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Musiara has been missing his friend Luggard out in the forest. Luggard hasn’t been feeling well for a couple of days now, and although he does accompany the others out to the forest, he does not walk as far as them into the woods. Because Musiara is not around, Luggard seems to be seeking Enkesha’s company; today for example these two spent most of the day together. Maybe Maisha will become one of Musiara’s friends while Luggard is recovering. Maisha is a gentle girl and is not a bully, and Musiara does not like bullies! Kuishi isn’t very social with the other orphans and this might be why when they are having too much fun around her she will chase them away; perhaps she is envious of them! Malima and Jotto are known to be best play mates and were playing hide and seek in the bushes today, chasing each other around. They were playing right in front of Kuishi and at first she was not bothered, but as the games stepped up a level she began to warn them whenever they got close to her. Eventually she couldn’t stand it any further and when they started climbing on each other next to her she took this as an opportunity to push Jotto away to separate the two. Malima was not ready to give up the game and she went to find Jotto to continue her game.

Kiasa put on a bit of a show today with a poor wag tail bird! A group of orphans were standing in an open space to feel the early morning sun near the mud bath. There was a big fly buzzing around Kiasa and the wag tail bird was trying to get the fly, but Kiasa thought the bird was trying to fly at her. She kept running in circles with her ears held high, ready to attack the bird. However the more she turned the more the fly moved around her head and the more the bird changed position to try and get the fly! Eventually Kiasa felt so threatened she ran to get help from the keepers. She shouted for their assistance and Sana Sana, Tagwa, Malima and Mbegu came running over to see what was wrong as well, but she was already with the keepers who were reassuring her that all was well. The four girls pulled her away and all patted her over with their trunks, touching her to confirm that she was really okay. She eventually settled down from all the care and attention the older girls were giving her. Jotto was in an active and playful mood the whole day today. Throughout the morning he enjoyed a lengthy pushing game with Murit in the woods. During the public visit and later in the afternoon he had a good time with his old friend Ambo as they wrestled each other.

As the morning sun filled the Nursery area, Maxwell took advantage of the nice weather and lay down with his legs out wide to get the most warmth he could. Our blind rhino continued to enjoy the sun before a group of warthogs decided to visit his stockade and share his lucerne grass pellets. Maxwell did not hear the warthogs arrive but the sound of them eating woke him up. He ran round his stockade trying to chase them out before the naughty pigs eventually left fearing their safety. The orphans had a lovely time during the public visit today as most of them decided to take a mud bath in turns. Malima stole everyone’s hearts surprisingly enough as she was sprinkling the visitors with muddy water. Little boys Maktao and Sattao opted to dust themselves after their swim, while Tamiyoi, Kuishi, Murit and Jotto waded in the mud hole. Kiasa was not interested in mud bathing and stood in the far corner dusting herself and allowing some of the visitors to touch her.

Because Luggard has not been feeling well recently, he has not been coming down to the mud bath for the pubic visit. Instead he browses in the bushes nearby in the company of some of the keepers. Maisha’s love for the milk formula grows every day and the little girl always complains that she wants some more when she finishes her bottle. During the 9am feeding today she tried to get some more from Esampu. Esampu was obviously not very happy about this and pushed the little girl away. This in turn annoyed Tagwa who engaged the naughty girl in a brief fight before Malkia stepped in to back up Tagwa to push Esampu slightly away from the scene. Malima and Tamiyoi were charging at Kiko who had joined them in the forest, and he retreated away whilst throwing several back kicks in protest. He settled to browse on some nearby tall trees. As it became hot in the afternoon, all the babies except Enkesha and Mteto sought cover under the trees. The smaller orphans like Ambo, Sattao, Emoli and Musiara took refuge near the keepers. Mapia, Kuishi, Maktao and Jotto fed on some leaves that were falling from a tree that Shukuru was eating from, where she could reach the highest branches.

Kiko woke up in a happy mood today and followed the elephant orphans out to the Park to browse. As usual, he was received differently by different orphans. Playful girls like Malima mock-charged him and sassy girls like Kiasa attempted to touch his lanky feet. So did Enkesha who was greeted with a slight back kick from their tall friend. Esampu did not spare the giraffe and seriously charged at him, a move that forced Kiko to change his mind and decide to abandon the elephant herd and walk back towards the stockades. Before he got there he changed direction and chose to browse at the top of some yummy trees he found. He gave his keeper a very hard time as he was trying to persuade him to go back to the wood, but Kiko went to the milk mixing area where he smelled and licked some of the empty bottles as the mixers prepared them for the next feed. Out in the Park Sattao and Maktao were busy feeding on some branches that had fallen as Mbegu was breaking some down to eat from the top of a small tree. Maisha also joined them to try her luck on feeding on some of the leftovers but the two boys defended their browse and did not want to share with her. Godoma moved in to settle the dispute and poor Maisha was eventually pushed away for complaining.

Maisha has her own favourite place to stand in the morning visiting hour; once she has had her milk bottles she walks over to the corner and quietly stands there, perhaps eating some of the green browse that has been laid out there by the keepers. It is also a corner favoured by Tamiyoi and since they both they to stand there, they often greet the visitors standing along the rope in the same area. Today it appeared that Tamiyoi had occupied their favourite area accompanied by Maktao who was leaning against one of the posts. Maisha tried to make her way over but Tamiyoi was blocking her way and would not let her pass. Eventually Maisha got so frustrated she jumped over to Maktao and pushed him hard to make space for her to stand there as well. This annoyed Maktao and he sought revenge by getting hold of Maisha’s tail and biting it as hard as he could. Maisha yelled out which scared both the public and Maktao, who dropped her tail and quickly left running towards Godoma and Malima. Most of the time Maisha, Tamiyoi, Musiara, Ndotto and Maktao are the most calm and quiet babies, though when angered Musiara and Maktao can really strike back! Kiasa is another girl who should never be crossed with as she never lets anything go and always retaliates!

When the orphans came out this morning they were all very busy greeting each other. The young bulls did so in the form of pushing games like Sattao against Emoli, Musiara against Maktao, and Luggard with one of his favourite play mates, Murit. Ndotto and Lasayen were playing together which was no surprise as they have always been best friends, and Ngilai was playing with Mundusi. Funnily enough Malima was also trying to take on Esampu! As these games went on, Malkia, Mteto, Godoma, Tamiyoi and Kuishi were all beside Maxwell’s gate trying to grab piles of lucerne from inside Maxwell’s room. We watched as Malkia and Kuishi blocked little Tamiyoi with their huge behinds, so that she could hardly stretch her trunk through to reach any of the lucerne as well. Their repeated attempts to block her saw Tamiyoi yell out with frustration, which brought Maxwell sauntering over to check out what was going on beside his gate. He was greeted by the commotion of all those elephants struggling to feed on his food. He decided to resolve the situation himself by spraying urine all over that area that quickly saw the four girls retreat at a fast pace! Tamiyoi tried to turn back again to grab a bit of lucerne but she decided against it with the strong smell of urine about now!