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Boys will be boys and today some of the younger bulls were being especially playful. After their milk bottles Maktao, Mukkoka, Dololo and Sattao were walking along the rope cordon, greeting some of the public standing there. They then went to feed on some greens while some of them went to slide down the piles of soil. Playful boys Maktao, Musiara, Sattao and Emoli were chasing each other and charging around the mud wallow, trying to climb on each other’s backs. When Maktao and Musiara did not succeed in climbing on who they intended, they ran over to climb on Tamiyoi and Enkesha instead, who were busy rolling on the damp soil.

Emoli feels like the boss of this the younger group now, and he started a funny game of trying to climb on Sattao’s head when Sattao challenged him. This habit of climbing on the head of his challengers head was copied by Maktao today, who saw him and decided to try this on Enkesha. To watch them all playing and messing around that this was very funny.

Today was a very chilly morning which was very rainy, which meant that little Maarifa stayed inside her stable. Dololo and Mukkoka the little elephants stayed in their stables as well, as they are not yet strong enough to endure such cold weather either. All the other orphans went out to the forest and had a fun time rolling in the mud and the streams that sprang up all around. Tagwa, Sagala and Kuishi set up the mud bathing event and then the rest joined in. The boys like Jotto, Mapia, Ambo, Emoli, Sattao, Musiara and even Maktao were all busy trying to climb on the others as they all rolled on the ground mud bathing. It was so funny to watch tiny Maktao try and climb on Tagwa, but there was no way he could and he just kept sliding down her back. When he got up and found Musiara about to try the same thing, he angrily head butted him, either jealous of him stealing his game, or for thinking he was the reason he slid down onto his back! Maktao can be such a funny little thing. They then spent a few minutes challenging each other before Tamiyoi sorted them out by sending Musiara away from Maktao.

Tiny Maarifa is a jovial, playful little thing and she has her own mind. Sometimes she likes to challenge her Keepers on the way they should go. Today as she was walking down for her brief visit to the public visiting hour, at first she was walking fine, but then she started staring at the visitors and did a quick u-turn back to the bushes. The Keepers approached her and offered her a finger to suckle on, which she did and then she started playing, scratching her little head on the Keepers legs. Some warthogs appeared which prompted her to run out from the bushes and follow her Keepers, who then started to run so that she would follow them. She made her ten minute visit and was very happy, before running out behind her Keepers back to the forest again.

Dololo and Mukkoka are very good friends as they were both rescued recently and they spend a lot of time together. They can often be spotted browsing shoulder to shoulder and it tends to be Dololo leading Mukkoka around.

What a night. It rained all night last night and the babies did not sleep very well because of it. Kiasa, Maktao and Sattao did not like the rain at all. Maxwell however had a very happy night, as we all know how much he enjoys the rain. The whole night he ran up and down his stockades in the rain and he rolled around everywhere in his pen, turning it all into a muddy pool. To begin with none of the orphans wanted to come out of their rooms and into the rain, but eventually they came out and made their way into the forest to browse. Sagala, Enkesha, Maisha and Kiasa all got together around one thicket and started to browse together. Emoli, Sattao and Maktao had a different plan from the rest, and they decided to play in the mud. Emoli and Maktao started a pushing game before they got down on the ground and started rolling. When Sattao saw them he decided to come over and join them. Tagwa then saw her adopted boy Sattao having fun so she walked over and joined in too – and so it was that eventually everyone abandoned their browsing mission and they all started enjoying and having lots of fun in the rain. Dololo, Mukkoka and Luggard stayed in their stables until the rain came to a stop.

It has become usual for the rain to start in the night at the moment, and as the rain carried on into the morning, the orphans were not very active as they took shelter under trees. Dololo and Mukkoka stayed indoors for awhile until the rain stopped. They had their 9am milk bottle in their stable, as the others had theirs out in the forest. Dololo is a clever boy and is very used to the routine now. When the rain stopped and they went to join the others in the forest, Dololo put his trunk to the ground when they reached forest feeding area, to smell the footprints of the others. He then proceeded to lead Mukkoka in the right direction that the others had taken. After walking for about 1k through the bush, he located the herd and joined them. It didn’t take long for him to sneak away from them again, and the Keepers looked all around for him. He was found not far away, busy browsing and without any concern.

During the public visiting time today, Maisha and Emoli were the most active by far. After finishing her milk, Maisha was in a playful mood, and approached Enkesha for a game. Enkesha was not interested however and paid little attention to her. She went to try her luck with Musiara, but he just ran away, afraid that Maisha was going to bully him as she sometimes does. Emoli was standing to the side, watching his old friend make attempts to play with the others. She eventually walked over to engage him in a game, and he did not hesitate to oblige as he loves playing games when he is in a good mood too. The two had lots of fun, chasing each other around, wrestling and climbing on each other too. Meanwhile, Kiasa and Maktao had a lot of fun rolling around in the mud pool. They shared the same spot too, without fighting each other as they normally do.

Dololo is adapting to the Nursery routine very well and is happily coming back home with the rest of the herd in the evening. Today he came back with Musiara behind him, and they walked in splendidly with no worries, and into their respective rooms for the night.

Maarifa has been attending the public visit for the first few minutes every day recently. She is such a sweet and tiny girl. She certainly enjoys playing with her Keepers and running after them. She is the size of a little warthog and we think the warthogs enjoy hanging around her too. Today she was lying in the long grass in the forest and two young warthogs approached her and decided to take a nap next to her too! When she woke up and started walking around, they too woke up and started following her, walking back to the stockade compound area with her. The warthogs then slipped through into Maxwell’s pen to eat some of his lucerne pellets, while she stood on the outside waiting. Then Maarifa was called back by her Keepers into the forest, and she left her friends behind. When she attended the public visit today, it was fun to see her trying to climb on the piles of loose soil.

The elephants also had fun in the mud bath area today, with the piles of soil. Maktao, Maisha, Kiasa, Enkesha and Dololo especially were thrilled, as they did not want to mud bath. For them is was also about the dust bath, and Maktao was the lead as far as this game was concerned. Tamiyoi, Mukkoka and Musiara were more interested in feeding on the greens. 

When the orphans like to go deeper into the forest, Luggard will always like to stay behind. He will go as far as the distance he is comfortable covering, and then will stop and browse on the bushes in that place with a Keeper for company. This morning it was a wet one and there was a lot of soft green vegetation everywhere, so he felt no real need, considering his bad leg, to waste lots of energy accompanying the herd on their long walks. Sometimes some of the babies want to stay and keep him company too. Today Maktao didn’t want to leave Luggard’s side.

Dololo is improving so much and his relationship with Mukkoka is growing too – these two always seem to be together. Dololo is starting to put on weight and his general interaction with the herd is improving. Mukkoka loves hanging around the older elephants too, and especially keeps tracking down Sagala, who doesn’t seem to have much interest for the younger ones! Sattao is a good friend to Dololo as well, and also happens to be his neighbour in the stockade compound. Today Sattao spent most of his time together with Dololo, Mukkoka and Sagala. 

The weather was cloudy and windy today as the orphans started to make their way out to the forest this morning. Dololo and Mukkoka wore blankets as usual in the colder weather. Sattao, Musiara, Maktao and the playful boy Emoli made sure they were sandwiched between the bigger orphans for warmth. Emoli was trying to keep close to Jotto but Jotto wasn’t in a good mood and didn’t want the babies around him and he ended up pushing poor Emoli. This irritated Sagala who was standing close by and she fought back for Emoli.

The orphans were all browsing from nearby bushes as the Keepers were having their tea and breakfast. Ambo, Tamiyoi and Mapia browsed a short distance away from the others and the Keepers were unaware of their motive, which was actually to sneak off. The sneaked behind the Keepers’ backs and disappeared into the thicket, only to emerge some time shortly before the 9am milk feed. As the babies were enjoying their milk, Kuishi, who had already finished hers, was spotted looking around for any milk that had spilled into the wheelbarrow or that was left in the empty bottles, and was sucking up any that she found as she finds her milk formula so delicious. 

The day began as usual and was just like any other day. The orphans moved through the forest in the company of their Keepers and because it was a sunny day all the orphans were happy and seemed to enjoy the morning. The weather was so nice and the temperature so favourable, that the newest arrivals Dololo and Mukkoka did not even need to wear blankets. Musiara was enjoying the sunshine the most, and stood basking in an open area. He then decided to roll on the ground and lie with his feet in the air, making the most of the warmth. Maktao, who is always close to his beloved Keepers, was busy dusting his body with loose soil. Tagwa, Kuishi, Tamiyoi, Sagala and Jotto were not as interested in warming themselves, and chose instead to browse from the nearby leafy trees. Enkesha joined Maktao to dust as well. Soon, Kiko decided to join the follow the elephants and he was browsing from every tree he came across. Malima, who is always so playful, was mock-charging a group of impalas who were close by, and Emoli and Sattao were busy chasing some warthogs who were passing by – it was a very jovial and happy festive day.

The day started as usual with the orphans leaving their stockades just after 6am. It was a chilly day so the latest arrivals in the Nursery Mukkoka and Dololo wore their blankets to ensure they were kept warm. As it is her role in the Nursery as matriarch, Tagwa led the orphans out to browse in the nearby bushes. She had Mukkoka on one side of her and Maktao on the other. Kuishi, who is becoming more motherly recently, kept the skinny Dololo by her side too. Luggard and his next door neighbor and friend Musiara were trailing behind, slowly following the others while Luggard took little breaks to give his bad leg a rest. Musiara just used the opportunity of a break to stop and browse from the nearby bushes. Neither the Keepers nor the other orphans seemed to notice that Tamiyoi had dodged the group and had made her way back to the stockades! She went to try her luck finding some of Maxwell’s leftover pellets, she loves these so much! Her joy at stealing these from Maxwell was short lived however as a Keeper bumped into her on his way back out to the forest. She trumpeted loudly in protest at being caught, as she was escorted back out to the forest.

Since we have had a break from the rains over the past few days, the temperature has soared and it has become really hot. All their babies have enjoyed playing in the mud bath recently as a result. At public visiting time today the orphans drank their bottles in a hurry and rushed into the water hole, everyone that is except for Dololo who did not look interested in having a bath, and that is perhaps because he needs to get his strength up. Instead he lightly sprinkled water on his body using his trunk, directly onto his body. Enkesha, Musiara, Emoli and Maisha were the first to get into the muddy pool, submerging their bodies as they enjoyed the bath. Kiasa, as usual, always wants everyone to notice her and she began splashing the muddy water with her trunk and then sucking and spraying over her back, some of which reached the visitors behind, dotting them with muddy splashes!