Friendships run deep among elephants, and when friends have been apart — even for the briefest period of time — they reunite to great fanfare. Their excitement is very noticeable: trumpeting, rumbling and embracing each other with their trunks, as if to say, “Hi, where have you been? It’s so good to see you again!” This is always the case with little Enkesha and her dear friend, nine-year-old Zongoloni, who is matriarch of the independent ‘night-clubber’ group.
It was still quite dark and cloudy when the Keepers started feeding the orphans their milk bottles this morning. Visibility was poor but the ever vigilant Lima Lima sensed movement outside the stockades. Thinking perhaps it might be one of the night-clubber boys, both Lima Lima and Quanza walked up to the fence with their trunks raised, to see if they could catch a scent.
What they saw was a wild bull in the bushes. The Keepers didn’t stop the girls from interacting with the wild bull; in fact the bull seemed quite placid. It was only when Murera decided to get the Umani herd moving that she made a lot of noise going out of the gates, so that the bull decided to put some distance between himself and the herd. Murera must have done this to protect Luggard. Mwashoti, being the oldest boy in the herd, decided maybe he too should protect the herd by chasing the bull, so he ran towards the bull with ears spread, but the bull stood his ground so Mwashoti had no choice but to retreat and join the girls.
It was quite possible that this wild bull was one of Zongoloni’s wild friends, as he seemed quite curious about the Umani herd. They found him again in the late afternoon when the orphans were on their way home. The wild bull was in the mud bath splashing around in the water, as the orphans walked by. They watched as the wild bull wallowed, enjoying himself very much and covering himself with mud to cool his skin from the hot sun.
Murera was chewing on something and looked like she was enjoying it very much. Luggard was very curious as to what it might be so he raised his trunk towards Murera’s mouth to see if she was willing to share. Murera spat out some of the greens she was chewing but as soon as Luggard smelled it, he seemed uninterested. This didn’t stop Lima Lima though, she came in and scooped up the remainder and put it in her mouth.
Zongoloni and Ngasha had plans of their own; they were already making their way to the Umani Hills. Enkesha started to follow her friend Zongoloni and so did Shukuru, but she changed her mind later realizing that Zongoloni and Ngasha may decide to stay out all night and not return home, as they have done so in the past, so instead Shukuru stayed at the foot of the Umani Hills, close to the others. A little later, Alamaya decided to join Ngasha and Zongoloni, and Mwashoti also followed them.
Within the Kibwezi Forest, a herd of buffaloes were close to where the Umani herd where browsing, but this time Lima Lima didn’t detect them in advance. Enkesha found she was browsing very close to one of them. They looked at each other and neither had a problem with the other, so they both carried on filling their bellies. Unaware of how dangerous a buffalo can be, Enkesha carried on enjoying the lush vegetation around her, and it was only when the Keepers called out to her, that the buffalo got startled and charged off into the forest. A tiny bushbuck, who had been left by its mother whilst she went out to forage, shot out from its hiding spot and sprinted through the elephants, scaring them and sending the babies running in different directions. Eventually the Keepers managed to calm them down and they realized it was just a baby bushbuck.
Today Jasiri and Faraja turned up to see Zongoloni, Ngasha and Alamaya. It’s been awhile since Zongoloni has stayed out with the night-clubber boys. She re-joined the Umani herd and has been helping the older girls look after Ngasha and Alamaya. Zongoloni also knows how much Enkesha enjoys her company, even more so now, because Enkesha knows Zongoloni will provide the protection she needs from jealous Alamaya.
Following Jasiri and Faraja was a wild bull elephant; he showed up from behind the bushes and followed the orphans towards the Umani Hills. Lima Lima, who was walking ahead, turned back to the Keepers and Murera to alert them to the presence of two buffalos. Murera took a detour with Luggard, whilst the Keepers rounded up the rest of the herd including Ziwa and Shukuru. The Keepers called out to both elephants but only Shukuru heeded their call and rejoined them and Sonje.
A Keeper walked up to a tree to take a break from the heat and rest awhile. What he didn’t realize was there was a troop of baboons playing in the trees. The baboons must have thought they Keeper was coming to trouble them and they ran off amongst the trees and then through the elephant herd, yelling very loudly. All this commotion startled Mwashoti and Enkesha who let out very loud trumpets and ran through the forest. They eventually walked back to their Keepers, once they had calmed down.
Enkesha and Alamaya found a kaleidoscope of butterflies at the mud-bath today. They started to chase them around the mud bath and soon it turned into what looked like a very fun game. Round and round they ran in circles, chasing the butterflies, but little Enkesha tires easily so she went for a rest under a tree, while Alamaya continued his game. Unfortunately it came to an abrupt end when Alamaya slipped and fell.
Sonje, who was not far away, quickly ran to the aid of the young bull, but seeing that it was nothing serious, she carried on with her browsing. The Keepers spotted a small herd of buffalo nearby, although they seemed very peaceful, the Keepers didn’t want to walk amongst them and ao moved the orphans closer to the Chyulu Hills. One of the Keepers stayed with Luggard and Shukuru, who were not able to move up the Hill as much as the other orphans could. When Murera and Lima Lima saw that Luggard and Shukuru had stayed at the foot of the hills, they turned around and joined them. Shortly after the whole herd decided to do the same so that they could all stay and move together.
Some of the orphans tried to delay leaving the stockade compound this morning, and then we found Enkesha trying to steal some Lucerne pellet's from the stores! She knew what she was doing was naughty, and when she heard the Keepers shouting her name she quickly ran off and tried to hide. Quanza followed her to make sure she was okay, and then led her to where Lima Lima and Luggard were waiting for her.
Later the orphans moved to the Umani Springs and got some fresh water to drink, and some put their feet inside the water too. The Keepers smiled because it was as if the orphans were cleaning their feet before moving towards the hills to continue browsing.
Zongoloni left with the other older bulls this morning into the forest, but this afternoon she arrived back without them. Mwashoti was staring at her as if trying to work out where she had been and where she left the other bulls like Jasiri and Ziwa.
Much later in the afternoon, Faraja and Ziwa appeared from the thickest bushes, and as they appeared we could see movement in the bushes behind and we didn’t know if they were bringing wild elephant friends with them. Lima Lima came over to reassure the Keepers that all was well, and shortly behind the two boys came Zongoloni, who had obviously just gone to meet Faraja and Ziwa and escort them. Quanza stayed with Luggard and Shukuru to make sure they were okay too.
The day started off quite cold. As soon as the orphans were done with their milk bottles and feeding on the pellets, they started to move towards the forest. Murera seemed reluctant and so she hung back with Luggard. The Keeper’s decided that one of them should stay behind with Murera and Luggard and the others would carry on with the rest of herd.
Lima Lima and Sonje took lead but after a short distance the two girls went back to the stockades. Both girls walked up to Luggard, and Sonje put her trunk on Luggard’s head and Lima Lima put her trunk in his mouth as though to communicate something to the young bull because soon after that, Luggard left with Sonje and Lima Lima. Murera stayed back with Shukuru, comfortable in the knowledge that her young boy was in capable hands. These two girls spent some time finishing off the remainder of the pellets and then slowly made their way to where the rest of the herd was. Shukuru found a stick and held it in her trunk and started trailing the stick in the soil as though she was writing but of course she wasn’t, this is just something elephants do sometimes.
Shukuru was in a very jovial mood; even more so when she had a lengthy mud wallow on her own and then moved to the soil mound. After dusting she decided to move to a scratching post but found Alamaya there, so not wanting to cross paths with the big bull, Shukuru waited until Alamaya was done and then she proceeded to scratch her back and sides.
There was an air of excitement at the Umani stockades this morning. As soon as the orphans were done with their supplement food, there was much trumpeting and joy as the stockade-dependent orphans received Zongoloni and the older night-clubber boys.
Murera and her herd were just about to leave, when Lima Lima and Enkesha spotted Zongoloni approaching. Both girls walked up to them to receive them. Zongoloni let out a very loud rumble as she then saw Enkesha running towards her. Ziwa, Faraja and Jasiri also let out loud trumpets as they greeted their friends and the Keepers. Everyone was delighted to see each other. The Keepers were particularly glad to see their babies look robust and healthy.
Alamaya and Mwashoti also got caught up in the moment and started their pushing and strength testing games. After a while they were seen standing away from the rest of the herd, watching the older boys interacting with the rest of the orphans and the Keepers. Sonje and Shukuru kept their distance from the night-clubber boys, because of how they have behaved in the past, chasing Sonje and Lima Lima.
It was another cold start to the orphans’ morning, this time with some rain. Both Enkesha and Luggard were hesitant to leave the comfort of their stockades and step onto the wet soil.
Murera walked into Luggard’s room to encourage him to join them but the young boy rumbled in a low tone, perhaps expressing his reluctance at venturing out in the rain. The two continued communicating back and forth this way. Enkesha saw that the rest of the herd was getting ready to start their browsing activities so she left Murera and Luggard still rumbling at each other and caught up with Sonje who was already moving ahead because they were delayed. When Murera saw everyone leaving, she hurried Luggard and they too joined the orphans as they were exiting the gate.
During the morning delays, Lima Lima managed to sneak into the store and grab some lucerne and ran off with it in her mouth hoping to enjoy it at some point, but before she could get any further, she was confronted by Sonje and Alamaya. As soon as she saw them, she dropped the lucerne and ran up to join Murera who was walking with Luggard.
Today Mwashoti was quite aggressive towards Ngasha; he kept head butting Ngasha’s bottom and after a while the older boy got quite annoyed and pushed Mwashoti back. Mwashoti, eager to show Ngasha his strength, engaged Ngasha in a pushing game but the fight didn’t last very long as Zongoloni spotted the two boys and stepped in. Ngasha knows Zongoloni can be a tough disciplinarian and so before he could get reprimanded Ngasha walked away in to the bushes.
Jasiri and Ziwa arrived very early this morning as the Keepers were preparing the milk for the orphans. They must have heard the sound of the buckets and, knowing the morning routine, these two boys thought they would get a bottle of milk today.
Alamaya was already there with the same hope, but unfortunately milk bottles are for the young stockade-dependent orphans only. Instead, the Keepers wheeled out wheelbarrows of Lucerne for the boys to enjoy. Murera and Lima Lima also made their way to the Lucerne corner once they were done with their milk. Murera moved Ngasha out of the way so that Luggard could have space to enjoy his Lucerne. This annoyed Jasiri so he faced Murera with his ears spread but Murera stood her ground and eventually Jasiri backed down and moved away allowing Luggard and Enkesha to enjoy their Lucerne.
The days ended with some rain, making the forest quite wet. Luggard sought refuge under some trees because he did not want to get rained on.
At Umani we have a beautiful baby bushbuck, we have named her Joy. Today she walked over to where Enkesha was browsing and Enkesha confused her for a wild bushbuck and started to chase her, trumpeting loudly and running after her. The Keepers had to stop Enkesha and find baby Joy and bring her back to safety.
Today a rather fierce fight broke out between Zongoloni and Ngasha. The orphans heard some loud crashing sounds and trumpets coming from the forest and when the Keepers ventured closer they saw that Zongoloni and Ngasha were engaged in a fight.
The orphans backed off as they were a little scared and although Ngasha is a big boy, Zongoloni is a very strong female and she was holding her own. No-one quite knows the reason for the disagreement but the Keepers quickly intervened and separated the two elephants. It is assumed that Ngasha may have misbehaved and since Zongoloni is the matriarch of that herd, she saw it fit to discipline the young bull. Needless to say Alamaya was also taken aback as were the rest of the boys. Zongoloni is the right fit as the matriarch of the night-clubbers; she is quite the disciplinarian and a no-nonsense girl. Alamaya, Jasiri and Ngasha all fear her and know not to cross paths with her now, but the one elephant she continues to have a very soft spot for, is her little friend Enkesha. There are times when Enkesha wants to follow Zongoloni at night out into the forest, but Enkesha is far too young to be spending time away from the stockade.
Although Zongoloni lost part of her left tusk in the fight, the Keepers are not worried as this is quite common amongst wild elephants. Their day to day life is not hindered and sometimes the tusk can also grow back.
A group of buffaloes made their way to the stockade compound early this morning and they walked straight to the Lucerne corner and started to help themselves to the Lucerne the Keepers had laid out for the orphans.
As soon as Lima Lima and Quanza had downed their bottles of milk, they walked over to where the Lucerne was and were surprised to see the buffaloes there. Lima Lima wasn’t too happy so she walked over thinking that would scare off the buffaloes, but they didn’t budge. Begrudgingly Lima Lima and Quanza decided to wait for Murera and the others to join them, as they thought if there was a big enough herd, perhaps they would all succeed in scaring off the buffaloes. Luckily the tactic worked and so as soon as the buffaloes saw the rest of the Umani herd approaching, they ran off in to the bushes.
Alamaya and Zongoloni emerged from the bushes with a rather large elephant bull today. At first glance the Keepers thought it might be Ziwa but this bull was huge, almost as big as some of the wild bulls the Keepers see around the Kibwezi Forest. They were still not absolutely sure, so they called out Ziwa’s name and sure enough the big bull responded by curling his trunk on his head the way Ziwa always does. The Keepers were shocked at Ziwa’s sheer size but equally pleased to see how well he is doing. Ziwa walked up to one of the Keepers and opened his mouth wanting to suckle on the Keeper’s thumb. This always calms Ziwa.
Today, the orphans decided to walk to the Umani Hills for their morning browsing session, so as soon as they were out of their stockades and done with the morning feeding, everyone headed out of the gates. Enkesha saw that Murera, Lima Lima and Sonje were taking their time and then when they did decide to start moving, they brought up the tail end of the herd, walking slowly with Luggard, which left Enkesha and Shukuru to take lead of the herd.
Ngasha and Mwashoti as usual started their play fighting. All the orphans were walking quietly in a single file, but these two boys were busy testing out their strength on each and then very suddenly, Mwashoti just stopped. Unsure of why their game ended so abruptly, Ngasha walked to where Mwashoti was to see if anything was the matter, but it was nothing. Mwashoti was just not interested in playing anymore. So instead Ngasha tried to engage Alamaya in a friendly game but this bull wasn’t interested either and ignored Ngasha. So Ngasha decided to focus his energies on browsing at the bottom of Umani Hills, to have his fill before it was time to walk to the waterhole.
Some crane birds flew overhead and Sonje and Shukuru looked up to see what was flying over them; the birds landed a few meters away from where Sonje and Shukuru were browsing quietly with Luggard. Not wanting to be disturbed by the birds, Sonje decided to scare them off by letting out a loud trumpet and with Shukuru’s joined efforts they managed to scare away the birds. Sonje’s loud trumpet alerted Murera and she came rushing to see if all was okay, but by that time, the birds had flown off and all Murera could see were Sonje, Shukuru and Luggard browsing peacefully under the shade of some trees.
It started raining quite early this morning, even before the Keepers had the chance to feed the stockade-dependent orphans. Lima Lima was quite impatient. The Keepers were waiting for the rain to subside so that they could let the orphans out and feed them, but Lima Lima didn’t want to wait so she started banging on her gate making very loud sounds, but it was quite a comical sight too. She would run up to her door, bang on it, and then when she felt the rain falling on her head she would run to the back of her room. Quanza, who shares a stockade with Lima Lima, was being very patient and was unperturbed by Lima Lima’s commotion. She knew the Keepers would soon bring their bottles to them.
Luggard and Enkesha were the only two that remained in their stockades after their bottles again. They used the dry soil in their room to dust themselves. As soon as the rain dissipated, all the orphans readied themselves and as soon as the Keepers opened the gates, they all rushed out eager to start their day. Ngasha was there waiting for them and he and Mwashoti started playing their usual pushing games. The two boys were seen walking together for quite a while and it seemed as though Ngasha was sharing stories of his night adventures, but the walk soon turned into a tussle where Zongoloni had to intervene and stop the two boys. Ngasha stopped immediately but Mwashoti still wanted to push Ngasha, but after a stern trumpet from Zongoloni, Mwashoti too backed down.
Ngasha disappeared into the bushes, deep into the forest, and a couple of the Keepers followed him to keep him company. Unbeknownst to Ngasha, a couple of crane birds had built their nest with three eggs in it on one of the lower branches of a shrub. The Keepers saw it and so directed Ngasha to change route so as to protect the eggs. The crane birds who had flown to a higher branch returned to their nest once they saw the Keepers and Ngasha walk away.
Four wild bulls joined the Umani herd at the foot of the hills where the orphans were browsing; accompanying them were Ziwa and our two albino elephants, Jasiri and Faraja.
Sonje and Murera walked up to the bulls to browse with them. Quanza had the same idea and started to follow the two girls but stopped abruptly and turned back when Shukuru rumbled at her. Quanza walked up to her friend and the two had their heads together for quite some time as though Shukuru was telling Quanza something. After a while, Lima Lima and Luggard also joined Shukuru and Quanza and it seems they decided to stay where they were. Perhaps Shukuru might have been advising Quanza that it would be prudent to stay with Luggard and look after the young bull since both Sonje and Murera were busy with the wild bulls. Murera didn’t stay very long with the wild bulls; after a few hours of browsing with them, she returned to her beloved Luggard.
Later in the afternoon, Alamaya and Ngasha decided to join the wild bulls. Alamaya made the mistake of grabbing the tail of one of the bulls and pulling on it, and to Alamaya‘s shock, this bull did not take this kind of play lightly, and so the wild bull pushed Alamaya with his head. Alamaya quickly realized his mistake and ran in the opposite direction, with the wild bull now chasing him. Zongoloni and Lima Lima heard all the commotion and ran to help their friend. Both girls had to stand between the wild bull and Alamaya and make a lot of loud trumpeting noise to get the wild bull to back-off.
Shukuru woke up this morning quite energetic and she finished her milk very quickly. She usually waits outside her friends’ stockades for the Keepers to let them out so that she can greet them, but today she made her way to the store that is next to her room and grabbed one of the brooms. The way she was holding the broom make the Keepers laugh because it looked like she was getting ready to the help the Keepers to sweep her stockade. It was a bit of a struggle to get the broom back from Shukuru as she kept running around the compound. Enkesha thought this was a game so she joined in too, but eventually the game came to an end when Shukuru dropped the broom.
Murera and Luggard found some branches outside the stockade gates and proceeded to use them as toothbrushes. They held the branches with their trunks, moving them around inside their mouths whilst chewing on them. Quanza and Mwashoti were not interested in any of this and they made their own way to the forest, to start browsing, leaving the rest of the herd lagging behind. After a while, Quanza heard Luggard and Murera and decided to join them, leaving Mwashoti no choice but to follow her.
The Keepers were walking along the path, following the orphans’ home, when they noticed some movement in the forest. They heard familiar sounds and could see trees and branches moving and wondered if it might be the night-clubbers coming to see the orphans. Sure enough after a few minutes, Zongoloni, Faraja, Jasiri, Ziwa, Ngasha and Alamaya emerged from the forest. They must have caught scent of their friends and decided to accompany them back to the stockades.
Today the Keepers were a bit cautious, as earlier whilst they were walking along their usual route that the orphans take towards the Umani Hills, they encountered a herd of wild elephants. Wanting to avoid coming across another wild herd, the Keepers remained vigilant, watching Lima Lima for any signals, as this girl is always on point when it comes to alerting the Keepers of any danger ahead.
Quanza raised her trunk and sniffed the air, quite possibly catching the scent of other wild elephants in the vicinity; the Keepers looked to Lima Lima for confirmation. They didn’t have to wait, because they heard elephant trumpets coming from a distance. Sonje, who had been browsing a little further away, rushed towards the noise and discovered four wild elephant bulls who were looking for females to mate with. Although Sonje seemed interested, she returned to the Keepers to alert them about the presence of the wild bulls. After a while, Sonje did respond to the calls of the wild bulls, but remained with the Keepers. Mwashoti, who shares quarters with Sonje, decided to stay close to the older girl and kept her company as the browsed away from the rest of the herd.
Today was another rainy start and our youngest babies, Enkesha and Luggard, seemed reluctant to leave the comfort of their dry stockades. Enkesha soon changed her mind as she spotted her best friend Zongoloni at the gate and she shot out of her room to greet her.
At the noon midday milk feed, as soon as the orphans were done with their bottles, Shukuru moved away to her usual area. Some of the orphans decided to make their way to the mud bath, some to the water trough and others to the mound of loose soil to play with. Lima Lima walked up to the mud bath to test the temperature of the water with her trunk. Once she decided it was warm enough, she rounded up the rest of the girls to join her in the mud bath. Shukuru looked towards the mud bath but then decided to walk over to the dusting mound.
After enjoying a leisurely wallow, Alamaya sought out Mwashoti’s company, seeing if he would like to join him at the dust mound. Instead, Mwashoti started playing a pushing game with Alamaya, which soon turned into a fight and the Keepers had to break them up once again.
Ngasha and Faraja have always been best friends and neighbours since they were rescued a long time ago. So when the Keepers saw a fierce fight break out between the two boys, they did wonder what might be the cause.
The friendship between the two boys has changed since they went out into the wild and perhaps today’s disagreement was based on the two boys fighting over female attention. This is to be expected as these bulls navigate the ways of the wild. It seems as though it was Ngasha who challenged Faraja. Everyone knows that when it comes to pushing and strength testing games, Faraja always wins, due to his sheer size and since having been out in the wild, Faraja has picked up more tactics from watching his wild friends. So has Ngasha, but he is still no match for Faraja. Ngasha managed to hold his own for quite a while but the fight ended when Faraja pushed him down.
Zongoloni and Sonje rushed over to Ngasha to comfort him by wrapping their trunks around the adolescent bull. Sonje seemed to be nudging Ngasha to get up and after a short while Ngasha got on his feet and walked over slowly to the waterhole where Faraja was cooling off after the fight, as though to call a truce with his friend.
Shukuru, Murera and Luggard were nowhere near the fight, as soon as the boys started, they walked away to browse in a quiet spot nearby.
Today when Sonje saw that Ngasha had arrived looking to join the Umani herd, she walked up to him and put her trunk in his mouth as though she was telling him to be on his best behavior. In the past Ngasha has chased some of the Umani herd girls, looking to climb on them, so now girls like Murera keep their distance from Ngasha. Sonje then walked over to where Shukuru and Luggard were standing with Murera to reassure them that Ngasha will be well behaved today.
Whatever Sonje communicated to Ngasha seemed to work as the bull stayed away from the girls and chose instead to browse on his own. A little while later the Keepers saw Zongoloni emerge from the bushes, close to where the orphans were browsing. The matriarch of the night-clubber herd spotted Enkesha right away and started to walk towards her. Enkesha was just as excited to see her friend and ran towards Zongoloni, ears flapping and tail in the air. After their usual greetings, Enkesha must have communicated to Zongoloni that they should follow Shukuru to the Umani Springs, where they would find the sweetest shrubs to fest on.
The afternoon brought some light-hearted fun for the orphans. The Keepers laughed at Alamaya and Mwashoti as they got their trunks and tusks tangled, and they tussled for a while trying to untangle them. Alamaya and Mwashoti have always had good camaraderie, even when Alamaya was still a part of the stockade-dependent herd. Luggard ventured into the mud bath today, which is very unusual, but with the Keepers guidance, the young bull stood at the edge of the mud bath and splashed mud on himself, and the Keepers helped by splashing mud on the rest of his body.
The Keepers put pellets for the orphans to enjoy as their morning supplement. Everyone made their way to pellet corner slowly except Murera, Lima Lima and Quanza. These three girls were outside Luggards’room trying to coax him out to start his day. This young boy seemed too comfortable and was taking his time.
Out of nowhere appeared Ngasha and made a bee-line for Murera, right away, the poor girl detected Ngasha intentions and let out a trumpet of help. The Keepers who were nearby rushed to Murera’s aid and chased off the young bull; Murera was already busy with Luggard, and did not want to have to contend with Ngasha’s unwanted attentions. Murera then moved over to the pellets corner with her beloved boy Luggard enjoying the lucerne until all the orphans were ready to start their browsing activities. Zongoloni stayed close to Enkesha and had Ziwa as extra back up just in case Ngasha or any of the other boys decided to misbehave with Enkesha.
At the midday feed, the night clubbers decided to part way with the Umani herd, as they no longer get milk bottles. Zongoloni was a bit indecisive as to whether she should follow the boys back into the forest or wait with Enkesha. Zongoloni left Enkesha in the capable hands of the Keepers and Shukuru and followed the night clubber boys, after a while we saw Zongoloni return. She walked up to Enkesha and waited for her little friend to finish her milk bottle and then both of them walked to the bushes, where they found Ziwa, Faraja and Jasiri relaxing with some wild bulls. These bulls must some of the friends the night clubber boys have made, during their nights out in the wild. They wild bulls stayed under the shade of the trees, as the Keepers were nearby looking after Luggard and Sonje.
Today all the orphans woke up in different moods. Sonje, who doesn’t usually behave in this manner, snuck into the hay store and ran off with a bale of hay. Murera, who always appreciates Lima Lima’s help with Luggard, stopped her from having access to the little boy, so Lima Lima felt a bit dejected and sought the company of Enkesha who was walking with Shukuru, but Enkesha soon parted company with the two girls when she saw Zongoloni, leaving Lima Lima with Shukuru, who then decided to take a different route from all the other orphans.
A disagreement broke out between the two night clubber boys over a stick they had found. Each claimed to be the owner and so ensure a tug of war between Jasiri and Faraja. The tussle escalated into a fully fledged pushing game that Faraja seemed determined to win. The fight spilled over to the area where Sonje was browsing and not wanting to get caught between the boys, she quickly moved away, leaving them to fight it out.
Shukuru is a peaceful elephant, she mostly prefers to browse on her own and whenever the boisterous boys are nearby, like today, she quickly moves away to avoid being pushed by mistake. The boys took their fight further into the forest and the Keepers could hear the sound of breaking branches and loud trumpets as the two albino elephants settled their dispute using their brute strength. In the end Zongoloni and Sonje had to intervene and put a stop to the fight.
We have seen quite a lot of rain in Umani in the past few weeks. This has been most beneficial for the Kibwezi forest, as the area is bursting with much needed lush vegetation for all the animals. For Murera and Luggard the wet soil presents a slight challenge; with their bad legs they must be careful as they move around on the slippery mud. Murera the ever patient mother figure to Luggard stayed close to the boy, with her trunk over his neck, gently coaxing and leading him out of his quarters and out of the gate, so that the Keepers could clean Luggard’s room.
Shukuru, Enkesha and Zongoloni did not understand the fuss, so they walked right past them following Sonje, who had already taken the lead and was taking the orphans towards Umani Springs. The orphans were busy foraging and Quanza heard trumpeting coming from deep inside the forest, thinking one of her friends might be in trouble, she rushed over to see if she could help, only to find Lima Lima and Mwashoti playing so the trumpets were sounds of joy and not distress.
Shukuru arrived at the mud-bath in time for her midday milk bottle and soon as she was done, she retired to her usual quiet corner, but then she heard the Keepers calling out to all the orphans. The Keepers had spotted a herd of buffaloes making their way to the waterhole and wanted the orphans close to stay away from the buffalo herd. Mwashoti and Alamaya felt as though they were not done wallowing so trumpeted some warning shots towards the buffalos but the buffaloes did not budge. Thinking they may need back up Alamaya trumpeted for Ziwa and Faraja to join forces and once the buffaloes saw the other two bigger bulls, they ran off in the opposite directions, leaving the boys to enjoy their mud-bath.
The night clubbers arrived at the stockades this morning with their usual fanfare, of trumpeting and greeting the stockade dependant orphans. All arrived, except for one. Ziwa was nowhere to be seen. The Keepers thought perhaps he was lagging behind and kept an eye out for him but they didn’t see him all day.
The Keepers were not overly concerned about Ziwa, knowing that he must be out wit his wild friends. Their immediate focus was Enkesha and Zongoloni. The Keepers have started to notice that whenever Zongoloni visits, the older girls is always trying to find ways of enticing Enkesha to join her out in the wild. The little girl loves Zongoloni so much that she is always willing to follow but the Keepers know better. They know Enkesha is still milk dependant and far too young to be out in the wild with the night clubbers. She still requires nurturing and protection, both of which she receives from staying with Umani herd.
There will be a time when Enkesha is reasy to go off on her own, but now right now. So whenever the Keepers spot Zongolini trying to encourage Enkesha to follow her, the Keepers intervene and call Enkesha over to join Shukuru and Quanza, as these two girls are the ones who look out for Enkesha when Zongoloni is not there.
When the Keepers open the gates to the stockades in the morning, so that the orphans can start their day, Enkesha and Shukuru are usually the first ones out. Today, Shukuru was nowhere to be seen, on further investigation, one of the Keepers found that Shukuru had snuck away unnoticed to the back of the stockades where the pellets were stored. The Keepers wondered why she would go all the way there, where they had already put out plenty of fresh pellets for everyone. Later on they realized that Shukuru wanted to eat the pellets in peace, away from the pushing games of the boisterous boys.
After the midday feed, Ziwa arrived in the company of two wild bulls. As Ziwa started to walk towards the Keepers the two wild bulls hung back, not sure whether they should also be following Ziwa. The Keepers, were resting under the shades of some trees, catching up and swapping stories, whilst they kept an eye on Luggard who was at the mud-bath. They were so pleased to see him splashing mud on himself, just the way Sonje had taught him. As the days go by Luggard seems to be getting better and better at doing things for himself.
Today the six night clubbers never showed up. For Enkesha this was a bit of a disappointment, as she eagerly awaits Zongoloni’s arrival everyday so that they can walk and browse together. She settled instead for Quanza and Shukuru’s company.
As the Umani herd was getting ready to walk down to their midday bottle feed, they encountered a large herd of buffalos blocking their usual path. The Keepers decided to spread out to look for a safe alternative route to get everyone down to the mud bath area. Shukuru, who was in a hurry to get away from the buffalos, got separated from her friends. Sonje and Mwashoti thought they could walk through the heard but soon realized this would be a mistake; Murera had already started to follow the Keepers with Luggard. All the orphans seemed panicked and confused and that is when Lima Lima and Quanza stepped in. In their very organized and efficient way, both girls teamed up, bringing the orphans together, and leading them away from the buffalos, down a safe path and towards the mud-bath. The Keepers were ever so grateful to Lima Lima and Quanza who make an excellent team in the time of a crisis.
With the buffalo incident behind them, all the orphans were relaxed and enjoyed their midday bottles. The rest of the day passed uneventfully.
Zongoloni arrived this morning with her night clubber boys, minus one. Ziwa was once again conspicuously absent. They all started to walk towards the pellets corner. Mwashoti who was already there, knew how eager Enkesha was to see Zongoloni, so he blocked her path, but this little girl is very clever. She walked over to the scratching post and waiting for Zongoloni there. As soon as Zongoloni saw her, she too walked over to the see her friend and both greeted each other by wrapping their trunks around each other, like long lost friends meeting after a long time.
Ziwa did join the Umani herd, but later in the afternoon. With him he brought another younger wild bull, who was similar in size so perhaps in age too. The wild bull seemed eager to interact with the Umani herd, but as soon as he caught the scent of the Keepers he changed his mind and slowly walked back to the forest. Ziwa did not stay too long either; he also followed his friend back into the bushes. It seems like this might be the friend that Ziwa has been spending his time with when he absent, the Keepers watched as the two bulls walked away, playfully pushing each other.
Little girl Enkesha tends to carried away when her friend Zongoloni visits. She thinks she is ready to go out in the wild. The young girl does not understand yet what it means to stay out the whole night, that she will not receive shelter or her milk bottle. Enkesha just wants to be with her friend Zongoloni and sometimes Zongoloni will walk away and Enkesha will follow. The Keepers have to keep an eye on this duo and call Enkesha back if she ventures too far out with Zongoloni. The Keepers also don’t think it is a good idea for Enkesha to be around Ngasha. This big bull does not realize that he is too big to be mounting Enkesha, he sees wild bulls doing this and so mimics their actions with the Umani herd girls.
There is a waterhole close to where the orphans have their midday bottles. Today a lone wild bull approached the waterhole, once he saw that the orphans were done. The orphans were with the Keepers, taking a break from the schorching heat of the afternoon. The lone bull walked up slowly to the herd and as soon as Shukuru saw the young boy getting closer, she rumbled to Lima Lima passing on the information to her that a stranger had just joined them. Lima Lima instead of chasing away the young bull walked up to him and welcomed him. She led him to where Sonje was browsing next to Quanza and seemed to be introducing her new friend to the girls. Murera was not too pleased with this newcomer and voiced her disapproval at Lima Lima. Murera probably did not feel it was safe to have a wild bull this close to Luggard. Eventually Lima Lima escorted her wild bull friend back to the bushes and the orphans carried on with their day
It was a full house today, Zongoloni returned with all her boys, together with Murera and her herd, the Keepers felt very happy and satisfied as they looked at their wards, to see them all happy and thriving.
The waterhole was full of action today. When Ngasha, Ziwa and Alamaya arrived, Lima Lima and Sonje welcomed the boys with trunk hugs and deep rumbles, Ngasha right away set his sights on Sonje today and tried to mount her, for some reason Sonje allowed him but Zongoloni, not happy with this behavior, pushed Ngasha away. Ngasha retaliated somewhat but with Faraja’s help, Zongoloni put an end to Ngasha’s advances towards Sonje. Murera, Shukuru and Luggard stood at a distance watching all this commotion.
At the mud-bath the orphans indulged in a leisurely wallow, swimming and cooling their hot bodies by splashing mud on themselves. Once they were all done, some of the orphans made their way to dusting mound, but the night clubbers decided they part ways, all left except for Zongoloni. Enkesha did not want the older girl to go and she knows if she follows Zongoloni, the Keepers will call her back and put her under Shukuru’s care. A lone buffalo wandered over to the waterhole, Shukuru was also making her way there and got stopped by the Keepers just in time, they called out her name and so she turned back towards them, avoiding an encounter with the buffalo.