Maxine_C, jan. 2024
Alan picked us up on time. He was energetic and gave us a summary of the lights and what to expect that evening. Nothing was guaranteed - can't control the lights, but he would try his best to get us to a spot where we could see them if they appeared.
Our first stop wasn't too far away; his info was suggesting some activity within 30-40 minutes. He was helpful with tripods for folks with cameras and was trying to help us adjust the settings on our 35mm digital camera so we could capture the lights. It was way too cold; fingers were getting numb. We were there for about an hour. You could stand outside or sit in the bus, but the minibus door was left open, so it wasn't warm in there.
We then went to our next stop - south of Tromso rather than north or east, which surprised us, but Alan knew what he was doing. The next stop was brief. He didn't think the view would be ideal, so we ventured on another 10 minutes and finally stopped on a beach type area in front of a lake, or inlet. The view was beautiful with mountains on the other side of the water. He went to start a fire for us but then saw some lights, so we all rushed out. They weren't that bright, but we saw them. Again, he helped folks with cameras and provided tripods, and he also took pictures of everyone. After a while, the lights died down and he got back to the fires - two with stools around them. Everyone got a loaf of strawberry pound cake and a hot drink.
And then the lights came out again, this time stronger and longer, morphing, moving - it was magical. Again he took pictures of everyone and helped with cameras.
The fire helped a bit, as did the thermal suits they provided, but our feet, particularly toes, were freezing. Highly suggest electric heating socks if you want to be comfortable in the below zero weather; we had the old toe warmer packs, which did not do much good.
We gave up on our 35mm camera at the first stop. This picture was taken with an iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Alan got us to an amazing spot for photographs. No other group was around - we had the place to ourselves. He was very helpful throughout the night. Did a great job with the fires, too. A few days later, we received the link to our photos that he took with his camera.
Thank you, Alan, for a truly wonderful experience! Highly recommend this tour.