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The budding friendship between Enkesha and Maktao continues to blossom. Having Enkesha as a neighbor has helped Maktao settle into his new life as part of the Umani herd, Enkesha’s constant re-assuring presence has shown Maktao that this a friend he can rely on.

This morning Maktao and Enkesha exited their pens, finished their bottles of milk and walked over to the lucerne corner together. They were the first ones there, as the rest of their friends were still finishing their milk. Both Enkesha and Maktao started to grab trunkfuls of the lucerne pellets and stuff their mouths as much as they could, before the rest of the Umani herd arrived. The Keepers thought Enkesha was on the lookout for her friends, but they realized it was Mwashoti she was looking out for. Enkesha’s friend Mwashoti has been hesitant to accept Maktao and Kiombo into the fold, so when Enkesha saw Mwashoti approaching, she quickly ushered Maktao away to avoid any trouble. 

Sonje and Kiombo are another duo who are always together, during the day they are seen browsing side by side, at the milk feed they are side by side and even when it is time to go home, Kiombo is never too far from Sonje’s. The two young bulls have now made it very clear who have settled on as their caregivers. Jasiri and Faraja thought that they could also share in the affections of Sonje and so decided to join Sonje and Kiombo during their browsing sessions, but a very firm rumble from Sonje confirmed that she did not want these boisterous boys around Kiombo. She took Kiombo and they both walked to Umani Hills where they could browse in peace, away from the rest of the herd.  

Unlike other days where the night clubbers arrive early morning to join the orphans during their morning activities, today they arrived mid-afternoon, but not all of them turned up. Alamaya and Ziwa were missing, the Keepers guessed they were off on their own adventures.

After the midday milk feed, instead of venturing towards the mud-bath, Murera lead her baby Kiasa and the rest of the Umani herd towards the water trough to enjoy the fresh clean water the water tank has just brought. Kiombo was done before everyone else so he stood behind Sonje rumbling and nudging Sonje, that he was ready to go to the mud-bath but Sonje rumbled back signaling him to wait. The little boy waited patiently, but as soon as all his friends were done, Kiombo urged Sonje to take lead and take everyone to the mud-bath. Murera, Kiasa, Zongoloni and all the other babies followed Sonje, but Kiasa and Enkesha decided to give the mud-bath a miss and instead made their way to the Chyulu Hills. The older girls must have had a change of mind because they too decided to follow the younger girls. They know Enkesha has the knack of finding the juiciest forage. Enkesha has already started to share this knowledge with Kiasa and Kiombo as showcased today when she let them take the lead.  

Later in the afternoon Zongoloni and Sonje decided to take break from browsing and walked over to some bushes to rest but startled a herd of wild buffaloes who were also resting near the bushes. Sonje’s loud trumpeting alerted the rest of the Umani herd,they rushed to Sonje’s rescue and when the buffaloes saw that they were outnumbered, they retreated, leaving the orphans to rest and browse. A few bushbucks that were resting in the same bushes as the buffaloes, also made a run for it, not wanting to get in the way of the orphans.

A herd of wild elephants arrived at Umani Springs sometime mid-morning and accompanying them was one of our night clubber boys, Alamaya. Alamaya saw his friend Mwashoti and decided it would be the perfect opportunity for Mwashoti to spend time in the company of a wild bull herd, perhaps readying him for when he will eventually go wild. Alamaya managed to lure Mwashoti away from the Umani herd and join the wild bulls, the wild bull herd moved away from the Umani herd and continued to browse further afield. 

As the midday bottle feed time approached, Mwashoti was nowhere to be seen. The wild bull herd and Alamaya had kept him so occupied that the young bull forgot all about his milk bottle, but after a while, the milk pangs must have made Mwashoti realize that he’d missed the feed and rushed towards the mud-bath area, using his sense of smell to catch the scent of his Umani herd friends. By the time Mwashoti got the mud-bath area, the milk van had already left and there was no milk bottle for poor Mwashoti. The young bull had to wait all the way until evening, when they returned to the stockades. This time Mwashoti was first in line and demanded a second bottle to make up for the one he missed earlier but was only given one.

Later in the afternoon Maktao and Enkesha decided to take a walk on their own. Enkesha wanted to show Maktao where the juiciest shrubs were, so when Kiombo decided to join them, Maktao was not too happy and head butted him. Little Kiombo realized his company was not wanted and decided to seek out Sonje, who dotes on him and welcomed him with trunk hugs. Quanza who was not too far away from where Maktao and Enkesha were browsing, saw Mwashoti walking towards them. She knows what a bully Mwashoti can be at times and stayed close to Maktao and Enkesha in case Mwashoti decided to cause trouble.

With Lima Lima’s growing social skills , the Umani herd is visited by a different wild bull almost everyday. Today was no different.

From a distance, the Keepers noticed some movement in bushes, not quite sure what to expect, but also pleasantly surprised when it was Lima Lima who emerged, but what they were not prepared for was the large older bull that followed her. This bull had magnificent tusks, the biggest the Keepers had seen for a while. Jasiri who has the longest tusks in the herd, did not even compare. The night clubber boys and Mwashoti were all in awe and perhaps also in fear of this magnificent elderly bull. They all retreated thinking perhaps the wild bull may attack. Sonje and Murera had the same idea and moved away quickly with their babies, but to the surprise of the Keepers, this bull was not at all aggressive, whilst his size was quite intimidating, his manner was gentle. He stayed with orphans without causing any trouble. The Keepers wonder where and how Lima Lima finds these bulls and manages to convince them to follow her to join the Umani herd for their daily activities, this girl definitely has very good social skills.

It very clear now, the older girls of the herd have chosen their wards. Sonje has settled in with little Kiombo, Enkesha with sweet boy Maktao and Murera with our energetic little girl Kiasa. Murera remains the matriarch of the Umani herd, and although Zongoloni visits with the Umani herd, she also knows that her place is as the matriarch of the nighclubber boys and not the Umani herd.  So whilst she is allowed to socialize with all the babies, Murera remains the leader of this herd.

The orphans were divided and undecided which direction to go in today. Murera finally decided for everyone and they moved towards the Umani Hills.

After walking through the Kibwezi forest, the herd was making their way to the Hills, when they realized that the Umani hills might be too steep for the little ones, so the Keepers decided on a detour but not all the orphans followed them. When Keepers emerged at the top of the Umani hills and looked down, they saw a very sweet sight. Little Kiasa was holding on to Murera’s tail, as Murera walked up the hill. The little girl was clearly struggling with the steep climb but was such a trooper, she did not give up once and Murera being ever patient let the little girl hold on to her tail with her trunk because she knew otherwise Kiasa would not be able to make it to the top. Once there, everyone rested for a while and then carried on with their browsing.

Zongoloni heard Enkesha rumble as did Quanza, so both girls rushed over to Enkesha to see if she was in any danger. Nothing was amiss, all Enkesha wanted was some company and comfort which both older girls were happy to oblige with.

Today we had another wild bull join us. The orphans were in Kibwezi Forest getting ready to make their way to the Chyulu Hills when Lima Lima emerged from the bushes with her new wild bull friend.

Also, with them were Faraja, Ziwa and Zongoloni, the wild bull was flanked by these four elephants as though to gently introduce their him to the Umani herd. As soon as the Umani orphans’ saw the wild bull, there was a bit of panic and the older girls scattered with their younger wards. Later Murera decided to hand over Kiasa to Zongoloni and Quanza handed over Maktao to Enkesha. Zongoloni was overjoyed to finally have a chance to take care of Kiasa. The two girls enjoy each other’s company very much. Kiasa snuggled under Zongoloni’s big ears and Zongoloni wrapped her trunk around Kiasa’s head, and the little girl very much enjoyed the love, care and attention she was receiving from Zongoloni and Zongoloni was delighted to spend time with this energetic little girl.

Maktao was browsing with Enkesha and Kiombo wanted to join but as soon as Kiombo got closer, Maktao chased him away, not wanting to share Enkesha with anyone. Enkesha and Maktao are neighbors and at night when the orphans are in their pens, Enkesha shares her greens with Maktao. They have developed a close bond and Maktao is often seen following his friend Enkesha. Both of them are calm and enjoy browsing together. Kiombo who was upset after Maktao chased him away, sought comfort with his surrogate mother Sonje, who is always happy to give Kiombo trunk hugs.

The Umani Springs is a beautiful spring filled with fresh clear water that flows from the volcanic rocks in the Kibwezi area. Many wild animals arrive here in search of fresh clean water. Today a large herd of wild elephants had stopped at the Springs.

Faraja, Ziwa and Alamaya were atop the Hills and immediately sensed the presence of a wild elephant herd. Faraja curled his trunk over his head to catch their scent and within minute’s all three boys were making their way down to the Springs to catch up with their friends. Lima Lima who is always looking to make new friends, followed the boys. She left Kiombo, Kiasa and Maktao in the capable hands of Sonje and Enkesha. Enkesha has already started to show the makings for a good matriarch, with Lima Lima now spending more and more time with wild herds, Enkesha has certainly stepped up and displayed the necessary skills to fill Lima Lima shoes, when the time comes. The Keepers are very confident and proud of Enkesha’s progress.

As much as Lima Lima enjoys interacting with wild herds and her occasional nightly adventures, this greedy girl also loves her milk, so even though she was with the wild herd, come midday, this girl was back with her friends enjoying her milk bottle. Zongoloni and Ziwa accompanied her, but they weaned themselves off the milk years ago when they started their re-integration back into the wild.The Keepers long for the day when one of the Umani girls, has a little baby of their own, they are hopeful as both Zongoloni and Lima Lima are interacting with wild bulls. For them it will be a great achievement to see the girls come full circle.

Kiombo and Sonje have a very sweet morning ritual, instead of rushing off to the lucerne corner after their milk bottles, one waits for the other to finish his or her milk and then Kiombo gets a trunk hug from Sonje and then the two make their way together, to the lucerne corner.  

Once Quanza was done with her milk bottle this morning, she joined Maktao and Enkesha who were already at the lucerne corner. Quanza put her trunk over Maktao and Maktao gently rumbled in response. After a few minutes the night clubbers started to arrive, one after the other. They enjoyed the lucerne with the orphans and then set out for their day of browsing.

As they were walking past the water trough, Mwashoti and Kiasa noticed a few bushbucks had stopped to drink water. Mwashoti was in a naughty mood and with Kiasa who can be just as naughty, they blew their trumpets at the bushbucks startling them. The bushbucks took off in a fright, not stopping to see where the noise was coming from. Later at the mud-bath, Sonje and Quanza did the same thing, but instead of trumpeting, they chased the bushbucks away from the mud-bath. The poor bushbucks had to wait for this rowdy lot of elephants to leave the mud-bath area, to then drink water in peace.  

An easy start for the Umani herd this morning. The Keepers opened the doors to the orphan’s pens and all the orphans exited in a leisurely manner, some going to greet their friends, whilst others stretched their legs and indulged in some dusting.

It was very sweet to see Maktao waiting for Enkesha, he held on to her tail as she led him to the lucerne corner. A small rivalry seems to have broken out between Mwashoti and Quanza, the young bull was not too happy when Quanza chased away his female friends a few days ago, so today he charged towards Quanza, knocking down the poor girl. She was so startled that she decided to keep away from Mwashoti to avoid any more altercations. Mwashoti on the other hand was severely reprimanded by the Keepers, he was warned to behave himself whilst with the Umani orphans. Mwashoti knew that the rest of the day might be difficult if he stayed with the Umani herd, so he decided to team up with Zongoloni and the night clubber boys and followed them into the Chyulu Hills.

As the orphans carried on with their browsing, Sonje signaled Quanza to join her in sharing the duty of looking after the little ones. Sonje had not only Kiombo under her wing but also Kiasa, Quanza was more than happy to oblige. Maktao is comfortably ensconced with Enkesha who has shown great promise with taking on her duties as mini matriarch and looking after little Maktao. With the guidance of the older girls, the Keepers are very sure Enkesha will grow up to be an admirable matriarch.