Choose your region

Ex orphans Kalama, Chemi chemi, Murka, Naisula, Kandecha, Olare, Suguta, Kibo, Tumaren, Melia and Kituria arrived at the stockade compound early before dawn and decided to take a nap all lying down, this is an indication just how comfortable they are at a place they consider home. The group woke up when they heard the stockade gate being opened. Narok was the first one to leave the stockade, with Garzi following her closely behind. Garzi with his trunk raised walked towards Kitirua. Kitirua threatened Garzi with her ears raised. Garzi retreated to avoid being pounced on by Kitirua. Later Garzi went to play with Bomani but their pushing game was cut short by Sities when Sities came in between them and even pushed Bomani away. Bomani went up to scratch his belly on rocks but later Orwa wanted to use the same rock to scratch and so he pushed Bomani away. The partially independent group parted with the juniors two hours later. At eleven o'clock in the morning, the sun was really hot and Orwa, who rarely bathes, was the third one to get into the mud after Teleki and Vuria. Bomani, Laragai, Bongo and Shukuru joined them later. After mud bathing, Shukuru and Orwa shared the same tree in scratching while Vuria and Bomani shared another tree in the same exercise. In the afternoon, clouds gathered and covered the sun. The cloud cover brought down the temperatures to a favourable level. Mutara teamed up with Bongo on browsing while Garzi browsed close Sities. Towards evening, the clouds cleared and this gave way to sun shine. Bongo the water boy decided to lead his colleagues to the mud bath for a second wallowing of the day. Orwa, Bomani, Kanjoro, Vuria and Mutara were not ready for a second mud bath and so they headed to the mudbath of their own accord with the Keepers trailing behind. When they were leaving, a lone wild bull came to drink water at the water trough. Today ex orphans Chaimu and Kilaguni checked in at the stockade water trough and left soon after taking enough water. At dusk, half trunk who we have not seen for many moons reported at the stockade with twelve wild friends. Soon after taking enough water, the herd returned back to the bush. It is always lovely to reunite with our wild friends, and these bulls have long absences but return to visit their orphans friends.

Ex orphan Lualeni arrived today with some new ex orphans in tow, Zurura, Kenze, Sidai, Loijuk, Makena, Taita, Kilaguni, Chaimu and Tomboi arrived early in the morning at the stockade compound. They joined the juniors in feeding on some lucerne. Ololoo, who has been Lualeni's favourite for many years, was missing in action. Only Ololoo can tell us whether it is Lualeni that has abandoned him or if its Ololoo that has abandoned Lualeni and what the cause for their separation could be. Ololoo is around, so nothing sinister has happened, but it is remarkable how we are seeing this parting of ways. Is it permanent or temporary; for us it is only time that will tell. Later on Kilaguni and Chaimu went their own way leaving the rest at the stockade compound. Garzi and Bomani, who of late have become firm play mates, engaged each other in a pushing game that went on for quite some time until it ended in a draw. Kainuk had her own game of rolling on the ground. Tomboi escorted the juniors to the browsing field. the orphans settled to browse at the eastern side of the Ithumba hill, a bushy area with a slightly better pastures. At eleven o'clock in the morning, Mutara and Kanjoro were reluctant to go to the mud bath for some reason. The others hurriedly raced for their midday milk, but these two lagged behind, only reporting at mud twenty minutes later. Laragai was the first one to get into the mud followed by Bongo before the rest followed later. Today only Mutara and Orwa didn't step into the mud bath water. Noise from a passing lorry scared Laragai who was soil dusting near the road. Teleki and Turkwel opted to scratch against the nearby trees before Shukuru led the group back to the browsing field. The afternoon was cloudy as the orphans browsed as they headed towards Kanziku area. The area is dry and the orphans concentrated on breaking and feeding the top soft parts of the shrubs. The evening was sunny and the orphans passed at mud bath where they found three wild bulls having a wallow. As soon as the wild elephants saw the orphans and got wind of the Keepers, they fled away so these bulls were obviously new to the area, unfamiliar with the Keepers and their charges. This evening Shukuru led the way back to the stockade. Lualeni, Tomboi, Meibai, Makena, Ithumbah, Sidai, Rapsu, Zurura and Loijuk showed up at the the stockade shortly before five o'clock in the evening. Big boys Zurura and Tomboi spent some time pushing one another and later left to an undisclosed location.

The sky was cloudy when the orphans left the stockade and settled for their lucerne. Kilaguni and Chaimu had arrived earlier on, and joined the juniors briefly before heading to an undisclosed location. Bomani and Shukuru opted for a scratching on the rocks at the stockade compound before heading to drink water. On the way to the browsing field, Kainuk stopped and with her ears spread out, performed a soil dusting exercise using her trunk before following her colleagues. Bomani and Orwa who were behind Kainuk waited patiently then stepped forward and used the same spot for dusting themselves. At the field, Bongo and Vuria as usual engaged each other in their strength testing exercise. At nine o'clock in the morning, it finally started to rain. The rain activated the orphans moods as they started rolling in the running rain water and smearing themselves with red mud. They spent time on the road lolling around, slipping and sliding. By the end of their session, they all looked like ant hills they were so caked in mud. By mud bath time, it was still raining so the orphans headed back to the browsing fields as soon as the orphans had their milk. Shortly later, the rain stopped recording a total of 20mm. In the afternoon, Napasha, Buchuma, Challa and a wild elephant showed up at the stockade. It was lovely to see how well they all looked and to marvel at how our bulls, raised from infancy have become so impressive. The orphans settled to browse at the western slopes of Ithumba hill. The clouds cleared giving way to sun shine. The orphans browsed seriously so as to compensate for the time lost during play time when it was raining. In the evening, Shukuru led the first group back to the stockade, with all the orphans showing a buoyant and excited mood.