Besides baboons, vervet monkeys are the most often encountered primates on an east African safari. They can be encountered just about anywhere, but more often than not, around camps. This mom and her baby would come around at lunch time each day hoping to swipe a few scraps from their human relatives. Photographed in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/200th of a second.

Even Africa has squirrels. In this case, the unstriped ground squirrel from Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Apparently, all the other ground squirrels in the area have some form of stripes. This guy, clearly none. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 300mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/400th of a second.

The waterbuck is a large antelope found throughout sub-Sahara Africa. This is the male of the species — doing what waterbucks do best — resting in the grass. Photographed in the Maasai Mara of Kenya. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/2500th of a second.

I was hoping to get a lion or a leopard up on this rock while the sun rose over the Kenyan landscape, but settled for this guineafowl. These guys were actually pretty cool looking. Tough to tell in this near silhouette, but I’ll post another pic soon. We were up in the foothills of Samburu National Reserve and it was a beautiful morning as the savanna’s diurnal residents were just starting their day. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/1250th of a second.

The elephants came very close, giving me the opportunity to try some intimate portraits. I had the focus on the eye for this one, but am wondering if I should have switched it to the tip of the trunk. Either way, some nice texture in there. Photographed in the Maasai Mara of Kenya. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 180mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/640th of a second.

Where there’s a giraffe, there’s usually an oxpecker. This is the red-billed oxpecker, atop a reticulated giraffe. Photographed in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second.

This zebra could clearly use some dental floss for those teeth. Zebras are one of the most common animals you see on an East African safari, but they’re still one of my favorites to photograph and they always provide new looks. We saw two species on this recent trip — the Grevys zebra, which is much more rare, and the plains zebra, which seem to be all over the place. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/800th of a second.

Topi are fairly common in the Maasai Mara. Which makes them readily available and cooperative when the light is good. I photographed this one at sunrise on our first morning in the park. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/8000th of a second.

It’s fun to watch the mating ritual of widowbirds. The males will bounce up and down, suddenly popping up from the tall grass before falling back down. They are displaying the length of their tails for the ladies. The longer the tail, the better the chances of success. We saw Jackson’s widowbirds and also the red-collared, both in the Maasai Mara of Kenya. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/400th of a second.