01 August 2018

The morning was good with the orphan elephants coming out of their stockades in a happy mood to begin their daily routine. Murit was full of energy and was in a greedy mood attempting to push Ngilai away from his milk in an attempt to have it for himself. The orphan elephants enjoyed playing around the stockade compound for a short while before leaving to go out to browse. Tawi the male orphan eland followed the orphans up to the northern side of Msinga Hill but had to turn and run back to the stockade when Ndotto and Godoma charged towards him to make him leave. Bada took the lead of the orphan elephants as they made their way for their afternoon milk bottle. The Keepers had to intervene however, to allow Mbegu’s herd to have their milk first. The orphans then enjoyed a mud bath, plunging into the water to wallow. Ndotto stood at the front splashing his friends with muddy water. Suswa, Arruba, and Rorogoi soon came and joined him. Panda, Suswa, Arruba, Rorogoi and Ndotto all enjoyed rolling around in the water. In the afternoon the orphans joined a wild herd of elephants who were close to the water hole. The wild herd was very thirsty and went for a drink from the baobab tree water trough leaving the orphans to their browsing activities.

02 August 2018

This morning the orphans once again began their day by assembling for their morning milk bottle before settling down to feed on Lucerne grass pellets. Ndoria ambushed Tahri, knocking her to the ground. Ndii came running to Tahri’s rescue, standing by her and giving her lots of reassurance and love so that she knew that she was safe. Mbegu was busy practicing her maternal duties towards her younger orphan herd, keeping them together and managing to avoid Ndoria who was in a very naughty mood. Ndotto had to come down from the stockade terrace to avoid becoming Ndoria’s next victim and the Keepers had to intervene to restore calm and peace among the group. The orphan elephants browsed in single file to the northern side of the stockade flat grass lands, visiting the baobab tree water hole to drink milk and water, but choosing not to wallow as it was a cold day. In the evening, once the orphans had already entered their respective stockades, a wild elephant cow and her tiny calf came to drink water from the stockade water trough. The wild elephant and her calf climbed up Msinga Hill above Malaika house to the rest of their herd who were browsing there.

03 August 2018

It was another morning full of milk and supplement feeding activities after which the orphan elephants prepared to leave the stockade for the field. Lentili, Arruba and Suswa took the lead of their friends as they climbed up Msinga Hill to browse. The sun was shining bright and the weather was warm as the orphans came down the hill to the stockades for their afternoon milk bottle, followed by a drink of water and a wallow in the stockade water hole. As they were busy quenching their thirst, a wild elephant herd arrived for a drink and the orphans were happy to share the clean water in the trough with them. Mbegu, Lasayen and Godoma went very close to the wild elephant herd, welcoming them to the orphan group and enjoying theinteraction with their wild friends. The orphan elephants then took interest in a wild elephant calf, attempting to steal it from the wild herd. Ndii, Kihari, Naipoki and Panda eventually had enough of interacting with the wild herd and steered the orphans away from the stockade compound to the browsing fields.

04 August 2018

It was a beautiful beginning to the day with the orphan elephants quickly settling for their milk and supplement feeding in preparation for a busy day out browsing. The weather was fairly cold and the orphans concentrated on their browsing activities and having their afternoon bottle on the western side of Msinga Hill. Later in the afternoon, Mbegu enjoyed a scratching session against a big outstanding rock with Murit coming and lying down next to her to play. Ndotto, who was browsing close to them, engaged Mbegu in a play-fight, bringing an end to the games she was playing. Panda enjoyed playing in a deep erosion trench, stretching her trunk towards Tahri as an invitation to join her. Ndii came running in to take prevent Panda from interacting with her adopted baby Tahri. Instead Tundani came and engaged Panda in a strength testing game while Rorogoi played with Bada.

05 August 2018

It was a lovely beginning to the day as the orphans happily downed their morning milk bottle before assembling for their supplement feeding after which they enjoyed socializing games around the stockade compound. Lasayen lay down on the edge of the stockade terrace with Ndotto coming in to attempt to ride on his back but decided against it as he felt he could fall off the terrace. Mudanda and Mashariki took Mbegu, Ngilai and Godoma for a wonderful soil bathing game on the red earth piles, before joining the rest as they began to walk out. The browsing day went on at a slow pace, as the orphans grabbed as much browse as they could. The orphan elephants visited the baobab water hole in the afternoon, but didn’t wallow as it was rather cold. The rest of the browsing activities took place close to the baobab water hole with several wild elephant herds visiting for a drink of water. They didn’t interact with the orphans who were busy browsing, and in turn the orphans didn’t seem to pay any mind to the wild herds.

06 August 2018

The morning began well with the orphan elephants concentrated on their milk and supplement feeding. Kenia later climbed on a rock close to the stockade water trough in order to reach some very green and palatable leaves from a tall tree. Ngilai, Araba, Mbegu and Godoma stood on the lower side of the rock, grabbing any leaves that fell to the ground while Kenia was feeding. Mbegu and Lentili led their friends out of the stockade towards the browsing grounds. Tawi the orphan male eland abandoned his friends, Oltukai, Kore and Ngulia as he followed the orphans. He hid behind the Keepers so that the elephant orphans would not know he was there which could result in him being chased away. On arrival at the northern side of Msinga Hill, Tawi was thrilled to encounter a big herd of eland in the company of a few zebras. He happily ran up to join them and was warmly welcomed into the herd that moved further into the bushes together with Tawi, the new addition to their herd.

07 August 2018

It was the usual morning routine today as the orphan elephants happily drank their milk bottle and had their Lucerne supplements. Once they were done feeding, Panda and Nelion engaged each other in a tough play-fighting game that raised a huge cloud of dust in the air. The game went on for some time and had Lasayen climbing the stockade terrace when he saw them pushing one another in his direction. The orphan elephants made their way to the browsing grounds under leadership of Suswa, Arruba and Mashariki. Mudanda was in the middle of the group and was seen attempting to bully Mbegu. The Keepers saw what was happening and intervened, putting a stop to Mudanda’s naughty behaviour. When in the browsing fields Ndotto and Murit engaged one another in a brief wrestling match. The orphans visited the water hole in the afternoon and had fun playing mud bathing games with the afternoon browsing session taking place close to the water hole.

08 August 2018

It was a wonderful beginning to the day with the orphan elephants playing happily around the stockade compound after their milk and supplement feeding. Mbegu had a lovely time scratching against a small rock close to the stockade red-earth piles. Lentili came and ousted Mbegu from her scratching position, but no sooner had she done so when Mudanda came and drove her away from the rock taking it for herself. Ndotto lay on the edge on top of the stockade terrace enjoying a soil bathing games. Lasayen came and pushed Ndotto to get him off the terrace which brought an end to his game. The orphan elephants then proceeded to the browsing grounds where they browsed in peace. In the afternoon the weather changed abruptly and light rain started falling. Embu, Ndoria, Godoma, Ngilai and Lasayen enjoyed rolling around in the wet soil.

09 August 2018

The morning began with the orphan elephants leaving the stockade compound after the milk and supplement feeding to begin the days browsing activities. They stopped to browse on the western foot of Msinga Hill where Godoma enjoyed a scratching session while Mbegu waited patiently for her turn. Later in the day, Ndotto lay down and engaged Mbegu in a play fight. Godoma copied Ndotto’s actions and got left behind by the rest of the group when they made their way to the baobab waterhole and she had to run to catch up. The orphans only had a partial mud bath following the afternoon milk bottle. The rest of the afternoon was spent browsing close to the waterhole.

10 August 2018

The day begun well with the orphan elephants concentrating on their milk and the supplement feeding before engaging in some wonderful socializing games around the stockade compound. Mbegu and Ngilai took the lead towards the browsing grounds as Kenia brought up the rear to make sure all her friends were safe and accounted for. After browsing for more than four hours, Araba became a little jealous of Tahri’s interaction with Ndii and came to browse close to Ndii. Although Araba had big hopes of getting Ndii’s attention for herself, she was unsuccessful and ended up going to browse together with her adopted mother Kenia. The orphans visited the baobab water hole in the afternoon but the weather was too cold for a proper mud bath. Suswa lay at the edge of the water, fetching water with her trunk and spraying it over herself. Mashariki and Panda stood behind her, watching her unique bathing style. Mudanda and Embu later had a private browsing session before joining their friends as they returned to the safety of the stockades for the night.

11 August 2018

The day started with the orphan elephants teaming up in groups to play socializing games around the stockade compound following the milk and supplement feeding. After browsing in the field for three hours, Tahri enjoyed a scratching session with her back against a big rock boulder. Lasayen hid behind a tree and came out to ambush Ndotto and engage him in a pushing game. Ndotto was running in circles playing with Lasayen, but Ndotto ended up knocking his head on the tree and he cried out in pain. Lasayen was scared of being reprimanded by Ndotto and ran off. In the afternoon the orphans browsed amid some light rain and enjoyed feeding on the wet grass. Mbegu, Ngilai, Godoma, Murit and Lasayen lay around a medium rock, extracting warmth from it while Ndotto played a game of rolling around on the wet earth. The rest of the afternoon’s browsing took place on the northern side of the stockade.

12 August 2018

The morning was wonderful with the orphan elephants enjoying a game of ambushing and chasing away the baboons that were coming down Msinga Hill to try and steal the orphan elephant’s copra cake. The orphans were extra exited, running and charging around, as they made their way to the browsing grounds. After browsing for five hours, Mudanda went to rub her tusks against a rock as if sharpening them. Naipoki had a wonderful play fight with Ndotto until Lasayen got jealous and became possessive of Ndotto, taking him away from the area and denying Naipoki the opportunity to play with him. This also prevented Murit and Ngilai, who were watching the game, from seeing who the winner would be. After the noon milk feed the orphan elephants had a lot of fun playing mud bathing games. They then continued with their browsing activities close to the baobab water hole until it was time to return to the stockades.

13 August 2018

Another day began with the orphan elephants happily downing their morning milk bottle before settling for their supplement feeding. Some of the orphans engaged in play fights while others were busy soil bathing on the red earth piles in the stockade compound. The orphans browsed in single file towards the northern side of the stockade, with Layoni and Dabassa, who had been absent for more than a month, turning up to join the stockade dependent orphans at 11am. The two boys went straight to Lasayen to greet him but caught him unaware and he went running off screaming loudly. Mbegu came in to defend Lasayen, getting between him and the two older boys, ready to fight them if need be. Kenia’s group quickly communicated to Mbegu in rumbled tones that the two boys were graduate orphans and were no threat to them at all. The situation soon calmed down and the two older boys enjoyed a wonderful browsing session with the junior orphan elephants before moving towards the water pipe line area.

14 August 2018

The morning was cloudy and cold as the stockade dependent orphan elephants enjoyed drinking their morning milk bottle before heading towards the bush for browsing sessions. The cloud cover opened up later in the day, and it was quite warm by the time they arrived at the baobab tree water hole to drink milk, water and take a mud bath. Mbegu got very excited once in the water, and stirred the water up with her trunk before striking it and splashing her friends who were standing in the water, undecided as yet to whether to wallow or not, but it didn’t matter as they were soon all went anyway. Tahri, who was lying down in the water, got muddy water in her eyes and quickly got to her feet and made her way to Ndii. At 4.20pm, the Keepers were very happy to see ex-orphan kudu Tawi, happy with his wild herd of Eland and Zebra. Tawi who had gone wild a week ago raised his head high, watching and greeting the Keepers from a distance.

15 August 2018

It was a busy morning with the orphan elephants concentrating on their milk and supplement feeding before engaging in some wonderful play fights around the stockade compound. Nelion approached Murit for a game, but Murit ran away from him as he was scared of Nelion’s long sharp tusks. Mbegu and Kihari took the lead of the orphan elephants to the browsing field and they settled to browse halfway up the western side of Msinga Hill. Arruba and Ndoria explored further uphill where they found some greener and more palatable vegetation. Ndoria descended before Arruba who was surprised to find herself on her own and came down to rejoin the group. Nguvu had a wonderful browsing session while enjoying a scratch against a rock. He rejoined the group as they made their way to the baobab waterhole. The orphans had a lot of fun playing mud bathing games before continuing with their browsing activities.

16 August 2018

The day began with the stockade dependent orphans lining up for Lucerne pellets after the morning milk bottle. Ndoria was a little greedy and pushed Ngilai away from the supplement feeding tray. Bada intervened and came between the two, separating Ndoria from Ngilai so that they could both enjoy the supplements. Upon seeing that Mashariki, Mudanda, Embu and Suswa had taken over the red earth pile, Ndotto decided to dig at the earth with his fore foot to get some soil to dust bath on his own, as he saw there was no space for him to join the others. Mbegu and Murit then led the orphan herd out towards the bush again, stopping to browse on the northern side of Msinga Hill, where Kihari stood on a rock to be able to reach some very green leaves to feast on. The orphans visited the baobab tree water hole in the afternoon where they had their milk and a drink of water before returning to their browsing activities.

17 August 2018

The morning was good, with the orphan elephants playing a game of hide and seek around the stockade compound after their morning milk bottle and supplement feeding. It was a cloudy day and the orphans browsed in single file until it was time to visit the waterhole. There was light rain in the late morning and the orphans enjoyed feeding on the moist grass. Later in the day, Ndotto was mistakenly left behind by the rest of the group when they resumed their browsing activities and he had to run to catch up with them. His return seemed to excite the group who all engaged in a hide and seek game. Murit then engaged Godoma in a strength testing game which was interrupted by Ndotto who came and rode on Godoma’s back. Godoma later managed to get away from Ndotto and joined Lasayen who was busy rolling around in an erosion trench.

18 August 2018

The day began with the orphans exiting their stockades to drink their morning milk bottle. Mbegu’s herd was the first to have their milk after which they went to the supplement feeding area where they waited for the senior orphans to join them. Lentili took the leadership role today to the browsing grounds. Tundani and Nelion explored further uphill than the rest of the orphan herd who settled to browse on the eastern side of Msinga Hill. The orphans all enjoyed feeding on lush green grass after which Embu and Rorogoi enjoyed a scratching session against some big rocks. The twenty milk feeding orphans came downhill in the afternoon for their milk bottle after which they joined Kenia, Kihari, Ishaq-B, Naipoki, Ndii and Panda for the rest of the days browsing activities.

19 August 2018

It was a chilly morning as the orphans came out of their respective stockades and assembled for their milk bottle and supplement feeding. They then headed to the browsing fields where they spread out to grab as much browse as they could. The orphan elephants visited the baobab tree water hole in the afternoon for their milk bottle. Several herds of wild elephants had visited the baobab water hole prior to the orphan elephant’s arrival and nearly emptied the water trough. The orphans were lucky to interact and share the remaining water from the trough with a wild elephant herd. Tundani, Nelion and Bada followed the wild elephant herd for a short distance before rejoining the orphan herd who had begun the afternoons browsing activities.

20 August 2018

The orphans were happy to come out of their stockades this morning and quickly downed their milk bottle before settling to enjoy Lucerne pellets. After some brief socializing games around the stockade compound, the orphans made their way to the browsing grounds. Ishaq-B stopped on the southern foot of Msinga Hill to enjoy a dust bath. Ndotto, Lasayen and Tundani joined her and they all enjoyed playing together. The four then rejoined the rest of the group who were busy browsing. After the young ones had finished their noon milk bottle they ran towards the waterhole with their older friends. There was a big wild elephant herd already drinking water when the orphans arrived. One teenage wild elephant boy ran forward to join and welcome the orphan elephants to interact with the wild herd. The same wild elephant then enjoyed a wonderful play fight with Panda. He stayed playing with Panda, Tundani, Nelion and Bada for about 20 minutes before running off to rejoin his herd.

21 August 2018

The morning began with the Keepers receiving a report of an orphan elephant calf in the Salt Lick Wildlife Sanctuary. The orphan had been seen by guests in the sanctuary the night before while on a night game drive. The orphan calf was first spotted alone before trying to join a wild herd that had come to drink at the Salt Lick Wildlife Sanctuary water hole. Although the orphan elephant calf was being pushed away by the junior members of the herd, it kept following them, not wanting to be alone. The report reached the stockade at 9am, notifying the Keepers that the sanctuary scouts had located the wild calf abandoned and alone. The scouts then returned to camp and by the time the Voi rescue team arrived the calf could not be found. The team went in search of the calf and finally spotted it. The calf, which was severely dehydrated, had walked off and was lying down in the tall grass, lifting its head when it heard the rescue team vehicle. The orphan was rescued at 11:30 and was transported to the sanctuary airstrip where it was treated and given rehydration salts and water as it waited to be airlifted to the Nairobi nursery.

22 August 2018

The day began with the younger orphans downing their morning milk bottles in a rush to catch up with their older friends who were already enjoying the supplement food. The dry weather has already started to hit the Tsavo area and the orphans were in a rush to get out to begin the days browsing activities. The orphans visited the baobab tree water hole where they had milk and water before enjoying mudbathing games. Nelion engaged Ndotto in a strength testing game which lasted a few minutes. Murit approached the two but was not invited to join and instead just watched. The orphans browsed their way to the Mzima-Mombasa pipeline area. At 3pm Arruba, Suswa and Ishaq-B led the orphan herd to the water hole for a second mud bath. Naipoki enjoyed swimming and bathing as it was a warm day. The rest of the afternoon was spent browsing close to the waterhole.

23 August 2018

It was a wonderful beginning to the day with the orphan elephants enjoying their milk and Lucerne grass pellets. Mashariki had a wonderful game play fighting with Mbegu. Lentili, Arruba and Suswa took advantage of Mbegu’s games to lead the others out of the stockade towards the browsing grounds. The orphans browsed high up the northern side of Msinga Hill, coming downhill in the afternoon for the milk bottle before resuming with their browsing activities. The orphans didn’t visit the water hole today as the weather was cold and cloudy. In the evening Mudanda, who was at the top of the hill, came ready to head back to the safety of the stockades for the night. When descending, Mudanda accidentally knocked a medium rock which came rolling towards her friends who got scared and started running downhill screaming. Bada who was browsing away from the rest was left behind by his friends and had to run to catch up with them. Araba stopped to wait for Bada to catch up as did Kihari and the two stood together until Bada reached them.

24 August 2018

The morning was perfect with a lot of socializing games following the milk and supplement feeding. Mbegu utilized her height to reach some very green leaves from a tree in the stockade compound. Godoma came and touched Mbegu as if asking her to bring some green branches down for her as well. Nguvu and Kenia enjoyed a scratching session while Kihari, Panda, Naipoki and Mashariki rolled around on the red earth piles. The journey to the browsing grounds took place under Mbegu and Mashariki’s leadership. The browsing pace was slow so as to allow for the maximum amount of consumption of vegetation as it has been getting quite dry lately. The orphans visited the baobab waterhole in the afternoon but were reluctant to wallow as it was quite cold. Embu broke the stalemate by plunging into the water. She was soon followed by Suswa who lay in the water rolling around in it. When the group was returning to the stockades in the evening Nelion and Suswa became engaged in a strength testing pushing game which did not last long as everyone was in a hurry to get home.

25 August 2018

It was a nice beginning to the day as the orphan elephants came running in one after the other for their morning milk bottle before settling down for the supplement foods. They then enjoyed their usual socializing games with Kihari lying down and rolling around on the red earth piles. Panda came up to Kihari and sat on her stomach brining a quick end to Kihari’s fun. Lentili enjoyed a scratching session against a rock while Lasayen and Murit were enjoying a play fighting game. Once the stockade games were over, the orphan herd followed Embu and Mbegu to the browsing grounds. They fed until it was time to visit the baobab waterhole where they had their milk and then enjoyed a partial mud bath, splashing water on their bodies, before resuming their browsing activities for the rest of the afternoon.

26 August 2018

It was a bright Sunday morning as the orphans exited their stockade to begin their day. Mbegu’s herd was the first to come out for their delicious milk bottle, with Ngilai moving begging for more milk from his friends once he was done with his share. When Ndoria arrived with the second group Ngilai and the others had to move away to make room for them to have their morning milk feed. Ndoria was in a greedy mood today and engaged Rorogoi in a fight over the Lucerne pellets. Kenia and the Keepers had to intervene to restore peace so that the group could finish their supplements and head to the browsing fields under Tundani and Nelion’s leadership. The noon milk feed came quickly and the orphans enjoyed their bottle close to the baobab tree water hole after. At the mud bath, Arruba enjoyed a game of sucking in a trunk full of water then blowing it out as she sprayed her body with the muddy water. Mashariki, Embu and Rorogoi admired Arruba’s games and wanted to join her but when they realized how cold the water was, they decided to just watch instead.

27 August 2018

The orphan elephants came out of their stockade in a jovial mood ready for their morning milk and supplement feeding. They then teamed up in groups of friends to play different games around the stockade compound. Lasayen stood on top of the stockade terrace and engaged Murit head on in a tough wrestling match. Ndotto fell in love with their game and came to join them, climbing up the terrace to engage Lasayen while Murit stayed on his own at the bottom of the terrace without a play mate. Ishaq-B, Rorogoi and Lentili took the lead of their friends to the browsing grounds today. The sun was covered by some dark clouds as the orphans took their afternoon milk bottle on the western side of Msinga Hill. The cloud cover opened up later in the afternoon when the orphan elephants made their way to the baobab water trough at 3pm for a drink of water. Murit jumped into the water in an attempt to woo a wild elephant bull to join them, but he simply lifted his trunk in greeting and continued browsing. Ndotto, Godoma and Murit enjoyed a wonderful soil bathing game in an effort to impress the wild elephant bull, but like Murit were unsuccessful in doing so. The orphan elephants spent the rest of the afternoon browsing close to the water hole, before following Mbegu back to the safety of the stockades in the evening.

28 August 2018

The stockade dependent orphan elephants gathered for their milk and supplement feeding as soon as the doors of their stockades were opened this morning. Mudanda was harassing and bullying Nguvu, keeping him away from the Lucerne pellets. The keepers had to intervene to allow Nguvu to enjoy his share of supplements. Mbegu and Ndii stood together, happily feeding side by side while Tahri went and fed close to Panda. Mbegu and Ndii then enjoyed lying down on the red earth piles, having a dust bath. Nelion enjoyed a strength testing pushing game with Tundani before the orphans headed out to the browsing fields where Tahri browsed side by side with Ndii. The orphans visited the mud bath at noon where they had a lovely wallow before resuming with their browsing activities.

29 August 2018

The orphan elephants began the day with their usual morning milk bottle before proceeding for the Lucerne pellet supplement feeding. They then enjoyed a variety of activities including a game of hide and seek as well as scratching session and dust bathing at the red earth piles. Nelion and Tundani engaged in a wrestling match which Bada seemed to take the position of referee over. Bada then went over to greet Godoma laying his trunk gently across Godoma’s back. The orphans then left the stockades for the bush to begin the days browsing activities. They visited the baobab water hole where Ngilai downed his in a hurry and then went and stood by Murit begging for some of his share. Murit prevented Ngilai from getting to the milk by turning his back to him. The afternoon browsing session took place close to the waterhole.

30 August 2018

The orphan elephants gathered at the stockade compound for the supplement feeding following their morning milk feed. Bada and Nelion took the lead of orphan herd to the browsing grounds. The sun was shining bright although there was a cold wind blowing. The orphans later gathered in an erosion gulley where they enjoyed a wonderful soil bathing game. Panda and Tahri played side by side and really enjoyed their rolling games. At mid-day the orphans proceeded to the water hole where they had a lot of fun playing mud bathing games following their milk bottles. Mashariki first knelt in the water before diving in and rolling around enjoying a lovely wallow. Ndii led the group to the dust bath, where Rorogoi dusted herself with the red ochre soil. The afternoon was spent browsing before the group slowly made their way to the stockades under Mbegu’s careful leadership.

31 August 2018

The morning was bright with the sun was rising beautifully on the far horizon as the orphan elephants assembled for their milk and supplement feeding. They were in a jovial mood and once they were done feeding they enjoyed some games around the stockade compound. Ngilai and Godoma tossed up some huge chunks of red soil, spraying it up onto their backs. Mashariki came to watch the two, enjoying a scratching session against a nearby rock as she did so. Once Mashariki was done scratching Godoma took her place enjoying a scratching session of her own before leaving to allow Tahri to do the same. A queue then seemed to form with Bada, Mudanda and Embu all wanting a turn. Today Lentili enjoyed leading the orphan herd to the browsing grounds with Tundani and Suswa bringing up the rear. The orphans browsed in single file throughout the day, visiting the water hole at noon where they had a brief bath before resuming with their browsing activities.