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Lima Lima loves wild herds with tiny babies. Today, she tried to sneak a tiny wild baby away from its herd. Unfortunately for her, the mother was quick to realise and chased Lima Lima away.

The orphan herd is still very much obsessed with the two newest babies, Amali and Kapei. Amali is settling in well and making more friends within the herd. She has been spending more time with Enkesha, Kiasa, and Lima Lima – although the Keepers must be very careful that Lima Lima does not take Amali away with her to the bush. This is quickly becoming Lima Lima’s favourite trick. Amali is very clever and cautious; she knows which orphans are friendly and which ones to avoid.

By midday the orphans were very hot and ready to cool off in the mud bath. They made their way to the mud bath, but Enkesha, Maktao, and Kiasa were nowhere to be seen. The Keepers tried calling them, but they didn’t appear. Lima Lima went into the bushes and a short while later she appeared with Enkesha, Maktao, and Kiasa in tow. The Keepers were very pleased with Lima Lima for helping them find the truant elephants.

At the waterhole, Amali went swimming first and had the best time. When she had enough, she moved out so Kapei and the big girls could have their fun. At the end, Ngasha came and squeezed himself into the mud bath. Sonje, Murera and Quanza took this as their signal to get out. Sonje led the herd to the dust bath, letting Ngasha have his space. Ngasha called to Mwashoti to join him, but Mwashoti joined the others at the dust pile. The orphans migrated to the shade to rest and browse.

Wild elephants appeared along the Kibwezi Road, where the orphans were browsing. Enkesha and Kiasa were the ones to inform the Keepers that they were being surrounded by wild elephants, so the Keepers would not be caught off guard. Today this duty fell to them as Lima Lima, who usually safeguards the Keepers, was not with the Umani herd. Murera and Mwashoti moved away when they saw the wild elephants, as they did not want to be caught in the middle. When the wild elephants got close enough, they smelt the Keepers and ran off in the opposite direction.

Sonje, Quanza and Kiasa moved quickly to protect Kapei and Amali from getting confused and running off with the wild herd. After the commotion, the Keepers called all the orphans to regroup. Amali appeared with Mwashoti, while Kapei appeared from the thickest bush with Lima Lima. Lima Lima must have joined the herd after hearing the Keeper’s call. Kapei looked very happy to be back in the company of his familiar friends.

Kiombo and Maktao started their usual sparring match. Kiombo is usually the instigator; he starts pushing Maktao, who then must follow suit. Mwashoti has taken it upon himself to be the mediator and stops the fights if they ever become more serious. When the two boys saw Mwashoti approaching, they stopped fighting and pretended to be innocent. Mwashoti stood between them, separating them.

The orphans walked towards the Umani Hills. Murera kept to her slow pace, not influenced by the speed of the others. Ngasha was trying to walk with Kapei, but Enkesha and Kiasa were not happy about this. They were worried about Ngasha’s intentions. Enkesha and Kiasa wanted to prove to Lima Lima that they could be good matriarchs and look after the little babies. Later Quanza and Lima Lima got jealous and came to take Kapei back. Kapei happily followed the older girls, leaving Enkesha and Kiasa upset at how quickly Kapei abandoned them.

Murera and Sonje were spending some quality time together when Murera saw a wild bull approaching. Sonje likes to greet the wild bulls, but Murera keeps her distance. Murera moved off to be with Mwashoti and Amali.

At the waterhole, the babies had a great time playing. They kicked water around and lay on their bellies cooling off. As usual, Amali was the swimming champion. She was the first one in and the last one out. When Amali had eventually had enough of the mud bath, she moved over to Mwashoti and Murera, who were waiting in the shade.

Kapei and Enkesha got surprised by some hornbills flying overhead. Their wings made a strange noise, which caused the two elephants rushed to the protection of the older females.

Quanza, who recently joined the nightclubbers, refused to leave the orphan herd this evening. The whole orphan herd came back to the stockades for their dinner lucerne pellets and water. After they had their fill, Mwashoti, Alamaya, and Lima Lima walked off into the bush, but Quanza did not follow her friends. She ran into the stockades, trumpeting loudly, making it crystal clear she did not want to spend the night out in the bush. The Keepers let her in, and she promptly went to check on Enkesha, Maktao, and Kapei, before joining Kiasa in her old room. Kiasa was not happy about having to share again, as she had gotten used to having her own room.

Zongoloni, Jasiri, and Faraja came back today after spending some time away. Sonje was very happy to see her friends, and she clearly enjoyed catching up on all their stories.

In the afternoon, the orphan herd spent time resting in the shade. Kapei and Amali had insisted on resting, as they were both very tired and hot. Enkesha wanted Kapei to spend time with her, so she tried to persuade Kiombo and Kiasa to help her keep the young bull away from Lima Lima and Sonje. Sonje and Lima Lima saw what was going on and stepped in, whisking Kapei away with them to join Quanza and Maktao. Enkesha and Kiasa were upset, as their plan had failed.

When it had cooled down, the Umani herd went browsing towards the Chyulu area, where there was more vegetation.

The orphan herd rushed over for their milk bottles, with Kapei in front closely followed by Enkesha and then the others. Only Murera kept her distance until the chaos had calmed down. Sonje led the herd over to the water trough for a drink, before heading to the mud bath with Lima Lima.

The mud bath was madness today, as the orphans were all fighting for the prime spot. Quanza was trying to make room for Kapei and keep Maktao from squishing him, but Maktao insisted on invading her space. Kapei started trumpeting, knowing that this could cause Sonje and Lima Lima to come to his defense, too. Maktao was forced out of the mud bath. Mwashoti and Enkesha followed Maktao to cheer him up, as he was not happy about being kicked out of the mud bath. Then Ngasha arrived and everyone evacuated the mud bath.