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.

【红霞译文】

        伯利兹可能是潜水的最佳场所之一，联合国教科文组织《世界遗产名录》列举天下第二的大堡礁即出没于这个中美洲森林之国，186哩海岸线纵贯西加勒比海。

        怀特岛堡礁位于伯利兹城旧首府之外东部海域，在听取各方相关介绍之后，今天我和妈妈亲自出马，实地深入近海环礁、滨海沙洲、环海泻湖、入海港湾以及美洲红树林，准备大饱眼福。

        我们专程赶来潜水，一路上碧海蓝天风景如画，但海底深水通道令人失望。珊瑚礁热带鱼种少得可怜，间或有鱼群擦身而过，兴许其他游客眼见灰乎乎土巴巴的小儿科玩艺仍会一惊一乍的，而我却难以为之心动。毫无掩饰地讲，只有鲨鱼、海牛、魟鱼、狮子鱼(开句玩笑话)和鳗鱼(并非带电那种)之类的动物才叫我心潮澎湃，对于走南闯北周游了世界各地的人来说，见识不同，感受自然不同。我曾做过环球旅行，因此站在世界舞台上，谨以专业眼光评论眼前堡礁景观，没有特别值得恭维的地方，既缺乏绚丽别致的珊瑚，又没有丰富多彩的鱼群，比起达尔文岛，这里没啥了不起。

        但愿，我仅仅但愿大堡礁其它方面要有起色，期待不虚此行。