all this equipment right to the pool, but we found out that this approach was not good enough. Anyway, our best pictures were taken with the help of our drone.
During the rainy season around 500 000 tons of water run through the waterfall every minute. At the time of our arrival that amount was much less, but still it looked very impressive. The falling water was making such a noise that you could hardly talk while standing near it.
Our first shooting day resulted in a failure. Our camera rig broke down and the ‘result’ of the whole working day along with all our equipment fell into the river. We were trying to catch it and even offered a reward for anyone who would find it. But all that was in vain: only the giggling of hippopotami spread over Zambezi. We did not succeed in rescuing our cameras.
这里最吸引游客的是魔鬼池。在瀑布的最边缘附近有一个小水流较弱的深部。你可以从边缘看，看看大量的水是如何落入无处的。它看起来绝对惊人！为了到达游泳池，您必须游过一个小通道，在石脊上行走，然后滑入游泳池。一开始我们打算用一根长杆子拍照，上面挂着相机。我什至设法带着所有这些设备游泳到游泳池，但我们发现这种方法还不够好。无论如何，我们最好的照片是在无人机的帮助下拍摄的。
在雨季，每分钟约有 50 万吨的水流过瀑布。在我们到达时，这个数额要少得多，但看起来仍然非常令人印象深刻。落水的声音如此之大，以至于你站在它附近几乎无法说话。
我们的第一个拍摄日以失败告终。我们的摄影机坏了，整个工作日的“结果”连同我们所有的设备都掉进了河里。我们试图抓住它，甚至为找到它的人提供奖励。但这一切都是徒劳的：只有河马的咯咯笑声传遍了赞比西河。我们没有成功抢救我们的相机。
Rafting
The Zambezi is famous not only for the Victoria Falls, but also for its rapids: rafting and kayak amateurs from all over the world come here. We decided to look at the rapids and for that matter we needed a raft. To be honest, I thought that it would be an easy trip, but it turned out to be much more serious.
Having received our life vests, helmets and paddles, we headed down towards the river where we found some more adventure loving folk. We boarded a yellow raft and set out sailing. Our captain immediately warned me that I should not even attempt to use my camera until we reach the seventh rapid because all the members of the team should be paddling. Thus I realised that my hope for an easy trip had disappeared.
漂流
赞比西河不仅以维多利亚瀑布而闻名，还以其激流而闻名：来自世界各地的漂流和皮划艇爱好者来到这里。 我们决定看看急流，为此我们需要一艘木筏。 老实说，我以为这会是一次轻松的旅行，但结果却要严重得多。
拿到救生衣、头盔和桨后，我们向河边走去，在那里我们找到了更多热爱冒险的人。 我们登上了一艘黄色的木筏，启航了。 我们的船长立即警告我，在我们到达第七个急流之前，我什至不应该尝试使用我的相机，因为团队的所有成员都应该在划桨。 因此，我意识到我对轻松旅行的希望已经破灭。
There were 19 rapids and more than 30 kilometres of white water waiting for us. Our co-sailors were Peter and Rita — an elderly couple full of adventure spirit. As it later turned out, they had set out for a five-day trip down the river and were in a very assertive mood.
We took the paddles and set sailing. Here was the first rapid! Splashes, a quick fall of the raft somewhere downwards, sweeps of paddles — and here we were, passed the first riffle! Well, quite funny, but wet.
I will not weary you with the descriptions of all the rapids, I will just tell the names of some of them: The Boiling Pot, Stairway to Heaven (the 5-grade rapid, the highest class permitted for commercial rafting), The Devil’s Toilet Bowl, Commercial Suicide (the rapid grading 6 — the highest class in rafting; we had to pass it by land), The Gnashing Jaws Of Death, The Washing Machine, Double Trouble and Oblivion (one of the hardest in the river). Actually, a harsh name was not always an indicator of difficulty of the rapid: in the middle of our adventure I even managed to take out my camera and take some pictures.
有19条急流和30多公里的白水等着我们。我们的合作水手是彼得和丽塔——一对充满冒险精神的老年夫妇。后来事实证明，他们开始了为期五天的顺河之旅，心情非常自信。
我们拿起桨开始航行。这里是第一个快速！飞溅，木筏向下某处快速落下，桨扫过——我们在这里，通过了第一个浅滩！嗯，很有趣，但是很湿。
急流的描述不厌其烦，只说其中几个的名字：沸锅、天堂的阶梯（5级急流，商业漂流的最高等级）、魔鬼厕所碗，商业自杀（快速等级 6 – 漂流中的最高级别；我们不得不通过陆地通过它），死亡之颚，洗衣机，双重麻烦和遗忘（河中最难的之一）。事实上，一个刺耳的名字并不总是预示着急流的难度：在我们冒险的过程中，我什至设法拿出我的相机拍了一些照片。
Meanwhile we were getting closer to Oblivion. Our captain tied all our belongings to the boat with two ropes, and our voyage seemed to be getting serious. The turnover probability in this rapid was 60%. But there’s no turning back!
与此同时，我们离 Oblivion 越来越近了。我们的船长用两条绳子把我们所有的东西都绑在了船上，我们的航程似乎变得严肃起来。这种快速的失误概率是60%。但是已经没有回头路了！
Oblivion was not that big, but looked very impressive. We were intensively working the paddles, the raft whirled in the stream, huge splashes of water everywhere. And then suddenly I found myself flying over the raft, then under it. “Well, now I am overboard”. Somewhere near Rita was swimming as well. Having noticed that somehow my oar paddle was not lost, I threw it back into the boat.
Actually, we’ve managed not that bad, despite the fact that all the left side of the raft was swept away. Nevertheless, all the equipment was safe, and we managed to take some good photos as well.
Oblivion并不大，但看起来非常令人印象深刻。我们正在紧张地划桨，木筏在溪流中旋转，到处都是巨大的水花。然后突然间，我发现自己飞过木筏，然后又飞到了它之下。 “好吧，现在我落水了”。丽塔附近的某个地方也在游泳。注意到不知何故我的桨没有丢失，我把它扔回了船上。
实际上，尽管筏子的所有左侧都被冲走了，但我们的表现还不错。尽管如此，所有的设备都是安全的，我们也拍到了一些不错的照片。
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The Canyon
Having passed all these rapid on the river, we decided to take some photos of them from the canyon using our drone. But the way to the canyon of Zambezi was not that easy.
In the morning our guide Brent gave us a ride to the edge of the canyon and introduced two other guys, who knew the way and would help in carrying our heavy equipment. The way itself was a narrow lane which fishermen used from time to time, though it seemed that they did not use it at all.
The guys went ahead quite cheerfully, Stas was trying to keep up with them with a drone on his shoulder, and in the very end was me, dragging myself behind them all. It was getting more and more hot every now and then the dry narrow lane was treacherously crumbling. Soon I lost sight of my companions. Dense bushes which grew along the lane had a lot of spikes that scratched my clothes; my shoes were full of sand and stones. Out of my breath, I went out to the river where I found my friends. They looked not much better than me, but seemed to be more cheerful. I thought that our journey was over, but it turned out that we had to climb big stones and crags along the river. I should have given up in the very beginning?
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峡谷
在河流上通过了所有这些急流之后，我们决定使用无人机从峡谷中拍摄一些照片。但是去赞比西峡谷的路并不容易。
早上，我们的导游布伦特载我们到峡谷边缘，并介绍了另外两个人，他们认识路，会帮助搬运我们的重型设备。这条路本身就是一条狭窄的小巷，渔民时不时使用，虽然他们似乎根本不使用它。
伙计们非常高兴地继续前进，斯塔斯肩上扛着无人机试图跟上他们，最后是我，把自己拖在他们身后。时不时地变得越来越热，干涸的狭窄小巷摇摇欲坠地摇摇欲坠。很快我就看不到我的同伴了。沿着小巷生长的茂密灌木上有很多尖刺，划伤了我的衣服；我的鞋子里满是沙子和石头。我气喘吁吁地走到河边，在那里我找到了我的朋友。他们看起来并不比我好多少，但似乎更开朗。我以为我们的旅程结束了，但结果我们不得不沿着河边爬大石头和峭壁。我应该一开始就放弃？
But fortunately, it turned out that climbing over stones was easier than walking on a crumbling lane. Soon we got to the rapid and started waiting for someone to drift down the river. Navigation did not work in a proper way, so Stas had to control the drone manually and I was correcting the flight and watching the indicators on the devices. We saw a couple of boats turning over — that rapid was truly difficult. But all the teams had passed it successfully.
The noon was approaching, the black cliffs grew burning hot — there was no escape from the sun. We almost ran out of drinking water (keep in mind that we still had a trip back to the hotel ahead of us).
And this trip back of ours turned out to be even more difficult. We could not touch the rocks, the shoe soles started melting. The only way to survive was to keep on walking. Finally we came to the lane and started walking upwards. Fifty steps. Stop. Breathe. One hundred steps — a sip of water. Fifty more steps…
但幸运的是，事实证明，爬过石头比走在摇摇欲坠的小路上容易。 很快我们就到了急流，开始等待有人顺流而下。 导航没有以正确的方式工作，所以 Stas 不得不手动控制无人机，我正在纠正飞行并观察设备上的指示器。 我们看到几艘船翻了个身——这速度真的很难。 但是所有的团队都成功地通过了它。
快到中午了，黑色的悬崖变得炙热起来——阳光无处可逃。 我们几乎用完了饮用水（请记住，我们还有一趟回酒店的路程）。
事实证明，我们这次回来的旅程更加艰难。 我们无法触摸岩石，鞋底开始融化。 生存的唯一方法就是继续走路。 最后我们来到了小巷，开始向上走。 五十步。 停止。 呼吸。 一百步——一口水。 还有五十步……
When the spiky bushes that bothered me on my way down appeared, I was almost happy — at least some shadow. The guys were breathing heavily. No wonder — they had some additional weight, while I was carrying only a small backpack. Slowly we were walking upwards.
After a while that seemed to be an eternity, we encountered Brent who greeted us with a box of cool water. It had never tasted so delicious.
当在我下山途中困扰我的尖刺灌木出现时，我几乎感到高兴——至少有一些阴影。伙计们喘着粗气。难怪——它们有一些额外的重量，而我只背了一个小背包。我们慢慢地往上走。
过了一会儿，似乎是永恒的，我们遇到了布伦特，他用一盒凉水迎接我们。它从未尝过如此美味。
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Crossing the border
The day was rather eventful. Having ‘recovered’ after our visit to the canyon, we quickly took our luggage and rushed to the border. In Zambia there was a helicopter waiting for us, but we did not have much time. Quickly we passed the border and caught a taxi-driver who agreed to give us a ride only to the Zambian border, but no further — he was working only between the frontiers.
While we were busy with our luggage, tricky monkeys spotted some sandwiches in my bag and attempted to take them. But no such luck for them: I fought off my food and, being cursed by them, I managed to retreat comfortably. It was very nice of the pilots to send a car for us, and soon we were riding on a bumpy road.
越过边界
这一天比较热闹。参观完峡谷后“恢复”后，我们迅速拿起行李赶往边境。在赞比亚有一架直升机在等我们，但我们没有太多时间。我们很快就通过了边境，抓住了一位出租车司机，他同意只载我们到赞比亚边境，但不能再往前走了——他只是在边境之间工作。
当我们忙着收拾行李时，狡猾的猴子在我的包里发现了一些三明治并试图拿走它们。但他们就没有这样的运气了：我打掉了我的食物，被他们诅咒了，我设法舒适地撤退了。飞行员很高兴为我们派车，很快我们就在崎岖不平的道路上行驶。
The Helicopter
The helipad was on a hill near a huge baobab, which was quite noticeable from a distance. Our pilot Mike waiting for us in the helicopter.
We took all the necessary equipment and got into the helicopter. I took the back seat, Stas took the front one. During the flight the back door remained open so that we would be able to take photos. At first it was quite frightening to fly with an open door, but the sight of all these marvellous lands compensated the fear. Having made a couple of test-flights over the canyon, we landed in the savannah to mantle our equipment on the outside of the chopper. With the noise of the helicopter’s rotor we dived into the canyon flying quite close to the river, banking and then gaining altitude towards the setting sun. In such a way we made some more flyovers at different altitudes. Mike skilfully operated the helicopter: in the open door we could see the sky, then the river, the wall of the canyon, then the sky again. A couple of sharp turns and we found ourselves flying over the savannah again, heading for the main waterfall. The splashes of water reflected colours of the setting sun. The waterfall didn’t look that frightening from above, but still remained pretty mighty. Here Mike made two more flyovers and then we were on our way back to the familiar baobab. The time flowed fast during the flight. The sun was almost behind the hills.
直升机
直升机停机坪在一个巨大的猴面包树附近的小山上，从远处看很明显。我们的飞行员迈克在直升机上等我们。
我们带着所有必要的设备登上了直升机。我坐在后座，斯塔斯坐在前座。在飞行过程中，后门一直开着，这样我们就可以拍照了。一开始开着门飞行是很可怕的，但看到所有这些奇妙的土地，抵消了恐惧。在峡谷上空进行了几次试飞后，我们降落在大草原上，以在直升机外部安装我们的设备。随着直升机旋翼的噪音，我们潜入峡谷，飞行非常靠近河流，倾斜，然后朝着落日的方向上升。以这种方式，我们在不同的高度做了更多的天桥。迈克熟练地操作了直升机：在敞开的门里，我们可以看到天空，然后是河流，峡谷的墙壁，然后又是天空。几个急转弯，我们发现自己再次飞越大草原，前往主要瀑布。溅起的水花反射出落日的色彩。瀑布从上面看起来并不可怕，但仍然相当强大。迈克在这里又做了两次立交桥，然后我们就在返回熟悉的猴面包树的路上。飞行中时间过得飞快。太阳几乎在山后。
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Epilogue
Our two weeks in Africa are finally over. It’s time to go home. It will take us four flights and almost 48 hours to get home. But there is some special material with us — unique videos of the Victoria Waterfall. It means that all was not in vain.
结语
我们在非洲的两周终于结束了。是时候回家了。我们需要四个航班和将近 48 小时才能到家。但是我们有一些特殊的材料——维多利亚瀑布的独特视频。这意味着一切都没有白费。
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