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，阿根廷和英国之间发生过历时两个月的“战争”，他们为福克兰或马尔维纳斯群岛主权而斗，直接导致英国255人、阿根廷649人、本岛平民百姓3人共计907人死亡，最末以阿根廷妥协而告终，英国再度确立管辖权。最近一段时间，两国领土争端又进一步升级，保卫主权与收复失地问题重新回到国际谈判桌前。听说今年以来，阿根廷地方海关为报复英国，接连拒绝超过半数以上的事先拜访过福克兰群岛的船只入境登陆。不久前，我们在智利首都圣地亚哥就遇到过一对来自澳大利亚的夫妇，他们所乘坐的“海伯”豪华游轮离开福克兰群岛后因为没有途径中立国而无法进入阿根廷乌斯怀亚，使得两人浪迹天涯的梦想成为泡影。好在我们的游轮识大体顾大局，带乘客先到世界尽头，再去合恩角兜风，之后才入福克兰群岛赏光，经公海驶进阿根廷其它领地。

      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.

      福克兰群岛附近水域很浅，海岸线由低矮的礁石、银白的沙滩、巨大的鹅卵石、繁茂的海藻组成，我们的游轮无法停泊港口附近，只能转乘区间快艇上岸。有趣的是，位于南半球的福克兰群岛地处亚北极海洋性气候和温带海洋性气候交汇带，与位于北半球的大不列颠诸岛有着共同的气候特征。

      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.

    每到圣诞节和阳历新年之间，福克兰群岛阴雨连绵，湿度很高。今年这里正经历以往从未有过的降雨天气，致使我们行前预定去东北角“志愿岬”的旅游计划再一次落空。志愿岬是王企鹅根据地，至少有1,300只王企鹅在此成家立业。王企鹅体重24-35磅／11-16公斤，身高36英寸／90公分。就个头而论，王企鹅紧步帝企鹅后尘，在企鹅世界排行老二。

(相片来自网络)

      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.

    破晓时分，我身着雨衣，穿行在福克兰群岛首府斯坦利貌似沼泽地的街道，一边漫步闲逛，一边等待导游。斯坦利恰好座落于东福克兰岛风口浪尖上，我们打算从这里出发，前往伯克利湾冠企鹅大本营观察其生态环境。

      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.

      我跳上四轮驱动的越野车穿越穆雷尔农场，跋涉在软塌塌、松垮垮、湿渌渌、草绒绒的岩高兰灌木丛中，一路上颠来晃去，非常刺激。远处隐隐约约出现一些企鹅，我分不清是幻觉还是事实，等仔细看过去，它们像鬼一般消失得无影无踪。不久，车轮陷入泥潭，空转打滑失去前进动力。这时，我又听到企鹅哭泣，看来这回不再来自个人幻觉。我顾不上考虑其它，一心只想着从泥巴里尽早解脱出来。好不容易抵达伯克利湾时，没想到迎候我的却是一派狂风骤雨，我浑身上下淋得精透，眼下最想见识的就是企鹅如何从直起直落的悬崖顶端纵身飞跃茫茫大海扑捉食物。拖家带口的企鹅蹲坐在岩石上，见我朝它们走来，立刻警觉起身侧脸凝视前方。这些可爱的小东西名叫冠企鹅，身高达1英寸／53公分，体重约5磅／2.3公斤，属于17种企鹅个头比较小的一类。它们生性恬静，面对雨水骚扰毫无怨言。我想，如果它们的身材再魁梧出5倍，其尖利的橙色短喙、上挑的淡黄色卷眉、布满血丝的红眼珠子定会把人吓个半死。

      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.

      直到越野车接我时，我这才松了口气。在海边岩石上逛荡久了，我的鼻子好像长出冰柱，手指头冻得僵硬不听使唤。不久麻烦来了。同行的四辆越野车中有两辆深陷沼泽地里不能自拔，好在我的司机技高一筹，用一根长长的线绳使劲往外拉，终于帮他们摆脱困境。

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

      返程之路同样湿润泥泞。回到斯坦利港后，我们随即与下午导游会合，游览参观海滨小城斯坦利。

       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.

      首先我们走进一座砖石砌成的大教堂，据说它为地球最南部的英国圣公会教堂。门外矗立著名的拱形纪念碑完全由两个蓝鲸颚骨建成，这个跨世纪国宝级标志性建筑被印在英制钞票上。一只黑猫正安详地睡在足有100年历史的天主教堂祭坛内，令我惊奇不已。

      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.

      接下来，我们沿着邮局、警察局、解放纪念碑等转了一圈。户外博物园虽小，但其内有一只活泼可爱的驯鹿和几种当地鲸鱼骨骼模型。平安夜里，圣诞老人把它留了下来。英国与阿根廷两国发生火力争端已过去了30年，至今岛上仍然保留许多地雷区，“游人免进”字样的告示标志随处可见。

      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.

      最后，我们环绕斯坦利郊外港湾徒步行走长达几个钟头，采摘野草花果，摄取广谱天然维生素；遍足礁石旁、码头边甚至沉船里，捕捉那些脑袋上好像缠有红围巾的岩鸬鹚倩影；陪同不善飞行的船鸭一起鸳鸯戏水，畅游海滨。我们与麦哲伦企鹅不期而遇，这些周身羽毛黑白相间的小家伙一看见陌生人走近，以为饕餮之徒老鹰来临，吓得一个个像松鼠似的，连忙跑回地洞躲了起来。我费了九牛二虎之力勾勒出海狮的身影，并指给妈妈来看，它的脑袋掩埋草丛，留在外面的大半个身子跟周围岩石颜色相近，十分遮人眼目。这一路坚持下来并非轻而易举，我拖着沉重的步伐，深一脚浅一脚的，溅给妈妈满身泥水。有时候我脚上穿的鞋子深陷泥坑，不等拔出去泥巴便倒灌进来，幸运的是，妈妈带来两双鞋子交替使用，可在回来的路上，我已经无法分辨它们之间有什么差异。

(二O一二年十二月卅日)