2012-12-28 
【Aiden in English】
By December, a hot summer came to the south atmosphere. However, the cold still numbed my teeth as we waited on the sun deck for the glaciers and sheer mountains to appear over the horizon in the Strait of Magellan between the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. Due to tidal constraints, we had to delay our arrival time by two hours in Ushuaia, Argentina, this afternoon. Unexpectedly, Glaciers Alley became our retreat. The cruise glided to Beagle Channel, named after the ship that carried the English naturalist Charles Darwin on a five-year voyage around the tip of Southern America. Glaciers Alley boasted a passage lined with spectacular hanging glaciers, icy rivers, dancing waterfalls, and granite walls on each side. Spain, Romanche, Germany, Italy, France, Holland, etc., were given to each of the 12 glaciers in European colonial flavors. As the first stupendous glacier came into view, all my drowsiness melted away and was replaced by stunning awe immediately. The natural surroundings here evoked a feeling of infinite peace and made me feel like I was reliving the Ice Age again. The immense silence didn't seem interrupted until the creaks of glacier movement took place, and the waterfalls splashed into the alley. We soaked up the marvelous scenery and inhaled the fresh sea air with a pleasant current. The glaciers were so large that I doubted five "Star Princess" cruise ships wouldn't even fill half the ice. But something didn't sound quite right. Thin icicles were hanging down. The ice was melting slowly, and a tiny piece of ice carved off the glacier was instantly turning into water. Just like the others, tiny chunks were nibbled away by growing heat. I no longer needed my heavy coat. When we finally sat down for lunch, I ordered some random items from the menu. The spicy soup tasted more like a sandwich and turned out messy, but I wasn't hungry. I was excited about going to any dry land again. Before I knew it, I boarded a tour bus to drive to the end of the world—Ushuaia, Argentina. Ushuaia was a former Argentine penal colony. Now, it proudly serves as the southernmost city in the world and a gateway to the wilderness in Argentina and Antarctica. Looking out the window through the Martial Mountains, whose glaciers reshaped the river pathway into a U-shaped valley, I spotted a small clearing where no popular beaches but stumps grew in Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) National Park. The beavers built up their community around the Pipo riverside and peat bogs. A stack of roughly cut logs was neatly arranged to form a dam. The dam was already a speck among the trees and mushrooms. "Wait, mushroom?" I thought. Small yellow peach-like mushrooms the size of my thumb were dotted with entangled twigs. Just at that moment, the tour guide pointed at them and gave a quick reference about them. They were edible Darwin fungi and had a nickname of "Indian Bread." They lived in the trees all the time. Chinese lanterns (Mizodendrum punctuated) set up another example of hemiparasitically living on deciduous trees. Whether the host trees were happy with these "lanterns" or not, they bundled in a colorful patch like the land of fire. Nearby, a single duck waded across the water as we passed by a small creek toward its nest in the center. We ran into a red fox that was patrolling this area haughtily. I wondered how they coexisted peacefully. Lake Fagnano was divided in part and shared by Argentina and Chile down the unpaved road. Wild and snow-capped Andes Mountains began to appear high up on the surrounding slopes. Rivers carved V-shaped valleys as they passed over the land. Then, we headed for the end-of-world post office in Ensenada Bay along Beagle Channel. The owner was the only man to greet a crowd of visitors worldwide and stamp tons of End-of-World postcards daily. Beagle Channel looked longer than the naked eye could see. Soon, we were immersed in the beauty of glaciers plummeting to the icy water and the ever-changing island panorama in the backdrop. We made our last stop in Lapataia Bay on the Pan-American Highway, an astounding marvel of civil engineering that began in Alaska and stretched nearly 29,800 miles/47,958 kilometers across two continents. Guinness's Book of World Records listed the highway as the world's longest "passable road." If one biked from Alaska to Ushuaia, it would take at least 1.5 years to come down to the world's end. I wondered what type of manic would do such a thing. As a light rain began to fall, it was time for us to cruise away. We knew that we would come back again. Next time, we will surely take an Icebreaker from Ushuaia to Antarctica instead of a flight! 【红霞译】
时下临近十二月底，酷暑正席卷南半球，然而当清晨站在甲板上随船从太平洋朝大西洋方向穿越麦哲伦海峡时，我牙齿打颤，浑身上下被冻得僵硬。 因为潮汐关系，我们不得不推迟下午靠岸时间，即延后两个小时抵达号称世界尽头的阿根廷乌斯怀亚“深湾”城，这么一来，事先未列入计划的冰川通道出人意料地出现在我们的行程之中。游轮沿小猎犬海峡行驶，那条水路得名于当年英国博物学家查尔斯•达尔文五年环南美航行考察所乘坐的“小猎犬号”，位于小猎犬海峡上的冰川通道由十二个冰川组成，每一个冰川则以欧洲殖民国家命名，悬垂的冰川、浪漫的冰河、舞动的瀑布以及挺拔的高山，使得两侧西班牙冰川、瑞士罗曼什冰川、德意志冰川、意大利冰川、法兰西冰川、荷兰冰川等更加奇特迷人。
随着第一座冰川映入眼帘，我立刻睡意全无，满脸充满惊喜，大自然洋溢着永恒祥和的气息，仿佛带我重新回到“冰期”时代。整个冰川通道万籁俱寂，唯有当冰块移动时而造成的断裂声或者瀑布跌落时而发出的拍打声才偶尔敲碎深沉的宁静，我们陶醉在宛如仙境的景致当中，深感波浪轻快空气宜人。眼前冰川如此之大，我怀疑即使五艘“公主•星辰” 号游轮也装不下它，这时周围好像有什么不对头，很多冰柱列队倒挂，冰晶慢慢溶化，一点一滴地变成水珠，气温回升涣然冰释，我也随之脱掉了穿在身上的厚外套。
午餐时我随便点了些东西，辣汤味道偏酸，三明治吃得乱七八糟，反正我一点不饿，倒是十分期待找个干燥的地方呆着，未容细想，我已经坐上开往世界尽头阿根廷深湾城的旅游大巴。 深湾城过去曾为流放重刑罪犯的荒郊野岭，现在不仅是众人向往的世外桃源，而且还成为阿根廷内陆和南极洲极地探险的交通枢纽。
进入阿根廷火地岛国家公园内，我透过车窗遥望威武山脉，U形山谷俨然是冰川融化后长期雕饰的杰作，周边有一大片荒地，几乎见不到该地区普遍流行的山毛榉，被折断的树桩横七竖八堆躺在皮泊河边及沼泽地上，原来水獭常年在这里筑坝修堤安营扎寨，蚕食了许多本来可以长大成材的树林。 “瞧一瞧，那是蘑菇吗？”形如桃样的黄色蘑菇簇拥在树枝树干上下，大小跟我拇指差不多。正在此时，导游指着解释道，它们可作食用，学名叫达尔文真菌，俗称“印度面包”，喜欢与山毛榉结伴同生。
“中国灯笼”善于半寄生地打坐在落叶乔木上，不管宿主乐意不乐意，“灯笼”高吊枝头，红一片、黄一片、青一片，如火如荼，非常好看。
附近不远，一只鸭子正朝水中游去，它的老窝筑在我们刚刚经过的小溪中央，途中我们恰巧遇到一只红狐狸旁若无人地穿过马路，不知两个家伙怎样和平共处？
暗湖位于土路尽端，智利与阿根廷两国各居一侧平分秋色，远处视野间，奔放雄伟终年积雪的安第斯山脉层峦叠嶂，各支河流争相在山峦间切割出一条V型峡谷。 小猎犬峡湾山上有一所邮局可谓盖世无双，老板是独一无二的雇员，每天不仅接待来自世界各地大量的游客，还要给无数张明信片加盖“世界尽头”纪念邮戳。小猎犬海峡一眼望不到头，跟着它一路走一路瞧，我们不觉沉醉于寒冷刺骨景色旖旎的奇山异岛之中而不能自拔。
最后，我们鉴赏了火地岛罗非鱼湾畔的泛美公路，这条举世瞩目的交通干线北起美国阿拉斯加，南至阿根廷深湾城，横亘北美和南美两大地域，全长共达29,800 英里／47,958公里，作为全世界最长的可以通行的公路被纳入《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》，假如有人要骑自行车越野穿行的话，恐怕至少需要一年半的时间，我想象不出何许狂人会作出这等壮举。 小雨乍起，我们也该返程了。深湾城，我们后会有期，相信不久的将来探险南极时我们定会到这里专乘破冰船而不再坐飞机，因为依赖天气主宰命运的航行实在不靠谱！
Today in History(历史上的今天): 2010: 节日串连(Holiday Connection)
2009: 骑在羊背上的国家(Riding on Sheep's Back) 
Star Princess through Glacier Alley (公主·星辰号游轮穿行冰川通道 12-28-2012) 
Glacier Alley, A Stretch of the 150-mile Long Beagle Channel in Southern Chile (冰川通道·智利南部长达150 英里的小猎犬海峡 12-28-2012) 
Hanging & Tidewater Glaciers @ Glacier Alley (冰川通道·垂悬与潮水冰川) 
Glacier Alley from the Massive Darwin Ice Field on Isla Grande to the Sea （冰川通道·从火地岛达尔文冰原到大海) 
Glacier Alley, Snow-capped Darwin Range (冰川通道·白雪覆盖的达尔文山脉) 
Glacier Alley, the Patagonian Fjordlands (冰川通道·丘陵峡湾) 
Ushuaia, the World's Southernmost City (深湾城·世上最南端的城市 12-28-2013) 
Martial Mountains of Ushuaia (深湾城·威武山脉) 
Bahía Encerrada Natural Reserve of Ushuaia (深湾城·闭合湾自然保护区) 
Ushuaia Located in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago (深湾城·火地岛半岛) 
Downtown Ushuaia (深湾城·市中心)
U-Shape Valley of Martial Mtns @ Tierra del Fuego Natl Park in Ushuaia (深湾城火地岛国家公园·威武山脉U形山谷) 
Duck Nest Built in A River Center @ Tierra del Fuego NP (火地岛国家公园·建在河中心的鸭窝)
Red Fox Eyed on Ducks in the River (盯着河里鸭子的红狐狸) 
Beaver Home @ Tierra del Fuego NP (火地岛国家公园·河狸老巢) 
Iron-Containing Colorful Creek @ Tierra del Fuego NP (火地岛国家公园·含铁的多彩小溪) 
Chinese Lanterns @ Tierra del Fuego NP (火地岛国家公园·中国灯笼) 
Indian Bread @ Tierra del Fuego NP
(火地岛国家公园·印度面包)
Chile in Distance across Tierra del Fuego NP (火地岛国家公园对面为智利 12-28-2012) 
The Trail to Lago Roca @ Tierra del Fuego NP (火地岛国家公园·通往岩石湖的步道 12-28-2012） 
Lago Roca @ Tierra del Fuego NP (火地岛国家公园·岩石湖 12-28-2012)
Lapataia Bay @ Tierra del Fuego NP (火地岛国家公园·罗非鱼湾) 
Beagle Channel @ Lapataia Bay (罗非鱼湾·小猎犬峡 12-28-2012) 
The Southernmost Pan-American Highway @ Lapataia Bay (罗非鱼湾·泛美高速公路最南端 12-28-2012) 
V-shaped Valleys along Fagnano Lake of @ Lapataia Bay (罗非鱼湾暗湖·V型峡谷 12-28-2012) 
The End-of-World Post Office @ Lapataia Bay (罗非鱼湾·世界尽头邮局 12-28-2012) Crosslinks(相关博文): Chile(出游智利)
Argentina(出游阿根廷) South America(漂流南美洲) 小学四年级(4th Grade) |
