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The sky was partly cloudy in the morning as the orphans settled for lucerne. Mutara’s herd had slept outside and were hanging around. Ambo stood in front of Mutara, thinking that he might be adopted by her just as Kamok does for him. He got a rude shock however when Mutara merely pushed him out of the way! At least Ambo learned a lesson that he should respect his seniors at all times.

Out in the bush, Jotto decided to have fun by rolling on the ground. Rapa and Karisa came over and ganged up against him. Karisa tried to climb on Jotto while Rapa pushed him to get up. Their game came to an end when Kauro came over and rescued Jotto from the two boys.  Rapa and Karisa were left dumbfounded and since there was nothing they could do to Kauro, the two boys ended up starting their own pushing game with each other that lasted for quite some time.

Near the Kone dam, Sana Sana took a break from feeding to have a game of rolling on the ground. Malkia, Kuishi and Malima joined her and had a good time.

At mud bath time, the orphans were joined by the ex-orphans with all their babies. At the end of the mud bath, the Keepers had a difficult time getting Esampu, Mteto, Malkia and Naseku who wanted to run away with the ex-orphans.  In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse in the Kanziku area.  In the evening, Larro led the first group back to the stockade while Nabulu led the second one.

Kibo and Melia joined the dependent orphans in the morning soon after they were let out. Mutara and her group, who have become frequent visitors, were also present. Shortly after everyone had enough lucerne, Larro led the way out.

Out in the bush, Malkia and Kuishi teamed up with Mukkoka, Larro, and Naboishu. The two big girls acted as teachers towards Larro, Mukkoka and Naboishu for the entire morning. Kauro had a disagreement with Jotto when Kauro pulled a branch from his mouth. Jotto tried to fight back but he wasn't strong enough to fight Kauro. Kauro pushed him and humiliated him in front of the girls by climbing on his back. Wanjala, Rapa and Mundusi parted ways with the group and joined them later on the way to the mud bath.

The weather was very hot. Nabulu and Sana Sana led the herd to the mud bath to cool off. Enkikwe, Kamok and Kauro boycotted the wallowing exercise and instead opted for a soil dusting exercise. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. Barsilinga and Lemoyian started a pushing game as Kuishi took Mukkoka and Larro off to browse with her. Kuishi made sure that Larro and Mukkoka weren’t bullied by any of the young boys.

In the evening, Mutara, Sities, Turkwel, Suguta, Kainuk, Kithaka, Lemoyian, Kibo and Barsilinga escorted the juniors back to the stockades for the night.

Kilaguni, who has been missing in action for sometime, showed up this morning and joined the orphans to feed on lucerne! It was wonderful to see him. Ambo received a light training session from Malkia. Larro, Naboishu and Mukkoka seemed to be in a hurry and led the way out to browse, since they wanted to enjoy the taste of green leaves and grass instead of dry lucerne that they haven't been used to feeding on at the Nursery. They haven’t yet been able to appreciate how important this supplement might be when it gets a bit drier! Sana Sana and Kuishi took Naboishu with them and they browsed together up to mud bath time.

At around ten o'clock in the morning, some ex-orphans showed up at the compound, including some ex-orphans who have been missing in action for a while! Chyulu, Cheka, Sidai, Sita, Silas, Chemi Chemi, Orwa, Garzi and Chaimu were all among the ex-orphans in Yatta’s herd today.

At mud bath time, only Dololo and Siangiki decided to get into the mud bath to wallow. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to feed in a different area, near Imenti.

In the evening, the ex-orphans came to the stockade compound again, just before the dependent orphans returned home. Mteto, who loves babies, completely refused to get into her stockade and instead decided to follow the ex-orphans and their wild born babies. This is not the first time she has done this!

It was still dark in the morning when the orphans left their stockades and settled for lucerne. No ex-orphans were around. Jotto had a warm-up exercise, a favourite activity for the orphans to wake up and stretch, with Sapalan, while Mapia decided to have fun rolling on the ground. Sapalan saw this and decided to end his game with Jotto and ran over to climb on Mapia while he was on the ground. Kuishi lay on the ground to take a nap, but Kauro pushed her up and informed her that it was too early to start wasting time like that. As all the orphans left the stockades and walked out to the bush, Galla, Enkikwe and Tusuja lagged behind, choosing to clean up all the lucerne that was left behind by their friends.

Later in the morning Ambo engaged Musiara in a pushing game while Esampu teamed up with Mteto. At 11am the orphans had their milk bottled and then went to drink water from the troughs beside the mud bath. Shortly later, a wild bull joined the dependent orphans. Wanjala, Mundusi, Galla Olsekki and Rapa all admired the wild bull and wondered when they would ever get into his size. Olsekki requested the wild bull for some training in pushing skills, which the friendly wild bull accepted. When Olsekki had enough, he thanked the wild bull and left to catch up with his friends who were already walking back out to the bush. Two bulls showed up minutes later and they must have felt very hot as they went straight to wallow in the mud bath. In the afternoon, the orphans took a break from feeding and relaxed under a tree. They only resumed browsing when the temperature dropped again.

Mutara and her team spent the night just outside the stockades and joined the orphans in the morning when they were let out. After feeding on lucerne, Naboishu led the way out. Out in the bush, Sana Sana and Kuishi teamed up to guide Larro, Mukkoka and Naboishu, who are such fast learners. As the orphans were busy browsing, two dik diks walked by in their daily wanderings. Their presence appeared to annoy Mundusi and Pare. The two boys trumpeted in an effort to scare the dik diks away. The dik diks weren’t bothered by their trumpeting, which Mundusi and Pare regarded as very disrespectful. The two boys decided to change action and they started charging, running towards the dik diks. The dik diks, being very small animals, disappeared quickly into the thickets. Their sudden disappearance left Mundusi and Rapa wondering what to do, and their first thought was to search for them in the nearby bushes. Their search yielded nothing and after wasting a lot of time and energy following these two harmless creatures, they decided to give up and go back to browsing.

At mud bath time, Roi, who has been weaned off milk, decided to use all her wits to make sure she got some milk today. She placed herself in a strategic position to monitor the Keepers’ movements and pretended to be sleeping by having her eyes closed, waiting for the right moment to strike. The moment came when the Keepers were returning the bottles to the crates after feeding the second group. Roi quickly moved forward to grab one of the bottles already arranged on the ground for the next group. The Keepers sensed what she was doing when they saw Roi speeding up and they shouted at her, but it was too late, Roi had picked up a full bottle of milk and ran away with it. The Keepers could do nothing other than accept the fact that Roi had outsmarted them today! Though the sun was hot, none of the orphans wanted to wallow. Later in the afternoon, the orphans settled in the Kanziku area and browsed calmly throughout the remaining part of the day.

After the orphans settled to eat some lucerne grass, a wild bull appeared from northeast and briefly checked on the orphans before heading off again. Rapa, Mundusi, Wanjala, Olsekki and Pare were happy to see the wild bull and even offered to escort him. The bull didn't mind and accepted the offer. The five boys were thrilled by the kindness of the wild elephant and followed along with him.

Karisa led the rest of the orphans out to browse and they decided to settle in the Kone area. Malkia, Larro and Mukkoka went for water at the dam. They were later followed by Naboishu, Sana Sana, Ambo, Malima, Maramoja and Musiara. Shortly before mud bath time, Mukkoka and Larro had a private meeting as Naboishu spent time with Kuishi.

Three wild bulls visited the mud bath when the orphans were there. The orphans boycotted the wallowing exercise and immediately after taking their milk, they went back to browsing. They walked west of the Ithumba Hill to browse there for the rest of the day. Roi teamed up with Sana Sana and Dololo, following the absence of Suguta and Sities in Mutara’s herd who love spending time with Dololo. In the evening, Rapa and Karisa left their friends behind and returned to stockades early before five o'clock.

Mutara and her group were present at the stockades this morning. Mukkoka, Larro and Naboishu walked down to the water troughs as soon as they felt like they had enough lucerne. They were followed by Kuishi, Sana Sana and Malkia. Karisa, as he often does, led the way out. As he walked along, Mundusi came across a log blocking his way. He decided to show off his pushing skills by clearing the way, and tossing the log to one side. He seemed tired after this activity but happy that he had managed to move the log out of the way of one of the orphans’ most well-trodden paths.

The orphans settled to browse in the Kone area again and as the morning wore on, the temperature soared, so the orphans decided to walk to the dam and have some water before heading to the mud bath. Sapalan and Mundusi played with the Keepers by taking a different route to the mud bath. The two boys arrived early at the mud bath to have their milk before the others. Ex-orphan Rapsu was the only guest of honour at the mud bath today. Rapsu walked to where the orphans were relaxing under a tree and had a brief conversation with the boys before heading off again. Esampu, Wanjala, Nabulu, Maramoja, Lemoyian, Sities and Larro all decided to get into the mud bath to wallow. Lemoyian quit minutes later and tried to block Wanjala from coming out too. Esampu left the water and she was in a charging mood again as she trumpeted, running to catch up with her friends.

In the afternoon, Mundusi, Sapalan and Enkikwe teamed up with Olsekki, Siangiki, Oltaiyoni, Naseku and Roi and left. They later returned early to the stockade compound. Ex-orphans Yatta, Yetu, Yoyo, Yogi, Nasalot, Nusu, Noah and Ithumbah passed by the stockades and left after having some water. The dependent orphans passed by the main mud bath for an evening cooling-off session, then dusted, before going back to the stockades for the night.

Enkikwe, Mundusi, Jotto, Wanjala, Roi and Dololo walked down to the water troughs soon after leaving the stockades. The six orphans settled to drink water as the rest of the herd settled for lucerne. Esampu decided to have fun by rolling on the soft grass. Once she had enough of rolling, Esampu stood up and resumed feeding. Sana Sana had enough lucerne and tossed some up on her head and looked as if she was wearing a grass hat.

Musiara engaged Ambo in a pushing game that ended when Maramoja, who happens to be Musiara's friend, showed up. Maramoja intervened by separating the two boys. Karisa, Mundusi and Wanjala teamed up and browsed together through the entire morning. Shortly before nine o'clock in the morning, the orphans were joined by a wild herd with two tiny babies. Maramoja left Musiara and went to greet the young babies. The wild herd didn't stay for long but left after interacting with the orphans briefly. Maramoja tried to follow one of the babies but changed her mind after walking for about one hundred metres or so.

On the way to the mud bath, the orphans were joined by Yatta, Yetu, Yoyo, Yogi, Nasalot, Nusu, Noah and Ithumbah. Esampu assigned herself the role of a nanny to Yogi. The ex-orphans escorted the orphans to the mud bath where they met two wild bulls. Kuishi and Naboishu opted for a soil dusting exercise. They were later joined by Mukkoka, Rapa and Wanjala. In the afternoon, the orphans settled west of Ithumba Hill.

The wild herd with two tiny babies showed up at the stockades this evening. One of the babies jumped into the water trough, prompting its mother to get in and lift the baby out with her trunk.

Only one wild bull stopped by the stockade water trough this morning to have his fill of water. Wanjala, Rapa, Olsekki and Mundusi walked down to have a brief chat with the wild bull. The bull didn't stay for long but walked away soon after the boys arrived. The boys were left with their trunks up in greeting as the bull walked away with a slow measured walk. Sana Sana decided to have fun rolling on the ground. Her game attracted Esampu and Kuishi who joined her on the ground. Later, Kauro led the way out to browse. Ex-orphan Kilaguni joined the orphans on their way too. Siangiki picked up a branch that she happily shared with Naboishu who was in her company. Kuishi came across a nice tree that she used to scratch her ears on, while Rapa settled to play with Ambo. Mundusi intervened by tackling Rapa himself. Perhaps he wondered why Rapa had chosen such a small bull like Ambo as his playmate. Rapa might have informed Mundusi that he was only training Ambo on how to defend himself whenever other bulls threaten him. Mundusi left Rapa and Ambo to continue with their training.

Jotto, Malkia, Musiara and Sattao settled for a soil dusting exercise and later resumed browsing. Wanjala attempted to bully and ride on Larro but was cautioned by Keepers to stop. Siangiki teamed up with Malima to browse as Kauro engaged Mundusi in a pushing game. When the orphans went to the mud bath for their bottles at 11am, they were joined by Yatta, Yetu, Yoyo, Yogi, Nasalot, Nusu, Noah and Ithumbah again. Shortly later, two wild bulls came for water and left immediately after they had enough. Yatta and her herd escorted the orphans back out to the bush when everyone was done at the mud bath. Kuishi engaged Sattao in a pushing game that ended when some warthogs ran past close by. The two orphans abandoned their pushing game to charge and trumpet after the warthogs instead. The warthogs increased their pace and soon they were out of sight, leaving Kuishi and Sattao confused which way to go.

Only one wild elephant showed up this morning, and then later Mutara’s herd arrived. The orphans had their lucerne as usual then joined the lone wild bull at the water trough where they shared water. Lemoyian, who was in the company of Mutara’s herd, decided to have a strength testing exercise with Mapia while Malima played with Galla. Turkwel took Dololo to a nearby rock where she settled with him to scratch their backs. Karisa, followed by Rapa, led the herd out for the day.

Sana Sana, Malkia, Kuishi and Ndiwa spend the better part of the morning feeding with Larro, Mukkoka and Naboishu. Turkwel and Suguta settled with their favourite Dololo, while Maramoja teamed up with Musiara. Sapalan, Enkikwe and Mundusi ganged up against a dik dik that was feeding quietly ahead of them. The dik dik sensed danger the moment it saw the bulls with their ears raised. The dik dik made a wise choice and scarpered into the thickets. The boys were left in a charging mood with nothing to charge at! Mundusi talked to his friends however and they abandoned their mission searching for the dik dik since it would be a waste of energy and time.

Mukkoka led the way to mud bath as Dololo lagged behind under the escort of Sities, Turkwel and Suguta. Ten wild bulls were enjoying water at the water trough.  Soon after the orphans had their milk, the Keepers asked the wild bulls to move aside for a short while so the orphans could have a drink of fresh water before heading back out to the bush.

In the afternoon, Esampu ran into trouble with Sana Sana when she inadvertently slipped and bumped against her. Sana Sana thought that Esampu did it on purpose and decided to punish her. Esampu sensed danger and quickly disappeared before Sana Sana could retaliate. In the evening Yatta and Nasalot’s families, who are still in the area, showed up at the stockades for water and left shortly before dark.