November is springtime in the Masai Mara and it seemed like every hoofed creature in the park had just given birth. Mother an calf pairs of topi, in particular, were all over the place. This was at sunrise one morning when silhouette shots were possible in every direction.

Bush babies are one of the world’s smallest primates. Also known as galagos, they are fairly widespread in Africa but rarely seen because they are strictly nocturnal. We saw this guy on our way back to camp on a late game drive in the Laikipia region of Kenya. We searched for quite a while with our spotlight before finally finding him/her. Credit goes to Karen for her work with my remotely triggered flash equipment, ensuring that the bush baby’s eyes were photographed without any red eye.

I took quite a few shots of zebras fighting. These two guys were going at it in a place called Laikipia. I always liked the human-looking teeth of zebras, as if they’re wearing a set of those fake chompers.

These vultures sat patiently, waiting for a lioness to finish eating a wildebeest kill. Two jackals were also on hand, but didn’t quite have the stamina of the vultures and split early, missing out on the feast. Left on their own, the vultures attacked with a vengeance, and within a couple of minutes the bones of the wildebeest were virtually dry.

We saw lion cubs at each of the four camps that we visited. This photo was taken at the last camp, just north of the Masai Mara. Only about a month old, this little guy was very curious as to what we were all about.

This is Notch. He’s one of the best known lions in the Masai Mara because he controls an enormous territory. He’s been the alpha male of his pride for a long time, thanks in large part to all his sons who protect him from any challengers. He’s also well known for his ongoing role in the BBC nature series “Big Cat Diary,” which chronicles the lives of cats within the Mara. It was quite a majestic sight to see him walking across the savannah, barely looking at us as he passed a mere foot or so in front of our vehicle. His advanced age of 14 years is evident in the impressive black and gold mane.

The short rains occur in Kenya from October through the beginning of December. To me, this is the perfect time to visit. As mentioned in a previous post, the landscape is lush with green vegetation, the skies are filled with dramatic clouds and the occasional rain showers provide interesting opportunities to photograph the wildlife. This is an olive baboon in the Laikipia area of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. I spent about an hour photographing a large troop of these guys and captured quite a few similar water shake offs.

This white rhinoceros calf was probably my single favorite animal that I saw in Kenya. She seemed to be in a very playful mood and was making all sorts of faces at us while her mother, for the most part, ignored our presence and continued to graze. We saw plenty of both white rhinos and black rhinos. Both species are endangered, but are quite plentiful in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy which was established for their protection.

First thing in the morning is usually the best time to catch hippos out of the water. During the day, they need to stay out of the sun and in the water to keep their skin from burning. Our tent in the Masai Mara was set on the bank of a river just above a hippo pool and at night we could hear them snorting and gurgling and making all sorts of noises. We encountered this guy one of those early mornings just outside of our camp.

There really aren’t  many things in nature much cuter than a cheetah cub. I like the way that this little guy looks like he’s wrapped in a cheetah cape. Most of those spots around him are his mother’s, but hiding down to the left is also a little brother (or perhaps a sister).