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The day started with excitement as Galana presented a newborn baby early in the morning! Lualeni, Lulu, Lenana, Loijuk, Lili, Makena, Kilabasi, Ishanga, Tumaren, Melia, Naisula, Kitirua and several wild elephants were all there to celebrate the baby too. Excitement soon changed to concern however, as the new baby seemed to have a problem. It was evident that Galana and her friends, the nannies, also knew this was the case. Soon it was clear to us that the new baby was premature as it was tiny and very feeble, and we feared the worst.

The dependent orphans didn’t have a chance to interact with the baby and so they left for browsing. It seemed that Dololo felt he had gone too long without seeing his adopted older sisters in Mutara’s herd, and he tried to slip past the Keepers to go off in search of them on his own. The Keepers spotted him however and warned him not to walk off on his own. 

When the orphans went to the mud bath just before noon it was very hot and the sun was shining bright. Forty five wild elephant bulls were present at the mud bath today, and joined the dependent orphans to wallow in the cool water. Kauro, Dololo, Nabulu, Sattao, Siangiki, Esampu and Sana Sana had a prolonged wallowing session which they clearly enjoyed. 

In the evening, it was evident the situation had still not improved for Galana’s new baby, and it was still struggling to suckle. She stayed not far from the area of the stockade compound. Kamok, Barsilinga, Tusuja, Siangiki and Olsekki visited Galana on their way back to their stockades as if expressing their concern and sympathy at the deteriorating condition of her baby. 

The orphans left the stockade early as usual and were joined by the ex-orphans to feed on lucerne. Mutara and her team were present too. 

Sadly, Galana’s baby never really had the strength to feed and became weaker throughout the night. Galana remained calm and seemed to know from the outset that there was a problem with her calf, and so too did the nannies; they simply shadowed the sleeping baby throughout the night, waiting for the inevitable. For us Keepers watching this was very hard, so much so, that the next morning we tried to help by putting the calf on a drip, to which Galana had no objection. The baby was taken into a stockade and placed on a drip but three hours later our excitement and joy that had lasted for a day ended abruptly, as the baby breathed its last breath, leaving us devastated. Galana moved on and appeared to have known already what we could not - that the baby would not make it. When the baby was collected Galana didn’t bother to follow and find out where the baby had been taken. She and the nannies simply walked away, already aware and understanding of the newborns fate, and accepted it with the stoic grace that elephants have. 

As the Keepers did their best for Galana’s calf, Suguta, Sities and Turkwel took advantage of the situation to run away with Dololo. The day started on a sad note for everyone, but the Keepers have many other babies to look after, and they soon had to turn to the fact that Dololo had once again been kidnapped by the older girls and they set off to track him down. They followed their tracks and soon managed to locate them, and escorted them all to join the dependent orphans again. 

The day turned out to be a hot one and all the orphans wallowed in the water when they went to the mud bath around noon. The ex-orphans and several wild bulls were there too. Kauro and Ambo were the first ones to leave the mud bath, as they aren’t the biggest fans of swimming. Later, Sana Sana, Esampu, Lualeni, Lulu, Kilabasi, Ndiwa, Sapalan, Kilaguni, Lemoyian and Sattao enjoyed a dust bath, before heading back out with the others to browse. Barsilinga, Tusuja, Oltaiyoni, Olsekki and Siangiki decided to leave with the ex-orphans but returned to the stockade compound later in the evening after the others. 

The orphans left their stockades early as usual. Mutara, Kanjoro, Sities, Suguta, Turkwel, Kithaka, Kilaguni, Bomani, Orwa, and Kainuk joined the orphans outside the stockades, and they had lucerne together. Shortly later, Kuishi, Kanjoro and Mapia walked down to the water troughs and had water together. Kuishi and Mapia got the opportunity to talk with Kanjoro for a little while – perhaps they wanted to ask him why he is always showing up with different herds of ex-orphans, and Kanjoro would have replied saying that he enjoys interacting with everyone and making as many friends as possible! 

It's really getting dry now with each passing day. The orphans headed north of the stockade to browse. Unlike during greener times, when the orphans can be seen moving quickly and choosing the best vegetation, now they are much slower and more calculated, making sure they get enough before the day ends. They are in much less of a hurry and not as playful, and they spend a great amount of time concentrating on browsing. 

At mud bath time the heat was too much for orphans and this prompted them to head straight for wallowing. Only Sattao decided not to join his friends in the waterhole and instead he walked up to join the wild bulls drinking water. He might have approached them too rapidly however, as one of the bulls kicked him from the side and accused him of being disrespectful by trying to squeeze himself in between to drink water with his seniors. Sattao learnt a valuable lesson that day about waiting and respecting his elders. Mapia played with Jotto in the water while Naseku and Esampu enjoyed splashing and whipping the water using their trunks. 

In the afternoon, Kauro picked a fight with Mundusi when Kauro realised that Mundusi was being disrespectful by constantly touching his tail. The fight went on for quite some time until Kauro decided to punish Mundusi and establish his dominance by climbing on him. This led to Mundusi deciding to quit the game and he walked off to join Roi who was feeding not far away. 

Early at dawn a lion roared nearby. The roaring of the lion made all the ex-orphans who were waiting around in the compound decide to leave. The orphans came out in the morning to find the stockade compound empty with no single wild elephant or ex-orphan around! The dependent orphans therefore enjoyed their lucerne without any disturbance from other elephants. Malima decided to enjoy a stretching exercise by lying down and then sitting up with her trunk stretched right up in the air. After feeding on lucerne, Esampu, Mapia and Ndiwa came across some nice rocks that they scratched against. Pare, Karisa, Kauro, Ambo and Malima were in a playful mood and spent some time messing around. Karisa tackled Pare while Tusuja played with Kauro as Ambo tested his strength against Malima.

It was a fairly hot day again today. At eleven o'clock in the morning, Musiara led the way to the mud bath where they met twenty-five wild elephant bulls. Tomboi, Challa and Taita were among the wild bulls. The orphans occupied one side of the mud bath while the wild elephants occupied the other. Tomboi stayed in the middle to make sure that none of the younger and naughtier wild bulls would try to disrupt the happy time the dependent orphans were having. Malkia was the last one to leave the mud bath as she was really enjoying it to the fullest. Sapalan passed by the water trough and joined two non-aggressive bulls who were drinking water. In the afternoon, the orphans had a quiet time as they concentrated on browsing.

Zurura was the guest of honour in the morning. Our handsome ex-orphan Zurura joined the orphans to feed on lucerne and share some water before disappearing off into the bush. The boys, Mundusi, Rapa, Pare, Dololo and Kauro followed him for a short distance as if seeing him off and wishing him well, wherever he was going. 

Esampu was in a playful mood tried to block Kauro from overtaking her while they were browsing. Kauro didn't react angrily but only warned Esampu not to ever repeat such a thing or else she would be in trouble and regret crossing him. Esampu heeded Kauro's warning and moved out of the way to let Kauro continue on his way. Malima took a break from feeding to have a soil dusting exercise while Ambo had a strength testing exercise with Rapa. Enkikwe settled to browse with Mteto while Nabulu, Malkia and Musiara found some trees that they used to scratch against. Later, Nabulu teamed up with Musiara and Mundusi to browse. 

At mud bath time, twenty-one wild bulls were present. Malima was the only one who opted to step into the water to test the temperature. Upon delivering her report to her friends, only Ambo, Ndiwa, Musiara, Maramoja and Wanjala decided to get into the water, while the rest opted for a soil dusting exercise instead. As soon as Ambo came out of the water, he decided to head off to play with Jotto. 

In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse in the Kanziku area. In the evening on the way back to the stockades, Nabulu and Esampu had the lovely opportunity to play with a four-month-old baby that was at the stockade compound with its herd who were drinking water.

Challa and a wild friend joined the orphans in the morning for lucerne. Two other wild friends of theirs settled for some water too. Shortly later, Sattao walked down and joined the two wild elephants drinking water. Malima opted for a stretching exercise by rolling on the ground while Nabulu, her friend who she shares a stockade with, kept watch. 

The orphans settled to browse north of the stockades and had a quiet morning. At mud bath time they were joined by Challa again, who was in the company of several wild bulls. All the orphans chose to swim in the mud bath today apart from Kauro, who boycotted the exercise. As soon as they came out of the water, Sana Sana spotted a troop of baboons in the distance and she decided to chase after them for a bit of fun. She was supported by Mteto, Esampu, Dololo, Enkikwe, Galla and Rapa. The baboons didn’t stick around and fled chattering and shouting in protest at being chased. 

The afternoon started to heat up and more and more wild elephants kept on showing up for water at the stockade compound. By the end of the day, one hundred and fifty wild elephants had passed through the stockades in search of water which they happily drank from the troughs that we refill. 

Ex-orphan Kenze joined the orphans in the morning for some lucerne, in the company of three wild friends. One of his friends decided to join him but the other two left as soon as they had enough water. Shortly later, four other wild bulls showed up. Nabulu abandoned what she was doing and walked to join the bulls drinking water. The wild bulls didn't try to bully her but allowed her to share water with them. Pare and Dololo started their day by engaging in a pushing game while Enkikwe, Mapia, Mundusi and Galla settled for a scratching exercise. 

Soon after the dependent orphans left, Loijuk, Lili, Sunyei, Siku, Lualeni, Lulu, Galana, Gawa, Ishanga, Tumaren, Naisula and Kitirua showed up at the stockades. Barsilinga, Olsekki, Siangiki, Oltaiyoni, Wanjala, Galla, Tusuja, Roi and Naseku got wind of the ex-orphans and returned to the stockades to join them. The sky was clear and this meant it was going to be a hot day a head. 

After having their noon milk bottles the orphans had a spectacular time wallowing. Esampu, Sana Sana, Malkia, Jotto, Mteto and Karisa left the mud bath excited, charging and trumpeting as they disappeared into the bushes. Nabulu, Rapa, Musiara, Maramoja, Ambo, Malima, Enkikwe, Kauro and Kamok opted for a soil dusting exercise before following their friends to continue browsing. Musiara teamed up with Malkia to browse for the afternoon. 

Bomani, Orwa and Zurura joined the orphans in the morning to feed on lucerne. Later, the three ex-orphans escorted the juniors to the browsing field where they were also joined by Kibo. Maramoja and Sana Sana settled to feed on a green shrub that they came across and shared without a fight. Enkikwe initiated a game with Kauro and their game ended in a draw. Enkikwe then moved to play with Barsilinga but ended up losing that one. Musiara had a brief chat with Kibo before moving to team up with his good friend Maramoja. 

At mud bath time the orphans arrived to find twenty-five wild bulls already there, drinking water and wallowing. Soon after they had finished with their own mud bath, Sapalan, Musiara, Pare, Sana Sana, Esampu, Nabulu and Mapia went for a dust bath, as Sattao walked over to join wild bulls drinking water at the water trough. 

Sana Sana and Ndiwa couldn’t agree who was entitled to a nice branch that had fallen across their path. As the two girls were engaged in a heated argument, Rapa arrived and picked the branch up for himself, leaving the girls feeling embarrassed and wondering what the point of their argument was if neither of them managed to get the branch. Sana Sana and Ndiwa regretted ever starting the argument! The rest of the day was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing. 

Ndiwa and Kuishi decided to share a pile of lucerne as Rapa, Kauro, Sapalan, Karisa, Naseku and Enkikwe settled under the only remaining acacia tree in the stockade compound, enjoying picking up the fallen acacia pods. The brave Mundusi walked down to the water trough to join ex-orphans Rapsu, Taita and a wild elephant who were drinking water. As the orphans were preparing to leave, the ex-orphans Lualeni, Lulu, Loijuk, Lili, Sunyei, Siku, lenana, Lapa, Galana, Gawa, Kilabasi, Ishanga, Kibo, Narok, Ukame, Kilaguni, Orwa and Bomani arrived at the stockade compound. Nabulu, Mteto and Esampu engaged Lapa and Lili in some fun pushing games before leaving to follow their friends. 

Dololo engaged Jotto in a pushing game that ended when Dololo surrendered. Pare played with Karisa while Malima played with Ambo. Both pushing games ended in a draw as the orphans grew tired and just wondered away from each other. Later in the day, Lualeni, baby Lulu and Taita joined the dependent orphans while they browsed, and afterwards escorted them to the mud bath. Twenty-five wild elephants were present at mud bath and shortly later we were joined by the rest of the ex-orphans in Lualeni and Galana’s herd who had been at the stockade in the morning. The ex-orphans and the wild elephants really enjoyed wallowing in the waterhole as the dependent orphans went about having their milk bottles followed by a dust bath. They decided not to go into the waterhole today and after their dust bath, the orphans just walked back out to the bush to browse. The afternoon was quiet, and the orphans concentrated on browsing without any major distractions. 

Enkikwe, Galla, Wanjala, Kauro, Rapa, Sapalan, Maramoja and Pare settled under the acacia tree to pick up acacia pods that had fallen on the ground as they waited for the Keepers to provide them with lucerne this morning. The acacia pods are a favourite dry season snack! Ambo and Dololo kept themselves busy by engaging in a pushing game that ended when Ambo surrendered. Shortly later, ex-orphans Loijuk, Kalama, Lili, Kitirua, Lualeni, Lulu, Orwa, Sunyei, Siku, Melia, Ukame, Lenana, Lapa, Narok and Ishanga arrived and joined the dependent orphans to feed on lucerne. They left immediately as soon as they were done. 

Out in the bush, the young bulls were in a playful mood. Musiara played with Sattao while Sapalan played with Galla. Kauro tried to establish dominance over Tusuja by riding on him. The sun was hot and at mud bath time the orphans all decided to get into the waterhole to cool down. Esampu, Sana Sana, Kauro, Nabulu, Mundusi and Ambo settled for soil dusting soon after wallowing, not only to dry off but to just have fun on the loose soil as well. Loijuk, Lualeni and the other ex-orphans showed up later, after the orphans had already left for browsing again. 

A wild elephant family visited the stockade compound during the day and managed to clear up all the leftover lucerne left behind by the orphans in the morning. The orphans returned back safely in the evening and went quietly into their stockades for the night. 

One wild bull joined the orphans early in the morning and had lucerne together with the youngsters. Later, the wild bull walked down to have some water from the trough, where he was joined by Tusuja, Rapa and Sapalan. Olsekki and his longtime friend Siangiki had some water from the smaller water trough further away. 

On their way out for the day, the orphans encountered the same flock of guinea fowl they always do, as they come for water in the early morning. Esampu was in the lead and decided to go for them, charging and trumpeting. Wanjala, Galla, Karisa, Maramoja and Ambo joined in the chase to help their sister Esampu drive the guinea fowls away. This is all such great fun for the elephant babies - as the bird’s scatter and fly up into the trees, shrieking. Later in the day, Mundusi engaged Kauro in a pushing game, but it didn't last for long. 

At mud bath time the sun was beating down and it was very hot. Soon after finishing his milk, Musiara walked and stood close to Ndiwa. It is not yet clear if Ndiwa is gearing up to steal Musiara’s affection away from Maramoja who has doted on this little boy the most, or if he just happened to spend more time with Ndiwa today. Only time will tell!

While the orphans were at the mud bath, fifty wild elephant bulls also came and went. They filtered in for some water and some chose to swim in the waterhole as well before leaving again. All the orphans enjoyed wallowing and later went for a soil bath before going back to browsing for the rest of the day. In the evening the wild bull known as Dad in the company of thirty other wild bulls showed up at the stockade compound for water, only leaving after dark after having enough water. 

Three wild bulls were present at dawn in the stockade compound in the morning, but they wandered off once they had enough water. The orphans settled for lucerne as usual, soon after leaving their stockades. The sky was clear which signaled a hot day a head. 

Out in the bush Musiara took a break from feeding to play with Pare but quit once he realized he was losing. Musiara then walked to team up with the older girls Malkia, Sana Sana, Mteto and Ndiwa to browse. The others were quiet as they concentrated on browsing and looked forward to mud bath time when they could jump into the water to cool off, as the temperature seemed to skyrocket with each passing moment. 

At eleven o'clock in the morning, Malima led the first group consisting of her, Nabulu, Sattao, Dololo and Ambo to the feeding area for their milk bottles. Only six wild bulls visited the mud bath today while the orphans were there. Karisa, Wanjala, Galla, Esampu, Rapa, Kauro and Enkikwe had a prolonged wallowing session as they thoroughly enjoyed playing in the water. They splashed and rolled around, as the rest of their friends left the water to go for a dust bath to dry off. 

In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse in the Kanziku area. Mundusi, Jotto, Sapalan and Kuishi split from the main herd and moved a distance away to an area that had some nice trees that provided good shade. 

In the evening, Barsilinga, Tusuja, Olsekki, Oltaiyoni, Roi, Siangiki and Naseku reported back to the stockades in the company of ex-orphans Loijuk, Lili, Sunyei, Siku, Galana, Gawa, Narok, Kitirua, Naisula, Ukame, Ishanga, Lualeni and Lulu. This group of Ithumba orphans led by Barsilinga are still exploring their independence and are enjoying spending some time with the ex-orphans. 

Several wild elephants were at the stockade compound in the morning. A buffalo was also present, competing with the elephants for water. A family herd stood in the lucerne feeding area, all facing the store patiently waiting for the Keepers to distribute the lucerne. Once the orphans were let out, Sattao ran out charging and trumpeting causing the buffalo to run off. This made Sattao very happy, and he felt bold enough to follow it for a short distance before coming back to brag to his friends about how he had managed to single handedly drive a buffalo away. When the lucerne was finished the orphans headed east while the wild herd headed south. 

Mapia was in a playful mood and engaged several other bulls in a pushing game. Mapia started with Pare then moved on to play with Mundusi, and later ended his game with Jotto. It really is becoming extremely dry and the orphans concentrate mostly on browsing during the day. 

There were about ninety-eight wild elephants at the mud bath today who got in and out of the water in turns to cool off. Out of the orphans, only Kauro and Sattao didn't get into the mud bath today. They went for a dust bath instead. The orphans left the area immediately after having enough of wallowing, and in the afternoon settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill and had a quiet time. 

This evening we decided to move Esampu into the next stockade, into a group higher; not because she qualified yet, but because she keeps bullying Jotto, Dololo, Ambo and Sattao who she currently shares a stockade with.

Three buffaloes showed up early in the morning to drink water before the orphans were let out. As soon as they came out of their stockades this morning the orphans made their way over to the lucerne feeding area as usual. Only one wild elephant bull joined them this morning. Shortly later, Kauro headed to the water trough, rumbling to inform his friends that it was time to leave. 

As they walked, Pare tried to overtake Kauro, something that didn't go down well with Kauro. Kauro grabbed Pare’s tail and tried to pull him back. Pare turned to defend himself and so a fight ensued. Barsilinga, who was walking behind them, saved the day! Barsilinga offered to mediate between the two but Kauro didn't like the idea and so walked away to settle with Pare another time. Musiara teamed up with Kuishi and Maramoja to browse, while Ambo joined Rapa and Wanjala and walked a distance away from the rest of the group. Later, the three boys rejoined the group as they all headed towards the mud bath.

When the orphans arrived for their noon milk bottles, forty-five wild bulls were present. The orphans headed straight to wallow soon after finishing their milk and jumped into the water. It was fun for Musiara, Ambo, Dololo, Sattao, Esampu and Mteto who rolled around and sat in the water pulling funny poses and having fun. Nabulu was the first one to finish wallowing and she went straight for a soil dusting exercise. She was followed by Sapalan, Sana Sana, Malima and Malkia too. Mapia and Jotto seemed to quarrel over something but we weren’t sure what, and they ended up sorting out their differences through a pushing game. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing throughout the rest of the day.

Ex-orphans Loijuk, Lili, Kitirua, Naisula, Ishanga, Kibo, Kilaguni, Kandecha, Orwa, Bomani, Tomboi and Kilabasi joined the orphans this morning. Lili had a good time playing with Mteto, Nabulu and Esampu and then they all teamed up to share lucerne together. An hour later, Loijuk and her herd parted ways with the orphans, but Orwa and Bomani decided to stay back with the dependent babies. Jotto took a break from feeding to have a pushing game with Karisa. Their game ended in a draw. 

Loijuk and her herd met the orphans again at the mud bath and they had a spectacular wallowing session altogether. After wallowing, Kandecha and Kilaguni had a strength testing exercise that saw Kilaguni surrender and walk back to the water to join some of the wild bulls still wallowing. 

On their way back out to browse, the orphans encountered a troop of chattering baboons. The orphans didn’t like the noise they were making and so Esampu, Mundusi, Rapa, Musiara, Dololo and Sattao teamed up to drive the baboons away. The baboons didn’t stick around and disappeared very fast, running off into the bush, leaving the orphans charging around and stamping their feet, but much happier since the noisemakers had taken off. Musiara teamed up with Jotto to browse for the rest of the day. Maramoja, Enkikwe and Wanjala dodged the Keepers and wandered off on their own to browse, only to make their own way back and show up at the stockade compound an hour after their friends had arrived back just before 5pm.