英国卫报：肯尼亚的学校有河马和鳄鱼出没(8)（在线收听）

In Loruk, a town next to Lake Baringo, I had met a man named Wesley Jeptumo, who complained that apart from a Red Cross team that had arrived to take photos of the flooding, no one had come to help.

在巴林戈湖旁边的洛鲁克（Loruk）镇，我遇到了一个叫韦斯利-杰普图莫（Wesley Jeptumo）的人，他抱怨说，除了一个前来拍摄洪水照片的红十字小组外，没有人前来帮忙。

Near Lake Victoria, the motorbike taxi driver had told me that residents had seen my car and thought I was Raila, a popular Kenyan politician – someone here to help them at last.

在维多利亚湖附近，摩托车出租车司机告诉我，居民们看到我的车，以为我是肯尼亚受欢迎的政治家拉伊拉--终于有人来帮助他们了。

Their disappointment on discovering that I was a freelance journalist must have been deep.

当他们发现我是一名自由职业记者时，一定感到非常失望。

The morning after my initial meeting with Okeyo in Marigat, I'd taken a boat ride at Kampi Ya Samaki, a fishing centre on the shores of Lake Baringo.

在马里加特与奥凯奥初次见面的第二天早上，我在Kampi Ya Samaki乘船，这是巴林戈湖畔的一个渔业中心。

The sun, just risen, filtered its rays through thin grey clouds.

刚刚升起的太阳透过薄薄的灰色云层透出光芒。

Everywhere, there were birds.

到处都是鸟。

From the top of one tree, an eagle dived into the water and emerged with a fish in its beak.

从一棵树的顶端，一只老鹰潜入水中，嘴里叼着一条鱼出来。

On the tips of other trees, long-tailed cormorants, Madagascan bee-eaters and kingfishers perched, looking for food.

在其他树尖上，长尾鸬鹚、马达加斯加食蜂鸟和翠鸟栖息着，寻找食物。

The boat operator, Evans Limo, pointed out buildings that were in the water.

船长埃文斯-利莫指着水中的建筑物。

Here, some houses.

这里是一些房屋。

There, the local health centre.

那里，是当地的卫生中心。

Some churches.

一些教堂。

Ostriches, which had been kept as pets by a hotel that was now half-submerged, roamed around the dry parts of the hotel's grounds.

鸵鸟是一家酒店的宠物，现在已经被淹没了一半，它们在酒店场地的干燥部分游荡。

Most disturbing were the tall trees that stood inside the lake, brown and leafless.

最令人不安的是那些矗立在湖里的高大树木，褐色的，没有叶子。

Almost everywhere I went, it was the dead trees that haunted me.

几乎我所到之处，都是枯树在萦绕着我。

Inside Dunga Hill Camp, a popular picnic site next to Lake Victoria, pools of water surrounded jacaranda trees that were planted in the colonial era.

邓加山营地是维多利亚湖旁边的一个受欢迎的野餐地点，水潭环绕着殖民时代种植的蓝花楹树。

When alive and in bloom, these trees are crowded with heavy cones of purple blossom, each flower a violet bell.

这些树在活着和开花的时候，长满了沉重的紫色花锥，每朵花都是一个紫色的铃铛。

Now, though, they were drab and brown.

但现在，它们是单调的棕色。

Seagulls and herons took off from their dying branches.

海鸥和苍鹭从它们垂死的树枝上飞过。

About 110 miles east of Lake Victoria, in Lake Nakuru national park, I saw a forest that had been swallowed by the lake.

在维多利亚湖以东约110英里的纳库鲁湖国家公园里，我看到一片被湖水吞没的森林。

Its once-green acacia trees were being slowly suffocated by the water, which has pushed beyond the bounds of the park and into Nakuru city.

它曾经绿色的刺槐树正在被水慢慢窒息，水已经冲出了公园的范围，进入纳库鲁市。

A decade ago, in an earlier visit, I had climbed to the top of the Menengai Crater that overlooks the city, and peered down at Lake Nakuru.

十年前，在一次较早的访问中，我爬上了俯瞰该市的梅嫩盖火山口的顶部，俯视纳库鲁湖。

Then, all around, the green of a lush forest that hid lions, buffalo, leopards and other animals.

然后，四周是郁郁葱葱的森林，隐藏着狮子、水牛、豹子和其他动物。

But by the time of my most recent visit, the lake had pushed its way through the forest.

但在我最近一次访问时，湖水已经流过森林。

The animals had moved to still-dry parts of the forest, but if the water continued to move, their habitats were doomed.

动物们已经搬到了森林中干燥的地方，但如果水继续流动，它们的栖息地就注定要毁灭。

I looked down at the drowned giant acacias and Babu, a ranger who accompanied me, pointed out to me the houses of the Kenya Wildlife Service staff.

我俯视着被淹没的巨大刺槐树，陪同我的护林员巴布向我指了指肯尼亚野生动物管理局工作人员的房屋。

I couldn't see anything.

我什么都看不到。

"Where?" I asked him.

"在哪里？" 我问他。

He pointed again.

他又指了指。

They were completely submerged.

它们已经完全被淹没了。