Chasing Rainbows … or Auroras … or Crossings

‘All good things come to those who wait’, so the saying goes. I grew up with that 16th-century proverb ringing in my ears. It was repeated so often that it made me all the more impatient and determined to do everything in life at top speed. This has served me well. Dare I say, suited me well. The more I could pack in, the more time I had to pack in. I am always somewhat surprised — and a little disappointed — to be described as impatient. But I do like to be known as someone who is persistent. Do the two necessarily have to go together? Let me get to the point of my story.

In a couple of weeks, the peace and quiet we enjoy in the Mara Triangle for nine months of the year will evaporate overnight with the invasion of a million herbivores and more as they pour in from the Serengeti for their annual lawn-mowing-extravaganza. The first to show their displeasure are the elephants, who all fall into a monumental collective sulk as the constant and persistent (that word again) lowing and mooing and grunting and groaning emit from wall-to-wall wildebeest drills into their brains.

With the annual Migration of herbivores come thrill-seeking travellers from all over the world to witness what must be the Greatest Animal Carnage on Earth as crocodiles the size of submarines ambush and devour hapless creatures as they cross the Mara River.

As lodge hosts, the pressure is almost unbearable as guests pretty much expect us to deliver this experience on tap. We send them off with double picnics — breakfast and lunch — for full days of waiting on the river banks, hoping beyond hope that the crocodiles will have their day. When they return back in the evening somewhat disappointed we buck them up saying ‘tomorrow is another day’ really wanting to say ‘all good things come to those who wait’. I am banned from Mara crossings apparently due to poor behaviour as I scream my lungs out for the baby zebra to swim like crazy as a behemoth sneaks up on them.

But I recently got my comeuppance… in Norway, of all places. Finally, I understood what that pain felt like when you have spent an untold amount of dollars and precious hard-earned time chasing a natural phenomenon night after night — and nada.

Off we set for the Arctic Circle to witness the dazzling Aurora Borealis. Our guide/host/astronomer predicted that March 2024 was going to be a year like no other of astonishingly mind-blowing displays of dancing Northern Lights. We would not be disappointed. Well, it was simply not meant to be. I finally understood how our guests felt when those fickle animals simply would not cross. And I felt guilty, responsible and sad all rolled into one because I had not been empathetic enough in their disappointment. This was payback time.

But did we give up? No! On we travelled practically all the way to the North Pole, or so it seemed, and on the seventh night, we were finally rewarded by 60 minutes of dancing lights. And I wouldn’t have traded those 60 minutes for the world.

'Sometimes you had to wait a little while for the good times to kick in. But when they did, you realized every moment and experience that came before was necessary…necessary to bring you there.'― Kathleen Long, Chasing Rainbows―