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It was another quiet morning as the orphans came out of their night stockades to find no other elephants in the lucerne feeding area. It was a surprise for Naleku, Suguroi and Sagateisa, who had been used to the presence of so many elephants joining them every morning. The orphans settled briefly for lucerne then passed by the water troughs to have some water before Kauro led the way out to browse.

Out in the bush, Jotto and Mapia, who endure endless wrestling matches in a bid to establish their dominance, were at it again. The two boys engaged each other into a pushing match that ended in a draw, once again. Ambo tackled Dololo but their game came to an end when Rapa passed by and separated the two boys. Naleku and Suguroi found a patch of damp soil and decided to take a break from browsing to enjoy a rolling game. Rapa moved to feed with Neshashi while Kuishi teamed up with Naboishu. It was quite a cool day and apart from the odd pushing match, the orphans browsed calmly throughout the morning, until Larro led the first group to the eleven o'clock milk feed.

After all the orphans had their milk, Sattao led the herd for a bush mud bath in a large puddle of water that collected close to the road from the recent rains. They all had a lot of fun in the mud. Sattao, Malkia and Kuishi were enjoying themselves so much, and were the last ones to leave the little mud hole. The herd then walked to the western side of Ithumba Hill. Musiara settled to browse with Naboishu while Kamok teamed up with Ambo once again. When it was time to head home for the night, Larro took the lead. Upon arriving back at the stockades, we were surprised to find Nasalot, Noah and Rapsu there, as we thought all the ex-orphans had left the area. They left shortly after the orphans went into the compound for the night.

It was a bright clear sky morning. The orphans settled only briefly for lucerne before walking out to the bush to begin their day. They chose the Kalovoto area to spend their morning. All the plants are sprouting fresh green shoots and it’s this succulent new growth the orphans are after. We’ve also noticed how the orphans are now finding it acceptable to browse from the same shrubs as well. When it is very dry, some of the older orphans like Kamok, Ambo, Rapa, Malkia and Sana Sana don't like sharing shrubs with any others because they are so hard to find. Now that things are a bit more plentiful, the orphans don’t mind sharing!

Musiara and Ambo had a brief meeting and we wondered if they were talking about all the nice vegetation to be found now. Mukkoka teamed up with Naleku for a soil dusting session, while Malkia teamed up with Malima. The orphans browsed calmly throughout the rest of the morning up until it was time to walk to the mud bath for their midday milk feed.

Dololo led the first group to where the Keepers were waiting with the milk bottles, while Sagateisa led the second one. When they were all done, Roho decided to lead the way out to the bush, where they came across a small muddy pool. All the orphans decided to have fun in this puddle of rainwater. We suspect that Roho could small the water and led them there on purpose.

In the afternoon, the orphans chose to browse west of Ithumba Hill. At around four o'clock in the evening the weather changed. Clouds gathered and shortly later gave way to heavy rains. The orphans returned to stockades at the usual time, soaked in rain and very happy.

After briefly settling for lucerne this morning, Sagateisa took the lead, which was a nice change for her! Mukkoka started the day by participating in a soil dusting exercise, while Neshashi opted to browse with Roho. Mukkoka was joined by Naleku, Ambo, Kuishi and Malima. Suguroi came across a tree stump that was about three feet high and used it to scratch her thigh. Soon after Ambo and Kuishi had enough of soil bathing, the boy and girl engaged each other in a wrestling match that ended in a draw.

Later, Roho, Neshashi, Suguroi, Jotto and Mapia came across a puddle of water that they splashed in for a bit before going back to browsing on the nearby shrubs. Mapia engaged Jotto into a strength testing match that didn't last for long, as Jotto chose to surrender and start his journey towards the mud bath. He was clearly eager for his milk bottle today! Naleku, Neshashi and Suguroi saw Jotto leaving towards the mud bath and decided that there was no way they could be left behind. The three girls ran and overtook Jotto and continued running until they got to the mud bath for their milk. After all the orphans had finished their bottles, Larro led the way over to the water trough. Again, in the current wet weather, the orphans opted not to swim today.

In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. Two lesser kudu antelopes passed by and were spotted by Malkia, Ndiwa, Dololo, Kauro and Kamok. Dololo and Kauro volunteered to chase away the harmless antelopes, just for the fun of it! The lesser kudus didn’t hang around to be charged at by the two boys; instead, they sprinted off into the bushes amidst trumpeting from the naughty elephants. In the evening, Pare and Rapa decided to leave the herd and disappear, only to reappear back at the stockades in the dead of night.

It was wet in the morning, following more rain overnight. Neshashi was the first one to come out of the stockades and went around checking on her friends. The orphans settled briefly for lucerne, then Neshashi and Sana Sana led the way out to the bush. Ndiwa came across a nice rock that she used to scratch the side of her tummy on, while Suguroi scratched her trunk against a tree. Roho briefly teamed up with Sana Sana to browse and then left to join Mukkoka for a wet dust bath. Nabulu settled to feed from the same shrub as Ambo, while Kauro settled to browse with Kuishi. Naleku took a break from feeding to have fun digging at the soft soil with her tusks and throwing it over her body. Kuishi passed by and decided to join the little girl in her cool soil bathing exercise. Dololo boycotted all the fun and games and instead chose to concentrate on plucking leaves from tall trees. Musiara found a nice tree stump that he used to scratch his tummy on, before walking over to Malima to browse with her for most of the day.

As the day progressed, Ndiwa, Malkia, Kuishi, Sagateisa, Jotto and Naboishu took a break from feeding to have fun playing in some mud they came across. 

After having their noon milk feed, the orphans had their milk bottles then headed to the water trough. Once again, they didn't bother wallowing as they have their choice of places in the bush at the moment, with so many puddles and bush mud holes available whenever they feel like cooling down. The orphans settled to browse in the Imenti area. Ambo, Naleku, Malkia, Kamok and Kuishi took a break for a while to enjoy an afternoon wet soil bath. The rest of the day was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing. Towards bedtime Pare and Rapa lagged behind again and only returned to the stockades well past midnight.

After leaving their stockades, Suguroi, Naleku, Sagateisa and Musiara settled for a scratching exercise along the wall of the compound. Shortly later, all the orphans headed straight out to browse without waiting for lucerne like they normally do. They were eager to begin browsing on all the fresh green vegetation shooting up thanks to the recent rain, and thought there was no need for lucerne today!

They walked east of the compound, where Kuishi, Mapia and Jotto came across some water collected on a rock, which they decided to drink. Ambo teamed up with Sattao to browse for a little while. Musiara had an itchy neck and found a nice tree that he used to scratch against. Sattao then abandoned Ambo and moved to join Neshashi to browse. Rapa and Pare, the two new independent boys, moved away from their friends to browse on their own, while Jotto engaged Kauro in a private conversation. Kauro, Kamok, Rapa and Pare are appending a lot of nights out these days, and returning in the morning. Perhaps Jotto Jotto wanted to find out from Kauro what it’s like to stay out at night!

Roho, Sagateisa, Malima and Sattao took a break from browsing when they came across a muddy patch. The two boys and two girls quickly changed colour from grey to red by rolling and smearing themselves with the red clay earth. Later, they were joined by Mapia and Nabulu.

At mud bath time the orphans had their milk bottles then went for a drink of water. They avoided the big mud bath, but walked to a big puddle they have discovered recently in the bush, where they had a lot of fun splashing about. In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill where they fed calmly for the rest of the day. Ambo teamed up with Malima to browse for a bit.

In preparation of the new Nursery gradutes expected towards the end of the month, the Keepers decided to make some changes to the sleeping arrangements in the night stockades. Ambo, Musiara, Sattao and Mukkoka were promoted to class four, and Jotto, Mapia, Kuishi, Nabulu, Dololo and Malima were moved to the fifth class, while Malkia, Sana Sana and Ndiwa were promoted to the final class, joining Kamok, Kauro, Rapa and Pare, who are slowly assimilating themselves back into the wild by spending more nights out these days.  

It was lovely to see Barsilinga in the morning, who showed up with the small group who spent the night out, including Kauro, Pare, Kamok, Rapa, Malkia, Ndiwa and Sana Sana. They joined the dependent orphans who had already started eating lucerne. Shortly later, Ndiwa led the way out to the bush.

Suguroi, Malkia and Naleku decided to have a fun moment rolling on the wet ground before going back to browsing. Roho settled to browse with Jotto and later moved to browse with Dololo. Kuishi teamed up with Ndiwa and Mapia as Rapa, Kauro, Pare and Barsilinga broke away from the main herd and left. An hour later, the weather changed and it started to pour. As usual, the pouring rain got the orphans in a playful mood. They scattered out and started playing in any running water or muddy hole they came across. When the rain stopped, they also stopped playing and resumed browsing. The orphans then settled to browse calmly up until their noon milk feed, when Suguroi led the first group to the mud bath. The orphans had their milk and didn't waste any time at the mud bath, walking back out to the bush as soon as they were done. Jotto challenged Kauro but ended up losing the game. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans browsed quietly for the rest of the day.

The orphans were in a happy mood today, going to feed on lucerne before walking out to the bush to begin their day.

Roho was busy browsing with Mukkoka while Musiara chose to browse next to Ambo. Mapia and Sattao decided to take a break from feeding to enjoy a wrestling match, and Ambo did the same with Dololo. Sagateisa walked along minding her own business, flapping her ears. Soon she spotted Roho, who she likes playing with, and she started a pushing game with him that Roho was happy to oblige. Malkia took a break and rolled in some mud.

When the orphans made their way to the mud bath the weather was quite chilly, so none of them decided to wallow. They just had their milk then continued browsing. Some of the orphans decided to play and we thought perhaps this was due to the weather and they wanted to warm themselves up. Malkia and Kamok played together, rolling on the ground as they scooped and tossed chunks of soil in the air. Musiara played separately in some loose soil, lightly dusting himself. The rest of the orphans were busy browsing, though it was getting late. Eventually, the Keepers rounded everyone up to make their way back to the stockades for the night. We didn’t see any ex-orphans today.

As soon as the orphans left the stockades, best friends Mapia and Ambo decided to scratch their itchy bodies along the wall in the stockade compound. Jotto warmed up his sleepy limbs by sitting and rolling on the ground, watched by Naboishu, Dololo and Sagateisa. The orphans settled for lucerne briefly before being led out to the bush by Kamok. It is so green at the moment and the orphans are really enjoying the lush vegetation as a result of good rains.

As there is so much vegetation around the orphans like to team up and share. Naboishu partnered with Larro while Kamok settled to browse with Malima, Ambo, and Sagateisa. At around ten o'clock in the morning, the orphans decided to take a break from feeding as they had been going nonstop all morning. Mapia, Sagateisa, Ndiwa, Naboishu, Neshashi and Roho converged under a tree and took a nap while standing up.

Later, Naleku led the first group to the mud bath for the noon milk feed, followed by Suguroi. The orphans had their milk bottles then jumped into the waterhole to cool off. After having enough of wallowing, Sattao and Musiara led the way out of the water, but then Kuishi took over the lead – she wanted to decide the way they would browse in the afternoon! It was a quiet afternoon and in the evening Larro led the first group back for the night.

It was a cloudy morning today. The orphans settled for lucerne as soon as they left the stockades. The night-gang that leaves in the evening and returns in the morning started arriving one by one. Sana Sana was the first one to arrive. As we were waiting for the rest to arrive, Malkia showed up high on a rock behind the stockade! This is the most amazing thing about elephants; just when you think you understand them, they do something spectacular to surprise you. How Malkia managed to climb up that rock then make her way down to come and join the rest of the herd is a mystery to us. Malkia, the rock climber, joined the herd and then everyone walked out to the bush together.

The orphans were briefly joined by ex-orphans Kinna, Kama, Kaia, Wiva, Sidai, Silas and two wild bulls. Naleku and Suguroi ganged up against Kaia, who of course couldn’t withstand both girls tackling her, and so she ran to hide behind Wiva. At that point Naleku and Suguroi gave up the chase as they’re slightly scared of Wiva! Shortly later, the orphans parted ways with the ex-orphans. Barsilinga, who had arrived with the night-gang, wrestled with the eight-year-old Wiva briefly before following the dependent orphans.

Suguroi decided to have fun rolling on the ground, but Ambo came over and interrupted Suguroi’s game by trying to push her up. Ambo abandoned that game and moved on to play with Naboishu. Naboishu wasn’t interested in playing though and walked away from Ambo. Naleku settled to play on an anthill where she was joined by Neshashi, Nabulu and Dololo.

On the way to the mud bath, the orphans came across a small pool of water that they decided to wallow in. After having enough fun there, and covered in mud, Sagateisa, Barsilinga, Malkia and Naleku walked over to some nearby trees where they scratched their itchy bodies. At mud bath time, the orphans were joined by a group of ex-orphans. Sagateisa tried to familiarise herself with Teleki as Musiara settled to play with Rapa. In the afternoon the ex-orphans took a different direction to the younger babies, who settled to browse in the Kanziku area. Nabulu teamed up with Ambo to browse while Sattao had a pushing game with Mapia. The rest of the day was relatively quiet however, and the orphans browsed calmly up to five o'clock in the evening when Neshashi led the way back home for the night.