圖：世界最幹沙漠開花了！粉色海洋浪漫至極

Chile’s Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on the planet. But recently, it’s turned into something totally unexpected: an oasis of pink flowers.
智利的阿塔卡馬沙漠是地球上最乾燥的地方之一，但最近卻也出人意料地變爲一片粉色的花海。

After almost 7 years of having no rain throughout the region, massive downpours in March caused pink mallow flowers and 200 other plant species to bloom. The phenomenon, in which dormant seeds come to life after rainfall events, is called ‘desierto florido’ or translated as ‘flowering desert’.
這一地區將近七年沒有雨水，三月的瓢潑大雨開出了一片錦葵花海，還有其它200百多種花卉一同綻放。雨水過後，沉睡的種子煥發生機，這一現象被稱爲“沙漠之花”，亦譯作“開花的沙漠”。

The vast fields of flowers are expected to bring in about 20,000 tourists until they start wilting in November. It’s a sight so rare, only two other places have deserts that can transform into lush landscapes: the US and Australia.
這一片片廣袤的花海預計會引來2萬遊客，直到11月花朵開始凋謝。這一鮮見的景象，世界僅其它兩處沙漠之所可以變爲如此花木繁盛的景觀，分別在美國與澳大利亞。

‘The intensity of blooms this year has no precedent’, said Daniel Diaz, National Tourism Service director in Atacama. ’And the fact that it has happened twice in the same year has never been recorded in the country’s history. We are surprised’.
“鮮花如此競相開放，其密度之高前所未有”，阿塔卡馬全國旅遊服務總監丹尼爾·狄亞茲如是道。“一年間，鮮花已這般盛開兩次，在本國也是史無前例，我們都頗感意外。”