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The six night-clubbers are slowly developing unique visiting times to visit their dependent friends. Lately Zongoloni and the three boys Faraja, Jasiri and Ziwa tend to visit the Keepers and other orphans at the stockades at night, sometimes together with a wild female friend who has a little baby which Zongoloni likes to try and baby sit! Then as dawn approaches and the Keepers start to prepare the milk bottles, Zongoloni and the others walk back off into the forest and then leaving Alamaya and Ngasha to spend time with the dependent Umani babies.

Murera and Sonje have been unhappy with Ngasha recently as he keeps trying to climb on little Enkesha, which the Keepers tell him off for doing as well and send him away. Sonje and Murera team up together to stop Ngasha and let him know that if he wants to stay around the herd then he can’t be misbehaving like that! The two matriarchs are very happy to stand up to Ngasha and send him away if they have to. Perhaps this is why he and Alamaya are no longer with Zongoloni and her herd; if they had been misbehaving like this then Zongoloni wouldn’t have hesitated to send him away and push him out of that herd too.

Shukuru today climbed the Umani Hill today right up to the highest point before turning and looking down to see if she could see Murera, Luggard and the others all down below. When she thought that the others wouldn’t be able to see her very well she blew a loud trumpet. The Keepers were worried that she had lost her way and that was why she was trumpeting, but really she was just letting everyone know where she was and that she was looking down on them! When Enkesha, being a very outgoing little girl, heard Shukuru trumpeting she navigated her way through the bushes to go and see if she could find her on top of the hill, and when she found her the two carried on browsing together. Perhaps Shukuru had been calling Enkesha all along with her loud trumpets, to come and join her. 

Ngasha and Alamaya came along to join the Umani herd and Murera and Sonje decided to keep Luggard very close to them so that Ngasha and Alamaya wouldn’t be able to play with him as they might be too rough. Lima Lima joined them as well to help them in looking after little Luggard. 

A baboon walked past where Alamaya and Mwashoti were busy picking some branches to eat and they decided to chase him all the way back to where the rest of his troop was. Alamaya and Mwashoti, now having seemingly made up since their fight the other day, celebrated their triumph in sending all the baboons back up into the trees by running about excitedly. 

The orphans had very nice time together in the Kibwezi Forest from morning to afternoon. In the morning at the junction to the Chyulu Hills, Lima Lima stopped and Ngasha walked up to request that they go in the direction that he knows but Lima Lima ignored him and went to pick her friend Luggard with Murera to guide them in the opposite direction that Ngasha wanted to go for their daylong patrol. Ngasha relented and followed along with his friend Alamaya.

When the orphans arrived at the big water hole later on they all had a fabulous time swimming, with Ngasha showing off all the new talent he has learnt from being amongst wild elephants. Then Lima Lima, Murera and Quanza represented the girls in the swimming competition and they had such fun as well. Shukuru stayed away from the swimming teams she just watched as she didn’t want to get involved in all the excitement She felt happy watching Mwashoti having such fun in the water too. 

After all the babies were tired of swimming they came out and had a rest under a big tree, before Sonje came out with Enkesha and then the whole herd started moving towards the Chyulu area to continue browsing, followed by their loving Keepers. 

Jasiri arrived today with Zongoloni and as she approached the Umani orphans she walked straight over to greet Enkesha. She put her trunk close to Enkesha as if to smell what she was eating and then for some reason she turned to the Keeper close by and stretched her trunk out to him in warning; this isn’t something she has done before and isn’t her usual character, and it was as if she was copying the wild elephants she has been spending so much time with. 

At the noon bottle feeding time the six night-clubbers didn’t show up, bearing in their mind they now know they won’t receive any milk bottles, which gave Lima Lima and Murera a very peaceful time with Luggard and the other babies. 

At the waterhole after having their bottles, Lima Lima tested the water with her trunk before rumbling to the others to join her for swimming as the temperature was great. When Sonje and Murera saw Lima Lima enjoying the water they left Luggard with Shukuru at the edge of the water hole and watched him while they swam; hopefully Luggard will be able to join them too one day.

Jasiri hasn’t been very consistent in his visits, he sometimes disappears for a while and when he returns he displays some rather odd behavior. It seems as though his wild friends might be having an influence on him.

He arrived today looking very boisterous and right away both Murera and Sonje were wary of his presence. He started to walk towards both the girls, but since Luggard was with them, both Murera and Sonje moved away, to a safer distance, not sure of Jasiri’s mood and wanting to protect their little boy. After a while Jasiri’s intentions became known as he pursued Murera with the intention of mounting her. Murera, very much aware of her hip injury tried her best to dissuade the teenage bull, but Jasiri was quite persistent. Luggard watched Jasiri run after Murera, in what looked like a game of catch, with Jasiri chasing Murera, Luggard looked around to see whom he could browse with and luckily Lima Lima was nearby and quick to comforted Luggard and take him under her wing. Finally after some intervention from the Keepers, Jasiri gave up on his pursuit of Murera and took off towards the forest.

The only night clubber who was welcomed with much excitement was Zongoloni. As soon as Enkesha spotted her older friend, she ran towards her and the two spent quite a bit of time browsing together. When it was time for Zongoloni to rejoin Faraja and the other night clubbers, Enkesha walked her friend up to a distance and then turned back to join the Umani herd who were also on their way home.

Ziwa, Faraja and Zongoloni arrived at the stockades early this morning, waiting for their friends to be let out of their night quarters. They waited patiently as the Keepers fed the Umani herd their morning milk bottles.

A short while later Jasiri also arrived wanting to join the orphans, but a loud trumpet from Murera and a warning from the Keepers ensured Jasiri kept his distance from the older girl today. This made Luggard feel a lot better knowing Murera would be close to him. Ziwa, Faraja and Zongoloni are very good with the babies, especially Zongoloni with Enkesha. Any time Zongoloni arrives, Enkesha is always overjoyed to see her and the pair spend most of their day browsing together. Sometimes when it’s time for the older ex-orphans to leave Enkesha accompanies them, but Zongoloni knows Enkesha is far too young to join them so she always lets her come up to a certain point and then encourages her to re-join the stockade-dependent orphans.

On the way home today Shukuru was leading the orphans but slowed down to bring up the rear of the herd to allow Sonje to lead. Whilst walking past the springs they spotted some crocodiles basking on the banks. As soon as they crocodiles heard the elephant’s footsteps they jumped back into the water to avoid an altercation. Enkesha was the first one to arrive at the stockades and with a loud trumpet she ran inside towards her Keeper to have her bottle of milk.

Most days Shukuru and Quanza walk together to find a suitable browsing spot, and browse side by side for most of the day. Today Shukuru walked behind Quanza, allowing Quanza and Enkesha to walk up front. She chose to walk a lot slower making one of the Keepers stay back with her to keep her company. We think perhaps Shukuru was annoyed with Quanza and Enkesha because they finished her share of Lucerne pellets before Shukuru could get there. Shukuru was not too happy and showed her disappointment by browsing on her own without the two girls. Shukuru’s Keeper stayed with her to ensure she eventually joined the rest of the herd.  

Zongoloni was received by Enkesha as soon as she arrived to join the dependent orphans. With some loud and excited trumpets Enkesha ran towards her friend, as always Enkesha is happy to see Zongoloni. Faraja and Ziwa decided not to stay long; once they greeted their friends they went off in the direction of the forest.  

Later on Jasiri arrived and spotted Shukuru on her own. Thinking perhaps he would try his luck with her, he started to walk towards Shukuru, but the Keepers spotted him immediately and before he could do anything, the Keepers shooed him away. Realizing that this perhaps was not the best decision he had made, Jasiri took off towards the forest, and we are guessing joined up Ziwa and Faraja.

Zongoloni once again has proved why she is the better leader of the “night-clubbers”. When the semi-independent orphans visited today, Jasiri was visibly absent. Jasiri’s behaviour over the past few days has proved a bit unsavory for the older girls as he has repeatedly tried to mount them and has generally just made a nuisance of himself. Zongoloni, understanding how this disrupts the peace of the Umani herd, made a strategic move where she decided to leave Jasiri behind with Alamaya to ensure the tranquility that the stockade orphans have always enjoyed.

This was a welcome relief for Shukuru, Sonje and Murera, and in particular Luggard, who didn’t have to face watching Murera get all upset and bothered by Jasiri being around. It is quite possible that for Zongoloni will continue with this strategy and perhaps allow Jasiri to visit with the Umani herd once he is a bit more settled.

Mwashoti also seems to have taken a keen interest in Enkesha. The little girl is far too young and small in size for a bull like Mwashoti, but not quite understanding this Mwashoti sometimes tries to mount Enkesha. As soon as the Keepers see him doing this, they warn him away. It seems to be working because as soon as a Keeper approaches Mwashoti whenever he is trying to mount Enkesha, Mwashoti runs away knowing that perhaps what he is doing is not acceptable.

We were all surprised to see Jasiri arrive to join the Umani herd today. Zongoloni and the other night-clubbers were nowhere in sight and we are guessing they left Jasiri on his own so as not to have any disruptions when Zongoloni and her boys were with their wild friends.

Even though Jasiri browsed, albeit at a distance from the older girls, Shukuru, Sonje and Murera kept a keen eye on him as did the Keepers, especially because no one wanted to upset our gentle boy Luggard. Jasiri managed to behave today, so it seems as though Zongoloni’s strategy of giving Jasiri a “time-out”, worked. Jasiri also knows Zongoloni is a firm but fair disciplinarian and he enjoys spending time with all his friends and therefore seems to have calmed down.

A very big bull with one tusk emerged out of the bushes quite suddenly startling both Shukuru and Enkesha who were browsing nearby. Shukuru made a quick exit leaving little Enkesha a little confused as she was unsure which direction to go in. Lima Lima spotted Enkesha in a dilemma and rushed over to quickly rescue the little girl. She directed Enkesha out of the bushes and once in the clear, away from the wild bull, Lima Lima pulled Enkesha closer to her and comforted her by standing close to the little girl and covering her with her big ears.

We noticed when Luggard was getting ready to go to bed yesterday that bending his legs was a little difficult for him. The Keepers came up with a solution of building him a soft mound of dust that was a little raised, so that Luggard would not have to bend that much to lie down. This has worked very well and Luggard is now very comfortable. Murera also came to check Luggard’s new “bed” and once Luggard was settled she retired to her own sleeping quarters.

Today when Jasiri arrived he was with Alamaya and they both went straight to the Lucerne feeding area. As soon as Murera saw Jasiri she quickly made her way over to Luggard, to protect him just in case Jasiri was in a boisterous mood. As a back-up Lima Lima was also there to provide additional security. 

At the mud bath today Lima Lima displayed another side of her personality; the funny, playful side. Her and Mwashoti spotted some butterflies and decided to chase them. They ran around in circles, blowing their trumpets and because they weren’t watching where they were going Mwashoti knocked his toes on some rocks and toppled over. When Sonje herd Mwashoti trumpet, she quickly went over to the young boy to comfort him. Lima Lima also stopped what she was doing and placed her trunk on his head as if she was saying sorry. The big boy got up and then joined Shukuru where she was browsing.  

There is a budding friendship between Quanza and Enkesha. The girls spend a lot of time together browsing and scouting out new areas where they can find water. This helps Enkesha especially on the days when Zongoloni is absent.

Lima Lima surprised everyone this morning by being the first one at Luggard’s quarters. Normally it is Murera who is the first to call on Luggard, to check on how his night was and then lead him to the Lucerne corner after their milk bottle feed. Today Lima Lima did all of that and Murera was not too pleased and promptly informed the younger girl by letting out a few trumpets reprimanding Lima Lima. The younger girl heeded the warning and handed over Luggard back to Murera. 

Shukuru and Quanza broke off from the main herd today, when they saw Alamaya and Ngasha join them. Not wanting to be in the middle of the boys’ boisterous games, they browsed further afield. Sonje joined up with Zongoloni who had Enkesha by her side and seemed to be sharing stories of their adventures out in the wild, with other wild herds.

Ziwa and Faraja joined a little while later and on closer examination, one of the Keepers notices some scratches on their skin. This is probably from their encounters with other wild bulls and possibly a few tusk fights too, but on the whole, the night-clubbers seem very happy in the wild.  

Four wild bulls were in the vicinity of the stockades late at night. There was a lot of loud trumpeting, sounds of breaking branches and on closer inspection in the morning they had also pulled down a few dead trees. One of the bulls came close to the gate of the stockade compound and just looked around for a while; he sniffed the air, looked around some more, and then turned around and re-joined his friends who were already walking away. All the while Shukuru was quiet, sleeping whilst standing in the corner of her room, but Enkesha and Luggard were a bit restless. The Keepers checked in on them and helped them settle down; as soon as the wild bulls left, the two youngsters fell fast asleep again.

Murera and Mwashoti took the lead today and directed the orphans towards the hills. Lima Lima and Luggard, accompanied by one of the Keepers, were taking their time, bringing up the back of the herd and slowly and carefully navigating their way along the path. A dik dik jumped out from the bushes in front of Lima Lima scaring her! Instead of running in the opposite direction her first instinct was to turn around and protect Luggard by covering his head with her trunk.

The orphans spent the rest of the day browsing in the hills and then slowly made their way home in the evening. The night passed uneventfully without any wild bulls visiting the surrounding stockade area.

It was a pleasant start to the day, with Murera being the first at Luggard’s room to check in on him. The orphans indulged in a quick soil dust bath and then everyone headed out to browse.

Just before mud bath Ziwa and Jasiri joined the Umani herd. A short while later a fight broke out between the two bulls to see who was the strongest. Ziwa lost the first and not willing to back down engaged Jasiri in another strength pushing game. The matriarchs of the herd, Sonje and Murera, not wanting the fight to get out of control, quickly intervened and separated the boys. It is amazing to see how the matriarchs of the herd always know just what to do at the right time, to ensure the harmony between herd members.  

Shukuru, needless to say, always stays as far as she can from the rambunctious boys; she always manages to find a quiet spot where she can browse in peace.  

Mwashoti managed to entice Enkesha to join him at the springs; the Keepers gave them a bit of time on their own and then went to collect both of them to rejoin the herd for the rest of the afternoon before returning home.

Today best friends Faraja and Jasiri turned up with two wild bulls; one tusk-less and the other slightly older, with a very rough and tough look. The older wild bull was rather curious about the Keepers and he approached them slowly but keeping a safe distance between himself and the Keepers. With his raised trunk he caught the scent of the Keepers and it was so unfamiliar that the older bull turned around and walked back into the forest with the young tusk-less one right behind him.   

Enkesha teamed up with Shukuru today, breaking away from the Umani herd. They could see the boys were getting closer and wanted to browse in peace, without being disturbed by their games, so both girls made their way towards the Chyulu Hills where Enkesha knew a few spots that were thick and dense with shrub and they could browse without being seen by the boys.  

At the mud bath today Enkesha stood at the edge of the water, testing the temperature with her trunk. Shukuru was watching to see what Enkesha would do and when she saw that Enkesha didn’t leave, she knew the temperature must be okay to swim and so she jumped right in. Lima Lima also joined in, followed by Enkesha, and they all swam together but the true star for today was Lima Lima.

Today we had a bit of an adventure when the orphans were returning to the stockades to retire for the night.

As the orphans approached the stockades, they came across some fresh wild elephant dung. This alarmed some of them as they felt there might be some wild elephants nearby. Murera and Lima Lima gathered Luggard and made a bee-line towards the Umani Springs eco-lodge where they felt they would be safest. Sonje, Mwashoti, Quanza and Enkesha ran towards the Umani Springs and Shukuru headed back in the direction we had just come from.

Luckily all our Keepers are so well trained in such matters, so we strategically split into three groups - each group headed in the direction of where the different orphans had gone. The orphans know and trust the Keepers completely and they managed to calm them down and safely return them to the stockades. Sonje’s team was the first to arrive and then Lima Lima, Murera and Shukuru.