維多利亞瀑布 Victoria Falls (非洲 Africa 2)

kingkei
2019年9月1日
讀畢需時 27 分鐘

已更新：2022年6月2日

爬上瀑布之巔

旅程重點 Highlights

- 世界第一大瀑布: 維多利亞瀑布

- 在瀑布邊緣游泳

- 世上最刺激的單日橡皮艇漂流

- 加遊: 博茨瓦納喬貝國家公園

- The largest waterfalls in the world: Victoria Falls

- Swimming at the edge of the waterfalls

- The wildest white water rafting day trip in the world

- Bonus: Botswana Chobe National Park

Tips: Victoria Falls is located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Many organized tour or package would only take you to one side (usually Zimbabwe) but not the other. It is highly recommended to go to BOTH sides as they offered different amazing views, and more importantly, its not hard to arrange it yourself, so don't need to join tour!

行程路線 Itinerary & 基本資料 Basic Info

(這是非洲之旅的第二部份, 上一站是南非, 下一站是坦桑尼亞, 詳情請查閱相關網誌。)

(This is the part 2 of the African adventure, last destination was South Africa and next destination was Tanzania, please refer to the corresponding blog posts.)

進入 Flying into: Livingstone, Zambia/ 離開 Departing from: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

[景奇的行程=不走回頭路 / Kingkei's itinerary=no back and forth]

(1) 贊比亞.維多利亞瀑布 Victoria Falls, Zambia [1 Day]

(2) 博茨瓦納.喬貝國家公園 Chobe National Park, Botswana [1 Day]

(3) 津巴布韋.維多利亞瀑布Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe [1.5 Days]

Tips: Many people flew into and out of "Victoria Falls airport" in Zimbabwe, not realizing they can also access the Victoria Falls through Livingstone airport, Zambia. They either missed one side or had to cross the border twice (back and forth). Flying into one and leaving from the other would allow you to visit both sides without the trouble of back and forth. However there are only very limited options for connecting stops, with South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia being the most popular ones. Feel free to leave a message if you need more suggestions on planning.

衣: 全年都很熱, 穿得越少越好。 Wear: Its very hot all year round, wear as light as you can.
食: 若你選擇參加當地團, 一般包含飯餐, 而當地大的酒店裏面都有高級餐廳, 街上也有各種菜式的餐廳, 一般西式的水準比亞洲菜更好。 Eat: If you plan to join guided tour, usually it includes meal. All the major hotels have decent restaurants, there are also a variety of restaurants of different cuisines, typically the western restaurants are better than Asians. Tips: Tourists will be given a USD menu, and the currency conversion is completely different from the proper exchange rate (10x more expensive at the time we went, which is still affordable and reasonable). That's just the regulation there. Same in any restaurants or supermarkets. So you don't need local currency at all.
住: 兩邊都有多選擇, 有便宜有貴。在贊比亞那一邊, 瀑布離市中心較遠, 但有兩個度假村與瀑布相連, 而且出示房卡便能免費參觀瀑布, 節省時間和麻煩, 非常推薦。在津巴布韋那一邊, 沒有度假村直接相連瀑布, 但市中心離瀑布不遠, 而且有很多選擇, 越離建議住近大街, 方便出入。 Stay: Many options of different price ranges on both sides of Victoria Falls. On the Zambia side, the fall is not close to downtown, however there are two resorts built right next to the fall and even have free access to the fall, therefore are highly recommended. On the Zimbabwe side, the fall is not far from downtown but there are no resorts with direct access to the fall. Recommend somewhere close to the main street for convenient.

行: 在贊比亞一邊, 除了去瀑布較遠外, 在市中心基本上能步行。在津巴布韋那一邊, 只要你不是住得離大街特別遠, 在市中心基本上能步行, 包括前往瀑布。也可以坐計程車, 兩地均有正式的計程車, 也有到處兜客的無牌司機, 他們會漫天開價, 但基本上幾塊美金能足夠你在任何一個地方前往瀑布。 Transportation: On the Zambia side, you can walk to everywhere in downtown but not to the fall. On the Zimbabwe side, you can walk to everywhere in downtown, including the fall, unless you live in a resort that's really far off the main street, which is not recommended. There are official taxi on both side, also some people that look like a taxi driver to approach you and you can haggle down to just a few USD for any destination in downtown including the fall.

Day 1 贊比亞 - 攀上瀑布之巔 - 長頸鹿就在門外

我們因為行程編排和航班時間的關係, 選擇以Livingston為首站。踏出機場, 發現電話咭幾乎沒有訊號。有幾個無牌的士司機上前搭訕, 當然是漫天開價, 但從他們口中, 我大概推斷到底價是多少。我們住的渡假村在瀑布附近, 是去市中心的三倍路程, 最後以15美元成交, 司機在車上猶自喃喃說一般最少會收20美元, 我是絕對相信有不少豪爽老外付了25至30美金的, 因為由市中心去瀑布坐正式計程車的公價也要10美元(所以10元由機場去市中心+10元由市中心去瀑布＝20元也算是底價了)。我們坐的在當地算是豪華轎車了, 竟然還有內置GPS, 但上面的寫都是日文, 而且顯示我們正在暢遊日本。

We picked Livingston as our first stop for a more efficient itinerary and flight time. As soon as we got out from the airport, a few drivers approached us. Of course the price they quoted were inflated, but through talking to them I kind of figured out the floor price. Our resort was right by the fall, which would be 3 times the distance to downtown, so after some negotiation we landed at 15USD. On our way the driver was still moaning that the lowest price he ever did was 20USD for this resort, which I kind of believed because the official taxi price from downtown to the fall was 10USD already, so I wouldn't be surprise if the generous travelers pay 25 to 30USD for this trip. It was a relatively high end Japanese car, even with a GPS system, although it was in Japanese and it showed that we were travelling in Japan.

Tips: To figure out the floor price is an important skillset for budget! But it sort of come with experience. The tip is when you talk to those who approach you, you need to look like you know everything and have every planned out already, and you are just asking for a reference. More importantly don't look too rich, most of them start with different price depending on your appearance, so if you have a few diamond rings, fancy necklaces and watches, then you would never get the floor price.

我們到達了渡假村, 在瀑布旁有兩間渡假村, 這一間的後門面對瀑布的正門, 價錢是旁邊遠一點的那間的一半, 雖然旁邊那間稍為豪華一點, 但這一間也十分舒適, 而且裝潢和佈置很有非洲特式, 十分值得推薦!

We arrived at our resort. There were two resorts right by the fall, the back door of this particular one basically faced the entrance of the falls park. The other one was more luxurious, however this one was about half the price and already comfy enough. The setting and decorations showed some interesting African style. I would definitely recommended this one.

安置好行李後, 我們便直奔瀑布。穿過後院時, 一些高角羚正好奇地看著我們。出了後院, 走到對面, 正是莫西奧圖尼亞國家公園的入口。我們的渡假村包含了瀑布遊覽, 只要出示房咭, 便能進入此公園。

After we settled down, we made our way to the falls. Some impalas looked at us curiously when we passed by the garden. We found the entrance of the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park right across the back exit of our resort. The accommodation included visit of the park so as soon as we showed our room card, we were allowed to enter the park.

維多利亞瀑布位於非洲贊比西河的中游，贊比亞與津巴布韋之間，是世界三大瀑布之首。它由一個瀑布群組成, 寬約1.7公里, 高約108米。1855年被蘇格蘭探險家發現, 並以維多利亞女王的名字為之命名。當地人則稱之為莫西奧圖尼亞(Mosi-oa-Tunya), 在湯加語是"雷霆般轟轟作響的煙霧"的意思。維多利亞瀑布並不是像其他瀑布那樣是因為水流侵食而形成, 在1.5億年前, 溶岩冷卻時造成岩石斷裂谷(從空中俯瞰呈WW形), 後來上面被泥土舖滿, 500萬年前的地殼運動令博茨瓦納成為了高地, Zambezi河由那邊的上游流向南而來, 經過千萬年來日夜流動, 將泥土沖走, 又把裂谷中的碎石掏空。由於岩石不會被侵成, 所以河水只沖走了裂谷中的碎石, 而形成了寬110米的峽谷, 河水傾瀉進峽谷而形成了維多利亞瀑布, 隨着時間的變遷, 河流每掏空一條岩石斷裂縫, 瀑布便會退後一排。河流曾經在那WW形裂谷上的八個位置形成瀑布, 而瀑布不斷向上游後退, 大約每一萬年會退後一排("WW"上的一劃)。

Victoria Falls is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, and is the top of the 3 world's largest waterfalls, with a width of a whopping 1.7km and height of 108m. A Scottish explorer was the first European to reach the falls in 1855, and named it in honour of Queen Victoria. The locals would use the Sotho language name, Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means "The Smoke That Thunders". It was not formed by erosion unlike most of the waterfalls. The basalt rock cracked (faulted) some 150 million years ago when the lava cooled and contracted (the fault line looked like "WW" shape in aerial view), then a geological shift happened 5 million years ago that caused an uplift in the area of central Botswana, the Zambezi river coming from there flowed south and carried away the deposits that had been covering the basalt and then began to remove the broken rock within the fault lines. Basalt was a very dense, hard rock that resisted erosion so the river only removed the softer rock. Gorges of 110 meter wide was formed after rocks were removed. The entire volume of the Zambezi River poured through the gorge to form the Victoria Falls. When the water cleaned up one fault line, the waterfalls would move backward. There have been 8 previous sites of the waterfalls as the river had worked its way back upstream. A new site of the falls will run diagonally back across the river but it will take another 10,000 years to excavate the full length of this new fault line (i.e. one stroke of the "WW").

十二月至三月是雨季, 四月至十月是旱季, 兩個時段的維多利亞瀑布看上去全然不一樣。雨季時, 水量高, 在二月到三月發大水時瀑布的流量可以達每秒10,000立方米，而在乾燥季節中瀑布的流量有時只有每秒170立方米。在雨季來才能看到世界最大面積和流量的瀑布, 但瀑布所產生的水霧卻讓你在近處看不清瀑布, 只能在遠處遙看。在旱季來, 才能看清瀑布和瀑布壁的岩石, 而且更能在傳說中的魔鬼游泳池游泳! 魔鬼游泳池是個在瀑布的邊緣的天然泳池, 花崗岩成了天然的牆, 在乾旱季節, 水流相對平緩, 遊客便能相對安全地在這裏游泳。我們因為要看動物大遷徙而選手了八九月天來到非洲, 正好遇上可以在魔鬼游泳池游泳的季節! 這天下午, 我們便體驗了在100多米的深谷旁游泳的感覺! 有趣的事, 贊比亞和津巴布韋平分Zambezi河, 而這裏已經是在津巴布韋的那一邊, 但反而在津巴布韋那邊因被瀑布阻隔而並沒法過來, 所以只能才贊比亞這邊"非法入境"!

December to March is the rainy season, April to October is the dry season, and the falls look extremely different in different seasons. In the rainy season, the water volume will be high, and the falls will demonstrate the world no.1 volume and area, which is more dramatic. You are guaranteed to get soaking wet if you cross the bridge or walk along the trails winding near the falls. You can capture the greatness from far but when you get close, the volume of water is so high that your viewing of the actual falls will be obscured by the spray. In the dry season, the water volume will be low, you can get a clearer view of the rocky ledge beneath the falls but you may find the falls underwhelming just like many other falls, but mostly importantly, you will be able to swim in Devil's Pool, which is a famous naturally formed swimming pool! When the river flows at a certain level, usually between September and December, a rock barrier forms an eddy with minimal current, just like the swimming pool wall, allowing visitors to swim around, in relative safety, right in front of the point where the water cascades over the falls. We were to see the animal migration on the same trip so we picked August/September, and it coincided with the season that we can swim in the Devil's Pool! That's what we did in the afternoon. Interestingly, Zambezi river is shared by Zambia and Zimbabwe and the Devil's Pool is on the Zimbabwe side, but it was not accessible from Zimbabwe, so we sort of crossed the virtual border from Zambia side!

Tips: If you can only visit once in your life time, then may be its a good idea to go at the shoulder season (e.g. April or November), as you can see the falls and the rocky gorge, however if you want to get the most out of the Victoria Falls, the best is to go twice to get the best of both worlds.

前往魔鬼游泳池, 須要在水流緩慢的地方徒步涉水橫過Zambezi河, 當時我們手牽著手, 避免被水流沖走! 在雨季時, 我們身處的地方會被水流覆蓋, 根本沒發前來。在右圖裏, 左邊是贊比亞, 右邊是津巴布韋, 在雨季的時候, 水流會覆蓋我身在的位置, 左邊全是瀑布!

To get to the Devil's Pool, we had to cross the river with bare foot and we held our hands to avoid losing out steps to the current! In rainy season, this whole area are covered by heavy current, so it is not possible to come here. On the photo above, the left side is Zambia, the right side is Zimbabwe, in rainy season, the left side, including where I took this photo, are all part of the waterfall!

這個行程包含了晚飯, 我們涉水回到陸地上後, 便是喝酒吃肉的時間! 回程的時候, 會在水路上經過我們住的渡假村(我在想怎麼不能直接在這裏上岸呢?), 看到斑馬在岸邊渡假村後院的草地上吃草, 感覺我們住的地方, 就像是個野生動物園!

This package included dinner, so after we crossed the river safely back onto land, dinner with wine was served! Then on our way back, we passed by our resort on water (I was wondering could we just disembark here so we could directly head to our room), we saw zebras having their dinner in the resort garden near the river, our resort was like a safari on its own!

回到渡假村後, 由於間尚早, 我們在後院閒逛, 除了遇上猴子外, 還遇上了長頸鹿! 我們一直走到相連著的豪華度假村, 參觀了那裏的大堂和餐廳, 旅客們在岸邊的露天小酒吧喝酒等待晚飯, 從那裏看過去能看到瀑布上游的河流, 河流消失的地方便是瀑布。天色漸暗, 我們又沿路回到我們住的度假村。回到度假村時天已全黑, 華燈初上, 燈火從餐廳裏透出來, 十分奪目。

It was still early when we got back to our resort, so we decided to take a walk. The garden of our resort was huge and we even met some baboons and a giraffe there. It was connected to the garden of the luxurious resort close by, so we walked all the way there. We visited their grand hall and restaurant. There was a patio right by the river and travelers were having drinks while waiting for dinner. From there we could see the river disappeared at the horizon, which was where the waterfalls was. As it got dark, we made our way back to our own resort. It was completely dark by the time we were back, lights were on, making it a very pretty scene.

晚上,長頸鹿就在我們的房間外, 比平常在酒店裏的裝潢更有趣, 很有在非洲的感覺!

At night, the giraffes stayed right outside our room, this kind of "decoration" is much better than the artificial ones we saw in grand hotels, and it really felt like we were in Africa!

Day 2 博茨瓦納 - 喬貝國家公園

這天我們要橫越贊比亞, 越過邊境到博茨瓦納, 所以起得特別早。七時一過我們便到了度假村的餐廳吃早餐, 成為了是日第一檯客人。西式早餐十分豐富, 眼前小橋流水, 環境舒適, 若不是時間有點趕, 一定會在這裏慢慢享受。

We had a tight itinerary today including crossing the border to Botswana, therefore we were up early and arrived at the restaurant just after 7am. We were the first table of the day! Plentiful of food were offered at breakfast, the environment was relaxing as well, if we were not in a rush, we would be here for quite a while to enjoy the breakfast!

Tips: There was a fairly famous bridge connecting the two sides of the Victoria Falls, which you can even cross the border on foot. However, in order to travel to the other side, you would need to make transportation arrangement on both side to/from the border, and lose half a day regardless. So we had instead booked a very popular excursion: a one day tour to Chobe National Park in Botswana. We asked them to pick us up from Zambia for the day tour and drop us off in Zimbabwe. So we didn't spend any extra time or money compared to others who joined the excursion from Zambia or Zimbabwe, and we were able to cross the border without any trouble! That's efficiency!

我們前往邊境的路上, 看到一些從村落來到城市買用品的本地人, 他們十多人擠在一輛貨車的後備箱中, 我問司機, 司機說這貨車基本上就是當地的"公交車。我們來到Zambazi河畔的Kazungula, 這裏是Chobe河和Zambazi河的交匯, 也是贊比亞, 津巴布韋, 博茨瓦納和納米比亞四個國家的分界之處。贊比亞在Zambazi河北邊, 其餘三國在南邊, 當中納米比亞在Chobe河的北邊, 餘下博茨瓦納和津巴布韋則在南邊。河面上的橋仍在建造當中, 400米寬的河面只能靠船渡, 我們離開了贊比亞的關口, 上了一條小船, 小船慢慢飄過了Zambazi河, 我們便來到了博茨瓦納。

On our way to the border, we saw a group of more than 10 locals on the truck of a van. Our driver told us this was like the public transit of the locals to get from the village to the city to get utilities. After a 45mins ride, we were stopped by the Zambezi river, this was where Chobe river joined Zambezi river. The two rivers also separate 4 countries at this location, Zambia is on the north of Zambezi river, Namibia is on the south of Zambezi river but north of Chobe river, Zimbabwe and Botswana share the land south of both rivers. A bridge was being built across the river but was not finished yet, so the only way to cross the 400m-wide Zambezi river was by boat. We passed the customer of Zambia and board a small boat, after a short ride, we landed on the Botswana side!

喬貝(Chobe)國家公園在博茨瓦納的北部, 面積超過一萬平方公里, 以世上最集中的非洲象群而聞名, 估計有超過5萬隻大象生活於此。由於牠們進食時會破壞樹木, 所以對此處的生態有極大的影響。旱季時, 象群在Chobe河畔生活, 雨季時, 牠們會往南遷徙200公里, 甚至進入津巴布韋的範圍。我們在被送到一家在盤踞樹林之間的旅館集合, 早上的活動是乘船在Chobe河沿著博茨瓦納和納米比亞的國界逆流而上。沿途看到了高角鈴群, 象群, 水羚群, 水牛群, 還有河馬在水中冒出頭來。

Chobe National Park is Botswana's first national park, located at the northmost part of the country. The park is widely known for its large elephant population of over 50,000. Damage caused by the high numbers of elephants is rife in some areas. In the dry season, these elephants sojourn along the Chobe River. In the rainy season, they make a 200-km migration south, even outreaches the park and spreads to north-western Zimbabwe. We gathered at a lodge built between the woods. Our morning activity was a boat ride on Chobe river upstream along the border between Botswana and Namibia. We encountered groups of impalas, elephants, waterbucks and African buffalos, and even a hippopotamus rose to the surface of the river.

小船在中午前回到了旅館, 然後我們便被送往另一間旅館午飯, 那裏人山人海, 一團又一團的旅遊團流水般抵達, 似乎是這間旅館承辦了這附近所有的午飯生意。

The boat turned its way back and arrived back to the lodge before lunch, we were then sent to another lodge for lunch, the place was extremely crowded, groups of tourists came in one after one, seemed like this lodge took care of the lunch business of all travel groups in the area.

午後我們改坐開篷車, 由陸路追蹤在這裏名聞天下的象群。最特別的是有幸看到大象洗澡的場景, 牠們衝進水窪中, 用鼻子和前腳把水和泥潑到自己身上, 一時間水花四濺, 泥巴紛飛。大象的皮很厚, 但由於毛少, 容易生皮膚病, 所以需要經常洗澡和洗泥浴, 避免曬傷或蚊釘蟲咬。洗澡之後, 牠們又用象鼻把塵土潑到身上, 形成一層保護層。

In the afternoon, we went on a land trip to visit the famous elephant groups and we saw the very interesting scene of elephant's bath. They ran into a puddle and used their trunks and front legs to swipe water and mud onto their bodies. Elephant uses mud as a sunscreen, protecting its skin from ultraviolet light. Elephant's skin is tough but very sensitive. They need regular mud baths to protect it from burning, insect bites and moisture loss. After bathing, they used its trunk to blow dust onto its body which dried into a protective crust.

除了大象外, 我們還看到了大旋角羚。大旋角羚主要分佈在這次旅程經過的三國和納米比亞, 牠們的特別之處除了雄羚頭上的大旋角, 還有雌雄羚身上都有的4-12條白色直紋。正如我們所見, 牠們在日間一般不怎麼活躍，會躲在林地之中, 由於大旋角鈴一般比狩獵者跑得慢，耐力也不足, 所以在空地難以逃避敵人, 而是依靠在叢林中逃避。牠們靠敏銳的聽覺和視覺來發現敵人, 雌羚會發出警示, 然後大旋角羚和靜止不動, 令敵人難以發現牠們所在。

Other than the elephants, we also see some kudus. The greater kudu is a woodland antelope found mainly in the 3 countries we visit in this trip plus Namibia. Other than the large horns with two and a half twists on male kudus, they possess between 4 and 12 iconic vertical white stripes along their torso. The greater kudu is not fast enough nor does it have enough endurance to escape its predators over open terrain, but they have excellent hearing and acute eyesight, which helps to alert them to approaching predators. If alarmed, they usually stand still, making them very difficult to spot. In the worst case of being spotted, they rely on leaping over shrubs and small trees to shake off pursuers.

我們陸續又遇上狒狒, 長頸鹿和迪士尼電影獅子王的著名角色疣豬等等, 在一處地方下車休息之後, 我們便離開喬貝國家公園。在路上, 看到一隻可憐的大象死在路邊, 由於沒有明顯傷痕, 不似是被獵殺, 更似是病死, 象鼻已被吃掉。之後我們便越過國界來到了津巴布韋, 前往度假村的路上, 還在樹影婆娑之間看到大群非洲水牛, 牠們亦成為了我們這天野生動物一天遊當中, 最後遇上的動物。

We then encountered some baboons, giraffes and a warthog, the famous character of Disney movie Lion King. After a break off the vehicle, we made our way north leaving behind the Chobe National Park. On our way, we saw a dead elephant, it didn't look like it went through a fight so it probably died from illness, and the trunk was eaten already. We went straight to the border from the park, after passing the custom, we arrived at Zimbabwe. On our way to the resort, we saw some African buffalo among the woods on the side of the road, to conclude a day of wild animals encountering.

我們到達了津巴布韋維多利亞瀑布市的市中心, 在一家當地非常有名的The Three Monkeys餐廳晚飯, 裏面大部份是遊客, 只有一兩桌疑似本地人。菜式以美式為主, 譬如沙律、漢堡和比薩。津巴布韋規定, 餐廳會提供美金菜單給外地遊客, 價錢和本地遊客的菜單並不一樣, 大約貴上十倍。美金菜單的價錢和北美大城市差不多。我們要了一個漢堡, 和一個三種本地烤肉餐, 我看見鄰桌的本地客人在喝一杯菜單上沒有的奶昔, 便也要了一杯。食物的水準還可以, 烤肉稍微有點過硬, 疏菜的味道不錯, 漢堡整體上比較好。

We arrived at downtown of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and picked a very popular restaurant, The Three Monkeys, for dinner. The restaurant was super crowded with tourists, with only a table or two of local customers. It served American cuisine, the menu mainly offered salads, burgers, pizzas, and grilled meat sets. Per the regulation in Zimbabwe, USD menu were provided to tourists and the price were about 10 times more expensive than local currency menu, similar to the price in big cities in North America. We ordered a burger and a trio of local grill meats set. I saw the locals on the table next to us ordered a milkshake which was not on the USD menu, and I ordered one as well. Overall the quality of food was decent.

飯後去了超市買水和水果, 這裏的超市和餐廳一樣, 外國人只能以美金付款, 而匯率是國家指定的不浮動匯率, 比銀行的匯率貴了十倍以上, 以這個匯率來算, 東西的價錢和在歐美等大城旅遊也相距不遠。我們在距離瀑布比較近的那幾家相對高級的度假村當中選了比較便宜的一家, 度假村正在擴建中, 房間整潔優雅, 有餐廳和泳池, 走路5至15分鐘能到達市中心的餐廳, 超市和旅遊代理, 舒適又方便。

We went to a grocery store to get water and fruits after dinner. Similar to the restaurants, tourists must pay by USD in the grocery stores, and the currency conversion rate was over 10 times more expensive compared to the bank rates. Overall the prices were close to those in big cities in Europe or America. Among the few relatively higher end resorts close to the waterfall, we picked one with the lowest price, they were expanding so we saw some unfinished cabins, the one we were in was neat and elegant. There was even a pool beside the resort restaurant. Grocery stores, travel agencies and restaurants were all 5-10mins away.

Day 3 津巴布韋 - Zambezi河漂流記

這天的早餐是美式, 還有半生熟的"班尼迪"蛋, 但我們沒時間細嘗, 因為我們今天會在Zambezi河上漂流, 所以很早就要出門! 贊比亞和津巴布韋之間的Zambezi河, 是世界有名玩漂流的地方, 很多獨木舟或漂流愛好者都把這裏喻為世上最刺激的單日漂流路線!

American breakfast was served in the morning, and even included egg benedicts, but we didn't have a lot of time to enjoy it because we had a rafting day trip on the Zambezi river today! The Zambezi River that split Zambia and Zimbabwe is highly regarded by white water rafting pros as one of the top ten rivers for rafting in the world, and some even consider it has the wildest rafting day trip in the world!

Zambezi河的水流很大, 由於狹谷是由裂岩形成, 所以水面也不多亂石。我們在旱季來此, 河水水位較低, 正好適合漂流! 我們參加的一天路線會經過前19個急流。我們抵達時一些土著以舞蹈來歡迎我們, 這裏沒有更衣室, 我在一處樹叢裏脫下衣褲時, 幾隻疣豬出現在我面前, 幸好牠們對我的衣物沒有興趣。

Zambezi river is a high volume river, and since the gorge was formed from basalt rock cracking, so there were little exposed rock in the rapids. We came at a dry season and Zambezi River was at its low level, making it a perfect time for rafting. We joined a day trip which run between rapids 1 and 19. Some locals welcomed us with their traditional dance at the gate, there weren't any change rooms so I took off my shirts and pants in a brush. Some warthogs showed up but good that they weren't interested in my clothings.

起點就在連接贊比亞和津巴布的橋下, 登船的地點在谷底, 他們在很陡的壁上搭了座畢直下降的鐵梯, 我們領了裝備後便攀緣而下, 每人都需要步步為營。

The starting point was right under the bridge that connected Zambia and Zimbabwe. We had to climb down around 120m deep to the entry point after we got our gears. They had a ladder there but it was very steep.

這條路線全長24公里, 每個急流之間的距離少則100米, 多則2公里, 對比起北美洲同樣長道的漂流路線, 急流多了一倍, 而且十分頻密, 一個接一個。當中有半數急流達第五級, 在北美非常罕見。漂流的過程非常刺激, 在其中一個急流, 有半數的橡皮筏反艇, 艇上的人都掉進水中漂浮。有一隻艇雖沒反轉, 卻被浪花完全淹沒, 重新出現在水面時, 所有隊員都已消失, 只有帶隊的教練仍在船上, 我們整個艇上的人都為那教練的＂千斤墜＂武功發出讚嘆。在另一個急流(第9號), 因為幾乎屬於第六級, 浪太大, 我們要上岸在旁邊的石灘上走過去。

The rapids were between 100m and 2km apart, the total number of rapids more than doubled the rafting trips of similar distance in North America. Half of the rapids were class 5, which were rare in the rivers in North America. It was a very exciting ride, for most of the rapids, the wave splashed all over us. Half of the rafts flipped in one of the rapids, one raft that didn’t flip completely disappeared under the wave, and when it appeared again, every members were gone except the coach, we were all impressed by the coach’s ability to stay in the raft. We had to get off the raft to walk through another rapid (#9 Commercial Suicide).

其中一個帶隊的教練伯伯說他曾在不同的地方帶隊漂流, 分別在北美和澳洲待過幾年, 但那裏的河道和這裏的刺激程度相距甚遠, 所以最後他又回到這裏帶隊。在24公里的路線裏, 河道下降了120米, 所以到達終點時, 我們距離谷頂已達240米, 我們須要攜著槳和頭盔自行爬至谷頂, 山路非常陡峭, 我爬了一陣, 前面健步如飛的帶隊教練已經不見影蹤, 再爬一陣, 後面的大隊也已經不見影蹤, 反倒是到了最後, 一對北美夫婦當中的妻子(上圖右)從後趕上, 搶在前方成了第一個到達谷頂的人, 也花了快20分鐘(他們說最快的教練紀錄保持者只需6分鐘)。至於(上圖中)白衣壯男雖然手臂碗粗, 但過了50分鐘, 仍不見影蹤, 最後出現時更是死去活來的樣子, 幾乎要口吐白沫。我的旅伴這才告訴我, 剛才划艇時和白衣壯男在同一邊, 發現他只是裝裝樣子, 完全發不出力, 果然是人不可貌相, 手臂不可。(白衣壯男是美國人, 這段我就不翻譯成英文了...)

One of the guide mentioned that he had guided rafting trips in North America and Australia but those rivers were nearly as excited as this one so he decided to come back. The river dropped by about 120m in the 24km trip, so at the ending point we had to climb up 240m of elevation out of the gorge and the climb was very steep. It took at least 20mins for those with reasonably level of fitness and 50mins for some others.

Tips: Both Zambia and Zimbabwe offer rafting trip, but Zimbabwe route is slightly longer and more convenient, therefore it is recommended to join the tour from Zimbabwe side.

工作人員早在谷頂搭了個爐烤雞, 又在大瓦煲內煮了咖哩, 划了半天艇後吃午餐, 覺得特別好吃! 由於我比較早到谷頂, 看到了有趣的一幕: 其中一隻他們帶來的雞跑掉了, 一個人去捉牠, 但那隻雞又跑又飛, 那人追不上, 後來合四個大男人圍捕才把雞捉了。

Lunch was served at the top of the gorge, which included chicken, curry and vegetables. As one of the first to get to the top, I didn't miss a funny scene: one of the chickens they brought there got away, one man tried to catch it but the chicken ran fast and event flew a bit, end up it took four of them to surround the chicken before they could catch it.

吃飽飯後, 我們便開始回程。我們在河上漂流24公里, 在陸路回去大約30公里, 沿途還遇上了不少小動物, 我們坐的開篷車開得不快, 回去花了差不多一小時, 回去後我們沐浴更衣, 再出動時看看時間尚早, 便到火車站逛了一會, 這裏的火車軌能一直經過大橋跨越峽谷到贊比亞, 也有旅遊公司安排蒸氣火車團看動物和到橋上遠遠看著瀑布晚飯, 適合上了年紀的旅客參加。我們又到旅遊公司買了印有今天經過的19個急流的紀念t-shirt。到了吃飯時間, 我們本來打算到市內最高級的那間度假村裏的餐廳試一下這裏的高級膳食, 沒想到他們竟然要求客人要穿長褲或長裙和皮鞋! 我來非洲遊覽瀑布和動物大遷徙還真的沒想過帶皮鞋, 結果被拒於門外。最後在另一家酒店吃了個自助晚餐。

It was time to go back after lunch. We travelled 24km on the river, which would take 30km to go back on land, we saw many animals on the way. The safari vehicle we were on was not particularly fast so it took us almost an hour to go back. We showered and changed and found that its still too early so we took a walk in downtown. We visited the railway station, the tracks here connected to the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe, some tour operators organized stream train tour to see animals and dine on the bridge, which would be a popular option for the senior travelers. We also visited the rafting company store to buy a souvenir t-shirt, which printed on the back all the rapids we passed today. We were to try out the fine dining restaurant in a high end resort, but they rejected our entry as we were not in formal attire. So we went for a buffet dinner in another resort.

Tips: There are a lot of bugs at outdoor dining, recommend to wear bug spray if you plan to do outdoor dining, otherwise prepare to be surrounded by bugs while you eat.

Day 4 津巴布韋 - 維多利亞瀑布的對岸

這天是我們整個旅程裏面最悠閒的一天, 由於知道當晚因航班被取消, 大有可能滯留肯亞, 所以這天便晚點起床, 養足精力, 我們10時才來到度假村的餐聽, 仍是和昨天一樣有有半生熟的"班尼迪"蛋, 這天終能好好品嘗。

This is the least busy day of our itinerary. Since we knew the flight today was cancelled by Kenya Airways, we expected to be stuck in Kenya for the night so we slept in to reserve some energy. We were at the restaurant by 10am. Similar to the day before, egg benedicts were on the table, and we took our time to enjoy it this time.

早餐後, 我們前往維多利亞瀑布國家公園, 此公園比對面贊比亞的莫西奧圖尼亞國家公園更小，佔地面積僅為 23.4 平方公里, 連同拍照所需的時間, 也不用兩小時便能把整個公園走遍。維多利亞瀑布實際上由五個單獨的瀑布組成, 兩個國家公園都在瀑布對面, 在國家公園內能正面欣賞瀑布, 其中在津巴布韋一側的維多利亞瀑布國家公園面對四個瀑布, 包括魔鬼大瀑布、主瀑布、彩虹瀑布和馬蹄形瀑布, 而在贊比亞一側的莫西奧圖尼亞國家公園則面對第五個東部大瀑布。我們在贊比亞時曾游泳的魔鬼泳池(並不是魔鬼大瀑布)在主瀑布旁, 其實是在津巴布韋境內。而在最西邊的魔鬼大瀑布(圖右)雖然目前看起來並不大, 但別小看它, 因為它下面正是裂谷, 當它沖走裂谷中的石頭後, 這條小巷將會成為維多利亞瀑布下一個位置, 但那是一萬年後的事了。

After breakfast, we headed to the Victoria Falls National Park. It is even smaller than the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park of Zambia and is covering an area of only 23.4 sq km. Victoria Falls is actually comprised of five individual falls. Both of the national parks located across the gorge to provide the best viewing point of the falls. The Victoria Falls National Park located in Zimbabwe faces four of them including Devil's Cataract, Main Falls, Rainbow Falls, and Horseshoe Falls. The Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park located in Zambia faces the fifth Eastern Cataract. The Devil's pool (Not to mix up with Devil's Cataract) we swam in when we were in Zambia actually belonged to Zimbabwe, right next to the Main Falls. Devil's Cataract (the photo next to the Chinese paragraph above) looked small now but it was actually located at the basalt crack, when the water wash away the deposits, this small alley would become the next location of Victoria Falls, but it would be 10000 years later.

沿著公園的小徑可以到達不同的位置觀看瀑布, 公園的設計非常保守, 路徑並不接近邊緣, 所以只看到瀑布的上半。此時正是旱季, 河流集中在西首幾個瀑布, 而在東首只看到瀑布壁的岩石, 不過看到岩石的面積, 不難想像在雨季時瀑布將會有多麼雄偉, 不過在雨季的話由於水量太大, 瀑布會被霧氣籠罩, 會看不清瀑布。當中我們看到了第一天曾游泳的魔鬼游泳池, 正好有一些客正從水中上岸(下面英文段落圖右)。

We reached different viewpoint following the trail in the park, however the design was very conservative and were not close to the edge, so for most parts we only saw the top half of the falls. It was the dry season so most water came through the west side of the fall, on the east side we only saw the rocky ledge, but for this size of the rocky ledge, it wasn't hard to imagine how magnificent the falls would be in rainy season, however, with that volume of water coming through in rainy season, the view would be obscured by the spray. Among all the falls, we saw the Devil's pool that we swam in on the first day and it so happened that there were some tourists coming out from the pool (refer to the photo on the right of this paragraph).

最後, 我們在公園的盡處看到了連接的津巴布韋和贊巴亞的大橋, 看畢之後, 我們便離開了維多利亞瀑布國家公園, 回度假村提了行李前往機場, 經肯亞轉機前往坦桑尼亞。

(關於動物大遷徙的行程請參閱坦桑尼亞的網誌)

On the end of the park we saw the bridge that connected Zimbabwe and Zambia, afterward we left the park, headed back to our resort to the take the luggage and headed to the airport.

(For more about the animal migration, please refers to the corresponding blog posts)