Choose your region

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. 

Only Mutara, Suguta, Sities, Turkwel, Kithaka, Lemoyian, Orwa, Garzi and Bomani were present during the morning feeding time. Dololo was happy to have his older sisters back and it appears that Suguta is the one who is always more in charge of Dololo, as she keeps him very close to her, more than the others. Olsekki had a brief chat with Siangiki, perhaps inquiring if they were still going to spend time with Mutara’s herd; but only time will tell! A hammerkop bird created tension amongst the orphans when it landed on the edge of one of water troughs. Naseku, who was walking down to drink water, raised her ears as she retreated from the trough where the bird had just innocently landed. Mundusi, Rapa, Sapalan, Sattao and Musiara didn’t understand what was happening. They raised their trunks up to find out what was causing Naseku to be anxious. Upon realizing it was the bird, no one wanted to be the first to confront it. Barsilinga came to their aid however, as he just strode straight up to the water trough forcing the bird to fly away. 

On the way out to browse, the orphans met with three wild bulls who were heading for water at the stockade. Barsilinga and Mundusi waved at them using their trunks, then proceeded with their journey to the browsing field. Mutara and her team parted ways with the orphans and left with the Class Five members. 

At mud bath time the temperature was moderate and fifteen wild bulls were present. The wild bulls really enjoyed wallowing in the water, but the orphans only washed their feet, had a dust bath, then went back to browsing. Kilaguni joined them briefly and accompanied them out to the bush, but then returned to join the wild bulls to continue wallowing. 

In the afternoon, Ambo, Sapalan and Enkikwe slipped past the Keepers and were only found when the rest of their friends had already gone back to the stockades for the night. 

Ex-orphans Galana, Gawa, Loijuk, Lili, Sunyei, Siku, Lenana, Lapa, Kilabasi, Makena, Narok, Orwa, Bomani, Mutara, Kithaka, Sities, Kainuk, Turkwel, Garzi, Suguta and Lemoyian joined the orphans in the morning to feed on lucerne. A few wild bulls showed up to have some clean fresh water as well. Later, Mundusi, Musiara, Ambo, Jotto and Tusuja joined one of the wild bulls to have water too. They did so respectfully, so the wild bull didn’t mind. 

When it was time to leave for browsing, Mapia lagged behind as he engaged the playful Lili in a pushing game. Mapia noticed that his friends were moving further into the bush however so when he had enough of playing with Lili, he ran to catch up with them. It was quite interesting that Mteto refused to go with the orphans and decided to hang out with the ex-orphans instead, so that she could have some quality time with Lapa and Lili. 

Dololo teamed up with Orwa to browse as he tried to learn a thing or two from the teenager. Malima briefly had a chat with Bomani before walking to team up with Nabulu. Kamok, the only Class Five member who still chooses to spend time with the juniors, found a suitable tree that she used to scratch her ears on. 

At mud bath time the weather was cold and none of the orphans dared to step into the waterhole. Instead, they opted for a soil dusting exercise. Kauro climbed on Malima who was enjoying rolling on the soil as Jotto played with Pare. In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse east of Ithumba Hill and had a quiet time as they concentrated on browsing throughout the rest of the day. 

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. 

Orwa, Kilaguni and Makena decided to spend the night outside the stockades. The three ex-orphans joined the orphans in the morning soon after they were let out of their night stockades. Shortly later, Galana and her group of ex-orphans, who appeared to have spent the night not far away from the stockade compound, showed up and joined the orphans to feed on lucerne too. The little rascal Lapa ran into trouble with Mundusi when he tried to take some lucerne he was eating from his mouth. Mundusi pushed Lapa away but Lapa turned to defend himself. Eventually Lapa gave up and ran back to his mother. Pare shared his lucerne with Lulu but as the pile was getting smaller, Pare decided to push Lulu away to have what was remaining for himself. The ex-orphans parted ways with the dependent orphans an hour later. 

Mundusi engaged Roi in a pushing game before Roi left with Barsilinga Tusuja, Siangiki, Olsekki, Oltaiyoni, Naseku and Galla to spend the day out in the bush on their own, or perhaps with some ex-orphans. 

It was very hot when the orphans made their way to the mud bath around noon and the orphans decided to wallow in the mud bath again. When they were done, Kamok led the orphans back out to browse. 

Two dik diks sprinted past the orphans which gave them a fright. They didn’t know why the small antelopes were running, and so the orphans stood very still with their trunks up and ears held high and wide, listening to see if there was anything to be afraid of. After ascertaining that there was nothing to fear, the orphans resumed browsing calmly up to five in the evening, when Nabulu, Malima and Musiara led the way back to the stockades. 

Orwa and Kibo spent the night outside the stockades last night. They were the only big elephants who joined the orphans for the lucerne feeding in the morning. Rapa picked up a pile of lucerne and moved off to a nearby rock for a scratch. Kauro, who was wandering around while carrying his own pile of lucerne, spotted Rapa. It wasn't immediately understood what came over him as all over sudden he rushed towards Rapa with the intention of pushing him. Rapa saw Kauro approaching and he didn’t stick around to be pushed by him, and so he took off with his pile of lucerne! 

A short distance away, a wild bull trumpeted. Dololo, Sattao and Ambo responded by charging and running in the direction of the trumpeting before being called back by the Keepers. At that moment, Rapsu and Makena emerged from the east and walked straight over to join the orphans feeding on lucerne as well. Later, Sana Sana teamed up with Rapsu to drink water while Karisa and Kuishi teamed up to drink water from the other water trough. 

Out in the bush, Ambo played with sweetly Nabulu while Jotto played with Pare. The orphans settled to browse north of the stockades. Malkia accidentally stepped on a thorn which made her stop and carefully lift her foot to examine what had hurt her, before using her trunk to pull it out. It is amazing how an elephant’s trunk can both expertly and delicately pull something as small as a thorn, and yet carry something as big as a fallen log as well.

At mud bath time, as has become the norm these hot days, the orphans all decided to wallow in the water. Nabulu, Dololo, Ndiwa, Kamok and Sattao settled for soil dusting soon after leaving the mud bath. In the afternoon, all was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing. 

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.