We all have heard of #northernlights or aurora borealis. A magical dislay of lights,ainly, green, pink and purple in the skies, seen mostly in countries of north and south pole. This is the 50th year for my friend and me, we saved money for this trip. To celebrate this year we started planning for a memorable trip, beginning with Cuba and ended up in Norway. We wanted the trip to be splendid and decided we wanted to witness Aurora Borealis and so we booked on a cruise.
Believe me it is one thing to see them in films, photographs and online, than to witness it. My first reaction was NOT to reach for the camera, but to stand there and take it in. After we left Bergen on the second or third night while we waited on the top deck we heard to go out to experience the northern lights. There we stood transfixed at the natural splendour.
Lights for sure they are called, what I saw was, colours that blew in the skies with the wind like smoke and engulfed the entire area. It was absolute magic! It is indescribable, to say the least. Over the last few days I have seen these lights every night. Last night far away I saw a red colour, I clicked it on my DSLR. Oh, by the way the settings have to be manual, below one fourth a second speed, 1600 ISO, exposure etc to be adjusted accordingly. It is funny, we were told one has to be alert on the cruise, every night. They will make an announcement in the corridor and one has to run to the top deck.
The first night at 11pm I heard some sound and spring up instantly. Thankfully I have invested in a cellphone that has a camera of DSLR quality. And after the first few minutes I take in the experience every night I click. Interestingly, on November 18, I saw a red colour smoky light far away and I clicked. It got bit brighter and clicked again. Later I showed it to the bar tender lady who initally did not believe me. Tonight (Nov 19th) was magical. I yet again saw red and green lights. I clicked on the camera and showed the lady who was accompanied by another staffer and they appreciated the ‘different lights.’
Like I said it is a natural phenomenon, no fixed formula but one needs to witness it at least once in life. In fact it was a double bonus. The first two days we saw rainbows and at night the northern lights. I could not have asked for a better way to celebrate life! This cruise is good sent, relaxed, living every moment and enjoying nature’s splendour. I definitely could not have asked for a better way to end this year.