2014-08-05

【Aiden in English】

        Belize is probably one of the best places for snorkeling. The Barrier Reef is the 2^nd largest coral reefs on earth, stretching to 186 miles in West Caribbean as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

        Today, after hearing all about the Barrier Reef of Water Caye to the east of Belize City, the old capital, Mom and I came to see offshore atolls, sand cays, coastal lagoons, estuaries, and mangrove forests for ourselves up close.

        So we went snorkeling. Brightly turquoise sea under the blue sky looked spectacular, but not the deep water channel. I was extremely disappointed about the coral reefs that had barely any tropical fish. And once in a while, a school of fish would swim by. A dull gray or yellow fish would get ohhs and ahhs from the other swimmers, but not me. Be frankly, I was far more interested in sharks, manatees, sting rays, lionfish (Just Kidding), and eels (not the electric kind). That's what you see when you travel the world. I've seen the world, and on the world class stage, the coral reefs I saw here was not something too special. Compared to the one in the Galapagos Islands, this place seemed bald. The coral wasn't very colorful, not to mention scarce fish.

        Hopefully, just hopefully, the other parts of the Barrier Reef would be better, because I'm coming to see what they offer.

【紅霞譯文】

        伯利茲可能是潛水的最佳場所之一，聯合國教科文組織《世界遺產名錄》列舉天下第二的大堡礁即出沒於這個中美洲森林之國，186哩海岸線縱貫西加勒比海。

        懷特島堡礁位於伯利茲城舊首府之外東部海域，在聽取各方相關介紹之後，今天我和媽媽親自出馬，實地深入近海環礁、濱海沙洲、環海瀉湖、入海港灣以及美洲紅樹林，準備大飽眼福。

        我們專程趕來潛水，一路上碧海藍天風景如畫，但海底深水通道令人失望。珊瑚礁熱帶魚種少得可憐，間或有魚群擦身而過，興許其他遊客眼見灰乎乎土巴巴的小兒科玩藝仍會一驚一乍的，而我卻難以為之心動。毫無掩飾地講，只有鯊魚、海牛、魟魚、獅子魚(開句玩笑話)和鰻魚(並非帶電那種)之類的動物才叫我心潮澎湃，對於走南闖北週遊了世界各地的人來說，見識不同，感受自然不同。我曾做過環球旅行，因此站在世界舞台上，謹以專業眼光評論眼前堡礁景觀，沒有特別值得恭維的地方，既缺乏絢麗別致的珊瑚，又沒有豐富多彩的魚群，比起達爾文島，這裡沒啥了不起。

        但願，我僅僅但願大堡礁其它方面要有起色，期待不虛此行。