Colombia's River of Five Colors哥倫比亞的五彩河

涂淑梅

“五彩河”被贊為“來自天堂的河流”，被認為是世界上最美麗的河流。這條河里有數(shù)量驚人、色彩多樣的海藻。它們浮蕩在河床上，紫紅、黃、藍、綠、橙五色隨季節(jié)變換，給人一種超現(xiàn)實的美感。

South America has been a source of mystery for centuries within the fields of biology and archaeology. The titanic Amazon rainforest holds within it all sorts of natural wonders in the way of plant and animal life.

Meanwhile in Colombia， a river stands out as one of the most 1）visually unique ecosystems in the world.

Locally called the Cano Cristales， this fast flowing and unique river is located in a national park called Serranía de la Macarena in Colombia. The river serves as a 2）tributary for the Guayabero River. The river is made up of several waterfalls， 3）rapids， and plenty of pools. The length of the Cano Cristales is around 62 miles and lies entirely within the national park.

For most of the year， Cano Cristales is 4）indistinguishable from any other river： a bed of rocks covered in dull green mosses are visible below a cool， clear current. However， for a brief period of time every year the most amazing transformation occurs —the river 5）blossoms in a vibrant explosion of colors.

1） visually [?v?zj??li] adv.視覺上地

2） tributary [?tr?bj?tri] n.支流

3） rapids [?r?p?dz] n.急流

4） indistinguishable [??nd??st??ɡw???bl] adj.無法分辨的

5） blossom [?bl?s?m] v.興盛;變得有魅力

For one to truly experience the beauty and uniqueness of the river， they have to visit during the period between July and December. During this time， the river bursts into rich colors.

Cano Cristales， also known as the “River of Five Colors”and the “Liquid Rainbow”， can appear as any mix of colors including yellow， blue， green， orange， and a purplish red.

Although at first， it may appear as though 6）artificial dye was added to the water， this rainbow river is a completely natural 7）phenomenon.

Cano Cristales' various colors are the result of a rare species of 8）aquatic plant that spans the length of the river. The plants change color depending on how much sunlight they receive， which is determined by the height and speed of the water.

It is therefore not uncommon for the plants to be completely colorless if sunlight is too 9）inaccessible. It is also an exceptionally delicate plant. This makes them easily damaged by major disturbances in the water. The biggest threat to the river， as is the case with most natural sites， comes from humans. Within the park， there was a lot of guerilla activity that posed a serious threat to the river and to tourists. Unregulated tourist movement within the park and the guerilla activity led to the park's closure for twenty years until it was opened to the world again in 2009.

Regardless， The River of Five Colors stands out as one of Colombia's most popular natural attractions， drawing thousands of tourists every year.

6） artificial [?ɑ?t??f??l]adj.人造的;人為的;假裝的，虛偽的

7） phenomenon [f??n?m?n?n] n.現(xiàn)象;奇跡，奇事，奇才

8） aquatic [??kw?t?k]adj.水生的，水棲的，水中的，水上的

9） inaccessible [??n?k?ses?bl]adj.達不到的;難達到的

幾個世紀以來，在生物學和考古學領域，南美洲一直是一個神秘之地。巨大的亞馬孫雨林坐擁各類自然奇觀，涵蓋各類動植物。

在這之中，哥倫比亞有一條河流，有著視覺上最獨特的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)之一，借此從世界各地的景觀中脫穎而出。

當?shù)胤Q為卡諾-克里斯塔爾河，這條湍急而獨特的河流位于哥倫比亞一個叫塞拉尼亞·德拉·馬卡雷納的國家公園內(nèi)。這條河是瓜亞貝羅河的支流。這條河由幾個瀑布、急流和大量的池塘組成。卡諾-克里斯塔爾河全長約為62英里（約100公里），完全位于國家公園內(nèi)。

一年中的大部分時間里，卡諾-克里斯塔爾河與其他任何河流都無異：在涼爽、清澈的水流下可以看到一床被沉悶的綠色青苔覆蓋的巖石。然而，每年都有那么一小段時間，最令人驚嘆的變化發(fā)生了——河水在色彩的碰撞中綻放。

如要真正體驗這條河流的美麗和獨特性，游客必須在7月至12月期間參觀。在此期間，河水會有五彩繽紛的色彩。

因此，卡諾-克里斯塔爾河也被稱為“五彩河”或“液體彩虹”，可能以任何顏色的組合出現(xiàn)，包括黃色、藍色、綠色、橙色和紫紅色。

乍一看，像是在水中添加了人工染料，但這條彩虹河完全是一種自然現(xiàn)象。

卡諾-克里斯塔爾河的各種顏色是一種罕見的水生植物引起的，這種水生植物橫跨整個河流。這些植物的顏色變化取決于自身接受陽光的多少，而陽光的多少則由水的高度和速度決定。

因此，若陽光無法照射，植物完全無色，這也很常見。不過這種植物也特別脆弱，很容易受到重大干擾，因而遭受到破壞。對河流的最大威脅，就像大多數(shù)自然遺址一樣，來自人類。在公園內(nèi)，有許多游擊活動對河流和游客構成嚴重威脅。公園內(nèi)不受管制的旅游活動和游擊活動導致公園關閉20年，直到2009年再次向世界開放。

無論如何，五彩河作為哥倫比亞最受歡迎的自然景點之一脫穎而出，每年吸引著成千上萬的游客前來觀賞。