Our wild-living orphans spend months away at a time, enjoying their freedom in Tsavo. This is exactly as it should be, but all the same, we are always thrilled when they stop by Ithumba to say hello. This month, we welcomed several bulls back into the fold, including 17-year-old Rapsu, 16-year-old Challa, and 15-year-old Zurura, as well as 18-year-old Tomboi who we had not seen since November.
Yatta’s ex-orphan herd arrived at the stockade compound early before dawn and decided to relax until day break. At six o'clock in the morning, the dependent orphans had their milk bottles then left to join the ex-orphans outside. Mapia decided to have a pushing game with baby Yoyo, a game that ended when his big sister Yetu intervened and stopped Mapia from playing with her brother Yoyo.
After a brief interaction with the ex-orphans, the dependent Ithumba orphans left for Kone area where they settled to browse. Esampu was hesitant to leave the compound at first as she opted to stay with baby Mkuu who she was enjoying playing with. The Keepers didn't allow her to stay with the ex-orphans however as they were going in a different direction to the orphans, and that meant that there was a high possibility of her and the group not coming back until later that evening, and she is still very young. Esampu left Mkuu reluctantly and just hoped that they would bump into each other another time.
At mud bath time it was very hot and as the orphans were preparing for a cooling-off exercise the ex-orphans showed up with some wild bulls too. Some of the dependent orphans briefly abandoned their mission of getting into the water as the girls scrambled to spend time with the wild born babies. Later as the groups parted ways, Jotto and Enkikwe ended up dodging the Keeper’s and leaving with the ex-orphans. However fortunately the group passed by the stockades in the evening and Jotto and Enkikwe came for their milk bottles and rejoined their friends. The ex-orphans headed east soon after drinking enough water.
Mutara and her herd spent the night just outside the stockades last night, and joined the dependent orphans in the morning. As usual the big girls went for Dololo, but this morning they nearly disappeared with him. The Keepers were being very vigilant however and they spotted Dololo being whisked away by Suguta and Sities and their quick intervention saved Dololo from being taken away for the day. Dololo was enjoying the company of the big girls though and as the Keepers were persuading him to come back and join his friends, he seemed unhappy and uninterested. The Keepers informed him that he was still too small to be able to make his own decisions and to leave with the ex-orphans, so he stayed with the dependent babies.
The orphans passed Kilaguni today and they briefly stopped to say hi to him and ask him why he was walking on his on and yet he is still under fifteen. Kilaguni just ignored them however and moved on. Namalok, who left two weeks ago with the ex-orphans, paid a visit to his dependent friends today and browsed with them for the entire morning, before parting ways at mud bath time. The dependent orphans were joined by the ex-orphans, who these days have made a habit of showing up at mud bath time. The afternoon was quiet as the dependent orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba while the ex-orphans headed east.
It was a quiet morning as the orphans strolled nonchalantly out from the stockades. Turkwel was waiting outside and as soon as the orphans were out, she picked up Dololo and they left for browsing together. Turkwel wanted to spend some quality time with Dololo before the other girls in her herd, Mutara’s herd, showed up for the morning and would want to share time with Dololo too.
The orphans settled to browse in Kone area where they were briefly joined by the ex-orphans who were seemingly just passing by. They met again at mud bath time before parting ways again. Mteto almost left with the ex-orphans as she tried as much as she could to spend some time with Wendi’s baby Wema. The orphans headed west of Ithumba Hill while the ex-orphans headed south. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans mostly concentrated on browsing without any major distractions.
Mutara and her group spent their night just outside the stockade compound again and joined the dependent orphans in the morning. Lemoyian and Garzi had a warm up exercise as Ambo walked straight out to browse as usual. His big sisters Oltaiyoni, Kamok and Siangiki had their eye on him though and followed him out, making sure that he doesn't mislead the herd and take everyone off in some random direction.
An hour later, Mutara and her herd parted ways with the dependent orphans. At mud bath time, the mud bath was packed with wild bulls trying to woo the females in the senior ex-orphan herd who seemed to be in season. Yetu, who is Yatta's eldest daughter and about nine years old now, was in hot demand, together with Naisula. Yetu is still a little young though. This competition amongst the bulls made it difficult for the dependent orphans and Keepers to have a peaceful time at the mud bath. For everyone’s safety, the time spent at the mud bath was called off early with the Keepers calling their babies to go and find somewhere to have lunch peacefully before proceeding on with the remaining part of the day.
Namalok, who joined the ex-orphan herd a few weeks ago, decided to join up with the dependent orphans for the rest of the afternoon, to avoid all the commotion brought about by the wild bulls. The day ended well with the orphans returning back safely to the stockades later in the evening.
Jotto and his friend Ambo woke up in a playful mood. As soon as they walked out to the bush, Jotto tried pushing Kuishi as a way of inviting her to a pushing game, but Kuishi didn't respond meaning that she was not interested in any games at all. Ambo on the other hand charged and ran through the bushes knocking down any small shrubs that he came across. Ambo was joined by Jotto and they both enjoyed a light pushing game before finally calling off their morning exercise.
Mundusi and Karisa had their own strength testing exercise that went on for quite some time while Esampu decided to have her own game of rolling on the ground.
At mud bath time, the orphans were joined by the senior ex-orphans and the wild bulls still following some of the females. Lili, Loijuk's daughter, jumped into the water hole for a swim with the dependent orphans, something that got her mother a little concerned. Loijuk made efforts to get into the water and guide her daughter out of the water. She doted on her as soon as she came out of the water, as if warning her daughter not to repeat such a mistake of getting into the water without an adult accompanying her. Kinna’s baby Kama likes swimming in the water troughs and she got in and started splashing the water. The Keepers intervened by telling her to get out and stop making the water dirty for the rest of her friends. The bulls were still after Yetu but weren’t as aggressive compared to yesterday.
In the afternoon, the dependent orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. Namalok, who had joined the orphans yesterday and spent the night with them, decided to leave with the ex-orphans again.
The senior ex-orphans were at the stockade compound when the dependent orphans were let out this morning. The orphans joined the ex-orphans and they had a good time together. Esampu enjoyed the company of Mkuu, Mulika’s son, again. Mundusi decided to have a strength testing exercise with baby Yoyo. The clever Yoyo, sensing defeat, started retreating towards his mother. Mundusi unwittingly followed him happily thinking that Yoyo was retreating and he was winning, but got a rude shock of his life when suddenly was pushed almost to the ground by Yoyo’s big sister Yatta! That's when Mundusi came to his senses and realized that Yoyo was retreating as a way of trapping him and winning the game, for he has the fortune to have an older sister who looks after him every minute of the day. Indeed poor Mundusi was duped and learned a lesson the hard way.
The ex-orphans and the dependent babies settled to browse in Kone area and later attended mud bath together. It’s only after mud bathing that the ex-orphans parted ways with the dependent orphans.
Kauro and Tusuja had a strength testing exercise that ended in a draw. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse along the western slopes of Ithumba Hill.
It was a quiet morning as the orphans left the stockades this morning without any disturbance from their seniors. As they walked out into the bush to browse however, they were joined by Mutara’s herd. Suguta, Turkwel and Sities settled to feed with Dololo as they ushered him to be close to them. Dololo was happy because he’s the only one that gets this special treatment and attention from these older girls. The other young bulls perhaps keep wandering what's so special about Dololo that makes the girls favour him! We are not sure why he is so special too, but these older females certainly dote on him, and perhaps can sense some kind of timid nature or vulnerability in him that they want to nurture?
Shortly later, the rest of the ex-orphans in the company of some wild bulls passed close by. Esampu, who is slowly but surely falling in love with the wild born babies, moved to join Wema and Mkuu and slowly followed them up to the mud bath where she rejoined her friends for her milk bottles. The temperature was moderate and the orphans only quickly waded through the water without playing, and immediately returned back to browsing.
The afternoon was quiet as the orphans browsed calmly in the company of Mutara’s herd for the rest of the day.
It was a cool morning following light showers received over night. The orphans left the stockade quietly and since there was no single ex-orphan or wild elephant about to interact with, they headed straight out to browse. The cold weather and the showers might be the reason behind the ex-orphans deciding not to show up early to interact with the orphans today.
Out in the bush the orphans enjoyed various activities to warm themselves up. Olsekki and Kamok, who had not engaged in their pushing game for quite a few days now, decided to resume their pushing game that usually always ends in a draw. Pare decided to have his own game of rolling on the ground but was cut short by Sapalan who came and started pushing him to get up so he could play with him. Pare got up and the two boys had a pushing game that ended when they saw Barsilinga approaching, and they pretended not have been in any fight for fear of being punished by Barsilinga. As soon as Barsilinga went past, the two boys resumed their game.
At mud bath time the weather was still chilly and the orphans only had their milk bottles and some water before going back to browsing. In the evening, on their way back to the stockades, the orphans passed by the mud bath again but this time chose to wade through to cool their feet.
The ex-orphans in the company of several wild bulls showed up at the stockade compound late in the evening and left immediately after drinking water.
Mutara and her group joined the orphans at the Lucerne feeding area. After enjoying the fresh Lucerne, Turkwel took Dololo with her. Roi moved close to Turkwel and Dololo and perhaps was complaining about the behaviour of the girls in Mutara’s herd. Sometimes Mutara, Turkwel and her friends decide to go for many days at a time without showing up, and then they don't seem to be concerned about who takes care of Dololo, but when they come back they shower Dololo with love and don’t let anyone else get close to him. Roi seemed to calm down though and helped Turkwel to walk Dololo to the browsing field.
Pare engaged Sapalan in a pushing game but it was disrupted by Lemoyian who wanted to show his supremacy. The two boys accepted and went their separate ways.
At mud bath time the orphans were joined by the ex-orphans and wild bulls again. Roi decided to join Ukame in taking care of Lapa. Ever since Ukame left and joined the wild, she has been one of the loyal nannies taking care of Lapa and now Roi appears to have an interest in joining the queue of the nannies.
Because of the cooler climes none of the orphans wanted to step into the mud bathing water. Shortly later, the orphans parted ways with the ex-orphans. Roi was torn between staying with Lapa and following her friends but at last she decided to go with the ex-orphans.
Later in the afternoon, the ex-orphans passed by the stockade compound with Roi. Here Roi decided to leave the ex-orphans and as they left to walk off into the bush, Roi remained behind at the stockade compound waiting for her friends to return home for the evening.
Mutara and her herd joined the orphans for Lucerne in the morning but soon after feeding on the Lucerne, the herd parted ways. The dependent orphans settled to browse in Kone area where Kauro displayed signs of an upset stomach by lying down from time to time. Kuishi thought that Kauro was having fun and she joined him lying and rolling on the ground.
Jotto, who is trying as much as he can to overturn the dominance Mundusi has over him, engaged Mundusi in a pushing game that somehow ended in a draw, as both got tired and needed to return to feeding to regain their spent energy.
Tusuja held talks with Olsekki but we weren’t sure what they could be discussing. At mud bath time the weather was cold again and the orphans only had their milk and some water before returning back to the browsing field. Moments after the orphans left, Nasalot and baby Nusu in the company of some teenage bulls showed up at the mud bath and soon after drinking water, they followed in the direction taken by the dependent orphans. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans concentrated mostly on browsing.
It was a beautiful morning today as we received visitors from Mutara's herd together with Chyulu and her baby Cheka. They interacted with the dependent orphans and Kauro had a fun time playing with Cheka. Later the ex-orphans separated and went their own way to the dependent orphans. Wanjala later started playing with Mapia and riding on him, while Pare and Mundusi were very busy testing their strength. The babies later walked to the mud bath for their milk bottles.
It was a cold day again and none of the orphans chose to have a swim in the mud wallow. Instead they congregated under the trees and then later walked back out to browse.
After a few hours of browsing, some of the orphans felt thirsty and they walked to the small roadside dam, and some started playing there to cool down as well. Malima came out of the water and started rolling in the soil to dry herself.
The orphans then slowly started making their way back to the stockade compound, browsing as they went. On the way, they smelt a herd of elephants coming towards them and they all raised their trunks in the air to catch the scent. They realized that it was Mutara’s herd who was also coming to the stockade for a drink.
At the stockades today we had a herd of wild elephants visit with some huge wild bulls who were in musth, who were also interested in Melia, one of our ex-orphans. They came and drank and left immediately.
It was a beautiful morning as the dependent orphans walked down to feed on Lucerne. The ex-orphans together with Namalok and Ukame joined. Sapalan started patting Namalok and asking him where he has been for all this time. Roi was also patting and comforting Musiara; she really is such a caring elephant. Olsekki and Kamok were busy play fighting. All the orphans walked out to the bush together.
Out in the bush, Ndiwa was busy scratching her trunk on a tree while Kuishi and Rapa were having a talk. Kamok was also busy playing and rolling on the ground and was later accompanied by Kuishi. Bomani was with the orphans in the bush together with Kilaguni, Garzi, Kithaka and Lemoyian. Bomani was busy playing with Siangiki while Kauro was playing with Mundusi. Karisa was very active and playing with Mapia and riding on him. The babies later walked to the mud bath for their milk.
Some of the orphaned walked over to the mud bath after having their milk bottles and started wallowing. They later came out and walked to the soil mounds to have a dust bath to dry. Most of them were really enjoying the dust bath, as this was the quickest way of drying themselves.
Back out in the bush all the orphans were busy browsing as it's still very green with food everywhere. Later on, Wanjala and Galla led some of the herd to the dam along the roadside to cool down. From there they made their way back to the stockades in the evening for their milk and to go to bed.
The orphans headed straight out to the bush after having their milk bottles. They seemed very active this morning with most of them being very playful, like Wanjala. One moment he was playing with Malima and the next he went after Mapia to start a pushing game and then he started trying to climb on him. There was also a very big wild bull hanging around in the bush who was alone and we think in musth; our orphans made sure to keep a wide berth of him.
At the mud bath the babies had their milk bottles and then we were joined by some of the ex-orphans in Yatta and Wendi’s herd. Chyulu and her baby Cheka were with them. Cheka was running about here and there, following in his mother's footsteps. The orphans meanwhile had their milk bottles then walked to the mud bath to wallow for a little while, before drying off on the soil mounds by rolling around and dusting themselves with their trunks.
The orphans returned to the bush to browse and were joined by a wild female, who started playing with the orphans as they rolled in the dust on the side of the road. Later they all continued browsing and focused on this for the rest of the day. Bomani came to join the babies a bit later on, and took Mteto for a walk separate to the others. Later in the afternoon he returned with Mteto just before it was time to walk back home to the stockades again.
This morning the stockade compound was full of ex-orphans including Mutara’s herd. The dependent orphans had their milk bottles and walked down to the Lucerne feeding area for some delicious pellets. They met with Mutara's herd and shared the Lucerne together. Later the dependent orphans walked out to the bush to browse, leaving the ex-orphans behind.
Rapa started playing in the soil near the Kone dam. Mundusi came to join him and Rapa played with Mundusi and climbed on him. Pare was browsing with Jotto, while Malima, Esampu and Malkia all shared leaves from the same tree. Pare started a game with Jotto and tried to climb on him to show off his dominance. We watched as Musiara stretched his trunk as far as it would go to browse from a tree which leaves he really wanted. Separately Oltaiyoni comforted Ambo as they waited to head to the mud bath for their milk bottles.
At the mud bath we were joined by the ex-orphans, their babies and some wild elephants again, so the area was full of elephants and there was quite a commotion because Wendi and Kithaka, the naughty ones, were also present. The dependent orphans had their milk bottles and decided to head straight back out to the bush to browse.
There was so much going on and so much socializing that the ex-orphans were disturbing and preventing the dependent babies from browsing too, but the Keepers and dependent orphans ended up going in a separate direction to the ex-orphans, and they managed to continue feeding until it was time to head back to the stockades in the evening.
The orphans woke up in a jovial mood. Soon after drinking their milk they settled for some Lucerne pellets before heading out to browse. The bulls, Jotto, Pare, Karisa and Mundusi, who were in playful mood, decided to have a strength testing exercise before getting serious about browsing.
Later, the dependent orphans were joined by Mutara and her herd. Suguta settled to browse with her favourite Dololo.
At mud bath time the temperature was moderate so the orphans had their milk, drank some water, and then waded through the mud bath before settling for a soil dusting exercise that they enjoyed more than anything else.
Mutara and her herd spent the rest of the day with the dependent orphans and even accompanied them home to the stockades in the afternoon. Kanjoro, in the company of a wild herd, showed up in the evening at the stockades for some water. Once the wild herd had taken enough water, the matriarch led her herd away. Kanjoro remained behind to have a word with his former herd, being Mutara’s! He spent some time with them and we wondered if he would choose to stay with them awhile.
Soon after settling to enjoy their morning Lucerne, the orphans were joined by ex-orphans Ithumbah and Namalok. It was not clear where the two might have left the rest of their herd! Soon after arriving out in the bush to browse, Namalok and Ithumbah left again. Esampu, the queen of games, spotted a flock of guinea fowls and decided to go for them. Esampu charged and trumpeted as she ran towards the guinea fowl birds. The guinea fowls didn’t hang around to be trampled by Esampu and flew away, leaving Esampu charging at the empty bushes.
An hour later, the dependent orphans were briefly joined by a wild herd consisting of a mother and her three children, but they left after sensing the Keepers nearby. Mundusi and Roi participated in a light pushing game that ended when Roi saw Galana and her baby Gawa. Roi walked to join Gawa and followed them to Kone dam where Roi played with Gawa for a bit before parting ways.
At mud bath time the weather was chilly and the orphans only had some water then participated in a soil dusting exercise before going back to browsing.
In the afternoon the orphans were joined by Mutara’s herd and as the day progressed it became a lot hotter, making the orphans choose to visit the road side water hole for a cooling off exercise. Later in the evening on the way back to the stockade, the herd passed by the mud bath again for an evening cooling-off exercise too.
A lone wild bull reported early and strategically positioned himself to wait for Lucerne; he must have been visiting for some years now to know and understand our orphans’ routine and be familiar with the Keepers too. Once the babies were let out they proceeded straight to join the wild bull. Lucerne was provided and shortly later, we were excited to see ex-orphan bull Tomboi, who has been away for quite a long time now! Soon after sharing the lucerne with the orphans, Tomboi joined the wild bull and together they walked off into the bush.
Ambo spotted two Egyptian geese that were making a lot of noise close to the water trough. He decided that he had enough of the noise and charged at the birds to have some peace and quiet. When the birds saw Ambo running towards them, they took off!
Out in the bush, the orphans were joined by Mutara’s herd. Chaimu had a game of rolling on the ground, which attracted Ndiwa. Musiara, who was feeding close to Suguta, chose to use her as a scratching surface by scratching his ear against her. Pare decided to have a strength testing exercise with Jotto but their game was cut short by Olsekki who decided to separate them by coming in between the two boys.
The orphans decided to get into the mud wallow after their noon milk feed to cool off, before going to dust in the loose soil. The afternoon was quiet as the dependent orphans concentrated mostly on browsing.
The orphans left the stockades early as usual and settled for Lucerne before heading out to browse. Ambo spotted a lilac breasted roller ahead of him on the ground and he decided to go after it. The bird, seeing how fast Ambo was approaching, flew away, leaving Ambo wondering what to do next. Ambo decided not to go back to his friends but rumbled in an effort to communicate to them that they should follow him once they were through with what they were doing. The orphans heard Ambo and caught up with him, and started to browse where he was.
At mud bath time the dependent orphans were joined by Mutara’s herd. The two groups had a spectacular wallowing session that was followed by soil dusting exercise. In the afternoon all the orphans settled to browse along the western slopes of Ithumba Hill before returning to the stockades for the night.
The sky was clear in the morning when the dependent orphans were let out of their night stockades. Only three girls joined the orphans in the morning - Mutara, Suguta and Sities. After feeding on Lucerne, the three girls took the orphans out to browse. Suguta decided to have Dololo and Musiara by her side. Dololo wasn't comfortable with Musiara being close to her as well for he thought that Suguta might drop him in favour of Musiara. Suguta saw the rivalry between the two boys and intervened by coming in between and giving them equal attention.
Ambo and Jotto reunited and fed together as they shared stories. These two were old friends in the Nursery, but perhaps Jotto was making it up to Ambo for spending more time with the big boys. Ambo is much smaller in stature so he is a little mollycoddled like Musiara, Dololo and Sattao. The two boys parted ways later, with Ambo walking to enjoy the company of Kamok who is one of his big sisters.
At mud bath time, the sun was really hot and the orphans really enjoyed wallowing in the mud bath. Only one bull paid a visit to the mud bath and left when he had enough.
In the afternoon the orphans took a break from feeding to relax under some trees and resumed browsing later when the temperature dropped to a more favourable level.
Mutara and her group spent the night just nearby the stockade compound and joined the orphans for some Lucerne in the morning.
Out in the bush, Malima settled to browse with Garzi and they had a long conversation as Malima tried to find out how Garzi felt about life outside the stockade. Mundusi settled to feed with Maramoja but they later had a disagreement which forced Maramoja to drive Mundusi away from her.
At mud bath time one mature elephant bull showed up and left moments later. The orphans skipped wallowing and headed to the roadside mud bath where they had fun. Ex-orphan Orwa, who left with Yatta’s herd about six days ago, joined the orphans at the road side mud bath. It wasn't clear why Orwa showed up without the group he left with, but this gives us hope that the group still remains in the area and might show up at the mud bath or stockades to say hello again.
The dependent orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill, a place they love so much. In the evening, Barsilinga, Enkikwe and Galla dodged the Keepers and returned back to the stockades early before the normal time to have some of the dairy cubes the Keepers had put out. The dairy cubes are white in colour and are apparently so delicious these elephants will sneak off early to come back for them! Despite their early arrival, the gates weren’t opened for the three boys as this would have resulted in them having more than their fair share of the cubes, and so they were made to wait for their friends to start feeding on the cubes at the same time.
After leaving the stockades the orphans settled for Lucerne. As they were finishing Mutara and her herd arrived and helped them clean up whatever was left.
On their way out to browse Lemoyian attacked Tusuja. Olsekki was following closely behind and decided to help Tusuja, and they both ganged up against Lemoyian. It became a contest between ex-orphans versus the still-dependent orphans. Lemoyian was wise and decided to retreat since he couldn't beat the two boys together, but Lemoyian waited for Tusuja and Olsekki to go their separate ways so as to jump on each one individually. The plan worked and first he started with Tusuja, whom he challenged and ended up riding on as a show of dominance. Later, Lemoyian tackled Olsekki and managed to win despite being smaller in size compared to Olsekki.
Pare had a brief talk with Karisa as Dololo enjoyed the company of Suguta. Musiara was lucky as he received attention from one of the big girls, Turkwel.
At mud bath time it was quite hot so most of the orphans chose to have a mud bath. In the afternoon they settled to browse along the slopes of Ithumba Hill. The temperature was still high and at one point the orphans decided to take a break from browsing to relax under some trees as they waited for it to get a bit cooler.
It was wet in the morning following unexpected rain of 50mm that was received over night. The morning was cool as the orphans left their stockades. Only three older girls joined the orphans in the morning, Suguta, Sities and Mutara. After feeding on Lucerne the orphans headed west of the stockades.
After browsing for some time the orphans decided to have fun by rolling on the wet soil. Later, after having enough fun, they resumed browsing.
At the mud bath the orphans only had their milk and some water before returning back to the browsing field since it was cool enough and they didn’t feel like wallowing. On the way back to the bush Musiara decided to test the roadside mud bath water temperature by stepping in the water. Musiara found that the water was still quite chilly so he decided to have fun rolling on the ground instead.
Suguta took advantage of the quiet day to sneak off with Dololo. The Keepers realized Dololo was missing a short while later and a search was mounted to track down Suguta since she was the last to be seen with Dololo. Finally she was located with Dololo and they were both taken back to rejoin the rest of the herd!
The orphans were joined by Makena in the morning soon after leaving the stockades. Makena, who is expecting her first baby sometime next year, took the control of the herd. We don’t know why Makena was by herself or why she had left Yatta’s herd behind, but we are sure they are also in the area and for some reason, only Makena decided to visit today. Mutara and her herd didn't show up the whole day and it's not yet clear if they decided to swap with Makena.
Out in the bush there was a moment of excitement when Makena wanted to take the orphans to the mud bath early in the morning, before it was even nine o'clock. The Keepers didn’t want to go there that early but were fine if Makena wanted to go on her own. Makena walked fifty meters and started rumbling in an effort to call the orphans to follow her but the Keepers called them back as it wasn’t time for their milk feed yet. That’s when some of the orphans started to get over excited and started trumpeting and charging knocking down small bushes. Makena heard the commotion and decided to return to calm the orphans down and when she walked back, the dependent-orphans immediately relaxed and resumed browsing.
Later, Makena accompanied the orphans to the mud bath and later for the afternoon feeding. With the presence of Makena, the orphans browsed calmly throughout the rest of the day. In the evening, Ndiwa and Rapa dodged the Keepers but showed up an hour later after their friends had reported back to the stockades for the night.
Kilaguni, who arrived early before dawn, joined the orphans in the morning soon after they were let out of their night stockades. After feeding on Lucerne, Kilaguni left but joined the orphans later on the way to the mud bath.
Makena joined the orphans soon after they settled for browsing and browsed together with them for the entire day. Ndiwa, Pare, Mteto and Siangiki came across some loose soil that they used for soil dusting.
At mud bath time, the orphans had their milk bottles and some water before returning back to the browsing field. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans concentrated mostly on browsing without any major distractions.
In the evening, Oltaiyoni, Galla, Rapa, Ndiwa and Mteto decided to give the Keepers a hard time by sneaking off and disappearing into the bush. The Keepers searched but an hour later, the missing orphans showed up by themselves back at the stockade compound, meaning they disappeared on purpose as they didn't want to come back to the stockades at the usual time as they were enjoying feeding on the lush vegetation.
Kamok woke up slightly limping but upon inspection, nothing was seen in her foot. Later in the day she was walking fine so she must just have woken up a bit stiff today, or perhaps slept in a funny way. Several orphans woke up in a playful mood. Barsilinga engaged Olsekki in a pushing game while Mundusi played with Karisa. Siangiki decided to have her own game of rolling on the ground as Enkikwe, her longtime friend stood, close by to make sure that no one came to disrupt Siangiki's game. We are not sure what would have happened if the big boy Barsilinga happened to pass by, but we believe Enkikwe has the courage to protect his friend no matter the size of who walked past – but as it happens luck was on his side and no one happened to pass close by or tried to disrupt Siangiki's game.
The Queen of antics ‘Miss Esampu’ started charging and trumpeting around thinking her friends would join her but no one was interested in her antics. When she grew tired, Esampu simply calmed down and resumed browsing. The orphans settled to browse in Kone area where they found a heap of soil that they used to play on. Kauro took advantage of Naseku lying down and decided to climb on her. They were joined briefly by ex-orphan Rapsu, who was just passing by.
At mud bath time it felt hot and the orphans participated fully in the wallowing exercise. Later in the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill, while a wild herd showed up at the stockade compound to drink water. At one point the temperature became unbearable, forcing the orphans to seek shelter under a tree. They resumed browsing later when the temperature dropped to a more favourable level.
The sky was clear in the morning as the orphans strolled nonchalantly out from the stockades. Some of the orphans decided to scratch against the wall in the stockade compound as Ambo walked straight out to browse. When he realized that his friends weren’t following, Ambo started rumbling as he requested his friends to follow him. Luckily, his big sisters Naseku, Kamok and Siangiki were the first ones to respond by running towards him.
Pare engaged Mteto in a light pushing game while Dololo tackled Karisa. Maramoja decided to keep close to her favourite baby boy, Musiara. Later the orphans headed to Kone dam where they drank some water before proceeding slowly to the mud bath.
Ex-orphan Zurura passed by but didn’t bother to say hi to the orphans and slowly disappeared the same way he came from. At least, we thought he didn’t say hello – they didn’t physically greet but elephants have many different ways of communicating.
It was very got again today at the mud bath and the orphans all enjoyed wallowing in the waterhole. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans opted to take a break from feeding to relax under a tree waiting for it to cool down.
Mundusi and Karisa woke up in a playful mood and together engaged each other in a warm up exercise through a pushing game. Mapia loves scratching in the morning, and settled against a rock he came across to scratch his hind. The ‘drama queen’ Esampu tried to start her usual game of charging and trumpeting around but no one took any interest in her. Esampu decided to calm down and browse instead of wasting her energy.
The orphans settled to browse in the Kone area where Pare had a brief conversation with Karisa. It was a hot day at mud bath again and the orphans even proceeded to jump into the water at their own will after their milk bottles, unlike other days when the Keepers have to walk them over to the water and encourage them to have a swim. Three wild bulls showed up at the mud bath while the orphans were there. They were briefly joined by Sapalan, Mundusi and Tusuja who stood with them while they drank. It appeared the young bulls were in awe. Later, the three wild bulls left. In the afternoon the dependent orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. Enkikwe settled to browse with his longtime friend Olsekki and later they enjoyed a light pushing game.
Makena and Kilaguni joined the orphans early in the morning. The two ex-orphans escorted the juniors to the browsing field and thereafter left to an undisclosed location. It was a quiet morning as the orphans concentrated on browsing without any major distractions.
At mud bath time, the orphans were joined by Kibo, Kilaguni and Makena. Only the three ex-orphans participated in wallowing, and the dependent-orphans only had their milk bottles and some water from the troughs, before heading back out to browse. On the way, the orphans were joined by Mutara and her herd, who escorted them to the stockades in the evening.