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It has been a tough few months for all the wildlife within the Kibwezi Forest area. The prolonged drought brought about a scarcity of forage and also saw the beginnings of the wildfires, which pushed most of the animals towards the safe haven that is Umani Springs. With the recent rains, however, all this changed. The Kibwezi Forest, the Chyulu Hills and its environs are teeming with plenty of greens and fresh water. The animals, including our very own orphans, now venture far and wide to get their fill, as was evident when the night clubbers visited us this afternoon. Ziwa and Faraja both arrived with their bellies looking very round and full.

Alamaya and Mwashoti have been taking advantage of the recent rains; they have discovered many mud-baths and today were seen by the Keepers, covered in mud from the tips of their tusks to the tips of their tails. The Keepers also saw them running in the bushes, splashing through water puddles, chasing each other. Enkesha and her little friend Maktao also indulged in a gentle friendly game of chase after watching Alamaya and Mwashoti.

Our orphans look very happy and well fed. The landscape of the forest as well as the Umani Hills and Chyulu Hills is starting to change. Everywhere you look, it is lush and green. The rivers and springs are full of fresh water and gone are the scarecrow trees with their dry limbs.

Just before midday, the Keepers readied the orphans to lead them down to the midday bottle feed. Lima Lima did not listen and instead led the younger babies, Kiombo, Maktao and Enkesha further towards the Hills. Sonje and Alamaya both tried to get this unruly troop to follow them to the feeding point, but no one listened. In the end, Zongoloni sought out the matriarch of the herd, and upon hearing Murera’s very loud trumpet, all the orphans immediately followed her and made their way down to midday bottle feed.

Faraja and Ngasha came across two crane birds as they were browsing and decided to chase them. As the two bulls ran after them, the two crane birds took to the skies, leaving Faraja and Ngasha running and tripping over their own feet. 

The Umani orphans decided to visit the springs early this morning before they started their browsing activities. Quanza was leading the herd, with Enkesha and Maktao following her. She held back, as though catching the scent of another wild animal, but Maktao and Enkesha carried on not paying attention to Quanza’s warnings. On the dry bank of the springs lay a crocodile catching the early morning sunshine. Maktao narrowly escaped being bitten by the crocodile. He ran off trumpeting into the forest and Sonje and the Keepers quickly rushed in the direction of the trumpeting and were relieved to see him unharmed. The Keepers decided the turn back and led their wards out of the Spring area back towards the Hills. 

It was a cool start to the morning. Enkesha and Maktao engaged in a friendly pushing game as they waited for their friends to arrive. Zongoloni was the first, then Ziwa and Faraja, followed shortly after by Jasiri. Ziwa and Faraja were feeling rather boisterous this morning and as soon as they started their pushing games, the younger babies quickly moved out of their way. 

All the orphans left the stockades and made their way to the browsing fields. Jasiri had already seen Ngasha, but the two bulls kept their distance. Ngasha decided to disrupt the peaceful morning by pushing Sone and Mwashoti as they were pulling down branches to feast on. Mwashoti fell to the ground and Murera quickly came to the younger bull’s rescue. Jasiri was not pleased with Ngasha’s behavior and chased him away from the Umani herd. 

Alamaya’s temperament seems to be settling, he is quite gentle and always happy to join his friends during their morning activities. Today, Lima Lima made the mistake of blocking Alamaya from venturing further from the Umani herd in search of the acacia pods he loves so much. Alamaya was not too happy and proceeded to chase Lima Lima until she ran off, leaving Alamaya to enjoy his acacia pods.

The night clubbers arrived this morning at the stockades but did not stay. They waited for Lima Lima to join them and then disappeared into the forest again. The only member of the night clubbers to stay behind was Mwashoti. He waited patiently by the gates, and once his friends were done with their morning routine, they all set out towards the Umani Springs with Murera in the lead. Mwashoti and Enkesha came across a small flock of crane birds and a few butterflies. Both friends took great delight in chasing them and blowing their trumpets at them. Murera joined them too, although she can’t run very fast, but she made up for it by trumpeting loudly. The Keepers found it quite funny, especially when Mwashoti tripped over a big branch, falling into a heap on the ground. The birds and the butterflies took to the skies, putting an end to the orphan’s game.

The mud-bath near the waterhole is now full of water. All the orphans were wallowing when Quanza felt something. Trying to save himself, a baby crocodile had crawling on her back. The sensation must have startled our girl, because she bolted mud-bath, flinging the baby crocodile off her back and sending her friends into a panic. Everyone rushed out of the mud-bath, but when the Keepers realized it was just a baby crocodile, they settled the orphans and they all returned to the mud-bath to wallow.

Since the rains arrived a few weeks ago, the Chyulu Hills and Kibwezi Forest have been restored to their former glory. All the animals look well fed and most of the areas that were damaged by the wildfires look rejuvenated.

Sonje is careful not to stray too far from her little boy, Kiombo. Today she ventured a bit further into the forest and Quanza immediately seized this opportunity to sneak away with Kiombo. As soon as Sonje realized this, she trumpeted at the little boy to return and then the two disappeared towards the Umani Hills. Zongoloni took advantage of finding Kiasa on her own, whisking her away to browse further from the main herd, only returning in the evening when it was time to go home. A baboon made its way to where Enkesha and Maktao were browsing and made quite a racket, jumping from branch to branch. Enkesha tried to send it away, but in the end, it was Jasiri and Ngasha who chased off the annoying baboon. The older two bull did not stay long with the Umani herd today; they left before evening to join their wild friends. 

As the orphans made their way back to the stockades, their path was blocked by a lone male buffalo. The Keepers stopped, unsure of which way to go. Then, Ziwa and Faraja, who must have been nearby, emerged from the bushes and chased off the buffalo so that their friends could finally return home.

As the rains continue, we are seeing less and less of our wild friends, although the night clubbers arrive every day at the stockade with new friends. Today, Zongoloni and Lima Lima appeared with a herd of wild bulls. They Keepers saw that these were new friends. As soon as Sonje and Murera left the stockade compound, the wild bulls showed the girls that they were interested in them. Sonje was happy to browse with them, but not Murera: As soon as one the bigger bulls started walking towards her, she quickly turned around and looked for Mwashoti. After a while, the Keepers saw Murera walking away from the Umani herd with Mwashoti, leaving Lima Lima and Sonje to socialize with the new bulls. 

After their midday bottles, Enkesha decided to engage Kiombo and Kiasa in a friendly pushing game. Kiombo has not quite learned how to play fight, so he pushed Enkesha quite hard. This annoyed Enkesha and she pushed back just as hard. As a result, a fight broke out between these two babies. Quanaza had to intervene and put a stop to the fight, while Maktao rushed over to check on Enkesha. When Zongoloni arrived later, Kiombo walked over as though to complain about Quanza and Enkesha. The Keepers saw Zongoloni give Kiombo a trunk hug.

Sonje and Kiombo decided to play on the dust mound as soon as they were done with their lucerne pellets. Kiombo stretched out and rolled around in the dust whilst Sonje kept a vigilant eye on her little boy. She could see Quanza and Mwashoti eyeing Kiombo’s spot, and knew that if she moved away, they would chase Kombo away. Kiasa and Enkesha had the same idea as Kiombo but could see that the dust mound was bit crowded, so they chose to go to the loading bay and scratch their bottoms instead. Jasiri seemed to be eyeing the dust mound this morning too, but because Murera was nearby, he didn’t date chase away the little ones.

Lima Lima and Zongoloni got a head start because they wanted to get to the Springs before Ngasha arrived. Alamaya had also followed the two girls and was very excited to find a big branch on the ground filled with acacia pods. Alamaya decided to drag it far away from the others so that he could enjoy it by himself. Unfortunately for Alamaya, the branch was too big and he struggled to drag it. Ziwa arrived and effortlessly dragged it away from Alamaya, leaving the poor bull watching as Ziwa took his juicy branch to share with Faraja.

With so much lush vegetation readily available, there is a competition between the matriarchs to see who can find the best browsing spot and which orphan can eat the most. Once they find a spot, the orphans stay there until late afternoon, stopping only for their midday bottle.

The younger boys Maktao and Kiombo decided to follow Lima Lima and Zongoloni instead of the Umani herd. They did not understand that both these older girls were only interested in resting and browsing. However, Lima Lima and Zongoloni always look out for their little charges, so they led the two boys up to the midday bottle feeding area and went to rest under the trees.

Afterwards, Murera and the Keepers started to make their way towards the Chyulus, but a sudden downpour brought a stop to this plan. Whilst Enkesha and Maktao waited under the trees with the Keepers, Ngasha and Alamaya found a mud mound and decided to roll around in it. Sonje and Kiombo kept their distance from these two boisterous boys. As soon as the rain dissipated, everyone headed towards the Chyulus.

Enkesha and Maktao did not want to leave the warmth of their stockade this morning. The weather outside was still wet and cold, and it was raining quite a bit. Sonje and the rest of the Umani orphans had already left. The Keepers wanted Enkesha and Maktao to join them, so they lured them out with pellets.

Lima Lima was leading the Umani herd towards the hills, but it was very difficult for them to climb, as the ground was slippery. Alamaya, Mwashoti and Quanza were already trumpeting in protest, so Zongoloni stepped in and decided to lead the orphans to the foot of the Kenze Hills, which was an easier trek. The Keepers followed them and this where they stayed for the rest of the day.

Although Alamaya has spent many-a night out with wild elephants, he prefers not to engage in any kind of conflict. Today, when he arrived with his friend Ziwa, they saw that both Ngasha and Faraja were locked in what looked like a very fierce fight. Alamaya immediately backed off, but Mwashoti, who is the newest member of the night clubbers, tried to put a stop to the fight, only to be pushed aside by the two older bulls. Murera and Quanza tried to stand between the warring bulls, but that didn’t help either. In the end, Jasiri intervened and finally put an end to the fight. Both bulls, hot and tired, walked away from each other. Peace was restored the Umani herd again and Murera decided they would move to Umani Hill to carry on with their browsing, where they remained until it was time to return to the stockades. Kiasa and Quanza joined Zongoloni at the head of the herd. Enkesha, as always, was happy to walk slowly with Maktao.

The first thing Murera does every morning is inspect each orphan and greet them. However, she skipped that ritual today and was very slow. She was the last one to leave the compound, but the Keepers decided to let Murera come at her own pace. The other orphans sensed Murera was not her usual self, so all the babies were particularly well behaved. After a while Mwashoti walked up to where Murera was resting and rumbled at her. The two friends wandered off into the forest and returned after midday — and when they did, Murera was visibly better. The Keepers checked to see if there was anything wrong with her leg, but found nothing. 

Zongoloni managed to separate Kiasa and Kiombo from the rest of the herd. After a while, Kiombo decided to turn back and return to Sonje, as they were venturing too far from the main herd. Sonje took Kiombo to her favorite browsing spot and was showing the young boy how to pull branches using his trunk. As the evening drew to a close, Enkesha and Maktao gathered round Sonje, getting ready to go home. Then, they saw little Kiasa running towards them, ears flapping and trumpeting, as though telling her friends not to leave without her.

The orphans concentrated their energies in tacking the Umani Hills. Most made their way to the top, but Kiombo, Enkesha, Murera, Sonje and Mwashoti stayed at the foot of the hills. All the orphans busied themselves browsing on the lush green bushes. After a while, the Keepers noticed Zongoloni and Lima Lima looking intently downhill. The Keepers realised two buffalos were standing behind Kiombo, who was totally unaware. The Keepers called out to him gently and coaxed his to return to where they were. The bushes are so thick right now that it is so difficult to tell if there is danger lurking. Thanks to Lima Lima’s vigilance, we were able to avert any mishap.