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Olsekki, Siangiki, Naseku, Oltaiyoni and Roi arrived at the stockade early before dawn and slept outside the stockade. In the morning, the orphans were let out and joined Oltaiyoni and her group. Out in the bush, Neshashi and Roho, who appears to be bonding with Larro the most, spend most of their morning browsing with her. Unfortunately, Oldepe still isn’t well so he is still staying behind at the stockade compound to receive treatment.

The orphans settled to browse in the Kone area. Sattao, Nabulu and Malima walked to the dam and drank some rainwater which had collected there. After drinking their fill, the three orphans walked back to join their friends. Mukkoka took a break from browsing to have fun rolling on the ground. Dololo came running over and started scratching his belly on Mukkoka. Obviously Mukkoka wasn't pleased about that and so got up, bringing his game to an abrupt end without choosing to fight with Dololo either.

Later, Jotto, Pare and Mapia came across a muddy water pool and decided to have fun rolling in the mud. Once they were satisfied that they had done enough mud bathing, the three boys followed their friends who were now heading for their noon milk feed. After finishing their milk the orphans just went back out to continue browsing, as they can have a mud bath anytime in the bush now. They settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. Oltaiyoni and her team sneaked away and managed to take Enkikwe and Mundusi with them. In the evening, Larro led the first group back to the stockade compound. Mundusi and Enkikwe had still not returned by nine o'clock at night and apparently decided to spend the night out with Oltaiyoni’s herd.

Soon after leaving the compound, the orphans, led by Mteto, headed straight out to browse without stopping for any supplement food today. They settled to browse in the area known as Kone; with so much vegetation to choose from at the moment after receiving some rain, the orphans settled for the grass in this area which is much easier to pull with their trunks and put in their mouth. The orphans seemed to really enjoy their morning, as they thanked the rains for bringing so much green vegetation that they have missed for so long.

Dololo and Naboishu took a break from feeding and engaged each other in a strength testing match. Kauro settled to feed with Mteto while Malkia joined Roho. The ex-orphans passed close by and managed to leave with both Enkikwe and Mundusi.

At mud bath time, the orphans had their milk and then Sana Sana led everyone back out to browse. Shortly later, Neshashi overtook Sana Sana to take the lead, followed by Roho. The orphans settled to browse east of Ithumba Hill. Mteto, Esampu, Pare and Malima took a break from feeding to have fun rolling on the ground.

In the evening, shortly before going back to the stockades, Naboishu engaged Rapa into a pushing game. Rapa didn't use his full might against Naboishu, as he understood the young bull only wanted to learn some new pushing techniques from him. 

It was a wet morning following some rain we received overnight. The orphans were let out soon after finishing their morning bottles. It was still drizzling as Mteto led the way out. Nabulu and Jotto found some nice trees that they used to scratch their bellies on. Roho seemed very happy to be in Malima’s company as he continues to learn more about life at Ithumba.

Kamok, Ambo, Esampu, Maramoja, Naboishu, Ndiwa, Kuishi, Mukkoka and Pare took a break from feeding to have fun rolling on ground and smearing themselves in red mud, the colour of the soil. Naboishu took advantage of his friends who were lying down and decided to climb on them, since he can’t do it when they’re standing up because he is too small! Dololo, who was watching from a distance, rumbled to call Naboishu, as if he wanted to tell him something. Naboishu walked towards Dololo who extended his trunk to him in greeting, then the two had a light pushing game, until Dololo decided to ramp things up a bit. Dololo jumped on Naboishu's back to climb on him in the same way he was doing to his friends just a moment ago. Naboishu protested and disengaged from Dololo then turned to fight to defend himself. Things would have turned ugly were not for Rapa who emerged and separated the two boys.

In the afternoon, Neshashi settled to browse with Roho while Malkia teamed up with Kuishi. Ambo had a strength testing game with Mapia while Mundusi played with Pare. In the evening, Neshashi led the way back to the stockades.

The orphans headed straight to the browsing field soon after leaving their night stockades where they settled to browse in the Kanziku area. They didn’t make any time for fun as each elephant searched for the best and softest vegetation they could find. Later, some of the orphans chose to relax a bit, with the likes of Mukkoka and Dololo taking a break from feeding to engage in a strength testing game. Naboishu walked over to Sana Sana and had a brief conversation with her before leaving to play with Ambo. Malima had a good time with Musiara as they browsed together for nearly two hours, while Neshashi, Roho and Pare enjoyed feeding together too.

Enkikwe, Sapalan and Mundusi parted ways with their friends only to re-join them at the mud bath, before leaving again.

After having their bottles, Nabulu, Musiara and Malkia stood close by as they tried to find out if there was any milk leftover. As soon as all the empty bottles were returned to the car, the three orphans knew the answer and left to join their friends.

In the afternoon, the orphans returned to the Kanziku area where they settled to browse for the rest of the day. Kamok browsed with Ambo while Larro teamed up with Malima.

It was Larro who led the first group back to the stockades tonight. Mundusi, Sapalan and Enkikwe didn't turn up with their friends and chose to spend the night out.

It was another wet morning following some more rain we received overnight. Sapalan, Mundusi and Enkikwe had not yet reported in from their night out. It appears that the three boys met with some of the former orphans and decided to extend their stay out. Only time will tell if this is a permanent decision for the boys or if they intend on returning. And that might depend on their experience of their night out.

Despite only recently arriving at Ithumba, Neshashi led the way out to the bush this morning. Given so much vegetation everywhere, the orphans started feeding just a few metres away from the stockade compound, as they headed towards Kone area.

After about an hour of feeding, Mukkoka decided to take a break to have fun rolling on the wet soil. Some of the other bulls saw what Mukkoka was doing and decided to join in the fun too. Rapa, Roho, Pare, Ambo, Dololo and Musiara got down to roll and smear themselves with red mud. The girls, Kamok, Neshashi, Kuishi and Esampu, joined the boys later too. After having enough fun rolling on the ground, Ambo engaged Mukkoka in a strength testing exercise while Dololo tackled Musiara. Nabulu teamed up with Mteto to browse while Kuishi settled to feed with the new arrivals Neshashi and Roho. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse in the Kanziku area without any major disruptions as they continued to enjoy all the new delicious vegetation.

It was a cool morning and the two bulls Jotto and Mapia decided to begin their day by engaging each other in a strength- testing wrestling match. Their game attracted several other bulls who decided to imitate them. Naboishu engaged Ambo into a pushing game while Rapa played with Pare. Naboishu quit playing with Ambo and moved on to Sana Sana who, as she is older, taught him several lessons in different pushing tactics. The tough and fearless Naboishu then walked over to Mapia and tried to put into practice what he had just learned from Sana Sana, but Mapia isn’t the kind of bull to tolerate such insolence from a younger boy and he gave him a ‘knockout’ shove in the first round! It seems as if he knows that although Naboishu is younger he is big and strong and might pose a threat to his status in the near future. Jotto moved to play with Musiara and Ambo decided to come over to assist Musiara, who he shares a stockade with at night. Jotto, who graduated to the next class two weeks ago, wanted to bully Musiara, but Ambo wouldn’t allow it. Jotto decided to quit after the two boys ganged up against him. It appeared that Jotto was still in a playful mood however, as he walked off to engage Dololo in a pushing game instead. Dololo, who is always up for anything, tackled Jotto without fear.

Kamok settled to browse with Kauro and the Keepers remarked how the two orphans are the oldest in the dependent herd at the moment, and we considered when they might be ready to become more independent. The two orphans held their conversation for quite some time and we couldn’t help wishing to know what they were talking about. Already Mundusi, Enkikwe, Sapalan and Karisa have moved on and are currently with Yatta’s ex-orphan herd, as they make their first attempt to start a new life outside the stockades and all the protection it affords.

Malkia teamed up with Esampu and Maramoja and the three girls had their own private conversation. Shortly before mud bath time, Jotto engaged Rapa in a pushing game but ended up loosing to Rapa. After having their bottles, the new leader Neshashi led all the orphans to enjoy wallowing in the now deep mud bath. The orphans settled to calmly browse west of Ithumba Hill for the rest of the afternoon.

As soon as the orphans came out of their night stockades this morning, the ex-orphans emerged from the east and joined them briefly. Neshashi and Roho wanted to leave with them again, but some quick reactions from the Keepers saved the day. Roho in particular seems to have struck up a great friendship with Yatta’s baby Yogi from the last time they met, and he wanted to be with him.

The dependent orphans headed to the area known as Kone. Kamok and Ambo visited the Kone dam and had some water before joining their friends to browse. Dololo, Jotto and Musiara came across some loose soil that they enjoyed playing and rolling around in. They were later joined by Kuishi, Esampu, Sattao, Mukkoka and Larro. When they had enough fun and games, they orphans got stuck into browsing again.

Shortly before mud bath time, Musiara chose to initiate a pushing match with Pare, and because they are quite evenly matched their game ended in a draw. As she walked along, Neshashi came across a muddy water hole which she decided to cool off in. All the other orphans joined her and shortly afterwards, Naboishu led the way to the mud bath for the noon milk feed.

After having their bottles, Nabulu led her friends into the main waterhole for a swim. Neshashi was the first one to leave, followed by Nabulu and Roho. The ex-orphans Makireti, Kilabasi, Wendi, Wema, Wimbi, Sunyei, Siku, Saba, Galana, Gawa and Wanjala showed up at the mud bath and after a brief swim they left again.

While browsing to the east of Ithumba Hill, Mapia stopped to engage Rapa in a pushing game that lasted for quite some time. The game eventually came to an end when Mapia emerged as the winner.

Soon after leaving the stockades this morning, Ambo decided to invite Mukkoka, a couple of years his junior, for a strength testing match, while Neshashi started her day by performing a soil dusting exercise. It was Kuishi who led everyone out to browse today, and as soon as they reached the area it looked like they were going to settle to browse, some of the bulls decided to have fun by rolling on the ground on top of each other. Sattao got down on his knees while Musiara came and tried to lean up against him. Pare, Naboishu, Rapa and Jotto soon joined in the game.

As the orphans walked on to browse in the Kone area, Kuishi teamed up with Dololo while Malkia joined Kauro. Maramoja settled with her little Musiara as caring Sana Sana teamed up with Naboishu. Later, Mukkoka and Naboishu came across a small pool of water which they drank heartily from as they were obviously thirsty. Just before mud bath time, Sattao and Musiara took sometime off from browsing to have a strength testing exercise. Their game attracted Maramoja and Rapa who fought fiercely until Rapa decided to surrender. Mapia had his own game of rolling on the ground.

At mud bath time the orphans had their bottles then, as usual, Nabulu led the way into the waterhole. Neshashi, Roho and Esampu were the first ones to finish swimming and left the water in an excitable mood, which was evident from their trumpeting and charging about. Pare and Musiara on the other hand were the last ones to leave, and once they were out they engaged each other in a tough wrestling match. Kauro, who was passing by, intervened by separating the two boys.

In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. Rapa invited Mapia for pushing game but Mapia declined since he wasn’t interested in playing. His unresponsiveness annoyed Rapa who decided to provoke Mapia further by jumping on his back. Mapia tried as much as he could to disengage himself from Rapa and finally he succeeded and moved away from the boisterous bull.

For a change it was quite cloudy today when the orphans left the stockades this morning. Naboishu met with Sana Sana outside and requested her to help him learn some new pushing techniques by playing with him. Sana Sana accepted and took Naboishu through series of pushing exercises. At last, Naboishu got tired and thanked Sana Sana for her time before walking off. Ndiwa, Jotto, Ambo, Dololo and Malima decided to start their day by having fun rolling on the ground. Sapalan, who still seems to be deciding what is right for him and whether to stay dependent or leave with the ex-orphans again, teamed up with Pare and Mteto. Perhaps he was sharing what his few nights out had been like! Later, Sapalan left with Rapa only to show up again at the mud bath.

Nabulu led her colleagues into the water and they all had a spectacular time wallowing. Dololo attempted to bully Mukkoka in the water by jumping into his back. Neshashi, Roho and Esampu were the first ones to leave after having enough of swimming in the water. Pare, Musiara and Kauro were the last ones to leave the mud bath. Once Pare and Musiara were out of the water the two boys engaged each other in a strength testing exercise. Their game was brought to an end by Kauro who intervened by pushing the two boys away. It seems Kauro is interfering in quite a few pushing games at the moment for some reason!

In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. Ambo teamed up with Kamok while Sana Sana took care of Neshashi and Roho. The rest of the day was quiet as the orphans concentrated mostly on browsing. On the way back to the stockades the orphans passed by the mud bath for an evening cooling-off session. On the way back to the stockades the orphans encountered a buffalo. At first the orphans seemed tense but Kauro, Pare and Esampu charged and trumpeted, making the buffalo run away and allowing the orphans to continue on their way home.

Kauro and Kamok lagged behind in the morning as their friends headed out to browse. Everyone was walking in the direction of Kone where sure enough, they stopped to spread themselves out and browse on all the vegetation found there. Pare, Naboishu and Jotto visited the small dam and helped themselves to enough water before resuming browsing. Maramoja had her own game of rolling on the ground. Malkia passed by and stopped to look at Maramoja, as if she was asking if she needed any help as it appeared Maramoja was struggling to get up! Malkia soon carried on though so it seemed as though Maramoja was just having fun.

Dololo had a pushing game with Jotto and ended up losing to him. With his feelings and pride hurt, Dololo went off in search of someone he could defeat. Dololo soon came across Mukkoka and requested to have a strength testing exercise with him. Mukkoka declined the invitation as he had already read what was in Dololo's mind! He already understood that Dololo just wanted to vent his anger on someone else after suffering a humiliating defeat from Jotto.

At mud bath time, Nabulu, as usual, led her friends into the water to wallow. Dololo at last saw his opportunity and took advantage of Mukkoka rolling in the water and jumped on his back to show his dominance. Kauro was close by and came to Mukkoka's rescue by pushing Dololo off his back. Ex-orphan Challa joined the orphans briefly and wallowed with them. Neshashi, Naboishu and Roho were the first ones to come out of the water as they wanted to get back to browsing and fill their tummies before returning home.

This morning the dependent orphans decided to have a quick snack on some lucerne pellets put out for them by the Keepers before heading out to browse for the day. A wild elephant herd passed two hundred metres away with three young babies. Mteto and Esampu realized there were some youngsters in the herd and ran to meet the wild family, but they were disappointed as they got closer as it turned out the matriarch was very protective, and chased them away. Esampu and Mteto felt disheartened and sorry that they had run all the way to meet the family and didn’t get to meet the babies. The wild herd continued heading west while the orphans headed south of the compound.

Malima and Naboishu took a break from browsing to have fun rolling on the ground. Later, Ambo played with Jotto while Malima teamed up with Mapia and Esampu in browsing. Roho, Ndiwa, Neshashi and Rapa visited the Kone dam for a drink as Ambo engaged Naboishu in a strength testing exercise. Ambo emerged as the winner, prompting Naboishu to walk over to Sana Sana for some advanced training in pushing tactics. It seems Sana Sana is the go-to instructor these days! Ambo moved to play with Mapia after winning his game against Naboishu. Mukkoka rolled on the ground in his own little game.

After going through a series of vigorous training techniques from Sana Sana, Naboishu decided to test his acquired skills against Roho. Roho, who is also a tough boy, defended himself defiantly.

Neshashi and Dololo led the first group to the mud bath for the noon milk feed. Melia, her baby Milo and two wild bulls visited the mud bath briefly too. Milo got into the small mud bath but was unable to get out. As the Keepers prepared to help him out, Milo walked over to the other side as was able to get out by himself. Mteto and Esampu managed to sneak away from the Keepers and their friends to join Milo and his mother for the rest of the afternoon. It seems they were trying to make up for missing the interaction with the babies in the morning, so decided to help Melia look after Milo instead. A wild bull briefly joined the orphans to wallow in the mud bath but when he saw the Keepers walking over to the water he decided to get out and walk away. Kauro, Kamok and Musiara were the last ones to quit leave the water today.

In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill as usual. Mteto and Esampu showed up back at the stockades later in the evening along with Wendi and her baby Wimbi. 

The orphans woke up in a happy mood today which we could tell because they were swinging their trunks from side to side as they walked out to the bush, and this always signifies a carefree and happy feeling. The boys Sattao, Roho, Mukkoka, Musiara and Ambo teamed up together. Kauro found a suitable rock that he used to scratch his buttocks against and later headed over to the Kone dam where he joined his friends who were drinking water there. After the orphans had enough water, Neshashi took over the lead. Jotto chose to browse with Kamok. Mapia came across a large puddle which was slowly drying up so it was left with a very muddy centre, and he decided to have fun rolling around in it and covering himself in wet mud.

Neshashi led her friends into the main waterhole later after the noon milk feed. All the orphans enjoyed the water so much we believe they broke their record of the month by playing in there for nearly a full hour! Esampu was the first one out as usual, and was very excited as she ran about trumpeting and stamping her feet through the bush. Esampu often likes to create a scene! Ndiwa, Sana Sana, Mteto and Pare headed for a soil dusting exercise to dry off, while Sattao engaged Dololo in a strength testing game.

In the afternoon, Ambo played with Mukkoka while Rapa played with Maramoja. A short while later, a lesser kudu sprang out of the bushes and ran past some of the orphans. This gave Roho and Neshashi such a fright, but Mteto, Ndiwa and Sana Sana surrounded them and prevented them from panicking, showing them that there was no danger at all. The rest of the day was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing without any further distractions.

It was a good start to the day today and the orphans opted to walk straight out to the bush to begin browsing without messing about in the compound. They walked across to the Kone dam as usual to have some of the sweet, tasty rainwater. Musiara and Dololo started playfighting next to Sattao who ignored them and continued to drink. Pare decided to walk across the dam to browse on the other side. Malkia, Mukkoka and Sana Sana browsed quietly together.

The orphans played in the main waterhole for some time again after having their noon milk feed. Ndiwa was busy stretching high up into the surrounding trees to reach the greenest leaves possible. Meanwhile her friend Malima opted to browse alone. Mapia started playing with Ambo until it was time to walk back home to the stockades for the night. Enkikwe, Karisa, Sapalan and Mundusi are still out living an independent life with the ex-orphans and have showed no sign of returning anytime soon, and we feel very proud and happy for them doing so well.