“曉霧忽無還忽有，春山如近復如遙。”我出門後第一感覺便是：“霧氣遮天”。一點沒錯，外面霧大得非同尋常，與偶爾出現在家門口的那種完全不一樣，“白霧魚龍氣，黑雲牛馬形”。難怪從前連信奉迷信的海盜們都把科隆群島稱為夢幻之島，因為大大小小的島嶼常常神不知鬼不覺消失得無影無蹤，好像“滿城煙靄忽然合，隔水人家恰似無”。 

     My first statement after I went outside was: "It's foggy." And that was absolutely true. The fog wasn't the kind you saw every month in your front yard. It looked like a white pillow on top of everything in sight. Even in the old days, superstitious pirates would call the Galapagos Enchanted Islands because the islands would fade away into the mist and disappear for no reason.

      Today we planned to visit the largest island of Isabella in the Galapagos Islands with a shape of a seahorse. The vast lava flows of six major shield and numerous minor volcanoes had uplifted and joined over millions of years to form the natural beauty. At a height of 5,600 feet/1,707 meters, Wolf Volcano was the highest peak in the Galapagos.

      今天我們打算登陸科隆群島中最大的島嶼──伊莎貝拉島。該島形如海馬，由六座盾狀大火山和無數個小火山噴發出的熔岩堆積而成，經過數百萬年演繹，其自然奇觀舉世無雙。島上沃夫火山海拔5,600英尺／1,707米，號稱科隆群島最高峰。

      Off the central west coastline, Elizabeth Bay became an extremely interesting area for observing marine life of many different species. However, we were only able to take a zodiac ride to view a wide variety of wildlife and a wonderful mangrove ecosystem in this sheltered inlet this morning.

      伊莎貝拉島西部海岸線中央的伊麗莎白灣格外引入注目，這裡是觀察各種海洋生物的最佳去處。不過今天上午，我們只能乘坐小型機動快艇，水上觀看豐富多樣的野生動物以及由紅樹林為主要生物群落所形成特有的海陸邊緣生態系統。

     Pretty soon, a nice tropical island came into view. Even though, the mist made it fuzzy, we could tell green grass and trees apart. We didn't seem to be heading toward the island leading slightly left. Then I saw another island and I knew the Zodiac was going between them. The mist cleared and a channel was surrounded with mangrove forest came out on both sides. Here mangrove trees grew up to 90 feet/30 meters high and with spectacular tangles of roots. The mangrove ecosystem took an important role in protecting against erosion and offered a safe environment for young marine organisms.

      不久，身邊出現一個熱帶島嶼，雖然霧氣朦朦，但島上的青草綠樹仍然依稀可辨。我們從左側繞過小島，迎面又碰上另外一個，快艇從中間穿行。隨着大霧漸漸離去，水道兩旁的紅樹林逐漸把地平線勾勒出來，紅樹林枝葉繁茂，樹根盤繞，木節交錯，有的高達90英尺／30米，整個植被不僅有效地控制海岸侵蝕，而且還為年幼海洋生物提供了安全成長環境。

      Suddenly, our first look at marine life appeared. Beneath the water's surface was a magnificent coral with hundreds, maybe thousands of majestic tropical fish. If there were abundant fish, surely there would be a lot of birds, as I thought that it sounded perfect for natural selection and survival of the fittest. My predictions were right although most of the times turned to be wrong. We heard a splash followed by a series of wings flapping sounds which could only indicate that some seabird found itself delightful snack. Nearby, Sea Turtles bathed luxuriantly. Galapagos Penguins floated face down trying to find fish which looked like the dead man's float on the water. Two islets of the Marielas appeared to be different pieces of gagged rocks with a scruffy crown of Palo Santo trees good for Galapagos Penguins, Blue-footed Boobies, Nazca Boobies, Brown Pelicans, and Flightless Cormorants. All animals often peacefully nested at the same place.

      “瓦沼晨朝水自清，小蟲無數不知名，忽然分散無蹤影，惟有魚兒作隊行。”瑰麗壯觀的海底珊瑚最先闖入我們的視線，金牛鼻鰩帶領熱帶彩魚隨後一波接一波蜂擁而來。我敢打賭，如果水下樂園魚產豐富，那麼水上世界必將鳥聲鼎沸！物競天擇，適者生存。事實果真如此，一向缺乏先見之明的我，這回竟料事如神。“荒田寂寂無人聲，水邊跳魚翻水響。”只聽撲通一聲，頃刻之間水花飛濺，說不準哪只海鳥好運當頭，正在享用剛剛捕撈的海鮮大餐。不遠處，海龜忽而潛入水底，忽而露出水面，獨享安逸生活。加島企鵝臉部朝下背頂青天，好像死人一般漂浮水面；它有意將雙目浸入水中，密切注視過往魚群。前方瑪利爾大小島突出海面，鐵梨木樹蓬亂地葡匐在參差不齊的礁石表面，加島企鵝、藍腳鰹鳥、納斯卡鰹鳥、棕鵜鶘和弱翅鸕鶿勞作之餘，喜歡駐紮這塊無人青睞的荒郊野外，充分彰顯各“種族”大團結的和睦景象。

      In the afternoon, we headed north for Darwin Volcano and Darwin Lake in Tagus Cove, northwest of the Isabella Island. It used to be one of the places Charles Darwin visited when he was 25 years old in 1835. Under the cliffs marked with maritime graffiti, we could see a few of shelters historically provided for wayfarers, Lave Herons, Boobies, Brown Pelicans, Flightless Cormorants, Sally Light-foot Crabs and other marine animals.

      當天下午，我們北上直取伊莎貝拉島西北部塔霍灣，要去高山湖泊追隨查爾斯•達爾文足跡。1835年，廿五歲的達爾文曾親臨此地現場考察。登山前輩們、熔岩鷺、鰹鳥、棕鵜鶘、弱翅鸕鶿以及莎莉輕腳蟹等海洋動物駐足的驛站礁石上留下不少海事塗鴉。

      At the foot of Darwin Volcano, a sea lion rushed down the slope. It stopped in front of us and bent back with its head straight up to see what was going on. We began with 150 steps and you might be thinking Pftt! 150 steps? I called that a course for snail! But these steps were high, slippery, and narrow. So one tiny OOPS and you would find yourself at the bottom of the stairs with bumps and bruises from head to toe. Luckily, it didn't seem to be the case for anyone. But at the moment, we had to deal with another problem, Rain. That really set the mood for the afternoon.

      達爾文火山腳下，一隻海獅匆匆從山坡上走來，看見大隊人馬蜂擁而至，索性停住腳步，昂頭挺胸靜觀動向。我們由此向上攀登150蹬階梯，你可能不屑一顧，哼哈！150？對蝸牛來說，也許難於上青天；對咱大小伙子來說，豈不小菜一碟，有什麼了不起？可是，偏偏這些階梯既高又滑還窄，只要稍不留神，定叫你連滾帶爬摔回起點原處，渾身上下不是青一塊就得紫一塊。幸好這種事情沒發生在我們中間，否則吃不了兜着走。實際上，我們真正需要應對的卻是下雨天氣，“雨”的確影響到我們的情緒。

      Our first encounter along the trail was the mockingbird which had a black, sharp and curved beak with brown and array feathers. It seemed impatient and didn't corporate with us when we tried to catch up with it. Later we heard a high pitched chirping noise. It was a little Yellow Warbler which had a dazzling yellow neck and black stripes on its wings. In front of us, the Yellow Warbler sounded to sing something rude like: "Come any closer and you'll be my breakfast!!!" Another Yellow Warbler flew and perched itself on a branch of Palo Santo forest. In a flash, a mockingbird dashed upon it and started to peck it wildly. The naturalist explained that the mockingbirds were very territorial and wouldn't let anyone else stay close to their nests. But I didn't feel as if it behaved too aggressive.

      正當我們徒步行走在火山石徑時，仿聲鳥攔腰擋着了去路。伊莎貝拉島上的仿聲鳥黑嘴巴尖而彎，羽毛帶有棕色花斑，性子急，尤其在給它拍照的瞬間表現得極不耐煩。稍後，林間又傳來吊嗓子聲，原來一隻頸部羽毛透亮的黃鶯撲閃着黑條紋翅膀，正振振有詞地警告我們：“誰敢靠近我，我將把他(她)變成早餐！！！”另一隻黃鶯聞訊趕來助威，沒想到剛落在鐵梨木樹杈上，氣勢洶洶的仿聲鳥就追了過去，嚇得黃鶯驚慌逃竄。據導遊解釋，仿聲鳥地域概念極強，絕不容許任何動物接近自己的巢穴，其實我倒覺得仿聲鳥出於本能，反應並未過激。

      We then started off a steep hike up the side of a volcanic tuff cone to a wondrous view of Darwin Lake. Above Tagus Cove, Darwin Lake was a mysterious crater lagoon without any holes to let sea water come through. The best hypothesis was given that a massive tsunami took place a long time ago and dumped tremendous water into the crater. Palo Santo trees covered the crater sides where erosion could easily happen. The naturalist tried to brighten us up by telling jokes, but half of them made me grumpier. After a heavy downpour of rain, we climbed to the summit of Darwin Volcano. When I looked down, I felt my jaw dropped. My eyes greeted a spectacular panorama of the Isabella Island: an enormous Darwin Lake in the back, wild lava field and calderas up close, plus a light mist that sheltered the higher mountains. We even spotted our own cruise ship anchored a little off the coast.

      隨即我們又開始爬坡，凝灰岩山路指引我們走近風景秀麗的達爾文湖。“水光瀲灩晴方好，山色空濛雨亦奇”，眼前的湖光山色令人禁不住想起西湖之美。高於塔霍灣的達爾文湖說來非常蹊蹺，周邊沒有任何缺口，裡面卻盛滿了海水。海水是怎麼進來的？最合乎常情的科學假設推測，從前這裡曾發生過海嘯，海水倒灌，才成為今天這個樣子。火山壁陡峭，鐵梨木樹防護林屏障了懸崖泥土流失。一路上，導遊邊走邊講笑話，試圖煥發我們登山激情，可我覺得其中一半聽起來並非搞笑。大雨過後，我們成功登上達爾文火山之巔。“斜影風前合，圓紋水上開”。遠望達爾文湖，近觀熔岩荒野和凝灰岩錐口，周圍群山環抱，四處雲霧繚繞，遊輪停靠塔霍灣邊，眼前這幅“雨添山翠重，舟壓浪花分” 的景色令人陶醉。

      Finally when everyone had his or her fill with pictures, we headed back for the ship.

      末了，我們滿載充實的記憶凱旋而歸。

(二O一三年四月二日，國際兒童圖書日)