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A large wild herd, with four tiny babies, came to visit the orphans. The Keepers had a hard time calling Kiasa, Maktao, Enkesha and Kiombo away from the wild herd. Eventually they realised Zongoloni was also with them, and once they called her back, the others followed. Lima Lima was also helpful in rounding up the other orphans so they could all go home.

The hot weather meant the orphans got directly into the waterhole to cool off — except for Ngasha and Faraja. These older boys know that there are other bigger waterholes on their way to the Chyulu Hills, which they left for immediately.

Zongoloni came home only to make sure that Kiasa also went back to the Stockades for the night. Once all the orphans had settled into their bedrooms, Zongoloni left to join her wild friends.

Ngasha was his usual bothersome self today. He joined the orphans rather late, after having been out with his wild friends all night. He arrived after Lima Lima and Mwashoti had joined the Umani orphans and followed Murera and Sonje towards the Umani Springs for some water. Sonje led the group and insisted they walk to Kenze Hills to browse. She was getting bored of the places the orphans frequent and wanted to get some new fresh greens to keep their diet interesting!

After the long walk over the hills Enkesha looked tired. She rumbled something to her close friend Maktao. They spent a few moments talking, then they carried on as if they had come to some sort of agreement.

Ngasha is not ready to move away from the orphans. If he continues to join the Umani orphans during their daily activities, Faraja, Jasiri and Zongoloni will stay away as they remember how he chased Faraja away.

This means that Sonje and Murera are left to lead the Umani herd. Sonje seems to have a larger number of babies that are bonded to her including Kiombo, Kiasa, Maktao and Enkesha. Quanza has teamed up with Sonje to look after the babies. Lima Lima seems to have been left in charge of Mwashoti, who remains quite attached to Murera.

Quanza and Sonje moved all the younger orphans to the Chyulu area, the Keepers thought this was too far but the older girls insisted. Enkesha was very helpful on the way home. She was good at herding the babies back to the stockades. When they arrived back at the stockades, Murera did a quick room inspection to make sure all the babies were home before she went into her own room. Today little Kiombo was overjoyed to receive an extra milk bottle from Murera, who didn’t seem to want her own.

Sonje welcomed two wild big bulls into the herd. This created a tense situation, as the orphans were all a bit wary of these new bulls. They seemed to be friendly at first but after a while it seemed they wanted Sonje and not the others. All the younger babies made their way to the Keepers and stayed close to them. Sonje, too, decided she did not want to have anything to do with them, after she saw how fearful Kiombo was of them. The bulls followed the orphans back to the milk feed area. The Keepers were a little worried about being charged so they stayed away after the orphans had finished their milk bottles. Ngasha kept getting chased away from the orphan herd by one of the bulls. He was not happy about this as he was used to being the dominant male, but today he was not.

The orphans looked very small next to the big bulls. Maktao went to smell one of the bulls but got scared and ran to Enkesha and Zongoloni for support. Mwashoti was the most fearful of the bulls and stayed far away with Murera where they could be left in peace.

Enkesha did her mini-matriarch duty this morning, inspecting each stockade room. She checked on all the little babies, including Kiasa and Maktao, and followed them slowly out of the stockades. Maktao and Enkesha had a conversation and made a plan for the day. They separated from the rest of the herd and started walking towards the Umani Springs and Kenze Hill, Lima Lima joined them and left Quanza and Murera to bring up the rear. Today showed that Enkesha could lead the small herd and allowed Lima Lima a break from planning the day. Enkesha is loyal and calm; she is slowly becoming a very good mini matriarch.

Ngasha and Lima Lima came back very late after spending the night out with wild elephants. They arrived to find the orphans had already left for the day. Ngasha took a minute to rest then moved to join the herd. He looked very sleepy, as did Lima Lima, as both were quite tired from the night adventures. Kiasa came to greet Ngasha but left quickly to join Enkesha as Ngasha was too tired to respond. Murera, who is the overall boss of the Umani orphans, was not happy with Ngasha. She is quite used to troublemakers like Ngasha and ignored him all day.

Most of the herd respects Murera; they are happy with her as the matriarch. Alamaya is a strong but gentle and happy boy, he teamed up with Mwashoti and they both joined Murera and Sonje at the top of the Chyulu Hills where some wild elephants were enjoying the shade on a hot afternoon.

Mwashoti has begun spending more time with the big bulls. Alamaya has shown Mwashoti what life was like away from the orphan herd and out with wild friends. Alamaya has mentored him well and showed him how to survive in the wilderness. Mwashoti has learned how to find his way to the stockades and where to find water. This morning, Mwashoti and Alamaya arrived with Lima Lima who had Ngasha close by.

As soon as Ngasha joined the herd, he started chasing Quanza, who was diligently looking after Kiombo. This made Kiombo very worried and unhappy. The rest of the orphan herd felt the same so Murera and Sonje left and moved the orphans away from Ngasha.

Sonje and Enkesha led the herd to the nearby waterhole. At the waterhole the orphans were all joyful as they cooled off in the water, as it was too hot! Kiombo quickly joined the mud-bath and soon there was a big swimming competition between the orphans. When Maktao saw Kiasa was already busy swimming he chose to play with one of his other great friends, Enkesha, getting a piggyback ride.

The Umani orphans are split into a number of groups. Those that have gone wild are grouped into two and the orphans that are still with the Keepers are split into two as well. Sonje and Quanza have taken over looking after and leading the junior babies, including Enkesha, Maktao, Kiombo, and Kiasa. This leaves Murera leading the more senior babies, like Mwashoti.

At the waterhole, Ngasha was already swimming, so Kiombo refused to get in and stayed at the side under the protection of Sonje. They both decided to wait until Ngasha had left as he was too rough to play with. Once he had left Sonje and Kiombo went swimming and were joined by more of the junior orphans who also felt Ngasha was too rough. Even Murera stayed away from Ngasha.

This morning the Umani Hills were covered with a thick fog, making it very difficult for the Keepers to see where they were going. The elephants walked out using their sense of smell to decide where to go and to sniff out any danger. The Keepers walked close to Lima Lima, trusting her to choose a safe path for them. However, unluckily, they walked into some sleeping buffalos. Lima Lima, the Keepers, and the buffalo all got a fright and ran, but Lima Lima quickly stopped and turned to face the buffalo forcing them to scatter and protecting the Keepers from them. Enkesha and Maktao were very pleased with this and began trumpeting and cheering Lima Lima on.

Alamaya and Ngasha have started coming home very late, while the others are in their rooms already. Last night, they came back very late and walked very slowly, like giants who fear nothing! 

This morning when Lima Lima saw them, she did not join them but walked out with Mwashoti towards the Chyulus. A waterbuck lying in the shade startled Mwashoti. Mwashoti and the bushbuck ran in different directions causing a lot of panic. Lima Lima ran back to the stockades. As she is usually the one who signals danger, the others thought she had bad news and also started running away. Lima Lima calmed everyone down and explained what had happened with the bushbuck. Still, Enkesha and Kiombo stayed next to Murera and Sonje for protection.

Today was a very hot day. The orphans spent most of their time in the shade flapping their ears to cool off. Alamaya and Ngasha joined the orphan herd after wallowing in the dark soil at the mud-bath, they were much cooler now and they were much happier too. When Sonje and Murera saw Ngasha, they moved away, as they dislike his rough playing with the younger orphans. Mwashoti and Quanza had a quick conversation then started off towards the mud-bath, and the rest of the orphans followed behind. When they arrived, Sonje walked into the pool and the whole herd followed. They had a very joyful time swimming and cooling off. Lima Lima noticed some crane birds next to the water hole. She didn’t like this, flapping her ears and trumpeting at them, warning them to move away.

Zongoloni led Kiasa to some thicker bush where there was better browsing, leaving Kiombo with Sonje and Quanza. However, Zongoloni was trying to be clever and take Kiasa away from the herd. Luckily, Maktao had a talk with her, and Kiasa returned to browse with Enkesha and Murera.

When it was time to return to the stockades, Sonje raised her trunk towards the open fields, where there were wild females. Lima Lima was very happy to see the tiny babies, so she went to the wild herd to see if she could help looking after the babies. However, one of the mothers stopped her, scared she would try and steal the babies.

At the stockade, the babies all looked very tired from the long day, then it started raining with lots of loud thunder, which scared the orphans. Murera and Quanza even tried to push down the walls of their stockade, until the Keepers went to reassure them and calm them down.

This morning started off very busy. Murera was eating Lucerne pellets then got jealous and did not want to share them with Maktao or Kiasa, she hid the pellets in the corner protecting them. Enkesha had smelt the Lucerne and came looking for some food, but Murera rushed to block Enkesha from getting any.

Later the orphans arrived at the water hole for their midday bottles. None of the orphans wanted to swim, instead Sonje led them to the clean water trough, where they had a drink then moved off into the bushes. It was still cool from last night's rain so the elephants didn’t need to cool off. Ngasha and Alamaya tried to join Murera and Quanza, but this forced Murera and Quanza to move away. They don’t like being around Ngasha, as he is too rough with the babies, including our little Maktao.

One of the aggressive bulls that used to come to the stockades with Lima Lima visited today. However, Lima Lima was not interested in engaging with him; instead she stayed with Mwashoti and Alamaya. Seeing how aloof Lima Lima was, the wild bull didn’t stay long and left towards the Chyulu Hills. Lima Lima is very good at finding new friends, so she was not worried that he had left. After the bull had left, Mwashoti and Alamaya were trying to find out why Lima Lima ignored him, but she did not want to share her reasons — although she seemed happier to tell the bigger girls Murera and Quanza. Zongoloni and Kiasa made their way to the hills, and Maktao and Enkesha followed them. However, Maktao stopped Enkesha from going with Zongoloni, as she always leads them very far away from the rest of the herd.

Our little Enkesha remains devoted to being an exemplary mini matriarch. She has been really looking after the little babies, namely Kiombo, Kiasa, and Maktao, especially since Lima Lima left to join the nightclubbers. The babies seem happy browsing with Enkesha, as she is very calm and never pushes any of them. The whole of the Umani orphan herd is now safe under the leadership of Sonje and Quanza. All the orphans love them and listen to them, they happily follow whatever plan the two girls decide on. However, Murera and Mwashoti still remain each other’s favourite.

Up near Kenze Hills, some wild elephants were making a lot of noise. Ngasha and Alamaya went to go and check out what was going on. Before they got there a huge bull stopped them and chased them back. Ngasha, who is supposed to be the big dominant male came running back like a baby.

Zongoloni, Ngasha and Lima Lima teamed up and tried to convince the orphans to follow them to the Chyulu Hills. However, they knew they would need Sonje to agree, as she is the matriarch for most of the orphans. Sonje agreed and the orphans visited the Chyulu Hills. When it was time to go home, many of the little babies didn’t know the way. Zongoloni and Lima Lima had walked away and left Ngasha with the orphans however he was unable to show the babies the way back. Enkesha soon realised there was confusion amongst the babies, as they didn’t know the way home, so she took over. With the help of Murera all the orphans arrived back to the stockades safe, but it was very late by the time they got back. Maktao, Enkesha and the other younger ones were so tired they went straight to bed and lay down.

The orphans had another busy start to their day. Just as they were getting out of their stockades, a wild herd came by the gate. The wild herd had many tiny babies who Quanza and Sonje were very interested in greeting. Kiombo also joined them to see the babies, but things changed when he touched one. It screamed and its mother came to block the Umani orphans from the wild baby. Murera got scared of the big females and left the herd. The Keepers took the other orphans and moved away from the stockades. Enkesha took the lead, which Maktao was very happy about, as he liked to see his best friend leading. Soon after, Quanza and Sonje re-joined the herd and took over leadership again.

Jasiri, Faraja, and Zongoloni went back to the Chyulu Hills where they linked up with a bigger herd of wild elephants, which has accepted this group. Sonje and Quanza rumbled, calling Kiombo, Maktao and Enkesha back. Kiasa realised that Zongoloni was nowhere to be seen and rushed back to where Lima Lima was browsing down the hill.

Mwashoti was chasing butterflies down the hill. He even tried to kick one, but instead fell over. When Alamaya saw this, he sat on top of Mwashoti, mocking him for falling over. A short while later two crane birds came out of the bushes to the waterhole. Ngasha chased them, but they flew into a big tree, out of reach of the orphan.

Kiasa and Maktao found themselves in a tricky situation during their pushing match. There was a baby baboon that was separated from its mother and, in an effort to reunite with her, it ran next to the orphans and touched Maktao’s foot. This made Maktao extremely upset. He went to Enkesha and she put her trunk over his head to comfort him and tell him not to worry. They then headed towards the Chyulu area, where they joined up with Zongoloni and Faraja.

Later, Sonje and Murera joined them, with the other orphans. Mwashoti came up with a plan to bully the little babies, but Sonje stopped him before he got a chance. This left Kiasa and Kiombo to carry on with their peaceful browsing. Lima Lima came rushing back to inform them of more wild bulls in the area, but before she could warn the Keepers, the bulls calmly joined the orphan herd.