December began with a lovely visit from ex-orphan Laikipia. Just after the orphans left the stockades, the majestic 22-year-old bull appeared for a drink. He then caught up with the dependent herd and browsed with them for a bit before continuing on his way.
The orphans came out of their stockades to feed on lucerne pellets and spent the early morning greeting and interacting with one another. Ngilai was on the lookout for his favourite playmate Emoli for an early morning wrestling match. Ndotto and Tundani were running about warming up for their own sparring game against one another, while Araba lay down on the ground rolling around and showing off, clearly wanting attention from one of her friends.
The orphans left the stockade one by one. Just after they had left, ex-orphan Laikipia decided to visit the stockade for a drink, before following the trail of the dependent orphans. He caught up with them and browsed with them for a short while before walking on.
Just before noon, the dependent orphans crowded around under a tree awaiting the arrival of the milk vehicle. The orphans then walked down to the mud wallow after their milk feed. Tundani posed by the baobab tree before walking off after a few minutes, and Ndoria came over to take his place to enjoy a scratch. Murit decided to dodge the mud bath and went to drink from the water trough instead. Ndoria, meanwhile, chose to splash about in the water for a bit before going for a dust bath. The orphans hung around the baobab tree area for a while, not necessarily having a mud wallow but just relaxing there. After some time, they resumed browsing, settling on the southern side of the mud wallow.
Pika Pika and Emoli ran out of their stockade to the feeding area for their morning milk bottles. It was as if they were competing who could reach them first! Tagwa, Sagala and Tamiyoi followed closely behind, making rumbling sounds in eager anticipation of their bottles. After the milk feed, the orphans settled to have some lucerne pellets before leaving for their daily bush walks.
At the foot of Msinga Hill overlooking the grassy plains, the orphans settled to browse throughout the morning. Lasayen invited Godoma to a wrestling game, but she turned him down, so he invited Murit instead.
In the afternoon, the orphans walked down towards the mud wallow as the younger orphans went for their noon milk feed. None of the orphans wanted to wallow in the water however, so they all had a drink from the trough before making a U-turn and walking back up the hill to continue with their afternoon of browsing.
The dependent orphans came out of their stockades this morning for their milk bottle feed, followed by some lucerne grass pellet supplements. We are still awaiting rain and vegetation is hard to find, so these supplements are helpful. After a short while, the orphans started to file out of the compound to begin their day of browsing. They were led by the trio Tamiyoi, Tagwa and Sagala, as usual.
The orphans settled at the foot of Msinga Hill as Mashariki, Rorogoi, Ndoria and Arruba maneuvered their way up the hill to the top in search for fresh food to eat. A pride of lions were sighted at the baobab water hole in the afternoon, so the Keepers decided to take the orphans back to the stockade compound for the noon milk feed and lucerne pellets. Mashariki flapped her ears in excitement, as she enjoyed feeding on lucerne for the second time today. Her friend Naipoki ate some lucerne to herself over beside the stockade terrace. Panda joined her there and shared her pellets with her. Ndoria joined them, too, but that was because she wanted to scratch against the terrace. The orphans then continued browsing close to the compound until late in the evening, when they returned safely to the stockades for the night.
After the morning milk feed, the orphans decided to hang around the compound for a while, socializing and bonding with one another. Ndotto started a wrestling match with his friend, Tundani, while Emoli sparred with his best friend, Ngilai. Mashariki and Suswa went to scratch against the tree with two trunks tree at the far end of the compound.
Sagala and Tamiyoi then took off into the bush, leading their friends out for the day. Ndotto walked slowly at the rear of the herd, as he had been left behind while he sparred with Tundani. The orphans decided to browse along the lower flat grasslands, enjoying a peaceful and calm morning.
After the noon milk feed, Embu led the orphans down to the mud bath to wallow and have a drink of fresh water. However, her friends were reluctant to have a mud bath, as it was quite a chilly day. When they were done drinking, the orphans decided to go back to browsing, and they stayed on the grasslands nearby while they waited for the Keepers to finish their lunch. Tagwa and Sagala took the lead of their friends to guide them home to the stockades at the end of the day.
Twiggy, the orphaned baby giraffe who has been in our care for the past few days, was moved successfully from the Voi stockades to Kaluku.
The orphans decided to leave the compound quite early today. Ngilai was posing against the terraces and got left behind, so ended up trailing behind the herd at a distance.
Out in the bush, the orphans are busy browsing, playing and sparring. Murit rolled around in the dust while Mbegu checked on Tagwa, who was taking a nap. Tamiyoi also came looking for her best friend, Tagwa, and Mbegu patted her with her trunk.
Ishaq-B and Naipoki browsed side by side, before having a little dust bath. Naipoki walked away, leaving Ishaq-B behind to enjoy a dust bath on her own, scratching and pulling all sorts of funny poses. Ngilai and Emoli found flat ground for an equal sparring match, and the two spent some quality morning time wrestling together.
Sagala looked for her friend, Tamiyoi, who was lying down and relaxing. Sagala gave her a hug with her trunk before moving on to browse. Ndoria, who was also lying down in the dust, almost got left behind as the others headed down to the milk feed. Ndotto decided to wait for her, which was a very chivalrous move on his part.
After the milk feed, the dependent orphans browsed on the southern side of the mud wallow for the rest of the day.
It was a calm and sunny morning. The orphans came out of their night stockades and decided to hang out in the compound, playing and feeding on the lucerne pellet supplements. Ndotto was having an exciting sparring game with Mashariki on the mound of loose soil, but a few minutes later, he ditched Mashariki to have an exciting wrestling match with Tundani. Tundani later pulled away from the game to strike a few poses, as if showing off and proving his strength to Ndotto, before returning to spar with the young bull. He even climbed up the terrace in pursuit Ndotto! Murit took on a sparring challenge with Sagala, while Ngilai posed next to the feeding trough before challenging Emoli to a wrestling match. Clearly all the orphans were in very good spirits this morning!
As usual, Tamiyoi, Tagwa and Sagala took the lead this morning. They settled on the rocky side of Msinga Hill, before walking further downhill to browse on the vegetation on the open savannah. Mashariki flapped her ears to keep cool while throwing dust on herself, before deciding to roll on the ground. Ndotto came over to join her. Emoli decided to mix things up a bit by taking on a new sparring partner, inviting Lasayen to a wrestling game, but it only lasted a few minutes. Godoma browsed and posed with her right foot up on a small tree stump.
Just before the noon milk feed, Ndotto ran over and pushed Lasayen, inviting him to play. He tried climbing on him, which is one of his favourite moves. Afterwards, both boys ran down for their noon milk bottles.
While the milk-dependent babies had their bottles, Kenia used her front toenails to dig into the soil for tasty roots. Everyone regrouped at the mud bath, Mashariki, Aruba, Naipoki and Pika Pika enjoyed an afternoon swim.
This morning the orphans were scattered all over the compound, some feeding on the supplemental cubes while others enjoyed lucerne grass. Godoma decided to pose on the terraces, swinging her right foot back and forth as if deciding what to do next. Ndotto and his good friend Lasayen were enjoying a morning sparring match, when Ishaq-B walked right in between them and intervened, so Ndotto turned to take her on instead, and Lasayen walked off! Panda stood near the terraces, while Kenia scratched against the big rock right in front of the entrance to the stockade compound.
Mashariki scratched against the twin trees, and as soon as she left, Suswa came over to scratch in the same spot. Rorogoi was standing quietly on her own with her ears held out wide and high, and we couldn’t help but wonder who she might have been listening to, and what she might have been thinking. Ndotto found his favourite playmate Tundani and they were deep in a sparring match, meaning they were the last to leave the compound this morning. Godoma is the only orphan among the Voi herd who feels comfortable and safe around Mudanda because she can be a bit of a bully sometimes. The two, Mudanda and Godoma, spent some quality time together before leaving for their daily bushwalks.
In the afternoon, Tundani and Naipoki wrestling all the way down to the mud wallow. Embu sat on the water’s edge, scratching her bottom. The orphans continued browsing for the rest of the afternoon until they returned home to the stockades in the evening.
It was quite an overcast and chilly morning, as there was also a cool wind blowing. The younger orphans lined up at the feeding area to have their morning milk bottles, while the older orphans feasting on their morning supplements without waiting for the youngsters. After a while, all the orphans left the stockade compound to browse, spending their morning at the foot of Msinga Hill. Pika Pika was busy browsing in between Ndii and Ishaq-B.
Later in the afternoon the orphans had their noon milk feed and proceeded to the mud wallow. As the weather was still cold and chilly, they drank water from the trough and then continued browsing, climbing to the top of Msinga Hill for the latter half of the day.
The orphans came out of their night stockades to enjoy their morning milk bottles. Bada went straight over to feed on lucerne pellets over by the stockade terraces. Ndotto was enjoying a dust bath as the rest of the milk-dependent orphans went over to have some lucerne grass.
Later, the orphans left the compound for their day of browsing out in the Park. Along the way, Naipoki and Mashariki diverted towards the Msinga Hill in search of fresh foliage, while the rest of the orphans proceeded ahead and settled at the foot of the hill.
Kenia and Ndii stood over Pika Pika and watched her as she took a nap on the ground. Lasayen flapped his ears to keep cool while he browsed, seemingly very content and relaxed. Rorogoi tried to dig at the soil nearby with her front feet to make some nice soft soil to throw on herself. Mashariki lay down in an erosion gully relaxing, while Ndotto had a dust bath right next to her.
Later in the afternoon, Ngilai and Emoli started a wrestling match at the foot of Msinga Hill. Emoli then went to climb on Mbegu who was lying down in an erosion gulley relaxing, but she didn’t seem to mind.
It was raining this morning and the orphans were very excited, running about in the compound. After feeding on supplements, they left the stockades for their daily bush walks, manoeuvring their way along the rocky side of Msinga Hill to the open grasslands. The orphans settled at the foot of the hill, overlooking the baobab waterhole below.
Ngilai and Emoli enjoyed their usual sparring games. Mashariki decided to walk to the top of Msinga Hill, taking all the older orphans with her. Tamiyoi, Tagwa, Sagala and their friends stayed behind, as they wanted to stay closer to the Keepers. Later, Ngilai decided to change his play mate Emoli for Tagwa. Tagwa tried to sneak away, but Ngilai grabbed her tail with his trunk, encouraging her to stay and play.
After the noon milk feed, the orphans hung around the mud wallow area, and Ngilai and Emoli started up a fresh wrestling game. Lasayen scratched against the baobab tree and Rorogoi enjoyed a dust bath. Little Pika Pika took a dip, while Arruba and Ndii surrounded her to protect her while she was wallowing. The orphans resumed browsing until late in the evening.
An orphaned baby buffalo calf was spotted completely alone along the Aruba-Voi roadside by the Trust’s maintenance team. After reporting the little calf to KWS, the Trust team rescued the baby and brought him to the Voi stockades.
The long-awaited rains finally arrived, and the orphan elephants couldn’t contain their excitement. They ran about here and there, playing hide and seek. They were in such a joyful mood this morning as the rain fell.
Ndotto took on his female friend, Arruba, for a sparring match. Arruba retreated to higher ground, standing tall on one of the rocks to intimidate Ndotto as she tackled him once more. She retreated once again but this time, Tundani took the opportunity to intercept Ndotto for the same wrestling games. They continued all the way to the browsing grounds.
Out in the bush, the orphans spread out across the grasslands. Kenia, Ndii, Ishaq-B, Arruba and Pika Pika decided to all browse close together. While waiting for the milk vehicle to arrive, Arruba and Rorogoi initiated a game on one of the big rocks in the field.
The orphans were reluctant to swim today, due to the cold weather. Pika Pika rested on the edge of the water hole and played with Emoli instead.
Pika Pika came out of her stockade running and yelling to prevent Emoli overtaking her as they both sprinted towards the milk feeding area. Arruba and Ndii came charging down from the upper stockades to find out what was wrong. When they found that Pika Pika had settled for her milk feed, they sauntered over to the lucerne feeding area to wait for the Keepers to distribute the supplement food.
The orphans left the stockades soon after finishing their supplements. Later in the morning, Ndotto took a break from browsing to play a soil dusting game. Bada, who returned a few weeks ago looking rather thin because of the prevailing dry conditions, is putting on more weight. His good friend, Mudanda, has been busy looking after. They always browse together.
The orphans went for their noon milk feed milk and then had some water in the afternoon but snubbed the mud bath as it is still a little drizzly in the area.
After the milk and supplement feeding, Panda took her scratching games over to the favourite twin trees, as Arruba stretched her trunk to feast on the green acacia leaves. Mashariki came over to investigate what Arruba was enjoying so much, and they both settled to feast upon the nice acacia leaves.
Everyone left the stockade compound under the leadership of Tamiyoi, Tagwa and Sagala. Arruba used both her trunk and her front toenails to dig up a stubborn root that she wanted to eat. When she succeeded, she invited Embu to share it with her.
Later in the afternoon, it started to rain lightly. The orphans chose to lie down out on the open ground and roll around in the wet soil. Tagwa, Murit and Araba teamed up to play together, but Murit spoiled the game by climbing on Tagwa’s back and squashing her. The Keepers heard her cry for help and chased Murit off poor Tagwa.
Soon after arriving in the bush this morning, Naipoki and Tundani engaged one another in a wrestling match. Before going to the water hole, Mbegu found an open area of ground and had a soil bath. Her games encouraged others to play briefly, too, with Araba engaging Murit, while Ngilai invited Emoli into some sparring games.
Because there are so many water pans full of rainwater, the orphans can have a mud bath whenever they like at the moment. Arruba came across one of these small pools and enjoyed an impromptu wallow. Panda came over and lay on top of her, forcing Arruba to make way for her. In the end, she surrendered the small pool, allowing Panda to splash in it, too.
It was a lovely but chilly morning. Mashariki, Araba and Arruba sandwiched little Pika Pika between them, providing her with some warmth as she browsed.
Soon after the noon milk feed it started raining lightly. The orphans joyfully rolled around on the wet ground, throwing chunks of damp soil up in the air and onto their backs. After a while, they continued browsing, but they paused to play again around 4 o’clock. Kenia teamed up with her darling Pika Pika in an erosion trench, while Mbegu played with Ishaq-B and Embu. Ndotto and Tundani went a different way and started a wrestling match that went on for ages. They had to run to catch up with their friends, who were making their way back to the stockades for the night.
The orphans really enjoyed feeding on the wet vegetation they found this morning, thanks to the rain we received yesterday and last night. After several months of only dry and hard food, this must have been such a delightful relief.
In fact, none of the orphans were in a hurry to go for their noon milk feed. This is in stark contrast to before the rains, when they were desperate for the extra nourishment during the day. Tamiyoi, Sagala and Emoli could not forgo the milk feed, however, because they love their bottles too much. As they started walking towards the milk vehicle, the rest of their friends eventually followed. Murit was so full that he only took one gulp of the milk before abandoning his bottle!
Later in the afternoon it started raining again. Ndii introduced a game of rolling on the bare ground for a wet soil bath. Naipoki then joined her, and when they were done, they both got up and went to scratch against a big rock, just to finish off their game nicely.
Ndii realised that Arruba and Araba were enjoying quality time with Pika Pika, rolling on the ground and having fun. Ndii jealously went over and squeezed herself in between them, forcing Arruba and Araba to reluctantly end their game. Mudanda started a game of sliding from the top to the bottom of an erosion trench with Mbegu, Godoma and Suswa standing by watching her. Ndotto and Tundani wrestled, as usual, before rejoining their friends to continue browsing for the rest of the afternoon.
Bada took up position scratching against the most favourite rock in the stockade compound. There were some spectacular sparring matches going on, with Tundani taking Ndotto head-on, while Ngilai settled up with his friend Tagwa.
The orphans then left for the bush. Later in the morning, Sagala thought it was her time to shine and got down on the ground to roll around and show off for a bit. Her mission succeeded in catching the attention of both Mbegu and Tagwa, who reached out to her with their trunks. They then decided to start rolling all over Sagala, impeding her movements while they enjoyed an excellent climbing game! Sagala didn’t mind and enjoyed playing with the two girls.
It was a very calm afternoon of browsing amid light rain, which continued on and off throughout the day.
The orphans left the stockades for a busy day of browsing. It wasn’t long after the orphans arrived out in the bush that Murit and Araba took a break from browsing for a wonderful sparring game.
The orphans browsed peacefully throughout the morning. Ndii and Pika Pika managed to fit in one small water pan. Araba seemed jealous of their game as she stood by and watched, but there wasn’t enough space for her to join, so she ended up following Emoli to a different small hole and enjoyed a mud bath with him instead.
Then it was time for the milk-dependent orphans to go for their milk feed. Afterwards, they joined their senior friends to drink clean water from the baobab tree water hole. When they were done at the mud bath, Ndii and Kenia took the lead for the afternoon browsing session.
Ishaq-B and Mashariki later came across a water hole full of rain water, and invited their friends to play for a bit.
When the milk feed was over, the orphans assembled for lucerne pellets. Ndoria, Mashariki and Araba stood together, enjoying their range cubes before joining their friends. Later, Mbegu and Ndotto decided to take a break for a wrestling match, as they had missed playing this morning.
The orphans browsed in single file until it was time for the noon milk feed, and then they went to the main baobab tree waterhole. Pika Pika wanted to play a sparring game with Ngilai, and he knew to be gentle with her as she is so much smaller. Ngilai’s best friend, Emoli, was jealous of their game and pushed Pika Pika away. He continued bullying her, climbing on her and shoving her all the way into the waterhole. He was lucky Ndii and the other females were preoccupied having a drink of water! Pika Pika attempted to sneak away from Emoli, but Murit came over and saved the day by distracting Emoli. Mbegu rescued Pika Pika from the boys and all their boisterous behaviour.
The rest of the day’s browsing took place to the south of the water hole.
Soon after the milk feed, the orphans settled down for lucerne pellets. Mashariki bravely tried to woo Pika Pika onto the terraces with her, but Ndii noticed her intention and immediately whisked Pika Pika away. It was play time for the rest of the orphans. Ngilai stood on top of a rock to tackle Murit head-on, but Murit turned and decided to play with Arruba instead. She was on the same level as him, and perhaps he fancied his chances better at winning with Arruba than Ngilai! Ndotto and Tundani were also busy wrestling in a bid to establish who was the strongest between them.
The orphans browsed throughout the morning on the western side of Msinga Hill. A few minutes before the afternoon milk feed, Ndii and Mudanda noticed a big water pan full of rainwater and invited their friends to drink before going for milk. Rorogoi and Embu led the mud bath at the main waterhole. They stayed there the longest and later had to catch up with their friends who were already browsing.
Once the milk and supplement feed was ove,r the orphan elephants teamed up to play.
Panda stood on one of the lower stockade terraces while Pika Pika stood above, petting Panda’s back with her trunk. Panda noticed that Pika Pika was struggling to reach, so she moved a bit higher up the terrace. Kenia monitored Panda and Pika Pika’s game, before joining up with the rest of their friends to leave for the bush. First, they all had to get past Mbegu and Ndotto, who stood in the way playing with one another!
Around 11 o’clock, it starting raining lightly. Mbegu started a game of rolling on the ground. Lasayen and Murit came over to admire Mbegu’s game, and when she was done, Lasayen took her place. That spot soon became a favourite, with both Rorogoi and Pika Pika taking the same place, before leaving for the afternoon milk feed.
Pika Pika was standing on top of one of the stockade terraces and saw Ndotto and Arruba in a tough wrestling match close by. She mistook their intense game for a real fight. Pika Pika is fond of Arruba, as one of her adopted sisters and a real role model. So she stretched her trunk out towards Ndotto, pleading with him to leave Arruba in peace. Arruba reassured Pika Pika that the wrestling match was purely playing, and to confirm this, Ndotto touched Arruba’s face gently with his trunk in an equally friendly gesture.
The orphans spent the early morning hours browsing. Around 10:30, Embu, Tamiyoi and Tagwa led their friends to a big muddy puddle they had discovered a few days ago. All the orphans had a lot of fun playing there, entering the mud puddle in groups of six, before heading to the baobab tree for the noon milk feed and a drink of clean water. Naipoki took Pika Pika to play on a dry tree trunk which had fallen down, but for the most part, the orphans didn’t hang around the baobab tree. They had already done enough mud bathing earlier in the morning, so they continued with their usual afternoon of browsing soon after they had enough water.
The milk-dependent orphans came running out of their stockades, excited for their first bottles of the day. There were some brief games in the stockade compound. Tundani took up position by the big rock close to the stockade water trough to enjoy a morning scratch, while Embu scratched her tummy on one of the shorter rocks. Eventually Mbegu took the lead and guided everyone towards the flat ground in the west to browse.
The morning grew warmer as the sun shone brightly, so the orphans decided to visit one of their favourite puddles. In the afternoon, they marched down to the baobab water hole to drink their milk bottles and have some water. Once again, they didn’t stay long, as they had already had their mud bath, so they continued to browse for the rest of the day.
Ngilai was the only one in a playing mood today, lying down and rolling on the ground. Emoli felt jealous of his games plopped down on his stomach, succeeding in impeding his movements and bringing about an end to his fun! Ngilai managed to shake off Emoli and got up, staggering a few feet before gaining his footing and spinning around with his head held high and ears spread wide, daring Emoli to have a sparring match with him. Emoli indulged Ngilai, but not for long. He ended up running off, because he actually didn’t feel like sparring and wanted to begin his day of browsing.
The orphans left the stockades under the leadership of Embu and Rorogoi. Mudanda went to play inside an erosion trench, while Mashariki succeeded in inviting Pika Pika to play. Pika Pika later snuck off, so Mashariki invited Ndoria to be her playmate. Arruba and Ngilai lay on some bare soil enjoying a soil bath as it was still nice and damp from all the rain.
It was a peaceful Christmas morning. Mbegu chose to spend her morning with Emoli and went to separate him from the others so they could enjoy lucerne together. Later we realised that Mbegu was intentionally keeping Emoli away from Ngilai, who has been occasionally pursuing Emoli for sparring games even before the supplement feeding is over. Mbegu clearly wanted Emoli to have some peace today and enjoy his breakfast.
The orphans spent their morning in their usual fashion, browsing around Msinga Hill. They then made their way over to the baobab tree water hole. Tundani rested on the edge of the water and relaxed like a tourist in a famous beach hotel.
The heavens opened around 4 o’clock, so the orphans took a break from browsing to play in the raindrops. Tagwa rolled on the ground while Emoli climbed on her back. Sagala was in a similar position, as Tamiyoi slid down her side and fell to the ground like a sack of sand. Tundani played by himself off to the side, before joining his friends to continue browsing.
After having their milk bottles, Mbegu decided to test her strength in a competition with Ndotto. Emoli seemed to get very excited about Ndotto and Mbegu’s game and went charging up to Ngilai, who was close to the stockade water hole. Ngilai placed himself strategically to handle Emoli’s excitement for a wrestling match. Emoli retreated and ran backwards, but collected himself and came back in full force to face Ngilai head-on. It was a very jolly morning.
The orphans later visited the baobab tree water hole for a brief mud bath after the noon milk feed. Afterwards, they made their way to the southern side of Msinga Hill. Ndii and Mudanda led them to a second mud bath in one of their favourite puddles at the moment.
The orphans came out of their stockades in a happy mood, gulping down their morning milk bottles. Ndotto and Arruba were engaged in a wonderful play fighting game, while Embu rolled on the red earth piles to show off to Sagala and Pika Pika. It was clear that Tamiyoi and Tagwa were impatiently waiting for the others to finish their games. They shook their bodies and raised their trunks in the air, signalling that it was time to head out to the bush. Eventually, they started to walk out of the compound — and slowly but surely, the others followed behind!
In the afternoon, Pika Pika came across a very small water pool which she really wanted to play in. Kenia and Ndii stood guard on either side, while Ishaq-B watched the back, until Pika Pika was happy and finished with her mud bathing.
Ndoria was very excited this morning and initiated a rolling game on the wet ground. A lot of the orphans chose to avoid her, however, for fear of her old tail biting behaviour. Ndoria extended her trunk to invite Araba and Pika Pika to join her to play, but the two seemed suspicious of her intentions and cautiously turned down her offer. Ndotto went to test his strength against Rorogoi, who is an entirely new friend for him; we haven’t really seen these two play together before. Ndii was busy teasing Naipoki.
The orphans had a wonderful morning and visited their favourite water hole in the bush. We had some rain at about 4 o’clock. Ngilai and Emoli decided to try and browse while sparring at the same time which was quite a funny sight.
It was another happy beginning to the day, with the milk dependent orphans emptying their morning bottles in a hurry. Everyone browsed uphill, arriving on the northern side of Msinga Hill. Before long, Bada and Tundani moved downhill to browse. Suswa moved towards them, but she kept herself busy by soil bathing before joining Bada and Tundani.
The orphans then went for their milk feed at the baobab tree water hole. In a dramatic moment, Araba and Lasayen decided to give Pika Pika some company in a mud bath. This was a huge issue with Ndii and Arruba, who charged over to them. Arruba pushed Araba away, while Ndii pushed Lasayen away from the water and their darling Pika Pika. Embu and Ishaq-B were blissfully unaware of all the drama, as they rolled on the ground just outside of the water. Pika Pika came over to admire her games, but Arruba took issue with this too and quickly whisked her girl away. The orphans continued browsing close to the water hole for the rest of the day.
Ndotto engaged Tundani in a play fight early in the morning, just after the milk feed. Rorogoi was on the mound of loose red soil, enjoying a dust bath, while Mudanda and Suswa scratched against a big rock in the compound. Tamiyoi set off to the bush with all her friends in the younger group of orphans. Kenia’s herd was on board, too, and shortly followed suit, with Bada bringing up the rear.
The orphans browsed throughout the morning. At the baobab tree water hole, Pika Pika went to lie on Arruba’s stomach, denying her the chance to shine in the very active mud bathing session. Later, Araba and Pika Pika sat together in the water, rolling around and playing like mud fish. Ndii was jealous and plunged into the water, disturbing their game and harassing Araba by pushing her with her tusks. This brought about an end to their wallowing games.
As soon as the morning milk feeding was over, the orphans assembled to feed on lucerne pellets. Emoli was acting like a small baby, demanding pellets from Mbegu’s mouth instead of picking up his own from the ground.
After the noon milk feed, there was a lot of cloud cover. Only Pika Pika hazarded a swim, while the others stood on the periphery of the water. Arruba was then forced to get in the water, too, lest any of the others get too interested in Pika Pika’s game and think about joining her. Because the others weren’t permitted to join her, Pika Pika soon found the mud bath a bit boring went to join Emoli and Ngilai, who were busy engaged in some sparring games.
The rest of the afternoon passed peacefully, as the orphans munched on lush grass and creepers, whch are just starting to grow. Later in the day Lasayen, engaged Murit in a game, while Sagala enjoyed the rare privilege of playing with Pika Pika. As the sun began to sink in the sky, all the orphans returned home for the night, presaging the end of another year.