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The orphans and Keepers awoke to a clear sky which they knew would mean a hot day ahead. Jotto and Mapia entwined their trunks in morning greetings soon after leaving their stockades. The orphans settled for their morning lucerne as ex-orphan Barsilinga emerged from the east, all alone, to join them. It’s nearly two years now since Barsilinga’s foot injury kept him anchored to the Ithumba dependent herd for almost a year, and it is wonderful to see him fully out and about in the wild. Ambo chose to share lucerne alongside his favourite girl Kamok this morning. They both seemed to have a long conversation, but of course we couldn’t know what they were talking about. Ambo later moved to share lucerne with Nabulu. After Nabulu had her fill, she walked down to the water trough to drink. Shortly later she was joined by Mapia, Kauro, Kuishi, Jotto, Roho, Malima and Sagateisa.

Later in the morning Mapia chose to take a break and engage Jotto in a pushing game that ended in a draw. Then Mapia moved to play with Ambo. Ambo chose to surrender, since Mapia proved to be much stronger than him. The orphans settled to browse in the Kanziku area. Shortly before mud bath time, the orphans came across a small water hole in the bush and decided to have fun rolling and splashing there before proceeding for their noon milk feed. They had their milk then walked straight back out to continue browsing without wallowing, as they had already splashed about earlier.

The orphans had a quiet afternoon and browsed calmly for the rest of the day. In the evening, ex-orphan Makireti came to the stockade compound in the company of two suitors. It seems Makireti is in season, but she wasn’t amenable to the advances of her two suitors and was trying to get away from them. She came close to the stockade wall, where the two bulls couldn’t follow her. They waited for Makireti, but eventually they got tired and left. However, they returned later in the evening in search of Makireti again.

It was another bright and clear morning when the orphans left the compound after their morning milk bottles. Sattao headed straight to a nearby rock to scratch an itch, before joining his friends who were feeding on lucerne. Ndiwa and Mapia walked down to the water trough and had some water before starting to head out for the day. The rest of the herd followed and they all settled in the Kone area.

Mukkoka teamed up with Musiara to play with some damp soil. They kicked at the soil with their feet to loosen it up before scooping it with their trunks and throwing it on their backs. Neshashi found a dry fallen tree that she used to scratch her itchy neck. Jotto engaged Malkia in a pushing game while Naleku settled for a soil dusting exercise. Shortly before mud bath time, Naleku and Pare found a suitable rock that they used to scratch their bellies on.

On the way to the mud bath, the orphans came across a small pool of water. Kuishi decided to get in and roll around, watched over by Mapia, Jotto, Naleku and Nabulu. At eleven o'clock, Sattao and Roho led the first groups for their milk feed. It was quite hot and after having their bottles, the orphans decided to walk to a small dam of water they know of in the bush. They didn’t want to swim in the main big waterhole, which they found to be too cold, but they did fancy a quick splash in a smaller, muddier puddle. When they were done, Malima led the way for the afternoon browsing session. It was a quiet afternoon as the orphans browsed without any distractions for the rest of the day.

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.  

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.

Sana Sana, Kauro, Malkia, Kamok, Rapa, Pare, and Ndiwa spent the night outside the stockades and joined the dependent orphans for lucerne. Naboishu was happy to see his friend Sana Sana back, but Ambo was the most overjoyed to see his beloved Kamok. Jotto took Rapa aside and engaged him in a pushing game. Jotto looked as if he was asking Rapa questions, like where Rapa spends his nights and what it’s like out there in the wild. Jotto will just have to find out for himself when he joins his friends out there! Later, Neshashi led the way out.

Mapia challenged Rapa but Jotto came in-between them, which made Mapia leave and occupy himself somewhere else. Malima chose to browse with Musiara and little Sagateisa. Kuishi came across a nice rock that she used to scratch her belly on. Neshashi teamed up with Ndiwa as Naleku opted for a soil dusting game. Malkia, Ambo, Naboishu and Jotto all browsed together. Just off to the side, Pare, Kuishi, Jotto, Neshashi and Malkia took a break from feeding to cool down and dust themselves. Sana Sana took little Suguroi and Naboishu with her and moved away from the rest of the herd.

It was quite funny watching Neshashi on the way to the mud bath. She had eaten enough food so the grass she was pulling up she was just throwing in the air and letting fall on her back. After their bottles it was only Barsilinga, who had joined the dependent orphans earlier in the morning, who decided to wallow.

Sagateisa, Sana Sana, Jotto, Neshashi, Larro, Suguroi, Roho and Naleku split from the herd and decided to go to the smaller mud bath on the roadside to roll in the wet soil. Roho attempted to climb on Naleku, but this really annoyed her. She tried as much as possible to disengage herself from Roho, but eventually she turned to face him, trying to understand the reason why he was being so confrontational.

In the afternoon, ex-orphans Wendi, Wema, Wimbi, Sunyei, Siku, Saba, Galana, Gawa and Makena briefly joined the orphans as they browsed west of the hill. They made away with Sagateisa, Ndiwa and Rapa, without the Keepers’ knowledge. The ex-orphans brought the three orphans back to stockade.

Rain was falling this morning as the orphans had their milk then left the stockades, walking carefully to avoid slipping and falling. The orphans settled briefly for some lucerne before Malima led the way out to the bush. The orphans headed east then turned around the hill behind the stockades and started browsing towards the mud bath. Ndiwa and Larro decided to roll on the wet ground, covering their bodies in damp soil. Because it looked like so much fun, they were soon joined by Roho, Sana Sana, Naboishu, Barsilinga and Naleku. Nabulu had a brief conversation with Olorien and then the two girls teamed up and walked off to their own area to browse. Malima chose to browse with little Suguroi while Mukkoka settled to browsing with Ambo in the early morning. 

At round eight o'clock it started raining again. As usual this sparked a playful mood amongst the orphans who stopped browsing and rolled on the ground along the roadside, smearing themselves with red mud as the rain continued to pour. As soon as the rain stopped, the orphans also stopped rolling and quickly got up to continue browsing.

At eleven o'clock in the morning the orphans headed for their noon bottle feed. With all the rain today, they decided not to wallow and went straight back out to browse in the Kanziku area. It was a very quiet and peaceful afternoon until it started raining again! The orphans seize every opportunity to mess about in the rain and ran around, splashing in the puddles and running water. At around five o'clock in the evening just as the orphans were heading home for the night, the rain came to a stop. We received about 45mm in total.