Published November, 02 2011
I first met Mr Karlsen at the Vilmarksmesen in Lillstroom, Norway, in 2009 and we started planning his Eastern Cape Safari. Three years later accompanied by Mr Lindstad he finally arrived on the 23rd of October. This was to be Mr Karlsen's 9th African Trip.
Our priority species were to be Lynx, Blue Duiker, Oribi and Bushbuck while in our Coastal Area. Our Lynx pack was out at first light on the morning of the 24th looking for any fresh tracks. It was a dry and windy day and my hopes of finding a fresh track were low. In the meantime while in radio contact with Tim, our dog handler, Mr Karlsen and I concentrated on Blue Duiker. Blue Duiker are the second smallest antelope in Africa and live in the thick coastal bush. A flash of dark grey crossing a road or opening in the thick bush is all you get to see when hunting this elusive animal. Being an experienced wing shooter is certainly an advantage for any hunter wanting to hunt this specie. By midday with nothing positive on the Lynx or Blue Duiker we focused our attention on Oribi. By this time all oribi were bedded down on the hillsides out of the wind after a short stalk Mr Karlsen had an excellent gold medal Oribi in the salt. Later that afternoon it was Mr Lindstad's chance to focus on Bushbuck. After a few short stalks a bushbuck was added to the days tally.
Day two with no improvement on the weather Tim and his dogs had still not picked up any fresh Lynx tracks. After discussions with Tim we decided to change area and bring in his colleague Maron and his pack to assist.
Early in the morning of Day three Maron's pack picked up a fresh track and by 8am Mr Karlsen got his Lynx. We had barely finished taking photographs when Tim contacted us via radio to say that his pack had also struck a fresh spur. With great excitement we drove the 15km's and arrived just in time to hear the hounds in full flight and tree a big cat in a deep riverine. Mr Lindstad got his cat. Two Lynx in one morning is a rare occurrence and we were all in high spirits.
Our Coastal species now done we moved to our Mountain Area where we focused on Vaal Rhebuck, Klispringer, Mountain Reedbuck, Steenbuck and Blue Wildebeest. Klipspringer is one of those voodoo animals for Mr Karlsen as he had previously wounded and lost one on a previous safari. His bad luck however continued after missing two shots at 80m. This all after making a great 220m shot at the smaller bodied Steenbuck. By late afternoon a lot of walking in the Mountains the Vaal Rhebuck was in the salt.
Two Mountain Reedbuck and a Blue Wildebeest the following day and the wishlist was complete, Mr Karlsen deciding to wait one more year for his Klipspringer.
A visit to our Taxidermist on our final morning completed a successful safari and dates confirmed for 2012.
