肯尼亞印象

Prior to my trip to Kenya， my meager knowledge about Kenya is from the book Out of Africa by Kren Blixen. By good fortune， I was selected to attend the 25th Session of UN-Habitat Governing Council as a youth delegate， thus embarking on my maiden trip to East Africa. Everything I encountered exerted an impact on my cognition towards nature， ecology and society. Kenya is a place where modern and primitive civilization mix and intermingle， and modern cities with skyscrapers and primitive tribes with traditional lifestyle co-exist. I try to recollect and relish each episode， moment and detail of the trip： the unscrupulous gale in MasaiMara National Park， the morning dews in Nairobi， the fragrance clay rain-swept on the way to UN-Habitat…all seems so real and enchanted.

During our stay we poured our love towards Kenya， but it's was only after we came back did we recognize that it's not just love or fondness. It's like the romantic feeling of a maid， simply， purely and loyally devoted to the land we have trod， the air we have inhaled， and the breeze which had whipped by us.

我對(duì)非洲僅有的一點(diǎn)印象來(lái)自丹麥作家卡倫·布里克森的《走出非洲》，但非常有幸的是，作為青年代表我參加了在肯尼亞召開(kāi)的聯(lián)合國(guó)人居署第25次理事大會(huì)。第一次腳踏東非大地上所見(jiàn)所感無(wú)一不觸動(dòng)著我對(duì)自然、生態(tài)和社會(huì)認(rèn)知。肯尼亞是一個(gè)現(xiàn)代文明和原始文明相互融合和交匯的地方。這里既有高樓林立的現(xiàn)代都市也有生活傳統(tǒng)的原始部落。我試圖梳理這一路上的每一個(gè)片段，每一個(gè)細(xì)節(jié)，每一瞬間的一點(diǎn)一滴。馬賽馬拉那肆無(wú)忌憚的風(fēng)，內(nèi)羅畢每天清晨的露水，前往人居署路上被雨水沖刷后的泥土的芳香。它們是那么真實(shí)，讓人流連忘返。

在那里的時(shí)候我們可以隨心所欲地表達(dá)我們對(duì)肯尼亞的熱愛(ài)，但只有回來(lái)之后，我才明白，那既不是熱愛(ài)，也不是喜歡，而是猶如妙齡少女的情懷。樸素，純情，癡情的愛(ài)著，戀著駐足過(guò)的每一寸土地，呼吸過(guò)的每一口空氣，享受過(guò)的每一縷微風(fēng)。

After the meeting， we rode to MasaiMara， the heaven of animals， over 250 miles away from the capital of Kenya Nairobi. According to the statistics， the bones of \"homo habilis\" that had lived 3.5million years ago was found in the Rift Valley bordering Tanzania and Kenya in 1975. And a 22-meter-long stretch of footprints of \"homo habilis\" was found in the hardened volcano ash layer. It means that， as earlier as over 3.5million years ago， there lived people who could walk upright， and they are the earliest group of mankind. The Great Rift Valley stored untold mysteries. Looking down from the hillside to the valley bottom， we found large spaces of greenness， where numerous wonders and hopes of life have been nurtured.

After appreciating the grandeur of the Great Rift Valley， we were welcomed by a long and bumpy road. The last stretch to MasaiMara is dirt road， nabbed by local people as \"the Message of MasaiMara\". What a wonder to experience this special greeting from MasaiMarai！ At last， the six-hour bumpy trudge finally brought us to the MasaiMara Sopa Lodge deep in MasaiMara， and our real exploration unfolded.

會(huì)議結(jié)束后，我們驅(qū)車(chē)前往距離肯尼亞首都內(nèi)羅畢250多公里外的動(dòng)物的天堂的馬賽馬拉。資料記載，1975年在坦桑尼亞與肯尼亞交界處的裂谷地帶，發(fā)現(xiàn)了距今已經(jīng)有350萬(wàn)年的“能人”遺骨，并在硬化的火山灰燼層中發(fā)現(xiàn)了一段延續(xù)22米的“能人”足印。這說(shuō)明，早在350萬(wàn)年以前，大裂谷地區(qū)已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)能夠直立行走的人，屬于人類(lèi)最早的成員。東非大裂谷蘊(yùn)藏了太多我們尚未觸及的隱私，從山腰向谷底望去，那一片綠孕育了數(shù)不清的生命的奇跡與希望。

領(lǐng)略了東非大裂谷的壯麗，接下來(lái)迎接我們的是漫長(zhǎng)的，顛簸的道路。肯尼亞通往馬賽馬拉的最后一段路是土路，當(dāng)?shù)厝税阉凶觥榜R賽馬拉按摩”，其實(shí)能體驗(yàn)一下馬賽馬拉這片土地獨(dú)具特色的歡迎方式也是人生一大妙事。最終經(jīng)歷了6個(gè)小時(shí)的顛簸和長(zhǎng)途跋涉，我們抵達(dá)了位于馬賽馬拉深處的馬賽馬拉索帕酒店。迎接我們的真正的探險(xiǎn)之旅就此展開(kāi)。

But as for our SUV driver George， it's but another ordinary day. It's just a potluck for him to ride into the hinterland of grassland and have close contacts with leopards and lions. The long rainy season for MasaiMara is from autumn to November， during which lush water plants allure diverse wild animals. I expect I will revisit MasaiMara at its rainy season so I can savor a different MasaiMara.

Our SUV departed from MasaiMara Sopa Lodge to the vast expanses of MasaiMara prairie. Of course， an encounter with wild leopards and lions is what we want most. Amid the rolling savanna live hordes of lions， elephants， rhinoceros， leopards and other animals. Without any doubt， it provides the best vintage point for viewing wildlife. Sadly， none of the wild animals entered into our view in the first one-hour. 10 minutes later， we finally ran into three male lions resting on a boulder. Looking rather lethargic， they lay on the sleek boulder with hands and legs in the air， totally undisturbed of the uninvited tourists. They are the host of the prairie， and we are but some passing travelers lingering momentarily here. Kenya government shows great commitment and put many efforts at protecting wildlife. The Kenya wildlife reserve accounts for 8% of the national territorial area. But due to the expansion of the life space of mankind， the survival of animals is under great threat. Kenya government made strict legislation on wildlife protection to maintain the equilibrium of ecology， which deserves special commendation for a less developed country.

對(duì)于我們的越野車(chē)司機(jī)喬治來(lái)說(shuō)，今天是太過(guò)平常的一天。每日深入草原腹地和獵豹、獅子進(jìn)行無(wú)數(shù)次的親密接觸，對(duì)于他來(lái)說(shuō)早就已經(jīng)是家常便飯了。同樣值得一提的是，每年的8月到11月是馬賽馬拉的長(zhǎng)雨季，豐美的水草吸引各種野生動(dòng)物的到來(lái)。也希望下一次可以這個(gè)月份再來(lái)，領(lǐng)略不一樣的馬賽馬拉。

越野車(chē)開(kāi)出馬賽馬拉索帕酒店，便是一望無(wú)際的馬賽馬拉大草原，對(duì)于我們來(lái)說(shuō)這次旅行最為期待的莫過(guò)于見(jiàn)識(shí)一下真正的野生獵豹和獅子。馬賽馬拉大草原由開(kāi)闊的原野，廣袤的灌木林帶，河流和森林組成了這里獨(dú)特的地貌。在連綿起伏的熱帶稀樹(shù)大草原里，棲息著成群的獅子，大象，犀牛和獵豹等動(dòng)物。這里無(wú)疑是世界上最佳的野生動(dòng)物觀賞地。遺憾的是，乘車(chē)出行了大概1小時(shí)，我們都沒(méi)有遇到什么特別的動(dòng)物。大約10分鐘之后，才遇到了正在一塊大石頭上面休息的3頭雌性獅子。它們顯得十分慵懶，四腳朝天的躺在光滑的石頭上面，絲毫沒(méi)有受到游客的干擾。在這里動(dòng)物才是主人，馬賽馬拉草原屬于他們，我們只是這片草原在某一瞬間的過(guò)客罷了。不得不提的是，肯尼亞政府對(duì)于保護(hù)野生動(dòng)物所下的決心和努力。肯尼亞野生動(dòng)物保護(hù)區(qū)占國(guó)土面積的8%，但是由于人類(lèi)生活空間的擴(kuò)展，動(dòng)物們的生存仍然受到很大的威脅，為此肯尼亞政府制定了嚴(yán)密的野生動(dòng)物保護(hù)法律來(lái)保證生態(tài)的平衡，這對(duì)于一個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)欠發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家來(lái)說(shuō)實(shí)屬不易。