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The orphans were excited to emerge from their sleeping quarters after a long night of light rains. Amali began knocking on her gate early, eager to start the new day and meet the newborns, Lenny and Sulwe. As soon as they stepped outside, Amali eagerly searched for Sulwe and Lenny but only found Murera with her baby, Mwana.

Raising her trunk, Amali tried to pick up a scent to guide her to Lima Lima and Sonje, hoping to find the little ones. She eventually wandered off in search of them, with Kapei deciding to follow. The rest of the herd stayed behind, understanding that Lima Lima and Sonje were still absent and anticipating that Amali would return empty-handed. As predicted, Amali and Kapei soon rejoined the group without the babies.

A few hours later, Quanza arrived, and with her came the moment Amali had been waiting for. This time, the new mothers and their babies appeared, bringing joy to everyone. Amali, Kiasa, and Enkesha rushed forward to greet the little ones, with Murera bringing up the rear. It was a joyful reunion for the whole herd.

Mwashoti today came to visit with a friend from the wild side. The boys browsed closely with the other boy orphans, but not the new mothers and Murera. Later in the day, this wild bull disappeared and came back with another bull who was not as comfortable around the Keepers. They caught the Keepers' scent and raised their trunks, cautious and trying to determine where the humans were.

Murera also smelled the bulls and alerted her Keepers to move away with her to an open area, where both could see further. Mwana started blowing her trumpet and charging around, until Enkesha calmed her down. 

In the open area, buffaloes arrived in large numbers. This made all the elephants move closer to their Keepers, giving them full protection so they wouldn't be exposed to the buffaloes, who were demanding more grazing space around the mudbath area. Eventually, we had to admit defeat and give the buffaloes the room they wanted. Some buffaloes then moved into the waterhole and started to roll around, mudbathing.

Mwana did not like seeing how the buffaloes took over the waterhole. She wanted them moved out, but we could not, because we were outnumbered.

Today, Sonje and Lima Lima changed their visiting tactics, arriving late from a very different direction, which is completely confusing the orphans. Amali walked out, trying once again to see if she could find the little babies, Sulwe and Lenny. However, Amali did not find them, forcing her to return without seeing the little ones.

When Kapei saw Amali coming back, he blocked her way. Amali received help from Enkesha, who wasn’t far away. Kapei thought Enkesha would be easy to push around, but he found it very difficult to move her. Enkesha decided to show her true strength, and Kapei quickly realised he had underestimated her. Feeling the pressure, Kapei surrendered and joined Sulwe.

Lenny then moved towards Lima Lima to have some milk, which he was allowed to do. Meanwhile, Amali waited patiently for Lenny so they could go together to the waterhole. However, Lenny jumped into the waterhole before Amali could decide for herself. Quanza and Kiasa also wanted to join Lenny in the waterhole.

Enkesha stayed some distance away from the mud bath, waiting to join the herd after swimming. Mwashoti and Alamaya appeared with some wild friends, approaching the orphans. However, Sonje and Murera moved away after spotting the newcomers joining the group. This behaviour from the wild friends did not sit well with Murera and Sonje. When Alamaya noticed their discomfort, he moved away with his friend, heading back to Chyulu Hills.

Lima Lima has rediscovered her love for milk bottles since giving birth. As a treat for the nursing new mother, the Keepers have reintroduced her bottles, just as they did for Murera and now Sonje as well.

Now that Lima Lima has her bottles back, her old, greedy-for-milk character has returned. Today, she arrived for bottle-feeding ahead of time, accompanied by Kapei and Enkesha, seemingly unaware that Lenny was still asleep and had been left behind. Murera, upon noticing Lenny’s absence, took the baby and brought him to Lima Lima. Sonje, on the other hand, sticks firmly to her rule: her baby comes first, no matter what.

Lima Lima does care for Lenny, but when there’s a hint of bottles around, her priorities shift to getting her share first. After bottle feeding, all the babies headed to the waterhole. Sulwe, feeling the heat, attempted to get into the big waterhole. When Sonje noticed, she became concerned that Sulwe might get stuck. Acting quickly, Sonje pulled Sulwe back and ensured she stayed close for safety.

Sulwe got Lenny into a very wrong corner today. Sulwe felt thirsty and she pushed past her ‘little brother’ to feed. Lenny was headed to the waterhole when Sulwe intercepted him, hoping to nurse from her aunt, Zongoloni. She pushed Lenny down to give herself room to go and breastfeed, but Lenny determinedly blocked her way. Then Sulwe became mad at him and started headbutting him.  

The fighting babies soon turned into a herd-wide matter. Zongoloni and Mwana intervened after Lenny was pushed down by little Sulwe. They tried to convince the two little babies not to fight, but Sulwe still wasn’t happy with Lenny. Eventually, Lima Lima came for her baby, leaving Sulwe with Quanza and other nannies. Some time later, Murera, Sonje, and Amali gathered the babies to try to solve Sulwe’s anger at Lenny. 

In the end, Kiasa and Quanza, together with Enkesha, neutralised the situation by taking the little ones to the waterhole to swim. Then all the orphans joined the waterhole for a mud bath together with the babies. The waterhole became all-inclusive for everyone, and this made Sulwe forget about her grievances with little Lenny.

Wild bulls arrived at the waterhole with some of their wild female companions for mating purposes. When they noticed Murera, two bulls attempted to approach her, which made Murera very furious. She rumbled loudly, sounding an alarm to call the orphans near her. Mwana and Lenny responded quickly to her call, while Enkesha and the other younger orphans followed Murera and Mwana. 

Lenny, however, became confused and hesitated between staying with his mother, Lima Lima, and following the wild bulls. Amali noticed Lenny's confusion and, together with Lima Lima, managed to guide him back into the orphan herd. 

After the orphans escaped the wild bulls, the Keepers called them and led them to the Umani Hills for fresh browsing. Later in the evening, as the orphans and Keepers were preparing to head back to the stockades, Alamaya, Ziwa, and a large wild herd joined the orphans, making it challenging for the Keepers to separate the orphans from the wild herd. 

Using a clever strategy, the Keepers called Mwana, prompting Zongoloni to move to the front with Sulwe. This attracted the other orphans to follow, and the Keepers used the opportunity to guide the orphan herd away from the wild elephants. However, Alamaya and Ziwa decided to accompany the orphans back to the stockades.

Once the orphans arrived home and had their evening bottles, Sulwe and Lenny had a disagreement. The two fought for space under Sonje, competing over who could stay closer to her without being displaced. Sulwe eventually won, and Lenny moved to his mother, Lima Lima.

Lima Lima, Sonje, and the new babies didn’t report this morning. Only Quanza and Mwashoti arrived, while the others failed to show up, giving the Keepers a headache about what could be wrong today. Amali and Enkesha were equally concerned, so they took a walk toward the direction Quanza and Mwashoti came from. 

There, they found Sonje and Lima Lima relaxing beneath a tree. When a Keeper followed them, they discovered it was napping time for the new babies. The mothers had decided to stop and wait for Lenny and Sulwe to finish napping before they joined the other orphans. This took a little while, and Amali joined them in the waiting game.

After some time, Lenny then got up, but Sulwe continued napping until late. Murera and the other babies walked away, leaving the little cuties to continue sleeping until they had enough rest.

Meanwhile, in the Chyulu Hills, a wild herd with a few babies moved in and joined Murera and her friends. However, Murera moved backward to distance herself from them. She did not want to be part of the wild herd that came with little babies, as unknown elephants make her anxious. 

Enkesha, along with other little nannies — Amali, Kiasa, and Mwana — were very happy after they were handed the tiny babies to play with at the waterhole. Lenny and Sulwe had a very humbling moment at the mud bath: Sulwe screamed after one of the elephants sat on her feet. Everybody, including all the new mothers and Murera, rushed to the waterhole to help their little princess. Murera came in so angry towards little Kiombo and Mwashoti, who were just standing and watching. Kiombo had to run away so fast to avoid the bitter Murera before she got to him.

While the babies walked back towards the Chyulu Hills, Faraja arrived with his huge friend. The bull had massive but shorter tusks, looking for Quanza and Murera. Quanza dodged them, as she isn’t ready to consort with such a big bull, but Murera allowed him to approach. However, Murera soon had enough and ran away, with Mwana in close pursuit. 

After running for some time, Mwana moved over to little Amali so she could rest. Mischievous Kapei moved in and blocked the girls from going any further.

The orphans had a very good morning start, with both the new mothers and the milk-dependent orphans who spent their nights inside the stockades. All were reported and well-received by Enkesha and Amali, who went to greet Lenny and Sulwe, while their mothers took a break to relax after spending the night with them. 

Faraja arrived, but the others were not happy with his entrance into the herd. When Murera saw him, she and Sonje both raised their ears, as if in protest, so that Faraja might leave. However, Faraja walked directly toward Murera, and then Mwana started to yell as she was not happy with how Faraja was behaving with her mother, Murera.

After their midday bottle feeding, the babies moved to the waterhole to splash themselves with mud, as they arrived feeling very hot. Lenny, Mwana, and Sulwe jumped into the mud bath, and Enkesha, with the support of the other nannies, joined the little babies to have fun in the waterhole. Murera did not join them, as she looked annoyed to see Faraja near her again.

We later realised that Faraja was just playing a trick with his wild bull friend, who was still looking for Murera. The bull began chasing Murera, with Faraja behind. This was when it became clear that Faraja was playing a supporting role, as he sensed that Murera was ready to mate. 

Because Faraja is still too young for mating, he called in his friend, who then took off with Murera and destabilised the herd. All the orphans split into two groups, with the new mothers in one group and Murera taking her own direction together with Mwana, who was innocent and did not understand what was happening with the wild bull and her mother. It was a big day for Murera, who was in heat and ready to mate with the wild bull.

We missed the entire herd, as they did not return to the stockades until morning.

Sonje arrived with Sulwe, followed by Lima Lima, who was again with Lenny and Kiasa. Kiasa instructed Amali to take charge of the babies while she browsed on some fresh greens that caught her eye. 

Sulwe and Lenny both tried to suckle from Kiasa and a fight broke out. Kiasa was very comfortable with the two babies who were squabbling over who could faux-nurse from her. Sulwe was so serious and determined not to give up. After Lenny tried to push her out, she chose to fight from within and eventually pushed him away. 

Far in the bushes, the Keepers heard the sounds of elephants yelling, which was proof that Murera and her newfound fiancé were mating. Mwana looked very tired since the mating of her mother began four days ago, which had led to the new mothers separating from Murera to avoid commotion around little babies.

Everyone scattered, so the Keepers tried to gather the orphans back to the stockades. Quanza and Enkesha saw us, and when the Keepers shouted their names, they both responded very enthusiastically because everyone had missed each other.

It was a very warm reunion between the Keepers and orphans. Lenny looked tired from the long day and night they had been away but was still soldiering on with the pace. Sulwe was very composed and still strong. After her night away, Enkesha could not leave the Keepers and rushed back to the stockades in the dark. 

Early morning again started with an empty stockade and nothing to do as per our usual schedule. The Keepers set off along the roadside and up the Umani Hills, calling out and shouting names randomly, hoping that any of the elephants would come out of hiding. As the Keepers traced their footprints, it became harder to identify them after coming across many elephant tracks mixed with much larger ones that did not belong to the Umani orphans.

As we continued, some bulls crossed ahead, and we noticed movement on the other side. When we checked closely, it was Murera and Mwana approaching the vehicle, looking for their bottles. However, it was difficult for the Keepers to stop, as the bulls were running, and some even wanted to charge at us. For safety, we had to move away.

Later, all the Keepers returned home. Some elephants were heard on the hills, so we went there but failed to find the babies. In the evening, we heard some squeaky trumpeting, which sounded like Enkesha using her damaged trunk. This signaled that Enkesha might be with Murera and Mwana. We headed out again towards the airstrip area along Chyulu and found Murera, Enkesha, and Mwana, who had been left behind by the bulls. Faraja was the only one still with them.

When Murera saw the Keepers, she was excited, having searched for them for many days without success. We walked Murera, Enkesha, and Mwana home so they could relax and get their bottles.

Today, the Keepers never gave any room for the orphans to move away from their sight since their return and reunion with the herd. Though the new mothers slept and spent the night outside the stockades, Murera, Mwana, Enkesha, Amali, and Kapei were happy to be part of the herd in the morning.

However, Amali was not seeing Lenny and Sulwe, who are now her favourites over Mwana. She kept rumbling and raising her trunk, trying to locate their scent so she could rush to find them. But she was unable to pick up their smell. Meanwhile, Murera and her baby Mwana started to walk and took the babies to browse along Umani Hills.

As they approached the hills, Sonje and Lima Lima were heard rumbling. Kapei and Amali immediately took off, rushing toward them, and soon brought them back to join Murera. The Keepers, happy to see them return, celebrated by giving them pellets and more lucerne.

Later, the Keepers brought all the babies to the mud bath, where they received their bottles along with the new mothers. Sulwe noticed some milk had spilled on the ground and wanted to taste what the mothers were celebrating in their bottles. Lenny, not getting a taste, went to suckle from Murera before moving back to be with Kiasa, who kept a close watch on the babies.

Later, Sulwe and Lenny started pushing each other playfully, but Enkesha stepped in to stop them from fighting. The two then settled, behaving like a brother and sister.