Easter，2013-03-31 
【Aiden in English】 I yawned loudly as Mom and I entered our cabin of Celebrity Xpedition. For the whole morning, we were sitting on a seat of LAN Ecuador from Quito, the capital city to Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean after stopped over Guayaquil, the largest Ecuadorian city. Galapagos Islands were a volcanic archipelago about 500 miles/926 km west of mainland Ecuador and became a living museum of evolutionary changes between the northern and southern hemispheres across the equator. They consisted of 19 islands and 42 islets in total. Free and fearless animals, different from any others discovered elsewhere, made visitors like us wonder about their very existence on our planet. In 1835, English naturalist Charles Darwin sailed on the British ship HMS Beagle and visited these islands. The living proof that he found in this unique volcanic archipelago inspired his theory of the Origin of Species, which shook the biological world ever since. UNESCO declared Galapagos a World Natural Heritage Site in 1978 and subsequently a World Biosphere Reserve in 1985.
After a tough landing in Baltra Island of the Galapagos, we spent another hour doing immigration inspection and baggage claim in Baltra Airport (GPS) where the US established Air-force Base to protect Panama Canal during WWII. When we were perplexed about where to go, a miracle came as a tour director from Celebrity rescued us at the arrival terminal and took us straight to our ship which had been floating in the middle of the ocean. In terms of capacity, Celebrity Xpedition was one of the largest luxury cruise lines toured in Galapagos Islands. All 96 passengers came from North America, Europe, and Oceania. There were less than 10 kids from Grade 4th to 8th onboard. We would sail together as a big family for the next seven days.
There was not much time left on the first day after check-in and the cruise safety training. What we did next was to go bird-watching. So when the time came, I put on a cap and rubbed on some sunscreen. We were greeted by brutal heat from the sun and ocean breeze across the water. Soon enough I was sweating madly on the deck! Our first bird came into view, a male Great Frigatebird with large wings and a red pouch in its neck swooped down. Mom started frantically hitting the picture button on her camera. She showed me the pictures, and then deleted about half of them probably because she took more than she was comfortable with.
When Mom and I were both staring blankly at the camera LCD screen, more and more birds like Blue-footed boobies and Nazca boobies gathered above us. When I looked up, I was startled by their numbers and why they were circling above us. Before long, we saw an island with hundreds, possibly thousands of birds gliding smoothly over it. The island was called Daphne Major.
Daphne Major was the eroded remains of a volcanic cone formed offshore of Santa Cruz Island, which was originally derived from a parasitic cone of a once-active volcano. Its steep sides scared animals away made for difficult climbing and were off-limits to tourists, but we could see a wonderful array of birds along with sea lions while circumnavigating the island.
Daphne Minor was another island, a part of the Galapagos Islands near Daphne Major. Although it was smaller than Daphne Major, abundant marine animals lived there. Sea mammals bathed in sunlight, birds looked for food, and Mom had her fill with pictures. Not until sunset, we hopped back to the Darwin Restaurant where dinner was waiting.
【红霞译文】
刚进入“精致•远征”号游轮船舱，我忍不住打了个带响声的大哈欠。今天整个上午，我们一直在空中飞来飞去，从厄瓜多尔首都基多出发，途经全国最大都市瓜亚基尔，终于来到太平洋上的巨龟群岛。
巨龟群岛实属厄瓜多尔本土以西500英里／926公里处的火山列岛，被视为跨越赤道南北半球生物进化的活体博物馆，由19个大小岛屿及42个岩礁组成。与世界上其它地方不同，出没这里的动物自由自在无所畏惧，不免让前来参观的游人心生疑问，它们究竟是怎样来到我们星球上的？1835年，英国博物学家查尔斯•达尔文乘坐皇家海军舰队“小猎犬”号考察南美时曾经到访过这里，从置身火山列岛亲自观摩生态变化中获得灵感，进一步成就了《物种起源》，他的科学思想不仅奠定了进化理论，而且一直影响着整个生物界。巨龟群岛先后于1978年和1985年被联合国教科文组织列为世界自然遗产和世界生物圈保护区。
我们乘坐的厄瓜多尔航空飞机重重地降落在巨龟群岛的激情岛上，大约花了一个钟头才完成出关检查。激情岛机场不大，是第二次世界大战期间美军为保护巴拿马运河而建。提取了行李，我们正琢磨下一步该怎么办时，奇迹出现了，“精致•远征”号客游部主管亲临机场迎候我们这批最后到达的乘客，并直接陪同我们登船出航。就客载量而言，这艘“精致•远征”号可以说是游弋在巨龟群岛水域中最大的豪华游轮之一。96名乘客全部来自北美、欧洲和大洋洲，其中未成年孩子不到十分之一，几乎都是四至八年级的小学初中学生。今后七天航海生涯里，我们将同舟共济，像一家人似的朝夕相处。
办完登船手续并结束出航安全集训之后，所剩的时间寥寥无几。不过，我们旅程被安排得紧凑安逸，非常富有情趣，接下来就要出海观鸟。于是，我赶紧带好遮阳帽，涂上防晒膏，尽管甲板上海风习习，但骄阳似火，眨眼功夫我大汗淋淋。
第一个进入视线的是雄军舰鸟，翅膀很大，脖上带有红色喉结。妈妈欣喜若狂，对准它没完没了按下快门，并不时在我面前评头论足，一边看一边删，她拍得实在超载，令人不敢恭维。
正当妈妈让我欣赏她的拍摄手艺，成群结队的海鸟从头顶飞过，蓝脚鲣鸟和橙嘴蓝脸鲣鸟盘旋于我们身边载歌载舞，毫不客气地把大家的注意力吸引了过去。我抬头相迎，不禁吓了一跳，大批鲣鸟紧跟游轮不舍，你追我赶，低空翱翔，莫非“行舟逗远树，度鸟息危樯”？不一会儿，前方出现两个漂亮的大岛礁，只见数以百计甚至千计的海鸟集结岸边，与我们面面对视，丝毫没有惊异之状。
大美岛实际上是圣克鲁斯岛海面凸起的火山锥，源自岛上活火山爆发后留下的残迹。岛子悬崖绝壁，四周贫瘠荒凉，几乎一毛不拔，自然打消了游客驻足的决心和勇气，许多陆地动物情愿光顾天涯海角，也不会扎根这种边陲前哨，结果反倒成全了数以百计甚至千计的海鸟海狮，它们索性把大美岛当成自己休养生息的家园。 巨龟群岛中大、小美岛近在咫尺，虽然面积不大，但却同样吸引了数目惊人的海洋生物。海狮懒散地晒着太阳，海鸟紧张地捕捞食物，妈妈疯狂地追星捧月，直到日落西山，我们方才兴致勃勃前往达尔文餐厅享用晚餐。 
Seymour Airport (西摩机场 03-31-2013) 
LAN Ecuador (厄瓜多尔国家航空 03-31-2013) 
Highway, Quito (基多·高速公路) 
Valley, Quito (基多·山谷) 
Village (村落) 
Countryside (乡间) 
Sierra (锯齿状山脉)
Light House, Quayaquil (瓜亚基尔市·灯塔) 
Guayaquil Downtown (瓜亚基尔市中心) 
Center Civic Park, Quayaquil (瓜亚基尔市·中央公民公园) 
Río Guayas, Quayaquil (瓜亚基尔市·瓜亚斯河) 
Río Guayas, Quayaquil (瓜亚基尔市·瓜亚斯河) 
Río Guayas, Quayaquil (瓜亚基尔市·瓜亚斯河) 
Baltra Island (激情岛) 
Daphne Minor (小美岛) 
Daphne Major (大美岛) 
Daphne Major (大美岛 03-31-2013) 
Barren Desert Land (不毛之地) 
Shoal (沙洲) 
Safety on Board @ Celebrity Xpedition (精致•远征号游轮——登船安全训练 03-31-2013)
Gym @ Celebrity Xpedition (精致•远征号游轮——健身房 03-31-2013) 
Discovery Lounge @ Celebrity Xpedition (精致•远征号游轮——探索休息室 03-31-2013) 
BirdWatch (观鸟 03-31-2013) 
Juvenile Great Frigatebird (小军舰幼鸟) 
Great Frigatebirds (小军舰鸟) 
Female Great Frigatebird (雌小军舰鸟) 
Male Great Frigatebird (雄小军舰鸟) 
Blue-footed Booby (蓝脚鲣鸟) 
Male Great Frigatebird (雄小军舰鸟) 
Male Great Frigate w/ Feathers on Gular Sac (雄小军舰鸟·喉囊上带有羽毛)
Crosslinks(相关博文): Ecuador(出游厄瓜多尔)
South America(漂流南美洲) 小学四年级(4th Grade) |
