Hello Dimaciel,
Thank you for valuable and really thorough feedback. We have discussed it further with our team to enure that it will help us grow and perfect our tours.
First of all, we admit there was a minor mix up with equipment packed, and two suits were missing. We have checked with our logistics team to find out why did it happen, even though we have appropriate procedures in place. It was a human error. We apologise for an inconvenience it have caused. The last thing we want is for our guests not to feel comfortable in the wilderness. We do generally pride ourselves with being able to consistently provide well organised experiences for our valued guests.
Aurora Hunt duration varies, and can be anytime between 5-8 hours. It is mostly impacted by how far we have to drive to find the clear skies. It can be any time between an hour one way (if we drive towards the coast) or 3+ hours if we have to drive as far as Finland. Based on the environmental conditions assessment, we knew that that night coastal are gives the best opportunity of finding clear skies, hence the return time will be earlier. The forecast across the whole coast was predicting early gaps in the clouds and the conditions consistently worsening, to 100% cloud coverage later in the night.
The best strategy for the nights like this is keeping the drive time as short as possible (as otherwise we would be risking the gaps closing before we arrive at the spot away from the light pollution where we can camp).
Forecasting here, as anywhere in the world, may turn out to be incorrect and the sky have cleared up later in the night.
On a regular basis, we cannot accommodate guest that have a strict return time to Tromsø. This time we have made an exception, having in mind best interest of our guests. The decision was dictated by 1) environmental conditions assessment - we had solid grounds to believe that we will be back by 1am anyway, and other guests will not miss on the experience, 2) the tour was on the verge of not meeting the minimum number of participants.
We have a consistent ratio of one team member per the maximum of eight guests, which is lower than many tour operators. Since you were traveling a very small group, your guide was also driving. We know that this way we can offer a unique, cosy and personal experience.
Once again, we would like to thank you for taking time to share feedback with us. We hope to see you again and provide you with an excellent experience.
