The first sight of lions we got was this pride in the main Masai Mara National Park. Because it was midday, they were doing bugger all. Big cats in Africa (except cheetahs) conserve energy by doing the bare minimum most of the day, only coming alive in the evening, night and early mornings.

Still, I wouldn’t get out of the jeep and tickle this guy:

Don’t spill this lad’s pint

Further along from the male lion, we found a crèche of lionesses with cubs shading under a tree

Lion cub with mother. Probably about 3 months old

 

Lion cubs asleep with lionesses

Lioness pile-up

The crèche from the other side

Hard life. Another daytime-dosing lioness on the drive out of the main reserve

The reason for the Kenya trip was a recce for our 2013 photo / video safari, which is a collaboration between us at Hawk’s Head Photography and Trai Anfield at Enlightened Media. Trai is a video journalist and presenter of BBC Radio 4′s ‘Living World’. She’s joining us to teach the video side of things as well as photography. We’ll have more information on the web sites when we’ve sorted the safari information out.