01 August 2018

Sometimes Kiasa can be a nice girl and want to play and interact with the Keepers. The problem is that she can fight is such a rough way, just like Emoli. Musiara has even started avoiding Emoli because he is too rough, even when they are just meant to be playing. This morning during the midday feeding time when the public visit as well, Kiasa was in a very good mood and was playing with the Keepers. She was moving from one to the next, just like a little baby looking to get what she wants; if she was not suckling a finger she was hugging and play-pushing. At one point she even tried throwing a playful back-kick! If denied what she wanted she would mock-charge the Keepers with her ears spread wide until they gave in.

02 August 2018

Tagwa is always thinking about little Sattao and sometimes she doesn’t like strangers around the little boy. During the morning visit she made sure than none of the visitors could touch Sattao as he walked close to the rope cordon. Whenever he approached someone she was by his side, pushing him away. During the same visiting time, Malima seemed to take a break from her usual mischievous ways and pushing games, and for once was a well-behaved girl! The orphans’ behaviour is usually affected by what mood they are in, just like people. Earlier Emoli went to play in a muddy swampy area but ended up getting stuck. He shouted for help and out of all the elephants the Keepers were surprised to see it was Ndiwa that went to help him! She managed to get him out by supporting him on one side and pushing him with her head. Eventually the little boy was back on his feet and happy to be out of the mud. Ndiwa doesn’t normally pay any attention to the little ones but she was obviously in a very good mood today.

03 August 2018

Malima woke up this morning in a very playful and excitable mood. Everything within her reach she treated as a toy. When her door was opened in the morning she went straight to Maxwell hoping that he was awake and able to play, but Max did not pay any attention to her as she pushed on his gate trying to wake him up. He remained sound asleep and clearly didn’t want to be disturbed. This didn’t matter as soon Ambo came out of his room and invited Malima to play a pushing and hide and seek game too. Malima then soon went on to head-butt and pull on the buckets hanging on the doors of the orphans’ rooms making a lot of noise. It certainly helped to wake up those who were still in their rooms and not yet out in the compound! Ambo was trying to stop her bashing the buckets as she moved from one to the other, but she kept on going. It was only when she was driven away by one of the Keepers that she stopped, but that was no easy job.

04 August 2018

Emoli was in an active, playful mood today, but unfortunately for him others the others were not ready to play. He tried to invite Maktao to play several times but Maktao kept avoiding him. He then went over to Musiara but he didn’t feel like playing either. Musiara walked away every time Emoli approached him. Emoli finally went to take his frustration out on the warthogs by driving them away from where they were feeding next to them, into the thicket. When it was time for the orphans to go back to the forest from the mud bath, the little ones were following their Keepers. It is still cold throughout the day at the moment and none of them wanted to cross the cold water. As they tried to avoid the water, Ndiwa, Sagala, Ambo and Mapia started shoving them from behind. Kiasa and Maisha ended up in the water as they were pushed from behind. Tagwa and Malkia came rushing forward and took control of the situation. They stood on either side and made sure the rest of the babies crossed safely without falling into the water.

05 August 2018

At six in the morning the orphans were on their way out to the forest for the day and it was another freezing cold day. Kiasa and Maisha were leading the group and telling everyone where they should browse. Not everyone wanted to be led by the two little girls. As they went deeper into the forest they were left with only 9 in their group as Tagwa has decided to break away with the others. Later during the 9am milk feed, Tagwa had to come and save Sattao from the grumpy girl Kiasa. Sattao was having his milk when Kiasa arrived out of nowhere and started fighting him for his milk. The greedy girl has already had hers, but she wanted some of Sattao’s as well! Both the Keeper feeding Sattao and Sattao himself kept turning in circles trying to avoid Kiasa, but she kept head-butting and pushing him. Tagwa watched Kiasa causing all this trouble from a distance and ran towards her charging, shoving her to the side and driving her away from the area and keeping an eye on her so she could not cause any more trouble during the feeding.

06 August 2018

Emoli was very busy playing with his friends today. He especially enjoys playing pushing games and today he didn’t want to give his age-mates even the chance to browse. Out in the forest he kept disturbing his friends Maktao, Musiara and Sattao and at one stage Tamiyoi and Enkesha even had to intervene and send him away to give the others a chance to browse! During the public visit today it seemed as if Enkesha and Emoli were desperate for a mud bath. For the first time in a few months it was actually quite a hot day and they decided to go and have a splash around in the swampy area adjacent to where the mud bath and feeding area is, which is currently still mounds of soil as the orphans have not wanted to mud bath in the cold weather. The Keepers thought they were just going to interact with the public standing by the rope there, but actually they sneaked away and went for their own little private mud bath in the swampy area. A short while later they came running back, yelling because they had been given a fright by a herd of impala who had come to graze close by, and they wanted to rejoin their friends.

07 August 2018

Sometimes we think that almost every kind of character we find in people we can also find in the elephants as well. With this in mind there has been one orphan who we have looked upon recently as being very generous, and that is Sana Sana. She is a very generous girl and you will never normally find her fighting with any of the others over food. Most evenings when she returns home to her stockade she is left with hardly any green browse in her room as her neighbours Sagala and Jotto always steal it through the partitions, but she never fights them or loses her temper. With Maktao and Kiasa the case is very different. These two little neighbours charge and fight each other through their partition over their food. Maktao finds it okay for Enkesha on the other side to share his food with, but for some reason not Kiasa! When Kiasa then comes across Maktao out in the forest during the day, it is like she wants to seek revenge for what has happened during the evening, very much unlike Sana Sana. It is so interesting for us to hear the orphans communicating, even if we are unsure what they are saying. When a Keeper arrived out in the forest this morning at around 8am with a radio handset, the Keepers then started communicating between those in the stockades and in the forest. Tagwa, Luggard, Enkesha and a few others were close to the Keepers. Ndiwa and Malkia also heard the radio and Malkia rumbled, and Ndiwa too. Tagwa who was closest to the Keeper with the handset must have answered whatever question might have been posed as she offered up a very strong and long low rumble. To confirm their communication even more, Enkesha and Luggard raised their trunks in the air as if they were trying to smell something. We suspect their communication was all about the fact it was nearly milk time, and this is what they had learnt from the fact the radio handsets were making noise, as the Keepers always communicate when it comes close to feeding time.

08 August 2018

Wow, what a day for Musiara; this little boy has had a day full of fun. As of today there is a new mud bath which has been dug as we have had some warm days punctuating the cold now. After having their milk bottles, Musiara led Emoli, Maisha, Maktao and Kiasa into the new mud pool. In the first group of eight babies who came down for their milk, only Enkesha and Sattao opted to concentrate on browsing on the greens rather than go in the mud bath. Enkesha normally loves mud bathing and is usually the first one in the water, but perhaps she was just not feeling up to it today. It did not take long for Kiasa, Maisha and Maktao to come out of the mud and join them to browse, but Musiara and Emoli enjoyed climbing on Tamiyoi’s back as she rolled around in the mud. Back out in the forest, the fun for Musiara continued as he engaged Sattao in a pushing game, and then a game of hide and seek too. Their game came to an end though when Sattao took a break and went to suckle on Tagwa’s ear. Musiara approached him to try and invite him back to their game, but Tagwa thought Musiara was coming to push Sattao and she turned on him, pushing him away.

09 August 2018

It was another warm day today as we are starting to bid farewell to the cold weather in July and August, which means the orphans are also starting to have a mud bath again. Sometimes the orphans are very well behaved and all the Keepers need to do is stand back and keep an eye on them, but today the up and coming playful and rough boy Emoli was giving them a hard time. At first he was quietly browsing in the corner with Musiara, but then he started demanding a pushing game. Musiara wasn’t interested in his invitation however, and in fact went over to Tamiyoi who was having lots of fun rolling on the piles of loose soil. Emoli then started playing with the water in one of the water troughs and trying to pour all the water out. Eventually he emptied all the water out and started kicking the empty trough around like a football. The Keepers had been trying to stop his naughty antics for some time, but to no avail. Eventually it was his time to go back out to the forest and allow space for the next group of orphans to come in for their milk, allowing the Keepers to breathe a sigh of relief!

10 August 2018

The elephant orphans love the lucerne pellets so much and sometimes will forgo anything else first to have some. They don’t get them every day either, so they will use any opportunity to have some. Tamiyoi and Ndiwa for example will always pass by Maxwell’s stockade to grab some they might have spilled through his gate to the other side, before running into their stockades for their milk in the evening. Ambo is another one who will find any opportunity to grab some lucerne pellets. This morning he made sure he stopped by Maxwell’s stockade to see if there were any there. If any of the others orphans like Malima were to join him and he doesn’t feel like sharing, he goes to the secret place that only he knows about. He walks off very quietly and stands in a small corridor between Emoli’s stockade and the store and once he is there no one can see him unless he makes a sound. All the other orphans can leave for the forest and he is left behind enjoying his favourite snack in his special place. Musiara keeps trying to charge at Kiko whenever he sees him. When heading out to the forest he saw Kiko still in his room and he went over pulling on his door and trumpeting trying to charge at Kiko. He really doesn’t like the giraffe for some reason!

11 August 2018

Maktao, Emoli and Kiasa are very curious and adventurous elephants – they always want to know what is going on around them. In the morning all the orphans were busy browsing but this trio were off busily charging and chasing after a small group of little impala’s who were hiding in the thicket close by. The little impalas approached the young elephants, probably interested to learn more about them, but they were unlucky as Maktao, Kiasa and Emoli decided to chase them. The young impalas challenged them though by sprinting off into the thicket, kicking their legs high in the air. As the impalas left, Maktao then came across a huge tortoise crawling along the ground in its very slow pace. The tortoise saw the elephants and put its head inside for safety, but when it popped it back out again this gave Maktao a fright and he ran off yelling towards where the other orphans were browsing. This made Kiasa and Emoli take to their heels as well as they were not sure what frightened Maktao, but they did not want to hang around to find out either, even though it was just a peaceful tortoise!

12 August 2018

Kiasa is such a funny little girl who always shows off different characters. Sometimes she is patient and calm and other times she is a downright bully who is hard to control. Today during the 11am milk feed, she had her milk bottle very calmly, but as soon as she was done she surprised her Keeper by running off and head-butting all of those she came across still having their bottles. On the other hand, Tagwa is such a gentle and calm girl who never bullies any of the others, even when they might be picking on her. Like earlier today we saw Malkia and Kuishi poking her with their tusks to make room for them as she was busy browsing. Tagwa just quietly walked away leaving Malkia and Kuishi to browse where she had been. Tagwa just went and settled next to where Musiara, Luggard, Mapia and Enkesha were since she loves to show love and attention to the young babies.

13 August 2018

This morning it felt very cold and it even rained for a little bit as well. This meant the orphans all browsed really close together so as to keep warm and share their body heat. The babies like Maktao, Kiasa, Musiara, Sattao and even Luggard were glued right to the middle and centre of the herd to keep warm. Even the Keepers found that if they kept close to all the orphans they felt a little bit warmer too! During the public visit the babies like Maktao and Sattao even decided to stand close to the rope cordon to share some of the heat from the visiting public, and some of their umbrella-cover too! When the Keepers came to move Maktao away from the rope he protested by yelling out as he found it so much warmer there.

14 August 2018

Sana Sana was showing signs of trying to lead the herd today a she decided to lead the orphans out from the stockades in the morning and take them deep into the forest. The other orphans seemed happy to accept her leadership as they all followed her happily into the forest. Sattao and Ambo seem particularly attached to Sana Sana and if they ever happen to yell out about anything, Sana Sana is there like a shot to check what is happening with them. Today for example, at the 9am milk feed the little bully Kiasa was trying to take Sattao’s milk bottle, promoting him to yell out in protest. This brought Sana Sana running over from where she was standing a few yards away, to see what was bothering Sattao. When she arrived she stood in between Sattao and the little naughty Kiasa and when Sattao was done she escorted him away to browse with her. We always watch and listen with interest how the elephant orphans know all the different rumbles and trumpets from one another and know exactly what they mean.

15 August 2018

Little Enkesha is a polite and gentle girl who is much happier these days since her trunk is not bothering her as much as it used to. She likes to play with Maisha who is another little girl with a character similar to her own. Out in the bush the two can usually be seen attached to one another, and sometimes with Sattao, Luggard and his friend Musiara too of course. Today out in the forest the two little girls were seen playing and rolling on the ground, enjoying a soil dusting game where Enkesha was allowing Maisha, Sattao and Musiara to play on her. Maisha and Musiara sat on her tummy, and little Enkesha never complained as she was enjoying the game as well. It is amazing to see how Enkesha draws water through her trunk, considering her injury and the open hole, and blows it into her mouth. To do this she has to contract the many muscles in her trunk to close the gap that exists about half way up, caused by the wire snare that almost severed her trunk completely off. She can use her trunk almost like any of the other babies now, and there is almost nothing she can’t do with it.

16 August 2018

During the 11am milk feeding hour today the weather was extremely cold and there was more rain again which promoted the first group of orphans to quickly drink their milk bottles before running to the piles of lose soil to coat themselves in a thick layer to keep warm. The little mischievous Kiasa did not even have the chance to bully any of the others for their milk bottles they all finished them so quickly! She was however witnessed bumping and sliding on Tamiyoi who was having a fun time dusting on the loose soil. As some of the orphans were witnessed playing and rolling around the loose soil in an effort to keep warm, Maisha was happily charging at the rope cordon and running back and forth between there and were Emoli and Musiara were engaged in a pushing game. Emoli was going down on the ground and allowing Musiara to climb on him, but because Musiara is so much smaller he was hardly able to balance on Emoli’s tummy! Several attempts saw him fall down, but he kept trying!

17 August 2018

These days Jotto and Ambo, who are the older boys in the Nursery, are becoming very good playmates and starting to show off their dominance to each other. For the past few days we have seen them engaged in pushing games, especially in the early morning when they first go out to the forest, and down by the mud bath after they have had their milk bottles as well. Today when all the orphans were coming out of their night stockades, Jotto and Luggard greeted the new day with a pushing game that took them far away from the others and deep into the forest. Sweet Luggard seemed so determined and happy and not disturbed by his bad limping leg at all; he really gave Jotto a tough challenge with the size of his tusks as well! Luggard is showing pretty good health these days, despite his maimed leg and the limp he will always have, and seems very happy and content at the moment. He loves accompanying the other orphans out to the forest during the day and wears a happy face.

18 August 2018

As the orphans arrived for their milk bottles at the noon feeding time, the visiting public were surprised at how Enkesha, Maktao and Sattao tried to out-smart each other. Each elephant wanted to be the first to the feeding area and there was a lot of pushing and jostling to get to the front. Unfortunately in the struggle, Sattao stumbled and rolled in the rocky area, which made him cry out. Sattao’s fall did not stop the others from rushing to still get their milk, but Sattao managed to get to his feet and carry on with his run towards the mud bath area for his bottle. By the time he got there the others had already finished their bottles and were browsing on the greens that had been put out by the Keepers. Musiara was the last one in the first group to come, as unlike the others he doesn’t hurry for his milk and walked along slowly beside the Keepers that accompanied him.

19 August 2018

Kiko is still a naughty little giraffe and he is determined that he will never be left out and that the Keepers pay him as much attention to him as to the elephants. As the elephants gathered under a big tree to shade themselves from the sun which was out this afternoon, Kiko stormed in forcing his way between the elephants. There was a lot of rumbling, trumpeting and shouting from the elephant babies as they protested Kiko’s actions. They raised their ears and stamped their feet to scare the tall boy away, who in turn threw back kicks aimed at Sana Sana. Tagwa, in her capacity as a mother figure to the other orphans, gathered her courage and charged up towards the giraffe trumpeting, in the company of Malkia, Malima, Jotto and Mapia who followed her. They succeeded in chasing the naughty giraffe away who raced away in his long strides all the way back to the stockade compound. Eventually the elephants calmed down as well, and settled to enjoy the cool breeze under the trees.

20 August 2018

As well as being neighbours, Musiara and Luggard are close friends as well. Their friendship has been strengthened by surrounding circumstances too; because of Luggard’s limp he doesn’t move as fast as the others, and Musiara is a slow boy out of choice as well, so they inadvertently spend a lot of time with each other when walking from place to place. This morning after the 9am feed, Musiara and Luggard decided to leave the others and browse behind a bush away from the others. As time passed the Keepers noticed they had fallen behind and began to look for them, just as Luggard snorted to clear his nose, giving their location away. This afternoon when the orphans returned home to their night stockades, the visiting foster parents were treated to a little attention from Enkesha, who stopped to greet them on her way down to her room, before moving on to follow her Keeper to go and have her milk bottle.

21 August 2018

As the orphans came running in for their milk bottles at 5pm this afternoon, they found that they had a new arrival in their midst, as we had performed a rescue of a very starved orphan earlier in the day. Malima was the first to notice, as she has been Tamiyoi’s next door neighbour but found her room had been changed. Tamiyoi had a new and much younger neighbour, and it was a boy as well! The surprised Tamiyoi smelled through the wooden partitions separating their rooms, and the newcomer raised his ears and came close as if to say hello to Tamiyoi. The two elephants entwined trunks in greetings. Tamiyoi then moved away, and a little while later decided to steal some of her new neighbours greens placed in his room, as she thought he might not object. In fact this did bother the new arrival, and even though he was weak he charged at Tamiyoi, who remained unfazed and pulled through yet another branch, until the Keepers stepped in and stopped her stealing.

22 August 2018

As the doors were opened for the orphans to come out in the morning, Malima rushed to her old room only to find the door closed. She smelled through the spaces in the door and found that there was a new arrival inside. She decided to stay around close to the door and tried to push and pull on it make the door open but to no avail. Her struggles drew the attention of Tagwa and Malkia who came over to see what was happening as well. As they continued to try and open the door, Sana Sana complained loudly as if to alert the Keepers and the other orphans to the new arrival. Several other orphans including Kuishi, Ndiwa, Jotto, Ambo and Enkesha rushed over to the door to see what was happening, before the Keepers with their tea cups in hand walked everyone out to the forest, leaving the new baby behind as he is still too weak to join the others and has been collapsing. As the Keepers enjoyed their morning tea as the orphans browsed, Malima was browsing alongside them, when suddenly she snatched a cup from an unsuspecting Keeper, emptying its contents and throwing it in the direction of where the others were browsing. Before the Keeper could rescue his cup, it had already been turned into a toy by the elephants, who played with it and then broke it so the Keeper could not use it again! It seemed like Malima was getting her own back for losing her room and being denied to meet the new baby too.

23 August 2018

During the 3pm milk feed today Kiasa, as usual, wanted to have an extra milk bottle and this time she tried to take it from Ambo. She pushed both Ambo and the Keeper, knocking the bottle out of his hand and spilling some of the milk onto the ground. This behaviour annoyed Tagwa who ruthlessly pushed the little girl to the ground to try and discipline her. This didn’t seem to have quite the desired effect however, and to show her defiance Kiasa turned her anger towards Maisha, prompting a serious fight between the two until Malkia stepped in and separating the fighting girls. As that drama unfolded, Enkesha and Kuishi were just quietly collecting up the milk that had spilt on the floor with their trunks, and from the wheelbarrow as well.

24 August 2018

The orphans were having their 3pm milk feed and Kiko drank his milk faster than ever. The tall boy decided not to leave the feeding area but instead to stay and lick the empty bottles, at times removing the teats and licking those as well. To prove his naughtiness, the giraffe kicked in the air several times, scaring the smaller elephant babies like Musiara and Maktao who took refuge behind their Keepers. Kiko really got going though when he picked the hat off an unsuspecting Keepers head, trying to chew on it. He took several turns around the wheelbarrow before dashing into the nearby bushes with the hat in his mouth. The Keeper tried to get his hat back by luring Kiko closer with an empty milk bottle, but the naughty giraffe dropped the hat on the top on an acacia tree, giving the Keeper a hard time to get his hat back off this thorny tree.

25 August 2018

It was a sunny afternoon again and all the animals in the National Park seemed to be seeking shade under the trees from the sun. The elephant orphans were doing the same. Maktao is so very dependent on his Keepers and loves them dearly, and was hanging around close to them as Musiara and his best friend Luggard decided to rest under a tree nearby, spraying themselves with cool dirt and collecting some of the tasty seeds that had dropped from the tree. Three warthogs were enjoying the shade too where Maisha and Enkesha were resting, before Malima interrupted the peace. She came charging over to scare the warthogs away and they were forced to seek shelter elsewhere. Sagala, Sana Sana and Tagwa attempted to pull down branches from a tree they were resting under, whilst little Enkesha, Emoli, Maisha and Sattao scrambled for the leaves that fell as a result, collecting them up off the floor. Ambo and Jotto were very much involved in a pushing game, whilst Mapia defied the hot weather and chose to browse out in the open to fill up his tummy.

26 August 2018

We feel that Kiasa is getting naughtier by the day, if that were even possible! Her determination to make her presence felt is always growing. We witnessed this today at the noon feeding time, as the babies emerged from the nearby bushes to come down for their milk bottles, and Kiasa attempted to block Emoli from over taking her. Because of this, a pushing game ensued. The cheeky girl who was already charging down to the feeding area, decided not to take the normal route into the mud bath area, but instead forced her way through the visiting public and under the rope. She shouted as she ran for her milk bottle and drank her milk so fast some ran down the side of her cheeks. After swallowing the last drop she moved quickly over to where Emoli was, and as if proving what a naughty girl she was, she decided to push the unsuspecting Emoli for no reason. The Keepers came over and told her off, and she ran off as if she had done nothing wrong at all!

27 August 2018

Maxwell the rhino woke up this morning in a very happy mood. He made several rounds of his bedroom and at times charged and pushed the posts, shaking the whole structure. Little did we know that a buffalo was grazing near his bedroom and that was probably what was causing his excitement. Tamiyoi and Malima took advantage of Maxwell being in his bedroom to steal some of his leftover lucerne pellets, and we watched as sometimes they resorted even to kneeling to reach further into his stockade and grab more with their trunks. Enkesha as usual sneaked behind the stockade area in search of green leaves, only to be spotted by a Keeper who had come back from the forest to have his breakfast. All the others were out in the forest enjoying the browse and the warm sunshine, and it took some effort to convince the little girl to move away from her own private browsing area and join the others out there.

28 August 2018

Tamiyoi and Maisha are two other lovely girls who never over react or react badly when something happens to them. Today in the forest as the first group of orphans were getting ready for their noon feed, they were all jostling, pushing and shoving to get to the front so as to be the first to run down and the first to have their milk bottles. During all this shoving, lovely Tamiyoi, Maisha and not forgetting the cool little boy Musiara, were just seen patiently waiting and seemingly unbothered by the rush. Kiasa, Emoli, Sattao and Maktao are well known for rushing to be the first to get their bottle feeds, but this other patient trio remained calm and collected!

29 August 2018

Ndiwa and Sagala are two girls who still like to lead the other orphans out deep into the forest when they come out of their stockades in the morning. Whilst Tagwa and Sana Sana are busy checking on and greeting all the other orphans, Ndiwa and Sagala are both seen out in the lead walking out to the forest. Today it was funny as all the orphans walked out, Tagwa and Sana Sana looked to be following Ndiwa and Sagala with the others, but when they reached some bushes that looked good to eat they stopped, and the rest of the herd stopped with them, leaving Sagala and Ndiwa walking out deeper into the forest on their own! Both spent about an hour browsing on their own, but when they realized none of the herd were behind them they ran back to find them, trumpeting and bashing bushes down in protest at being on their own.

30 August 2018

Recently Kuishi and Malkia have been acting out quite harshly towards the young growing boys like Jotto, Ambo, Emoli and especially Mapia. They are often seen bullying them and making sure they know who is boss. Their harsh nature means that these young boys try to avoid encountering these two girls whenever they can. When you see them accidentally coming across them out in the forest, they do a quick turn in order to avoid them. Today out in the forest Emoli found himself browsing right alongside Malkia, and when he saw her turn and walk in his direction he suddenly ran off yelling in order to avoid her. Kuishi and Malkia did not really behave like this before Mbegu and the others left, and they are really keeping the young boys on their toes to keep them in line.

31 August 2018

Kiko is such a funny giraffe and sometimes he makes really funny decisions as well. Today when his Keeper was leading him out into the forest to join the elephant orphans, he stopped suddenly and decided not to go any further. He stood still and just watched the elephants and the Keepers from some distance away. We have no idea why he decided to do that rather than go and browse next to them like he normally does, but today that’s what he decided! As his Keeper moved towards the elephants, Kiko decided to turn and run back towards the stockades where before long he was browsing in the car park area, with perhaps the intention of meeting the visiting public who were starting to arrive. Before long though he was led away to be kept in the compound area where he could browse to his heart’s content, and not bother anyone. It took the Keepers a long time to convince Kiko to follow them; they find him such a headache as he is so independent and determined!