发表评论-儿歌荟萃-万维博客-万维读者网（电脑版）

Puerto Madryn, a Welsh town in the Atlantic Ocean was dominated by a huge smelter that produced aluminum from bauxite ore shipped in from Australia, Suriname, and other countries. The production of ceramic tiles made itself the biggest supplier in the nation. The fishing fleet moored in the harbor. Ironically, beef was the national dish of Argentina, and Argentines preferred beef to fish. A majority of fish were exported to Spain from this port. To us, here it became our jumping-off point for two of the most spectacular wildlife nature reserve in the world: Valdes Peninsula in the north and Punta Tombo down to the south. We set foot on UNESCO Heritage Site (1999) in Valdes Peninsula.

On New Year's Day, I left out the happiness. If only I could have the whole day asleep, my wonders would come true. I threw myself the celebration party at the midnight countdown to 2013.

I tried to stay awake on the two-hour drive to the Valdes Peninsula from the port of Puerto Madryn about halfway between Cape Horn and Buenos Aires along the Atlantic coast. No road in Argentina inspired solitude and introspection quite like here. Never winding seemed never-ending, which made me even more sleepy. I went out cold when I punched myself to keep conscious.

Valdes Peninsula was an acrid, low-lying, goblet-shaped peninsula attached to the Patagonian mainland by a thread of land so narrow that from many points the sea was visible on both sides of Carlos Ameghino Isthmus of only 7 miles/11 km wide. There was nothing but thorn bushes on Patagonian Pampas between the sheltered lagoon of San Jose Gulf and New Gulf. Occasionally, guanacos, rheas, Patagonian lambs, Patagonian horses, Patagonian cows, and Patagonian Mara that gazing at us when we trespassed their territory. Lonely prairies were surrounded by brutally cold temperatures and unrelenting winds.

On the way to the coast, we stopped by North Point to witness an immense colony of sea lions and elephant seals. They were fat, lazy, and looked like pigs with flippers. The seals weren't exactly pleasant to watch due to the odor. Sea lions were tanner and had another name called sea wolves by South Americans. So they stood out against the light grey elephant seals. No matter how different the skin colors were between adult sea lions and elephant seals, their babies, though, kept all in black. Hundreds of seals enjoyed lying on the gravel beach and basking under the warm sunlight. However, they had to be on guard for killer whales that crept out of the shallow waters for food.

We arrived at the Gulf of San Matias where hundreds of the black and white striped Magellanic penguin or Jackass Penguin rookeries scattered. The nature scent didn't smell nice there. The first breath I took made me hacks and coughs. If I were not bothered by the odor, the place would become a friendly habitat. A constant stream of Magellanic Penguins going back and forth between the nests and the sea crossing the areas set aside for us. Some of Magellanic Penguins, I guessed, were breeding their eggs and the others looked extremely choppy with fluffy feathers. They didn't seem to be scared at all and came to us with curiosity. So we took advantage of some VIP seats up close. As passing burrow by burrow, we only could see water and sand stretched as far as our eyes could see along the horizon.

When we all settled down at a ranch called Estancia San Lorenzo for lunch, I saw the most fascinating BBQ I had ever seen in my life. There was a whole piece of slick and oily lamb in the fireplace, slowly heating and frying it to crisp. We were happily back to board the ship after a feast of lamb steak, Morcilla (blood sausage), Criolla salad, Chimichurri sauce, Provoleta cheese, Salami cheese, olives, and Flan (creme caramel dessert) in Argentine flavors.

【红霞译文】

位于大西洋边、充满英国威尔士风情的殉道士港是阿根廷轻工业基地，不仅专为澳大利亚、苏里南和其它国家加工铝制易拉罐，而且民用瓷砖产品行销全国。捕鱼业兴旺发达，但颇具讽刺意味的是，阿根廷人更喜欢吃牛肉，因此打捞上来的鱼虾多数转卖出口到西班牙。对我们来说，吸引我们驻足的却是世界海洋野生动物自然保护区两个重要景点──勇敢半岛居北，通魔岬坐南，驱车单程相去五个钟头。因为勇敢半岛于1999年被列为联合国教科文组织《世界遗产名录》自然遗产，我们打算前去探究虚实。

新年伊始元旦这天，我萎靡不振，假如能美美地睡上一整天觉，才会叫我心满意足。昨个儿除夕，为了倒计时庆祝2013年，我熬夜到很晚。

殉道士港恰好位于大西洋一侧号角岬与阿根廷首都中间，从码头驱车出发到勇敢半岛，单程需要两个小时。期间我竭力让自己保持清醒，可世上没有任何公路像阿根廷这番寂寞内敛，笔直得连个弯儿都懒得转，很容易把我拉回梦乡，我时不时捶击一下自己，免得老打瞌睡。

勇敢半岛干燥低洼，呈高脚杯形与丘陵地带相连。7英里／11公里宽的阿根廷古生物学家地峡将海湾围成上下两部分泻湖，北边叫承继者湾，南边称新湾，周围南美丘陵大草原荆棘丛生，视野开阔无际，任何高大的树木都不愿意到这里扎根落户。间或闪现南美野生羊驼、小美洲鸵、丘陵牛马羊、丘陵野兔，除此而外，孤寂的牧场只有烈风严寒常年相伴。不过，“万里莽原，千里荒漠，在我们的眼中无不变得温和”！郭小川《春歌》之一唱出了大伙儿的心声。

途中我们经过北湾去观赏海狮和海象，这些家伙又胖又懒，伸开鳍蹼，看上去跟猪没什么两样，而且味道刺激鼻子；海狮皮肤比海象深，当地南美人又称之为海狼。当两种动物凑到一起，深棕色对浅灰色泾渭分明。值得一提的是，无论成年海狮与海象肤色有多大不同，其子女幼年一律黑色，成群结队的海狮海象躺在碎石沙滩上享受太阳，同时联手扼守海边前哨，时刻提高警惕，严防逆戟鲸从水路突袭围剿。

我们一来到恩赐湾，立刻便淹没在数以百计黑白相间的麦哲伦即公驴企鹅之中，第一次闻到企鹅散发出来的怪味，臭气熏天，呛得我咳嗽不止，如果我能置之度外，其实这里真是人间天堂。企鹅在海边和老窝之间往返穿梭，有的好像正在孵蛋，有的体态臃肿，它们胆大包天，一点都不怕人，甚至好奇地走近我们，这样正中我们下怀，大家实打实跟企鹅零距离接触。我们挨门逐户查访企鹅家庭，视线从无边的沙滩转向浩瀚的大海，慢慢消失在地平线上。

我们于桂花农庄共进午餐，这时我发现烤炉非常特别，以前从未见过这种烧烤壁炉，一只油光铮亮的羊片吊挂在烤架上，先由文火处理，后经烘烤加工，直到松脆可口，接下来羊排、血肠、蔬菜沙拉、大蒜香菜酱菜、烟熏普罗卧干酪、意大利蒜味奶酪、橄榄小菜、蛋奶甜点等阿根廷全席套餐，叫我们食欲倍增，胃口顿开。玩得爽，吃得好，我们不虚阳历年之行。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2011: 拾金不昧(Lost Money Found)

2010: 澳洲仙企鹅游行(Fairy Penguin Parade, Australia)

2009: 孩子与我(Son & Me)