Choose your region

In the morning, twelve wild bulls were drinking water at the stockade water trough when the dependent orphans were let out.. The dependent orphans were later then joined by the ex orphans. Madiba fed close to Teleki and Orwa which was a thrill for the young boys. Mutara again led her group to the browsing field, as they got to the fields the orphans kept themselves busy as they all searched for food. When the elephants went to the mud bath, there were a grand total of 60 wild elephants all playing in the mud hole. It was a truly spectacular scene. Given the company only Kanjoro and Shukuru plucked up the courage to join the wild elephants. The others all played in the powder soft red earth. Wendi, Yatta, Kina and Orok scratched themselves on a nearby tree as the junior orphans all watched them in awe. Eventually the orphans parted company from the wild elephants and headed home for the night.

Lualeni, Challa, Ololoo, Sidai and three wild elephants were at the stockades in the morning. The orphans greeted the elephants as they ate their lucerne. During the day Sidai has a disagreement with Kanjoro over a flake of lucerne that Kanjoro had stolen from Sidai. As Sidai tried to take it back, Kanjoro ran away so Sidai chased Kanjoro but he was too fast for Sidai. Bongo decided to join the three wild bulls that were drinking water, while Orwa went to scratch against the only remaining acacia tree at the stockade compound. Bongo’s presence in the company of these groovy big males was tolerated and this pleased him no end. Later Sities came to the same tree, forcing Orwa to leave and to proceed to the water trough where the wild bulls were busy taking water. After the bulls had taken enough water, two of them left into the bush while one remained at the water trough. All the other orphans joined the bull in drinking and sidled up as close as they could enjoying his company. At mid day mud bath time the dependent junior orphans joined three wild bulls that were taking water. Garzi, Vuria and Bomani were the first to arrive at the mud bath, sniffed at the wild bulls before joining them.

Yatta’s group consisting of Yatta, Yetu, Kina, Challa, Galana, Ithumba, Meibai, Sidai, Chyulu, Naserian, Taita, Wendi and three wild bulls joined the dependent junior orphans in the morning. Yetu was busy pushing Orwa but the game ended when Yatta, Yetu’s mother, pointed at Orwa with her trunk warning him to stop his game before it became too rough. Orwa obliged. The keepers on duty left with their juniors leaving Yatta and her ex orphan herd at the stockade compound. The compound always has a couple of Keepers on duty to not only do the milk preparing, the clearing and cleaning but to generally keep an eye on proceedings. The Yatta herd was then joined by a wild herd of six and they proceeded to socialize together. At the browsing field, the sun was hot and the orphans chose to spend time in the shade, which was virtually impossible as all the trees barely had a leaf of them. At mud bath time, the orphans took their milk then headed straight to drink water and wallow in the cool mud. Soon after taking water, Narok busied herself scratching against a nearby acacia tree while Orwa and Kainuk opted to rest under a tree that had shade. In the evening Lualeni arrived who seems to of formed her own small group consisting of three bulls, Madiba, Kenze and Ololoo. They all came to drink water at the stockades in the evening before heading for the bush

The sky was clear in the morning as the orphans left the stockade and settled for Lucerne. Shortly later Yatta’s group consisting of Yatta, Yetu, Chyulu, Rapsu, Orok, Olenana, Naserian, Taita, Ithumbah, Loijuk, Kina, Nasalot, Wendi, Buchuma and 3 wild elephants came for water at the stockade. Buchuma joined the orphans eating Lucerne as the rest lined up for water. Bomani had a nice time scratching on the nearby rocks while Ziwa opted to give space to the ex-orphans when he saw them coming for Lucerne. Ziwa dislikes being pushed and that's why he always gives way to other elephants whenever he sees them approaching. After finishing Lucerne, the orphans left for browsing. Suguta and her group in the company of two wild elephants reported at the stockade an hour after all other elephants had left. Kilaguni was looking fine after he had some Epsom salts. At ten o'clock in the morning, the temperatures soared high forcing the orphans to feed under the trees. At mud bath time the sun was still hot but amazingly only Turkwel and Teleki participated in mud bathing; the rest went to share water with Half Trunk and two other wild elephants that were at the mudbath water trough. At one time Bongo was pushed by one of the wild bulls after he misbehaved. Bongo made a lot of noise which prompted the other orphans to stop drinking water. Teleki went to scratch against a nearby tree as Vuria and Orwa competed to use one tree for scratching with Orwa eventually pushing Vuria away from the tree. Kanjoro and Bongo returned later to share the water with the big bulls, but this time round Bongo was very careful not to mess with them. In the afternoon the orphans concentrated on browsing and browsed close together. In the evening all the groups; Yatta, Mulika, Lualeni and Suguta, reported for water at the stockade.

It was a quiet morning as the orphans settled for Lucerne. Garzi started the day's activities by scratching on the nearby rocks. As he was enjoying the scratching, Bomani came along and pushed him away from the rock. Bomani scratched on the rock for some time before giving Orwa a chance to do the same. Kanjoro and Narok were feeding close together but there must have been a misunderstanding as Kanjoro pushed Narok away from him. Shukuru was feeding close to Turkwel and she stretched her trunk to share a flake of Lucerne with her, but Turkwel resisted and ran away with the flake. Shukuru was not happy about that and therefore went to scratch on the nearby rocks and later headed straight to the water trough to drink water. At half past eight in the morning twelve wild bulls came for water at the stockade. At mud bath time Mulika and Yatta groups showed up. Sunyei went straight and sniffed at Bomani and later Vuria before heading to drink water. Six wild bulls also attended mud bath with the juniors as well as two warthogs. Kainuk spotted the warthogs and could not resist chasing them and trumpeting. The warthogs ran away and returned much later once the elephants had left. When it was time to leave, Kanjoro returned to the water trough where he spent some time drinking with the wild bulls. He later followed his friends back to the stockade. Today was a momentous day, at one o'clock in the afternoon, Napasha, who had not been seen for eight months, finally showed up at the stockade. Approaching in a slow measured walk, Napasha settled for water at the stockade water trough. What is really strange is that he came all alone without any friend at all, but perhaps he hadn’t found the ex-orphans yet. We were so relieved and pleased to see him and wonder where he had ventured to for all that time. He looked wonderful and behaved like he had never been away.

Wild elephants started streaming in to the stockade compound as early as at four o'clock in the morning for water. At six o'clock in the morning, 16 wild elephants and a baby were at the stockade water trough ready to drink water as the orphans were let out soon after taking their milk. As the orphans settled on Lucerne, they were joined by a wild cow, a baby and his sister. Tomboi, Kinna, Nasalot, Rapsu, Madiba, Sunyei, Challa, Meibai, Galana and Zurura joined in and started sharingLucerne with the juniors. It was a morning with many activities. Shukuru started by scratching on the nearby rocks while the wild baby played a pushing game with Orwa. The naughty baby who loves playing and harassing some of the orphans, opted to try and play with Bomani. Bomani who never entertains nonsense from elephants that are smaller than him knocked the baby down prompting his sister to come running to help the baby up. Once the baby was up he went straight to push Ziwa and attempted to mount him. Later the baby played with Laragai, Kainuk and Garzi. As the orphans were preparing to leave, Ziwa who is definitely slower and weaker than the rest, passed near the wild cow and was pushed which caused him to fall down. The keepers shouted at the cow as Ziwa struggled to stand up. In the browsing field, Mutara was selecting the green leaves from the tall shrubs. At mud bath soon after taking milk, Teleki headed straight to roll on mud. Later he with the other orphans joined two wild bulls that were taking water at the water trough. Bongo and Mutara did their mud bath frolic soon after taking water.

Vuria was limping slightly when he was leaving the stockade in the morning. It appears that he had a pushing game during the night that ended with him hurting his leg. When the orphans settled for Lucerne, Yatta group consisting of Napasha, Wendi, Loijuk Sidai, Chyulu, Ithumbah, Kora, Buchuma, Kilaguni, Yetu, Naserian and a wild boy joined the orphans. Two wild bulls arrived at the stockade water trough and continued to drink as the orphans and ex-orphans were still feeding on Lucerne. Kilaguni who is alright at the moment, opted to join the wild bulls in drinking. Ever since giving him the Epsom salts, he has not had a repeat of constipation. Laragai went to share water with wild bulls as Orwa and Yetu engaged in a pushing game. In the browsing field the orphans were scattered all over each trying to get enough food. Vuria led the way to the mud bath where Mutara, Shukuru, Narok and Kanjoro put on a spectacular wallowing show. At one time Narok nearly got stuck when she used the wrong way to get out. She struggled for awhile until she managed to stagger our. After the mud bath, Shukuru and Ziwa shared the same tree from scratching while Teleki used a different tree to scratch against. Scratching is an important routine to dislodge the ticks. Orwa tried to pull a root up using his feet but it was hard for him and he soon gave up. At soil bath time Shukuru and Kainuk did their best as the rest disappeared into the bush one by one. Vuria and his friend Garzi browsed together all afternoon while Shukuru fed close to Narok.

The sky was clear in the morning as the orphans left the stockade. Ziwa left with a stick in his mouth that he was trying to strip the bark from. He kept himself busy with the stick until the keepers provided them with Lucerne. Three wild elephants were taking water at the stockade water trough as the orphans settled. Sities appeared to have woken up in a bad mood and pushed Bongo, Vuria and Bomani as she went round feeding on the Lucerne. Soon after finishing the Lucerne, the juniors, led by Mutara, passed at the water trough to arm themselves with enough water that would take them through the entire morning. By then the three wild bulls had already left. In the browsing field, the orphans were joined by Ololoo, Lualeni and Tomboi. The three ex-orphans parted with the juniors half an hour later. At mud bath time, the weather was chilly and only Bongo managed to have a mud bath. Laragai went to scratch against a nearby tree but her enjoyment was cut short by Teleki who came and pushed her away and used the same tree to scratch against. Ziwa was waiting a distance away for Teleki to finish his scratching exercise so as to do the same using the same tree. Bomani was scratching his trunk in a nearby shrub as Laragai picked a tree branch that appeared to have been dropped by a wild elephant and started to strip the remaining bark off the branch. As Mutara led the way back to the browsing field, the noise from a passing vehicle agitated Orwa and with his ears raised, he kicked bushes while trumpeting and running towards the others. Suguta, Kibo, Naisula and Murka attended mud bath but left after soil bathing. The rest of afternoon was quiet as the orphans browsed calmly throughout.

Twelve wild elephants in the company of Yatta's group reported at the stockade at four o'clock in the morning. Yatta's group consisted of independent orphans Yatta Yetu Napasha Zurura Wendi Madiba Sunyei Kora Ithumbah Nasalot Kinna Sidai Challa Galana Loijuk Rapsu Naserian and Chyulu. At six o'clock in the morning, the juniors were let out and immediately were joined by Yatta's group who relished catching up with the young ones. Orwa opened up the days activities by scratching on the nearby rock and later it was Garzi and Shukuru's turn. Yetu who was feeding close to Mum Yatta turned hostile to sities by pushing her and later pushed Laragai as well for no apparent reason. At seven o'clock in the morning, the wild bulls started leaving after having their fill of water and so paving way for the ex-orphans to drink. The orphans settled to browse at Kanziku area and at ten o'clock in the morning the sun was so hot forcing Shukuru and Orwa to relax under trees in search of shade as they flapped their ears. Laragai and Bomani also relaxed under a tree each with a stick in their mouths for chewing. At mud bath, fifteen wild elephants and Yatta's group all tuned up and were enjoying a cooling mud bath and others taking water as the dependent orphans checked in for their milk and water. For the first time Orwa who rarely steps into mud bath water, was the third to take the plunge after Teleki and Laragai. Later Loijuk and Zurura joined them in mud bathing. Vuria, Ziwa, Bomani, Garzi and Kainuk didn't even think of going near the mud bath but only took water and went to stand under the nearby trees to have a siesta. Later on, the orphans returned back to the browsing field leaving the ex-orphans and wild elephants at the mud bath. The evening was quiet as no elephants wild or ex-orphans showed up at the stockade water trough.

It was a bright morning as the orphans left the stockade and settled for lucerne. The stockade water trough was clear as not a single wild elephant or ex-orphan showed up that early for water. The orphans At eight o'clock in the morning after the juniors had left for the Kone area, four wild bulls reported for water. They were joined by Suguta and her group but they soon left after drinking water. At mud bath time, it was all quiet with no ex-orphan or wild elephants visiting with only the dependent juniors present. After the babies had their milk, Teleki as usual was the first one to go into mud. Amazingly enough, Vuria, who is not water friendly and has not been participating in wallowing for a long time was the second one to get into the mud for a cool off. Then, Bongo Shukuru, Turkwel and Laragai joined in. When it was time to get out, Vuria, who is not familiar with the mud wallow, used the wrong way and nearly got stuck. Teleki, Bongo, Laragai and Kanjoro had a prolonged wallowing session, but it was Teleki that broke the record as he was the first to get in and he was the last to leave the mud bath. Bomani and Garzi stood back to back soil bathing as Shukuru left the mud bath and also headed for soil dusting. Teleki at one time tried to block Turkwel from getting out of the mud but after a friendly pushing Turkwel managed to get past him. Orwa didn't step into the water today but was busy scratching against the acacia trees. At soil dusting time, Laragai and Kanjoro were the best performers of the day and Orwa was the last one to do his soil bathing. After the soil bathing fun, the orphans returned back deep into the bush to feed. When it was time to return to the stockade, the keepers noticed that two of the orphans were missing; naughty Kanjoro and Bongo had dodged them. Since it was getting late, the group that was ready was escorted to the stockade and then the keepers went back to the bush to trace the missing ones. At six o'clock in the evening, Kanjoro and Bongo were found in Kalovoto still browsing without minding of the time. The keepers took them back to the stockade and ten wild bulls were taking water at the stockade water trough when Kanjoro and Bongo finally checked in for the night.

Nasalot, Madiba, Buchuma, Ololoo and Lualeni reported at the stockade very early before dawn and just waited outside patiently for the dependent orphans to get out of their stockades. At six o'clock in the morning, the juniors were let out having taken their milk and were immediately joined by the ex-orphans. After feeding on the Lucerne for a while Ziwa started rumbling, calling the others to leave for browsing. In a short while the group responded and joined him at the water trough. Soon after that they all headed off into the bush to feed. Sabachi joined the group briefly then left to an undisclosed location. By ten o'clock in the morning, the sun was hot and Shukuru stopped feeding and started soil bathing as she continuously flapped her ears in an effort to remain cool. At mud bath time, Yatta's group consisting of Napasha, Kinna, Chyulu, Galana, Loijuk, Zurura, Sidai, Tomboi, Challa, Ithumbah, Wendi, Naserian, Sunyei, Kora, Lenana, Yatta, Yetu, Nasalot, Nuchuma and three wild bulls checked in at mud bath as the juniors were taking their milk. Soon after taking their milk the juniors joined the ex-orphans briefly but they didn't mud bath apart from Bongo who could not resist a wallow with the ex-orphans. The other little dependent orphans appear self conscious about romping in the mud with the bigger orphans, and opted to cool off by standing in the shade or dustbathing. Orwa, Kainuk, Shukuru, Laragai enjoyed their soil dusting exercise and were joined by Nasalot. At one o'clock at the stockade, there was drama when a warthog opted to drink water from the water trough that as oppose to the natural water hole. The warthog miscalculated it's steps and ended falling into the water trough. He then tried to get out but could not manage due to the concrete sides. Lucky enough, the drama was spotted by the Keepers and the warthog was helped out and immediately took off into the bushes positively traumatized by his experience! Hopefully he learned a lesson and next time he will drink from the water hole.

Early in the morning 25 wild elephants were outside the stockade waiting for water. At six o'clock in the morning, the orphans were let out and immediately they were joined by a baby, mother and it's sister in feeding of lucerne. Shortly later Suguta and her team arrived and joined the juniors in feeding of lucerne. The wild baby that always plays with the orphans whenever he is around, started his game of pushing which ever orphan came close to him. First it was Kanjoro then Laragai ,Teleki and later Orwa. The baby didn't get enough from the four orphans and then went to push Mutara. Mutara didn't waste time with the baby but knocked it to the ground. The baby that appears to be very strong headed didn't learn any lesson from Mutara and immediately but opted to try Makireti not knowing that she is another potentially grumpy prospect. The baby was pushed hard again. Finally it was Murka who knocked the baby down once he came pushing her. Finally the baby decided to quit after being pushed down three times and went to drink water with the big wild bulls. Amazingly the family did not react, probably understanding that their spoilt child needed some discipline and it was a good lesson being delivered! Kamboyo,who accompanies Suguta’s team had a lovely time of enjoying a pushing game with a wild boy. The orphans settled at Kone area for browsing. Vuria took some time off from feeding to scratch on the near by rocks. At mud bath time the weather was chilly and the orphans didn't participate in wallowing. Yatta and Mulika groups in the company of several wild bulls reported at mud bath simply to drink water. Ziwa and Bomani opted to browse at mud bath while Teleki and Narok tested their strength through pushing as Bongo and Sities did soil dusting. Later,the orphans returned back to browsing where they browsed throughout without any major observation. In the evening as usual Sabachi came for his milk and spent the night in the stockade.