- Joined
- Mar 11, 2001
- Messages
- 70,011
- Reaction score
- 1,007
http://www.bakersfield.com/172/story/49942.html
African safari had breathtaking moments for Bakersfield High grad
By The Bakersfield Californian | Thursday, May 4 2006 11:55 PM
Her name is Olivia Angelloz, a Bakersfield High School graduate, Stampede Days queen, college graduate and former "Miss Nebraska" pageant winner, all rolled up into a beautiful, highly successful businesswoman. Daughter of famed Bakersfield heart specialist Dr. Peter Nalos, Ms. Angelloz lives with her husband Cy in Texas, where they run a successful consulting business for international big game hunters and fishermen.
Perfectly suited for the job, Olivia is no stranger to the outdoors, having talked her father into getting into big game hunting, and then going together on safari on several occasions, where both began taking African big game. Recently, the young woman began dreaming of booking her own trip and going at it alone, without the benefit of a man or men to protect her. Not that a gal who wields a .375 Magnum like it was a .22 rimfire needs protecting, mind you.
"I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it alone," she said in a recent interview, "so I booked my own hunt in Benin, Africa, with an outfitter based in Paris, France called 'Club Faune.' Yann Le Bouvier, a professional hunter, became my guide and we took on the wild critters of a rarely hunted portion of Northwest Africa."
I'll say she did. Under incredibly hot and difficult conditions, where temperatures ranged from 120-125 degrees each day, Olivia nailed nine separate trophies, including a pending world record Kob antelope (150 pounds), Western Savannah Buffalo (1,300-lb.), Western Hartebeest (300 pounds), Harnessed Bushbuck (150 pounds), Pygmy Oribi (20 pounds), Red-flanked Duiker (10 pounds), Roan Antelope (600 pounds) and Western Bush Duiker (10 pounds). Among her harvest, the beautiful Roan Antelope was a very special trophy, but her favorite trophy was something else indeed and one that most of us only dream about facing -- an African lion.
"No one had killed a lion in the area in over three years because the hunting is so extremely difficult and physically demanding," Angelloz said. "They had considered closing the season, for no other reason than the fact that no one was hunting them."
When the opportunity finally presented itself, she made the decision to shoot the old, 450-pound male in a matter of seconds.
"The trackers and the guide began yelling at me to shoot the lion that had suddenly sprung out in front of us," Angelloz said. "I missed my hurried first shot, but my second hit him squarely and mortally wounded him. He tried to run for the nearest cover, but before he could, a whole herd of elephants with upraised trunks suddenly crashed out of the same cover and charged us and the lion trumpeting like mad! It was bad news for both the lion and us, because a bunch of angry elephants is a life-or-death situation. It was so hairy that Yann finally had to shoot the ground in front of them to stop their rampage.
"One never knows how you'll respond to danger, until you're put into that certain life-or-death situation like we were in. I really surprised myself!" she recalled.
Olivia is possibly the first woman to kill a lion in the area. Lions living in outrageously hot temperate zones normally sport little or no manes, and hers was typical.
"After we returned to the village, the locals put on quite a show over the big cat. There were many celebrations and ceremonies to mark the event, and in the end, they did a very special thing by giving Yann his own African name, 'Nwanti,' which means 'Man of the Bush.'"
I asked Olivia how she fared traveling abroad by herself in Third World countries. She answered, "I stay alert, blend in and don't talk a lot. The low-key approach works for me wherever I go and it'll work for others, too.
"By the way," she continued, "hunting is really a great sport, and it's not just a man's game. And hunting is not just about the taking of an animal's life, as a lot of misinformed people think. Hunting is about understanding the important role that hunters play in wildlife conservation and habitat preservation."
African safari had breathtaking moments for Bakersfield High grad
By The Bakersfield Californian | Thursday, May 4 2006 11:55 PM
Her name is Olivia Angelloz, a Bakersfield High School graduate, Stampede Days queen, college graduate and former "Miss Nebraska" pageant winner, all rolled up into a beautiful, highly successful businesswoman. Daughter of famed Bakersfield heart specialist Dr. Peter Nalos, Ms. Angelloz lives with her husband Cy in Texas, where they run a successful consulting business for international big game hunters and fishermen.
Perfectly suited for the job, Olivia is no stranger to the outdoors, having talked her father into getting into big game hunting, and then going together on safari on several occasions, where both began taking African big game. Recently, the young woman began dreaming of booking her own trip and going at it alone, without the benefit of a man or men to protect her. Not that a gal who wields a .375 Magnum like it was a .22 rimfire needs protecting, mind you.
"I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it alone," she said in a recent interview, "so I booked my own hunt in Benin, Africa, with an outfitter based in Paris, France called 'Club Faune.' Yann Le Bouvier, a professional hunter, became my guide and we took on the wild critters of a rarely hunted portion of Northwest Africa."
I'll say she did. Under incredibly hot and difficult conditions, where temperatures ranged from 120-125 degrees each day, Olivia nailed nine separate trophies, including a pending world record Kob antelope (150 pounds), Western Savannah Buffalo (1,300-lb.), Western Hartebeest (300 pounds), Harnessed Bushbuck (150 pounds), Pygmy Oribi (20 pounds), Red-flanked Duiker (10 pounds), Roan Antelope (600 pounds) and Western Bush Duiker (10 pounds). Among her harvest, the beautiful Roan Antelope was a very special trophy, but her favorite trophy was something else indeed and one that most of us only dream about facing -- an African lion.
"No one had killed a lion in the area in over three years because the hunting is so extremely difficult and physically demanding," Angelloz said. "They had considered closing the season, for no other reason than the fact that no one was hunting them."
When the opportunity finally presented itself, she made the decision to shoot the old, 450-pound male in a matter of seconds.
"The trackers and the guide began yelling at me to shoot the lion that had suddenly sprung out in front of us," Angelloz said. "I missed my hurried first shot, but my second hit him squarely and mortally wounded him. He tried to run for the nearest cover, but before he could, a whole herd of elephants with upraised trunks suddenly crashed out of the same cover and charged us and the lion trumpeting like mad! It was bad news for both the lion and us, because a bunch of angry elephants is a life-or-death situation. It was so hairy that Yann finally had to shoot the ground in front of them to stop their rampage.
"One never knows how you'll respond to danger, until you're put into that certain life-or-death situation like we were in. I really surprised myself!" she recalled.
Olivia is possibly the first woman to kill a lion in the area. Lions living in outrageously hot temperate zones normally sport little or no manes, and hers was typical.
"After we returned to the village, the locals put on quite a show over the big cat. There were many celebrations and ceremonies to mark the event, and in the end, they did a very special thing by giving Yann his own African name, 'Nwanti,' which means 'Man of the Bush.'"
I asked Olivia how she fared traveling abroad by herself in Third World countries. She answered, "I stay alert, blend in and don't talk a lot. The low-key approach works for me wherever I go and it'll work for others, too.
"By the way," she continued, "hunting is really a great sport, and it's not just a man's game. And hunting is not just about the taking of an animal's life, as a lot of misinformed people think. Hunting is about understanding the important role that hunters play in wildlife conservation and habitat preservation."
