Northern Lights delight!

We’re promised a safe return to the warmth of our hotels around 1am on bitterly cold Saturday morning.

“We’ll be out anywhere between three and five hours - we want to allow as much time as possible” she says.

Anna is softly spoken but her voice has a strength that projects down the walkway of the tour bus, and a confidence that makes chattering travellers pause and listen.

“Remember we can never guarantee a sighting, but it’s been a clear sunny day and so chances are good!”

This is her third night in a row at the helm of the Northern Lights Mystery excursion in Iceland.  If the experienced tour guide feels any sense of fatigue at repeating the same spiel so frequently, her upbeat tone gives nothing away.

“Every group is different” she explains.  “They all travel to Iceland with different hopes, dreams and experiences. Every outing is as new to me as it is to them.  I share their excitement”

The 32-year old’s enthusiasm is commendable, given she’s led the identical tour for several nights per week, for approaching four years.

At 7.30 every evening, Anna picks up groups of tourists from hotels around Reykjavik, the Icelandic capital.  Each night she checks names from a clipboard. Each night she explains the plan for the evening. Each night she explains the probability of seeing the Northern Lights, one of the most elusive and unpredictable of the earth’s natural wonders.  

Every year, thousands of visitors of all nationalities come to Iceland in search of Aurora Borealis. The natural phenomenon, commonly seen this northern part of the globe, is the result of electrically charged particles from the sun colliding with gaseous particles in the Earth’s atmosphere, causing displays of bright, colourful dancing lights.

Chances of seeing the Lights, Anna explained, are affected by various factors including the time of year - the period between September to March offers the best bet.  Clear, cloudless skies and high altitudes also give star-gazers more of a hope of witnessing.

Those lucky enough to experience the spellbinding Northern Lights often consider it a once in a lifetime experience, something to tick off the bucket list. But what happens if, like Anna, you’ve seen them more times than you care to remember.  Is it actually possible to get bored of something so magical?

“I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it” she says without hesitation. “The unpredictability of it is all part of the fun.  Sometimes we’ll see them, sometimes we won’t. What’s wonderful is when you’re about to call it a night and head back, and then there’s some activity - the look of wonder on peoples’ faces is unforgettable.”

As an employee of Gray Line, one of Iceland’s leading tour operators, Anna regularly leads other popular trips, but for her, none can hold a candle to the Northern Lights tour.  

“It’s nothing like the other excursions - for example on the Golden Circle tour we can guarantee seeing Gulfoss Waterfall - it’s unlikely to have moved!  The Northern Lights have the ability to surprise us every time - whether they’ll appear, how they’ll appear, and for how long they’ll stay to entertain us!”

The hour-long journey away from Reykjavik’s bright lights and buzz is punctuated by Anna’s lively narration.  We’re headed for Thingvellir national park, a barren volcanic landscape offering the optimum chance of Light spotting.  Anna hopes we’re wearing our thermals, because with minimal shelter, this place is home to the planet’s most bitter temperatures.  

The glow from a small cafe and headlamps from our bus and a row of identikit other Gray Line tours are the only sources of light in this bleak mountain-framed scenery.  Here, the sky takes centre stage, waiting for its performers to show up. Anna suggests the iPhone users among us download an app specifically designed for photographing the Northern Lights - we take her enthusiasm as a positive sign.  Buses are left unlocked in the highly likely event of needing jump aboard to warm up.

It’s as the hot chocolate from the cafe’s drinks machine, and a slug of brandy from a fellow traveller’s gratefully offered hip flask kicks in, that Anna’s animated words replace the bus’s sleepy atmosphere with anticipation.

“Quick!  Get your hats and gloves back on - there’s some activity taking place!”

And sure enough as we step down from the bus, above our heads, the skies are filled with a dancing green spectacle.  She’s so right. Who could ever tire of this?