我和媽媽匆匆吃過午餐，立刻加入下午遊覽活動隊列之中。這回我們要去拉維達島，島上無人居住，紅岩、紅沙、紅土火山地貌富含鐵質，似有“炙翻四海波，天地人烹煮”之勢。 

      Mom and I had a quick lunch and then began to get ready for our afternoon activity. This time we visited another island called Rabida, an uninhabited island of red sand, rocks and dirt that made of lavas rich in iron.

      Rabida Island looked as if the top of an old volcanic cone bathed in crimson. The ground was hued brilliant red and sat amid coves and lagoons with clear blue water. All exotic wildlife lived in their spectacular natural habitat.

      拉維達島實為老火山錐，山上山下渾然一色，表面被太陽烘烤得紅里透紫。火辣辣的色調將碧波蕩漾的海灣與瀉湖襯托得迤邐多姿，這裡的珍禽異獸全部生活在這樣風景如畫的自然環境中。

      After a startling rust red beach came the volcanic mountain with the bright and glowing hot sun beating down on us. The landscapes of Rabida Island were visually stunning and reminded me of the Savanna with the green fringe of straggling opuntias or paddle cacti with yellow flowers. I began to notice something different. The arborescent cacti in Santiago Island grew tall to get away from animals that ate their fruits. In Rabida, the shrubby cacti were short and barely any animals ate the fruit. Most of the cactus fruit were still intact, even though some of them were ripe. It seemed as if the plants were well adapted to the natural selection.

      血紅般的海灘和火山組成一條亮麗的風景線，烈日炎炎驕陽似火，好比“火輪杲杲懸中天，下鑠大地生青煙”，我們渾身上下有一種燒焦的感覺。拉維達島景致令人震撼，我禁不住聯想起熱帶大草原遍地生長的綠莖刺毛黃花“玉芙蓉”，嬌艷傲世。我開始意識到，聖地亞哥島上的仙人掌樹狀高大，這樣動物才不會輕易吃到果子；而拉維達島的仙人掌灌狀低矮，因為幾乎沒有什麼動物來吃果子，所以大部分的仙人掌果仍然完好無缺，儘管其中一些瓜熟蒂落。物競天擇適者生存，看來植物依賴本能，在自然選擇中茁壯成長。

      As we walked on a trail inside mangroves, I heard a lot of chirping. When I looked up, there stood a mockingbird. Another bird I recognized was the finches named by Charles Darwin, the author of the Origin of Species. Every island had finches, but all were different in texture, color, or beak. On the salt bushes which lined the shore several couples of pelicans nest even in wet season right now.

      我們繼續深入紅樹林，此刻百鳥爭鳴。我循聲向上望去，只見仿聲鳥正在歌唱。我可以輕而易舉地辨認出達爾文雀，它們的名稱歸功於《物種起源》的作者查爾斯•達爾文。科隆群島中，雀科鳴鳥算得上相當普及的飛禽，但是各個島上的種屬不一，由於環境差異，造成達爾文雀的羽毛、顏色、喙形均有不同。成雙結對的棕鵜鶘巢居岸邊嗜鹽灌木叢中，這種現象本來在我們到訪的雨汛期間並不常見。

      We made our way back to the beach for snorkeling. There were more tropical fish in Rabida Island compared to Santiago Island. They swam in schools, gathered in groups and darted off together like a family, but would disburse immediately when a large fish came. Then I stopped dead. In front of me was a shark! Yes, I meant about a meter long, white tipped reef carnivore shark. Now you might be thinking AHHH! Or something was similar to that. This cute guy was just roaming around like any other fish. Once a while, he would just take a snack. Ok, that would be kind of scary and definitely gross. But it could be a cool experience to me. I quickly swam to the shore and was going to tell Mom about it. As I approached, she squealed with delight like a child and guided me to a spot where some sea lions were breading their babies and others were basking or just playing on the beach. I stood behind, by the side, kneeling, and many more poses as she said. I always did what Mom would want me to do with her pictures. Bit them next? I was going to ask Mom about it. But we had to go back to the ship. So I decided to leave it as a surprise after we embarked the ship.

      返程之前，我再度來到紅沙灘潛水。拉維達島水下世界要比聖地亞哥島豐富得多，熱帶魚群穿梭不止，似乎全家集體出動；如果途中碰到大魚，那麼它們馬上讓路，自動分散開來。眼前出現一條鯊魚，我驚呆了。的確沒錯，它是條一米長的白尖食肉礁鯊，這下你該明白了呵！這個可愛的傢伙跟其它魚兒沒啥兩樣，在水裡游來游去，時不時會張口吃些茶點蠶食生靈，說起來挺嚇人，而且很噁心，當然幫我增添了新鮮閱歷。我很快游回岸邊，正打算告知媽媽。等我剛走上前來，她滔滔不絕，反倒像小孩子掩飾不住內心的激動，原來一隻母海獅正在海灘上餵養自己的寶寶，母子兩位勾肩搭背親密無間。這時媽媽抓緊拍照，一會兒指揮我站在海獅之後，一會兒命令我站到側面，一會兒要求我屈身彎腰，剎那間導演出許多姿勢，我儘量配合，因為機會難得。接下來咬它們一口？尚未來得及詢問媽媽，回程的時間已到，我只好留待上船以後再說。

      Rabida Island was an admiring place to explore the natural beauty.

      拉維達島的自然之美，令我羨慕不已。

(二O一三年四月一日，愚人節)