The islands we were bounding for had 2 different names in the Atlantic Ocean. It depended upon whom we spoke with and what we talked about. With respect to the Argentine, Islas Malvinas became a national sovereignty. To the English, Falkland Islands are a British Overseas Territory. In the history, there were French, British, Spanish and Argentine settlements over the times. Although Falkland Islands were currently under British control, Argentina demanded Malvinas back to its territory. The serious conflict had affected how we set foot in the areas. For instance, we could not make a direct stop in Falkland Islands right after Ushuaia, Argentina. Otherwise, Argentina might not allow us to visit any places in its country.

        Back to 1982, a war broke out between Great Britain and Argentina in about 2 months. They fought over the islands and resulted in the deaths of 255 British, 649 Argentine and 3 civilian Falklanders. Eventually Argentina lost and England re-claimed the power over the islands. Recently more tension tended to escalate between two countries regarding the old issue. We had overheard that the local Argentine authority increasingly refused more than a half of cruise ships inbound to Ushuaia directly from Falklands for the sake of revenge in 2012. A couple from Australia we met in Santiago of Chile cruised with "Seabourn" on the way to Ushuaia from Falkland Islands and failed to land in Ushuaia. No wonder why we traveled back and forth between Chile and Argentina just to comply the diplomatic rules. In a way, our cruise ship had to set foot in a neutral place like Cape Horn, Chile first and made a detour zigzag back to Falkland Islands later.

      追溯到1982年，阿根廷和英國之間發生過歷時兩個月的“戰爭”，他們為福克蘭或馬爾維納斯群島主權而斗，直接導致英國255人、阿根廷649人、本島平民百姓3人共計907人死亡，最末以阿根廷妥協而告終，英國再度確立管轄權。最近一段時間，兩國領土爭端又進一步升級，保衛主權與收復失地問題重新回到國際談判桌前。聽說今年以來，阿根廷地方海關為報復英國，接連拒絕超過半數以上的事先拜訪過福克蘭群島的船隻入境登陸。不久前，我們在智利首都聖地亞哥就遇到過一對來自澳大利亞的夫婦，他們所乘坐的“海伯”豪華遊輪離開福克蘭群島後因為沒有途徑中立國而無法進入阿根廷烏斯懷亞，使得兩人浪跡天涯的夢想成為泡影。好在我們的遊輪識大體顧大局，帶乘客先到世界盡頭，再去合恩角兜風，之後才入福克蘭群島賞光，經公海駛進阿根廷其它領地。

      Falkland Islands sat in wild shallow waters and boasted a range of low cliffs, sandy white and boulder beaches with extensive off shore kelp beds. The cruise ship could not dock too close to the shore. We rowed the tender boats ashore. Interestingly, the islands in the south hemisphere laid on the boundary of the subarctic maritime climate and temperate maritime climate zones and resembled exactly the same climates as England in the north hemisphere.

      福克蘭群島附近水域很淺，海岸線由低矮的礁石、銀白的沙灘、巨大的鵝卵石、繁茂的海藻組成，我們的遊輪無法停泊港口附近，只能轉乘區間快艇上岸。有趣的是，位於南半球的福克蘭群島地處亞北極海洋性氣候和溫帶海洋性氣候交匯帶，與位於北半球的大不列顛諸島有着共同的氣候特徵。

      Every year it drizzled constantly during Christmas and New Year holiday season. But this time of a year it was facing the worst ever with the damp weather. Our tour to Volunteer Point was canceled involuntarily because this remote area already turned to a swamp and roads became congested and inaccessible. We missed to take a close look at the northern coast to the largest rookery populated over 1,300 King Penguins in Falkland Islands. Weighing from 24-35 pounds/11-16 kilograms and standing 3 feet/0.9 meters tall, the King was one of the largest of the species, second only to the Emperor Penguin.

    每到聖誕節和陽曆新年之間，福克蘭群島陰雨連綿，濕度很高。今年這裡正經歷以往從未有過的降雨天氣，致使我們行前預定去東北角“志願岬”的旅遊計劃再一次落空。志願岬是王企鵝根據地，至少有1,300只王企鵝在此成家立業。王企鵝體重24-35磅／11-16公斤，身高36英寸／90公分。就個頭而論，王企鵝緊步帝企鵝後塵，在企鵝世界排行老二。

(相片來自網絡)

      So there we were, at the crack of dawn, wearing water-proof jackets in the marsh-like streets, waiting for our tour guides to come in Stanley, the capital city on the windswept tip of East Falkland Island. We were planning to tour Rockhopper Penguin Colony in Berkeley Sound.

    破曉時分，我身着雨衣，穿行在福克蘭群島首府斯坦利貌似沼澤地的街道，一邊漫步閒逛，一邊等待導遊。斯坦利恰好座落於東福克蘭島風口浪尖上，我們打算從這裡出發，前往伯克利灣冠企鵝大本營觀察其生態環境。

      I hopped onto 4-wheeled-drive SUV across Murrell Farm to travel over soft, boggy ground covered in grass and low-lying red crowberry or diddle-dee shrubs. Some penguins made out vague shapes in the distance. I thought that they were a part of my imagination because the next second they vanished like ghosts. But my suspicions disappeared as the SUVs went pitching and rolling out of control. I heard a penguin cry. However, it didn't matter at that moment. When I finally arrived at craggy cliffs, I was greeted with a mean blast of all natural cold wind and chilly water. Before I knew it, I was dripping water from head to toe. To me, the best thing to do here was to watch the penguins hop down to the sea gasped for food. There was a rookery of penguins with babies sitting on the rocks in front of me. They must be frightened and stood up abruptly once seeing me up close. These little creatures were called as Rockhopper Penguins, standing only 21 inches/53 centimeters tall and weighing in at around 5 pounds/2.3 kilograms as being one of the smallest among 17 penguin species in the world. They were quiet and had no complaints beyond nonstop rain. Their sharp orange beaks, elaborately curled yellow or white eyebrows and bloodshot red eyes would be terrifying if they grew 5 times larger.

      我跳上四輪驅動的越野車穿越穆雷爾農場，跋涉在軟塌塌、松垮垮、濕淥淥、草絨絨的岩高蘭灌木叢中，一路上顛來晃去，非常刺激。遠處隱隱約約出現一些企鵝，我分不清是幻覺還是事實，等仔細看過去，它們像鬼一般消失得無影無蹤。不久，車輪陷入泥潭，空轉打滑失去前進動力。這時，我又聽到企鵝哭泣，看來這回不再來自個人幻覺。我顧不上考慮其它，一心只想着從泥巴里儘早解脫出來。好不容易抵達伯克利灣時，沒想到迎候我的卻是一派狂風驟雨，我渾身上下淋得精透，眼下最想見識的就是企鵝如何從直起直落的懸崖頂端縱身飛躍茫茫大海撲捉食物。拖家帶口的企鵝蹲坐在岩石上，見我朝它們走來，立刻警覺起身側臉凝視前方。這些可愛的小東西名叫冠企鵝，身高達1英寸／53公分，體重約5磅／2.3公斤，屬於17種企鵝個頭比較小的一類。它們生性恬靜，面對雨水騷擾毫無怨言。我想，如果它們的身材再魁梧出5倍，其尖利的橙色短喙、上挑的淡黃色卷眉、布滿血絲的紅眼珠子定會把人嚇個半死。

      I felt relieved when a SUV picked me up. My nose seemed to have grown icicles standing along such rocky rugged coastline and my hands turned frozen solid. Soon a disaster struck. Two of the four SUVs got stuck in bogs. Luckily, my driver with his expertise had backed them up! He pulled out a long piece of wire and towed them out of trouble.

      直到越野車接我時，我這才鬆了口氣。在海邊岩石上逛盪久了，我的鼻子好像長出冰柱，手指頭凍得僵硬不聽使喚。不久麻煩來了。同行的四輛越野車中有兩輛深陷沼澤地里不能自拔，好在我的司機技高一籌，用一根長長的線繩使勁往外拉，終於幫他們擺脫困境。

      After another bumpy ride back to Stanley Harbor, we met with our afternoon guide to tour the city right away.

      返程之路同樣濕潤泥濘。回到斯坦利港後，我們隨即與下午導遊會合，遊覽參觀海濱小城斯坦利。

       First, we visited a Cathedral that was built from stone and brick as the southernmost Anglican Church in the world. With a renowned arch monument constructed by 2 giant blue whale jawbones on its grounds, this iconic turn-of-the-century Anglican cathedral was a National Treasure on British currency. I was surprised to see a black cat sleeping in an altar of a 100-year old Christ Church.

      首先我們走進一座磚石砌成的大教堂，據說它為地球最南部的英國聖公會教堂。門外矗立著名的拱形紀念碑完全由兩個藍鯨顎骨建成，這個跨世紀國寶級標誌性建築被印在英制鈔票上。一隻黑貓正安詳地睡在足有100年歷史的天主教堂祭壇內，令我驚奇不已。

      Next, we walked past the post office, police station, the Liberation Monument and a tiny outdoor museum with a real, lovely reindeer and many local whale skeletons. Santa Clause left it here after Christmas Eve. A lot of mine field still remained and no one dared to trespass on the restricted areas 30 years after the conflict took place between England and Argentina.

      接下來，我們沿着郵局、警察局、解放紀念碑等轉了一圈。戶外博物園雖小，但其內有一隻活潑可愛的馴鹿和幾種當地鯨魚骨骼模型。平安夜裡，聖誕老人把它留了下來。英國與阿根廷兩國發生火力爭端已過去了30年，至今島上仍然保留許多地雷區，“遊人免進”字樣的告示標誌隨處可見。

      In the following few hours, we ended it with trekking in a countryside, eating wild plants that had a lot of vitamins, watching Rock Cormorants wrapped red scarves around their heads on the ledges of cliffs, jetties and even ship-wrecks, accompanying flightless Steamer Ducks moved across water. We then ran into some cute, black and white striped Magellanic Penguins. They were dashed into their burrows and hid like squirrels as we passed by like a bunch of hungry hawks. With some difficulty, I was able to trace out the shape of a sea lion and pointed it to my mom. Its head was hid in the tall grass and its body was well camouflaged like a rock. The hike was harder than expected. I started to drag my legs and painted mom with mud. Sometimes, it got so muddy that my shoes would sink and mud would pour in. It was a good thing that mom brought 2 pairs of outing shoes. Now I could not tell the difference between them as we hopped on the bus that drove us back to the port.

      最後，我們環繞斯坦利郊外港灣徒步行走長達幾個鐘頭，採摘野草花果，攝取廣譜天然維生素；遍足礁石旁、碼頭邊甚至沉船里，捕捉那些腦袋上好像纏有紅圍巾的岩鸕鶿倩影；陪同不善飛行的船鴨一起鴛鴦戲水，暢遊海濱。我們與麥哲倫企鵝不期而遇，這些周身羽毛黑白相間的小傢伙一看見陌生人走近，以為饕餮之徒老鷹來臨，嚇得一個個像松鼠似的，連忙跑回地洞躲了起來。我費了九牛二虎之力勾勒出海獅的身影，並指給媽媽來看，它的腦袋掩埋草叢，留在外面的大半個身子跟周圍岩石顏色相近，十分遮人眼目。這一路堅持下來並非輕而易舉，我拖着沉重的步伐，深一腳淺一腳的，濺給媽媽滿身泥水。有時候我腳上穿的鞋子深陷泥坑，不等拔出去泥巴便倒灌進來，幸運的是，媽媽帶來兩雙鞋子交替使用，可在回來的路上，我已經無法分辨它們之間有什麼差異。

(二O一二年十二月卅日)