剛進入“探索•精緻”號遊輪船艙，我忍不住打了帶響聲的個大哈欠。今天整個上午，我們一直在空中飛來飛去，從厄瓜多爾首都基多出發，途經全國最大都市瓜亞基爾，終於來到太平洋上的科隆群島。 

      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 hemisphere 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.

      科隆群島實屬厄瓜多爾本土以西500英里／926公里處的火山列島，被視為跨越赤道南北半球生物進化的活體博物館，由19個大小島嶼及42個岩礁組成。與世界上其它地方不同，出沒這裡的動物自由自在無所畏懼，不免讓前來參觀的遊人心生疑問，它們究竟是怎樣來到我們星球上的？1835年，英國博物學家查爾斯•達爾文乘坐皇家海軍艦隊“貝格爾”號考察南美時曾經到訪過這裡，從置身火山列島親自觀摩生態變化中獲得靈感，進一步成就了《物種起源》，他的科學思想不僅奠定了進化理論，而且一直影響着整個生物界。科隆群島先後於1978年和1985年被聯合國教科文組織列為世界自然遺產和世界生物圈保護區。

      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 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 4^th to 8^th on board. We would sail together as a big family for the next 7 days.

    我們乘坐的厄瓜多爾航空飛機重重地降落在科隆群島的巴爾特拉島上，大約花了一個鐘頭才完成出關檢查。巴爾特拉機場不大，是第二次世界大戰期間美軍為保護巴拿馬運河而建。提取了行李，我們正琢磨下一步該怎麼辦時，奇蹟出現了，“探索•精緻”號客游部主管親臨機場迎候我們這批最後到達的乘客，並直接陪同我們登船出航。就客載量而言，這艘“探索•精緻”號可以說是游弋在科隆群島水域中最大的豪華遊輪之一。96名乘客全部來自北美、歐洲和大洋洲，其中未成年孩子不到十分之一，幾乎都是四至八年級的小學初中學生。今後七天航海生涯里，我們將同舟共濟，像一家人似的朝夕相處。

      There was not much time left in the first day after check-in and the cruise safety training. What we did next was to go bird watching. So when time came, I put on a cap and rubbed on some sun screen. We were greeted by brutal heat from the sun and ocean breeze across the water.

Soon enough I was sweating madly on the deck!

      辦完登船手續並結束出航安全集訓之後，所剩的時間寥寥無幾。不過，我們旅程被安排得緊湊安逸，非常富有情趣，接下來就要出海觀鳥。於是，我趕緊帶好遮陽帽，塗上防曬膏，儘管甲板上海風習習，但驕陽似火，眨眼功夫我大汗淋淋。

      Our first bird came into view, a male Great Frigatebird with large wings and 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.

      第一個進入視線的是公的軍艦鳥，翅膀很大，脖上帶有紅色喉結。媽媽欣喜若狂，對準它沒完沒了按下快門，並不時在我面前評頭論足，一邊看一邊刪，她拍得實在超載，令人不敢恭維。

      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.

      正當媽媽讓我欣賞她的拍攝手藝，成群結隊的海鳥從頭頂飛過，藍腳鰹鳥和橙嘴藍臉鰹鳥盤旋於我們身邊載歌載舞，毫不客氣地把大家的注意力吸引了過去。我抬頭相迎，不禁嚇了一跳，大批鰹鳥緊跟遊輪不舍，你追我趕，低空翱翔，莫非“行舟逗遠樹，度鳥息危檣”？不一會兒，前方出現達芙妮大島礁，只見數以百計甚至千計的海鳥集結岸邊，與我們面面對視，絲毫沒有驚異之狀。

      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. 

      達芙妮大島實際上是聖克魯斯島海面凸起的火山錐，源自島上活火山爆發後留下的殘跡。島子懸崖絕壁，四周貧瘠荒涼，幾乎一毛不拔，自然打消了遊客駐足的決心和勇氣，許多陸地動物情願光顧天涯海角，也不會紮根這種邊陲前哨，結果反倒成全了數以百計甚至千計的海鳥海獅，它們索性把達芙妮大島當成自己休養生息的家園。

      Daphne Minor was another island, a part of the Galapagos Islands near Daphne Major. Although it was smaller than Daphne Major, abundant of 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.

      科隆群島中達芙妮小島與達芙妮大島近在咫尺，雖然面積不大，但卻同樣吸引了數目驚人的海洋生物。海獅懶散地曬着太陽，海鳥緊張地捕撈食物，媽媽瘋狂地追星捧月，直到日落西山，我們方才興致勃勃前往達爾文餐廳享用晚餐。

(二O一三年三月卅一日，復活節)