The month began with Sagala and her new sidekicks, Thamana and Lemeki, leading the way. They took the herd around to the northern side of Msinga Hill, overlooking the baobab tree and mud wallow. The Keepers admired the route they had chosen! Tamiyoi and Tagwa still lead the herd out most mornings, but they are not at all possessive of the privilege.
A bright morning greeted the orphans today as they exited their stockades and prepared to head out to the park following their morning milk bottles and supplement feeding.
Sagala, together with her new friends Thamana and Lemeki, took the lead of the orphan herd out to the bush today, manoeuvring the group around to the northern side of Msinga Hill which overlooks the baobab mud wallow.
The orphans spent the morning browsing in the open savannah grasslands at the foot of Msinga Hill where a group of giraffes walked past them, but didn’t stop to join them. At noon the orphans came running in for their milk feed, after which they headed to the mud wallow for a cooling swim.
Emoli decided to cool off in the water trough before joining the rest of his friends at the mud bath where Lasayen was posing at the edge of the waterhole scratching his itchy trunk on the ground, before joining Rorogoi in the water where the two enjoyed playing together. Suswa quenched her thirst at the water trough while Lasayen and Ngilai enjoyed an afternoon sparring game.
Ex-orphans Edie, Mweya and Icholta visited the stockade today with their wild born babies. Edie’s one-week-old baby, Enzo, was in a mischievous mood. He had lots of fun running through his mothers’ feet as he charged at the Keepers.
When the orphans left the stockade following the lucerne supplement feeding, the ex-orphans headed around the western side of Msinga Hill while the stockade-dependent orphans made their way to the eastern side.
When it was time for the noon milk feed, Emoli snuck past the Keepers and came running in with Lemeki, Thamana and Sagala to be the first to get their milk bottles. Emoli then walked past his friends and plunged into the water trough again for a swim, instead of the mud wallow. His friends were surprised to find him submerged in the water like a hippopotamus with only his trunk showing above the water. Thamana enjoyed a scratching session against the baobab tree while Suswa and her friends had fun in the mud bath. Lasayen was again found playing outside the mud wallow where he had fun in the small puddles of water that had formed from splashed water.
The afternoon was spent browsing at the foot of Msinga Hill where Arruba, Murit and Pika Pika feasted on green vegetation, while Ngilai tried to engage his favourite playmate Emoli in a sparring game. He was met by a lack of interest from Emoli, who walked off and settled to browse a short distance away.
It was a sunny morning today and the orphans had fun playing around the stockade compound following the morning milk feed. There were a variety of bonding games the orphans were enjoying - Ngilai and Murit engaged in conversation while Tagwa enjoyed scratching against the biggest rock in the stockade compound. Mbegu had a scratching session against the stockade terraces while Suswa and Murit engaged in a play fight.
Ngilai was in a very playful mood and lay on the ground to entice Sagala to play but she was not interested and walked off leaving Ngilai to pose for the camera, acting as if that was his plan all along.
Murit and Emoli were sparring while Sagala, Lemeki and Thamana decided that it was time to head out for the day and took the lead of the orphan herd out to the Park, settling to browse along Msinga Hill halfway towards the baobab tree waterhole.
Following the afternoon milk feed, the orphans all had a lot of fun playing in the waterhole as they enjoyed a variety of mud bathing games which showcased their wallowing tactics. Ngilai and Emoli exited the water to engage in a sparring session before joining the rest of the orphans for the afternoon browsing activities.
In the evening the orphans returned to the stockades for the night with Lasayen, Godoma and Sagala enjoying a quick mud bath at the stockade compound after which they had a drink from the water trough before entering their stockades for the night.
The orphans exited their stockades this morning for their milk bottles after which they enjoyed feeding on dairy cubes. Arruba had fun rolling around on the ground to play while Mudanda enjoyed a morning dust bath at the stockade dust piles.
Tagwa, Rorogoi and Sagala led the way out to the browsing fields today, with Godoma and Thamana spending time side by side with Lemeki as the three bonded while browsing in the open fields adjacent to Msinga Hill. Mbegu wanted to spend time bonding with Thamana and managed to get Thamana to herself for a little bit. Thamana seemed to enjoy being with Mbegu and kept taking vegetation from her mouth.
As noon approached, the orphans made their way to the baobab tree waterhole for their noon milk bottle followed by a mud bath. Lasayen drank from the water trough alongside Ngilai and Suswa while Ndotto and Mudanda enjoyed a sparring session under the baobab tree. Sagala and Tagwa stood side by side at the water trough while Pika Pika and Rorogoi were busy sparring in the mud wallow. The orphans all enjoyed mud bathing today, with Arruba exiting the water for a scratching session against a nearby tree. Ndotto and Suswa were standing in the water head to head, as if engaged in a telepathic conversation while Lemeki, Sagala and Thamana all had a good time dust bathing. The afternoon was spent browsing before returning to the safety of the stockades for the night.
The stockade-dependent orphans left the stockade compound following the morning milk and supplement feeding. Before they left, Murit and Arruba had a short pushing game which turned into a game where they were almost just leaning against one another! The orphans settled to browse towards the summit of Msinga Hill. The Keepers called them down for their noon milk feed and they slowly made their way down to the baobab tree waterhole. They did not seem in any rush as they were enjoying the browse that they had found and wanted to get their fill.
On arrival at the mud bath, Emoli headed straight to the water trough and climbed in to cool off. The rest of the orphans gathered around for a drink of water, not at all deterred by the fact that Emoli was wallowing in their drinking water, though he did his best to deter them as he stirred up the water with his trunk.
It was quite a sunny day and the orphans enjoyed wallowing in the mud bath. Ndotto was the first to leave the water, opting to go for a dust bath while Lasayen posed at the edge of the waterhole. Sagala is very protective of Thamana and kept a close eye on the youngster while he bathed. Mbegu and Rorogoi joined Sagala in keeping watch of Thamana.
It was a bright start to the day as the orphans enjoyed feeding on the pellet supplements following the morning milk feed. Pika Pika went for a morning mud bath where she was joined by Arruba and Embu while Emoli and Ngilai engaged in one of their daily strength testing games. Once the stockade activities were over, the orphans headed out to the Park and settled to browse on the green vegetation that they found on Msinga Hill. The sun was high in the sky as the orphans enjoyed a mud wallow with Ndotto rolling down the edge of the waterhole into the water while Mudanda showcased her mud bathing skills. Pika Pika challenged Rorogoi to a strength testing game in the water and when the two were done playing, Rorogoi headed off to engage Ndotto in a pushing game at the water’s edge. She enjoyed rolling around on the edge of the mud wallow for quite some time. Murit and Emoli enjoyed a sparring session outside of the mud bath.
We also had a very exciting development among our ex orphans: As has become their annual tradition, Edie's ex orphan herd returned to Voi at the beginning of January. This marked the debut of Icholta's new baby, Izzy, who was followed a few weeks later by the birth of Edie's fourth calf, Enzo. Kenia and her semi-independent group, who for so long have been experimenting with a wild life but lacked the confidence to make the full transition, decided to join Edie's herd. They spent the past several weeks in their company, although the ex orphans still joined the dependent herds most days.
We wondered if Kenia's group would join Edie and Mweya when they decided to venture deeper into Tsavo. That time came today — and we are excited to report that they did join them! It seems that Kenia, Ndii, Ishaq-B, Panda, Naipoki, Tundani, Bada, Mashariki, Ndoria, and Araba are officially ex orphans now. We are incredibly proud of them for taking this step.
Thamana and Lemeki came running out of their stockades this morning in a race to be the first to arrive at the milk feeding area for the morning milk bottle. Pika Pika, Emoli, Tamiyoi and Tagwa followed the two and seemed to be pushing one another to see who would be fed first.
The orphans hung around the stockade compound playing before heading out to the park to browse. At noon they came running down to the feeding area above the baobab tree waterhole for their noon milk bottle. Thamana has gotten used to holding his bottle which he keeps a firm grip on as he downed its contents. Afterwards, he joined the rest of the orphan herd at the waterhole for a wallowing session.
Tamiyoi enjoyed a scratching session while Pika Pika and Rorogoi had fun wallowing with their friends. Lasayen was found relaxing outside the mud bath before rolling around on the ground while Mudanda was busy scratching against the baobab tree. Once the wallowing games were over the orphans returned to their browsing activities for the rest of the afternoon.
After the morning milk feed, Ngilai enjoyed a play fight with his favourite playmate Emoli while Godoma leant against the stockade terrace and fed on the range cubes making sure to pick up every last one. Murit enjoyed scratching against the twin trees while Sagala kept company with Thamana and Lemeki, out two latest arrivals. Ndotto, Arruba and Mudanda were engaged in a three-way wrestling game while Tamiyoi and Tagwa had already headed out to the park for the day and were quite a distance from the stockade compound browsing.
At noon the orphans headed to the baobab tree waterhole where Emoli once again climbed into the water trough to cool off while the rest of the orphans circled the trough for a drink before going for a mud bath. Mbegu walked out of the mud bath to join Lasayen who was scratching against the baobab tree. Pika Pika, Godoma. Arruba and Rorogoi were all having a lot of fun playing in the mud bath with Godoma kneeling down to roll around in the muddy water while Mudanda splashed around at the edge of the waterhole with Suswa splashing around in the middle. As they walked back out to browse, Godoma and Pika Pika enjoyed a quick sparring game, before settling to feed together on the grasslands.
Sagala stuck to Thamana for the entire morning and the two enjoyed browsing side by side until it was time to move to the baobab tree waterhole. Arruba has stepped in to take Pika Pika under her wing and the two spent the morning feeding on green vegetation halfway up Msinga Hill while the rest of the orphans fed towards the bottom.
At noon the orphans made their way down to the mud wallow, where they had their milk bottle before having fun playing in the muddy water. Mudanda seemed to be having the most fun as she ran in and out of the water, plunging into the mud over and over. Mbegu and her group seemed a bit wary of Mudanda and her game which resulted in Tamiyoi and Mbegu moving to the farthest edge of the waterhole, well away from where Mudanda was splashing and rolling around. Ndotto later invited Mudanda for a sparring game while Lasayen was seen relaxing at the water’s edge.
In the evening, the Voi stockades received a call from Trevor Jennings about a young female calf who had been spotted alone by tour drivers. The team headed to the area and monitored the calf for a while to see if the mother would return. When there was no sign of the mother or any other elephants the calf was rescued and brought to the stockades where it would spend the night before being airlifted to the Nairobi Nursery the next day.
A bright and sunny day greeted the orphans as they exited their night quarters for their milk bottle after which they settled to feed on pellets put out for them by the keepers. Everything was set up in order for the newly rescued calf to be taken to the airstrip in order for it to be airlifted to Nairobi and transported to the Nairobi Nursery.
Just before the orphans headed out to the park, Ndotto invited Suswa to play a sparring game while Ngilai was busy digging the ground to loosen up the soil. Both the sparring game and Ngilai’s fun were brought to a quick end as the orphans left the stockades for the day.
In the afternoon, the orphans came running down to the milk feeding area before proceeding to the mud wallow. As it was a fairly cold day the orphans seemed to be debating whether to get into the waterhole. Mudanda soon forged ahead, breaking the stalemate as she plunged into the water and rolled around. She was soon joined by the rest of the orphan herd who were not quite as enthusiastic as she was in their mud bathing activities. Suswa soon exited the water and headed to the water trough where she had a drink and splashed around before joining Lasayen at the baobab tree for a scratching session. Rorogoi had her own private chat with Mbegu, perhaps about where the orphans should continue browsing for the rest of the afternoon.
The orphans morning milk bottle was ready and waiting for them as soon as they exited their stockades. They came running out full of excitement and readiness for the day ahead. The contents of their milk bottles were downed in a matter of seconds after which they proceeded to the lucerne pellet feeding area. There were some brief stockade games with Embu scratching against a large rock while Pika Pika enjoyed a scratching session against one of the smaller rocks where she could scratch her belly.
Today, some female lions and their six cubs were found near the baobab tree waterhole. They were spotted by the Voi Keepers before the orphans got to the waterhole. The Keepers did their best to scare them off using the stockade pick-up, but the lions would not budge. As such the orphans had their noon milk feed and mud bath back at the stockades where Mbegu lay in the water to cool off while soaking up the sun. Arruba was busy playing with her newly adopted baby Pika Pika and Tamiyoi enjoyed scratching against a small rock.
The afternoon was spent browsing out in the park until it was again time to return to the safety of the stockades for the night. Thankfully the orphans did not have any run-ins with the pride of lions and as such they were none the wiser as to why their normal schedule had been disrupted today.
The orphans chose not to hang around the stockade compound today after finishing their morning routine, and after they were done with lucerne they all started to walk out of the gates. Sagala went to find Thamana and escort him out, but Lemeki wasn’t happy with that and got in the way of Sagala walking with the young bull. Sagala wasn’t deterred, and instead chose to adopt them both and guide both of the youngsters out! Mudanda felt jealous of Sagala’s interaction with Thamana and Lemeki, which was evident because she came over and pushed Sagala with her sharp tusks, trying to push her away from them.
As they arrived on the northern side of Msinga Hill, the Keepers noticed five lions and six cubs hunting near the baobab water hole, stopping even wild elephants from drinking water there. Consequently, the Keepers chose to slowly guide the orphans back to the compound as they browsed, arriving in time for their noon milk bottles.
Ngilai and Ndotto, who are single-handedly responsible for changing Mudanda’s character from a shy and slightly reserved young girl, to now a very playful one, were once again they were ready to engage her in a wonderful sparring match. Mudanda was very excited, running here and there as if in a celebratory mood that Ndotto wanted to play with her today. She is quite a different elephant these days! Murit went to scratch against the twin trees before joining up with the rest of his friends to leave the compound and browse on the hill for the rest of the afternoon, well away from the lions further down.
This morning, we watched as Thamana sprinted past Lemeki to overtake her and get to the front of the milk feeding area, grabbing his milk bottle and gulping it down! He then walked with Lemeki over to the older orphans, who were already enjoying some lucerne pellets.
It was a bright and warm morning with Pika Pika surprising her friends as she went to lie in the water for an early morning mud bath in the stockade water hole, which is almost unheard of! Pika Pika invited Arruba to play but Arruba only stood guard next to her in the mud bath, without really getting fully involved in the swimming that Pika Pika was enjoying! Lemeki went for a dust bath on the pile of loose soil, with Sagala and Thamana standing and cheering her on from the sides, raising their trunks at her.
Just before the afternoon milk feeding time for the orphans, a huge herd of buffalos with well over 100 members visited the baobab water hole. They drank thousands of litres of water from both the water hole and the water trough, leaving nothing behind. For this reason, the orphans once again went back to the stockades for their noon milk feed and to have a mud bath, before proceeding with their normal afternoon of browsing.
After the morning milk feed, all the stockade-dependent orphans gathered for their routine lucerne grass pellet feeding, before engaging in their usual games before heading out to browse. Sagala was on her usual mission to adopt Thamana and Lemeki, and it seems today she was largely successful as she was spotted browsing side by side with them the entire day.
At noon, the orphans finally returned to their usual baobab tree waterhole. The orphans went down for their bottles in groups of four, with Ngilai, Thamana, Lemeki and Emoli going first. Four Keepers were ready and waiting for all the orphans to come for their share, next to the vehicle which carries the bottles. When the milk feed was done, the orphans walked down to the main waterhole and had a lot of fun in the water there, since it had been topped up by the water bowser after all the buffalo came through yesterday.
Instead of the mud bath, Lemeki plunged into the water trough and decided to swim in nice clean water. Suswa came running over to her though and tried to get her out – we weren’t sure if she was annoyed that Lemeki was getting all the nice drinking water dirty, or if she thought she was in trouble and needed help! Either way, this brought about an end to Lemeki’s games in the water trough. The rest of the day’s browsing continued to the south of the waterhole until the orphans returned home at 5pm.
The milk dependent orphans gulped down their milk before joining their older friends for lucerne pellets. Thamana is the youngest member of the herd at the moment, and Godoma has made it her sole mission to get as close to him as possible. She tried to separate him from Lemeki by coming and standing in-between them, but she didn’t really succeed. The orphan elephants then walked out towards the browsing grounds, but Murit and Emoli were left behind as they were so engrossed in their wrestling match with one another. Later they ran to catch up with their friends.
The orphans browsed in single file, visiting the baobab water hole after having their noon milk feed. Mbegu lay down in the middle of the mud bath for some swimming games, and became the day’s celebrity as Emoli, Rorogoi and Pika Pika all joined her to play. Today’s mud bathing antics were particularly spectacular, as the orphans spent longer than usual playing in the water before leaving for browsing.
There was a bit of drama this morning, when Emoli got very jealous that his best friend Ngilai was busy playing with Pika Pika. When Ngilai wouldn’t play with him, he stormed off, and went to find Murit instead to start a pushing game with him, and hide his disappointment. Ngilai’s game soon became a little too mischievous however, and he started trying to climb on Pika Pika. Arruba came running over to her rescue, but she was intercepted by Ndotto who wanted to engage Arruba in a wrestling game. Pika Pika managed to shake Ngilai off and engage him in a real head on fight, before leaving to catch up with her friends who were starting to leave the stockade for the bush.
The orphans browsed peacefully today, taking a brief break around noon for their milk bottles and to enjoy a mud bath, before leaving that area to continue browsing for the rest of the afternoon.
Later in the afternoon, Mbegu lay down strategically next to a very big rock and invited Thamana and Lemeki to play with her. Emoli felt jealous of their game and came over to join in, but this sent Thamana and Lemeki running away from Mbegu as they were worried Emoli might be a little too boisterous. This was a good result for Emoli who was left enjoying Mbegu’s company all to himself!
Pika Pika, Thamana and Lemeki came running out of their stockade at top speed this morning, excited for their morning milk bottles. They were followed shortly by Tamiyoi, Tagwa and Emoli. The older orphans had already started feeding on lucerne pellets when the dependent orphans went to join them. Pika Pika walked straight over to Arruba, moving Rorogoi out of the way who had been feeding next to her. Ngilai and Emoli enjoyed one of their sparring matches while Mudanda decided to go for an early morning dust bath. Tamiyoi then set off to the bush with her close friends Tagwa and Sagala following closely behind, in the company of Lemeki and Thamana.
Settling on the foot of Msinga Hill, the orphans browsed through the mid morning and later walked down to the milk feeding area just before noon. The sun was high in the sky and beating down mercilessly hot, and the orphans rushed into the mud hole to cool off after having their bottles. Ndotto decided to take on his best friend Arruba and then Ngilai for a sparring challenge, just outside the mud wallow. Mudanda was scratching against the baobab, and as she came out of the mud bath, Ndotto decided to engage her in another sparring challenge.
As the orphans started to file out across the grasslands to continue browsing, Mbegu decided to climb inside the water trough to play and splash about there, as if having a tantrum and in defiance that it was time to leave the mud bath already! After several minutes of the Keepers calling her, she eventually climbed out and ran after her friends trumpeting and with her tail in the air.
It was a sunny morning as the orphans settled to browse just a stone’s throw away from the stockade compound. They browsed, played and generally bonded with one another. Pika Pika invited Ngilai for an early morning sparring game. Just as Ngilai seemed to be winning the game, Tagwa came to her rescue and the two combined forces against Ngilai was a real test for him. Pika Pika later walked off, leaving Tagwa to face Ngilai by herself and Ngilai ended up showing off his dominance by climbing on her, but the Keepers told him to behave himself.
Out in the bush, little Thamana spent his morning browsing side by side with his new friend, Sagala.
At the baobab tree mud bath, a wild male bull who looked like he was in musth visited with a large wild elephant family, who interacted with our orphans throughout the entire mud wallowing session. As the orphans withdrew from the wild elephants to carry on with their afternoon, Pika Pika and Sagala remained, not willing to follow the orphans as they wanted to stay with the wild elephants. Eventually as their friends started to walk further away, they ran to catch up with them. The orphans continued browsing, choosing to stay in a spot at the top of Msinga Hill for the rest of the day.
We had some light rain in the early morning hours, as the orphans were busy gulping down their milk bottles. Suswa was so excited to have nice, soft soil to roll on that she immediately lay on the ground and started rolling, stretching her trunk out towards Ndotto to ask him to join her, but Ndotto just walked past her. Murit went to catch up with Emoli and lock him in for an early morning sparring game, before Ngilai, Emoli’s best friend, could even think about it.
Soon after arriving out on the grasslands north of Msinga Hill, Tamiyoi noticed a wild elephant herd with a very small calf. She was feeling bold enough to walk up to the herd and request to greet and play with the little calf. Sagala and Tagwa approached as well but they were too shy to fully approach the wild herd, leaving Tamiyoi to have all the fun with the youngster. Tamiyoi later came back to join her orphan friends, as the wild elephants started to walk off in the opposite direction to continue browsing.
Tagwa took more time today browsing close to Thamana, but later Lemeki came to take Thamana away for a dust bath on the soil which was still pretty wet.
The orphans later came across another wild elephant herd with some calves and this time Sagala joined Tamiyoi to greet the wild elephant calves in that herd, before following their friends who were leaving the mud bath area to continue browsing for the rest of the afternoon.
The morning was calm and cold, with the Voi stockade-dependent orphans enjoying their morning milk bottles and proceeding for the supplement lucerne pellets. After only briefly feeding on some pellets, Ngilai decided he was in a playful mood. His friends ignored his playful requests as they wanted to carry on concentrating on their supplement food! Ngilai went on running up and down and charging around, but he finally stopped, swinging his right front leg back and forth in a characteristic gesture of indecision. He seemed at a cross-roads of whether to carry on playing and disrupting everyone, or to go back to feeding. Before he could make up his mind however, his friends finished feeding and slowly started to file out of the gate towards the bush to begin their day of browsing.
Soon after arriving in the area they chose to browse, Tagwa and Murit started a game of pushing a medium size tree, but they were both unable to break it down.
The orphans were reluctant to take an afternoon mud bath after their noon milk bottles as it was quite a chilly day. It was only Murit and Emoli who braved the water, using the mud bath as their private arena for their own wrestling match, which took place right in the middle of the water as if it had been reserved privately for them, and the others just stood at the edge watching!
It was a morning full of fun and games, with the mischievous Ngilai up to his usual tricks. He was being quite naughty and kept trying to climb on Pika Pika. Pika Pika became angry and struggled to shrug Ngilai off, but eventually when she managed she turned around for a revenge fight. Nobody was around to rescue Pika Pika from Ngilai as her adopted mother Arruba was locked in another sparring session with Ndotto. Thamana and Lemeki stayed away from Ngilai, for fear of becoming his next victims!
After a wonderful afternoon mud bath, Mbegu lay down in a small hole just big enough to fit her, for a lovely private soil bath. Rorogoi later joined her and they had a lot of fun playing and lying on top of each other. Soon, wild elephants started streaming into the water hole area to drink. Godoma and Tamiyoi were the first to move forward to welcome them all. Arruba stayed in the water hole with Pika Pika Pika, who apparently wasn’t yet done with her mud bathing games. She then had the audacity to charge and threaten a wild elephant bull, warning him not to come close to the water hole while she was still in it! The thirsty wild elephant bull, who certainly outranks Pika Pika with regards to elephant seniority and hierarchy, came into the water anyway, forcing Pika Pika and Arruba to move out and join their friends leaving for their usual browsing bush walks.
It was a calm morning as the orphans all enjoyed the supplement pellets after their milk feed — all except for Ngilai, who is always in a playing mood these days. However, his favourite playmate Emoli was busy feeding on lucerne still, so he opted to invite Murit for a morning wrestling match instead. Pika Pika was enjoying an early morning dust bath with her adopted mother Aruba on the mound of loose soil. Tamiyoi and Tagwa were the leaders this morning, guiding everyone out of the stockades to begin their day of browsing, but without Sagala, who is shifting a lot of her attention to little Thamana these days.
Today, the orphans came back to the stockade for their noon milk feed. Aruba, Pika Pika and Rorogoi went straight into the mud wallow, displacing Godoma who was having a good time there. She came out and went for a dust bath instead. Ngilai and Murit were playing pushing games between the twin trees, but they walked away when Mudanda came over to scratch against the same trees, and went to the mud bath instead. Pika Pika watched Ngilai come out of the mud bath, and dared him for a wrestling match beside the terraces! When the orphans were done with their fun and games, they continued with their afternoon of browsing around the Msinga Hill.
Tagwa and Emoli were sparring in the stockade compound after the morning milk feed. Tagwa then went to scratch against the big rock next to the stockade entrance, while Tamiyoi tried to climb up the terrace wall. The orphans left for their daily walks and settled to browse at the foot of Msinga Hill.
Once again, they returned to the stockades for the noon milk feed. After the milk feed, the orphans were messing around. Murit was scratching on a rock next to the water trough, while little Thamana took up top position at the orphans’ favourite scratching rock! Godoma and Ngilai had a good time in the mud wallow splashing and rolling around. Ndotto and Rorogoi were having a pushing game while Ngilai sat down on the ground, throwing his trunk in the air, thoroughly entertaining Pika Pika! Embu was lucky enough to get to spend some quality time with Lemeki. She patted and held her trunk as they both enjoyed each other’s company while the others played in the compound.
This morning was slightly windy, as the dependent orphans enjoyed their usual morning routine. Arruba was posing at the water trough drinking while Godoma, Thamana and Sagala had such fun with an early morning dust bath, throwing soil all over the place! Tamiyoi was at her favourite rock while her friend Tagwa enjoyed a morning scratch on the rock next to the stockade mud bath. Ndotto was feeling strong today and decided to take on both Mudanda and Arruba in a pushing game! Arruba then went to try and climb up the terrace wall while Ndotto continued his sparring game with Mudanda alone.
Tagwa challenged Pika Pika to a friendly wrestling match but Ngilai came over to disrupt them and tried to climb on Tagwa. He is always trying to bother either Pika Pika or Tagwa! Ndotto, clearly in a show-off mood this morning, wrapped his trunk around a branch of one of the twin trees and tried to pull it down, but of course did not succeed.
The orphans left the stockades and spent the morning browsing along Msinga Hill. Just before 11am, the milk-dependent orphans came down to their usual feeding area beside the mud bath for their milk bottles. Ndotto and Mudanda couldn’t get enough of their sparring games today, so these games continued on their way down to the mud bath when Ndotto was done with his milk bottle. Arruba and Suswa went straight to have some water at the trough. Arruba then decided to get into the water trough as Suswa watched on, but she didn’t join her friend in the water. Perhaps she thought the mud bath is for bathing, and the water trough is for drinking from! Lemeki also went in after Arruba but she didn’t stay there for long. Ngilai decided not to swim today as he felt it was too cold, and instead he decided to bother poor Tagwa again, but she turned to face him in a pushing game. Embu wasn’t afraid of the weather today however, and she got into the main mud bath and really enjoyed rolling around, while her friend Suswa splashed excitedly next to her.
Later the orphans resumed browsing on the hill, spending the better part of the day up there, only coming down later in the evening to return home for the night.
After finishing his milk bottles, Ndotto went in a hurry to catch up with Pika Pika for a sparring match. Arruba felt jealous that her adopted baby Pika Pika was playing with Ndotto, and she came over and put herself between the two, effectively starting her own wrestling match with Ndotto instead. Mudanda was really enjoying a good scratch this morning, while Sagala did the same against the big rock close to the stockade water trough.
The orphan elephants then left for the northern side of Msinga Hill, while the other orphan zebras and buffaloes, Diria, Cheza and Ivia, moved to browse on the southern side.
The weather was cold when the orphans visited the water hole in the afternoon, and none of them wanted to swim. Emoli and Murit took each other head on in a sparring game, while Ngilai went for Tagwa as usual. Rorogoi went to take Ndotto to task in a wonderful sparring game, while Arruba kept herself busy peeling bark off the trunk of an acacia tree and feasting on them. The orphans left the mud bath area and chose to browse to the east of the mud bath for the rest of the day.
The morning was calm but cold. The orphans enjoyed their morning milk bottle and proceeded for some supplement food. When they were done they messed around for a while, dusting on the soil pile, before following behind Sagala, Lemeki and Thamana who decided to lead the way out to the bush today.
Arruba browsed closely with Pika Pika, while Sagala, Lemeki and Thamana did the same. Sagala is really trying to be close to Thamana and Lemeki these days.
The orphans’ morning passed uneventfully, until it was time for them to walk slowly back to the stockades for their noon milk feed, as some lions had been spotted not far from their usual baobab tree feeding area. After having their bottles, the orphans went for a mud bath while still in the compound. Mbegu was playing in the water and having such a great time with Thamana. It seems Tagwa felt a little jealous of them as she came over and started lying on Mbegu, putting an end to her game with Thamana. Sagala went to scratch on a small rock close to the water hole, but she too kept an eye on her favourite little Thamana playing with Mbegu. The orphans left the compound when they were done playing, and spent the rest of their day browsing to the south of the hill.
Lemeki and Thamana ran well in front of their friends this morning to be first in line for their delicious milk bottles, before settling down with the others for some lucerne pellets. It was quite warm already this morning. Pika Pika, a well-known water baby, decided to introduce the idea of a morning mud bath to her friends again. Pika Pika plunged into the stockade water hole and was accompanied by her adopted mother Arruba and Embu, who actually seemed to fully embrace this morning mud bath idea! Their friends later joined so the first three decided to get out and lie on the loose soil to dry off. Pika Pika really enjoyed rolling on Arruba’s soft tummy too, something she would only allow this little youngster to do. Ndotto and Mudanda decided not to join everyone else for the novel morning mud bath, but kept themselves busy with their usual sparring games.
Lions were still around the baobab water hole today, even after the Keepers tried to move them away with one of their vehicles, so the orphans once again returned to the stockade for their noon milk bottles and mud bath.
As the orphans fed on lucerne pellets and played around in the stockade, the sun began to rise and dawn broke. Ngilai and Emoli played their usual sparring games as Tamiyoi scratched on the favourite rock. Pika Pika, seemingly pleased with her decision yesterday, decided to embark on another early morning mud bath, accompanied by her elder sister Aruba who is always looking after her. Ndotto found Mudanda and challenged her for their usual morning wrestling game. It was Sagala who led the orphans out to the bush today, closely followed by Thamana, Lemeki, Tamiyoi and Tagwa respectively.
Lions continued to hang around our browsing grounds, so the orphans were forced to have their noon milk feed at the stockade compound again, rather than at the baobab tree water hole. After finishing their milk bottles, Lemeki and Thamana went to cool off at the stockade water tough. They splashed their trunks there, before joining the rest of the herd who were playing and bonding with one another in lots of different social games. The orphans later resumed browsing at the foot of Msinga Hill, adjacent to the stockade compound. It seems they didn’t want to go far before returning home for the night.