Choose your region

The orphans left the stockade early as usual. Mutara and her herd, who did not come to visit yesterday, joined the orphans as soon as they were let out. Esampu and Ndiwa took over looking after Mambo and his mother Mutara had no problem with the girls taking care of her baby. Soon after the orphans were done feeding on lucerne, the dependent babies parted ways with Mutara’s herd, much to Esampu and Ndiwa’s disappointment. The orphans headed north while Mutara’s herd headed west. Kamok teamed up with her favourite Ambo to browse while Sana Sana settled to browse with Larro, Malkia, Mukkoka and Naboishu. Mundusi, Rapa and Karisa walked far away from their friends, only to rejoin them later when they heard the Keepers whistling, and they knew it was time to head for the midday milk feed.

Naboishu who is very greedy when it comes to milk, decided that he should be in the first group. The Keepers allowed him and so he led Musiara, Ambo and Dololo to the feeding area. The orphans didn’t feel like wallowing today so only had milk and some water before slowly wandering back to the browsing field.

Musiara, who is becoming a comedian these days when he feels the herd is too quiet, decided to start some fun to awaken the group. He walked a short distance away and when he was out of sight, suddenly started trumpeting as if trying to scare an enemy away. Of course his trumpeting drew the attention of the entire herd. Kuishi, Esampu, Sana Sana, Pare and Jotto ran towards where the trumpeting was coming from whilst trumpeting too, in order to help Musiara scare away whatever was upsetting him. When Musiara heard his friends trumpeting, he felt happy and started running back to meet them. The others couldn't understand why Musiara was suddenly running back yet they had offered to come and assist him in whatever way! Musiara was all smiles as he stopped trumpeting and resumed browsing, leaving his friends disappointed having wasted their precious time in falling for one of Musiara’s pranks.

In the afternoon the dependent orphans were joined by Yatta and Mutara’s ex-orphan groups. Rapa, Mundusi and Sana Sana left with the ex-orphans, only to show up later shortly before seven o'clock late in the evening. 

The sky was clear in the morning, meaning it would most likely be a hot day ahead. The orphans were let out soon after having their milk. The stockade compound looked deserted as no wild elephants or ex-orphans were present. The orphans enjoyed their lucerne without being disturbed by any outsiders. As soon as the orphans were through with lucerne, Mapia, Karisa and Mteto led their friends to the water troughs where they drank enough water to see them through the entire morning. Larro led the way out to browse for the day and her friends followed in a line behind her.

On their way out to the bush the orphans met with the ex-orphans who were on their way to the stockades. Esampu, Sattao, Mteto, Ndiwa, Malkia and Sapalan exchanged greetings with the wild born babies. Mteto and Esampu turned to follow the ex-orphans and their babies but the Keepers intervened by turning them back to follow their friends.

The orphans scattered across the bush as each tried to get as much food as possible before the temperature escalated. Sattao and Ambo decided to take a break from feeding to engage in a strength testing exercise. Their pushing game attracted Kauro and Enkikwe who started their own. Later, Malima led the first group to the mud bath while Dololo led the second. It was hot and as soon as the orphans had their milk, most of them participated in a cooling of exercise by getting into the water to wallow. Only Kauro, Jotto, Enkikwe and Maramoja didn’t feel like swimming. In the afternoon Karisa and Enkikwe sneaked off and returned to the stockades early before five o'clock in the evening. 

The late-night gang led by Oltaiyoni arrived shortly after midnight. The group decided to lie down close to water the trough as they waited for daybreak. A wild herd led by the matriarch we refer to as ‘Queen’ arrived at dawn and positioned themselves strategically and just a stones throw away from our lucerne store. The moment the orphans were let out in the morning, the wild herd approached the stockade wall so as to get the first bales of lucerne distributed by the Keepers. A period of calm descended on the whole compound as all the elephants concentrated on feasting on their piles of lucerne. An hour later, Queen and her family left after feeling like they had had enough. The orphans walked down to the water troughs to wash down the lucerne they had eaten and to make sure they had enough water for the morning before Ndiwa led everyone out for the day.

Later in the morning, Sapalan ran into trouble with Pare when he attempted to climb on him without permission. Pare turned and defended himself by pushing Sapalan. Sapalan fought back but luckily enough Kauro passed by and separated the two boys, thus bringing an end to what could have been an endless fight. Later, Mapia engaged Jotto into a strength testing exercise that didn't last for long as Mapia ran away when he saw Malkia approaching. Malkia happens to be one of Mapia’s roommates and he feared that Malkia would fight him when they got back to the stockade later in the evening.

The orphans browsed along the upper Kalovoto seasonal river up to mud bath time when Kauro left early and used a different route to the mud bath to wait for the milk vehicle. The car arrived and Kauro was the first one to get his share of milk just as he had hoped. He walked off and ten minutes later, the first group, led by Sattao, arrived at the mud bath at the normal time for their bottles. The sun was hot and Pare was the first one to get into the mud bathing water, followed by Dololo. The rest of their friends followed. Kithaka and a wild bull emerged from the west and joined the orphans in wallowing. Kithaka was still limping a bit but is slowly recovering. Mapia and Kamok emerged as the swimming stars of the day and had a really great time in the water and were the last to leave.

Later the dependent orphans settled to browse in between the Imenti area and Ithumba Hill. Later in the evening we were delighted to see wild bull ‘Dad’ who we haven’t seen for a very long time – he arrived at the stockade compound in a group of thirty wild bulls. Enkikwe, Sapalan, Ambo and Karisa left their friends and returned to the stockades thirty minutes early before the normal time.

It was a very cold morning as the babies had their milk bottles and walked down to the lucerne feeding area. They found some ex-orphans already there with Lenana and her baby Lapa among them. The dependent orphans and ex-orphans shared lucerne with some wild elephants that were there too – it was then that the Keepers noticed that ex-orphan Vuria, who has been away for a long time now, was also with Lenana’s herd! It was lovely to see him and looking so well. A buffalo appeared from the bush to share water with the wild bulls at the water trough, where we admired a huge wild bull with long tusks drinking water too. Baby Lapa was busy playing and scratching her neck on a large rock in the lucerne feeding area. Mteto started playing with Lapa just as the orphans were starting to wander out to the bush to begin their day of browsing, and she had to run to catch up with them.

It remained a cold morning and the orphans didn’t go far, and they stayed huddled together as a group to keep warm as they browsed.

When the orphans made their way to the mud bath, they found only a few wild bulls there. They arrived in groups for the milk feed led by Mukkoka, Ambo and Dololo, and when they were done, they went for some water and then straight back out to browse without wallowing due to the cold weather. Even the wild bulls were just milling around and drinking water without playing in the water.

The orphans continued browsing in the afternoon the same way they had during the morning – all huddled as a group without any of them wandering off to browse separately on their own. Sana Sana, Malkia and Esampu made sure all the youngsters in the group were okay.

When the orphans arrived back at the stockades in the evening, they found Mutara’s herd there with baby Mambo, who had come for water and some supplement lucerne. They got both and then relaxed around until late in the night.

The orphans had their breakfast milk feed by 6am as usual and walked out to share lucerne with some ex-orphans who were waiting for them including Mutara, Kinna, Lenana and Lualeni with their babies. Some wild bulls who had come to drink water were also at the stockade compound and they slowly started to wander off as they had their fill. 

Karisa led the herd out to browse where they made their way towards the Imenti area to find some good vegetation. It was another cold day so the orphans huddled together in a group to browse again. Jotto took a break from browsing to play with Mapia for a short while, before scratching against a tree and looking a little restless. Eventually he started walking off to the mud bath area ahead of the others as he seemed keen for his milk bottles.

Today some of the orphans decided to play in the mud bath after having their milk bottles. Mteto and Pare were having a great time, along with Ambo and Sapalan who were playing separately. Kamok came over to join in their game. Mapia and Jotto continued with the game they started playing this morning and were enjoying wrestling with each other. Mutara, Mambo and the rest of her group arrived and walked straight to the water trough for some water. Ambo and Sattao started playfighting just as their friends started to file out to continue browsing and they had to smell the air to check which way they had gone before catching up with them, leaving Mutara’s herd behind.

All the orphans looked very busy this afternoon as they concentrated on browsing. Malkia browsed together with Jotto while others like Sapalan, Sana Sana, Mukkoka, Musiara, Dololo and Naboishu decided to rest under some shade. Later Nabulu led the herd back home in the evening for their evening milk bottles. When the orphans arrived home they found a big group of wild elephants along with some ex-orphans including Wendi, Kinna,and Lualeni with their babies. They all enjoyed some supplement lucerne.

Some female wild elephants and their babies visited the stockade compound this morning. They drank water from the stockade water troughs and then left. The dependent orphans had their share of lucerne which they shared politely with the few ex-orphans who had decided to visit.

Out in the bush the orphans didn’t want to waste any time playing and they all concentrated on browsing as it is still very dry. Sattao, Musiara, Dololo and Ambo later led the orphans to the mud bath area to be in the first group for the milk feed. It was quite warm by now and most of the orphans opted to play in the mud bath, led by Esampu. They had a lot of fun splashing, rolling about, and climbing on each other while it was easy to do so in the water. Lualeni arrived with her babies Lulu and Lexi together with Wiva. Wendi and her other baby Wema arrived a bit later and decided to join the dependent orphans in the mud bath, where Nabulu was shining as the most playful elephant of the day. Some wild bulls also came to the mud bath to have some fresh water from the water trough.

Later we watched Maramoja expertly strip the bark off a branch she had found. Larro was also busy browsing on her own, while Jotto and Esampu decided to browse together and feed from the same bush. Later Esampu led the herd back home in the evening.

The orphans settled for lucerne soon after leaving the stockades this morning. Ex-orphans Chyulu, Cheka, Lenana, Wendi, Wema, Wiva, Naserian, Njema, Loijuk, Lili, Lenana and Lapa were also at the compound to share lucerne. Shortly later, the late-night gang arrived led by Oltaiyoni.

It was Larro who started to lead the way out to browse once she was done with lucerne, and we could see the late-night gang trying to make up their mind about whether to follow or not. They decided to join the orphans briefly before parting ways. Dololo, who suffered heartbreak after being dumped by Mutara’s group once she had her own baby, now seems to be enjoying the company of the late-night gang members more than his own, slightly younger, group. Dololo, Enkikwe and Karisa disappeared off with the late-night gang without the Keepers seeing, and they only realized later at mud bath time when they were organising the orphans to head for their milk bottles. Dololo who is outgoing and adventurous, appears to be the first one in his group to want to join the wild in the near future. He has made his mark by choosing to spend several nights out with his seniors, and other times reporting back to the stockades very late in the evening. These are indications of him preparing for his independence of the human family and entry to a new life in wild, but it remains to be seen when this will happen and only time will tell.

Sapalan and Mteto held a brief conversation as they waited for their turn to be allowed to go to the mud bath to have their share of milk. Despite the heat, none of the orphans stepped into the mud bath; they had their milk then headed over to join the wild bulls drinking water. They were later joined by the ex-orphans too!

In the afternoon, Mukkoka challenged Sattao to a pushing game that lasted for quite some time while the rest of the herd concentrated on browsing. In the evening, Naboishu led the first group back to the stockades. Dololo was escorted back later by the late-night gang shortly before seven o'clock in the evening, as they knew it would be best for him to sleep in his stockade for the night and he is still quite young. Karisa and Enkikwe also reported back around the same time. 

A wild family herd was waiting outside when the orphans came out of their stockades this morning. The wild family decided to join the orphans as they headed for their lucerne grass supplements, and Malkia and Mteto kept themselves busy by interacting with the babies. Shortly later, Orwa, Bomani, Garzi, Lemoyian and the late-night gang arrived and joined in too. When all the elephants were done feeding the late-night gang left with the wild herd while the Ithumba dependent orphans headed east. Dololo decided to stay with the dependent orphans today and followed them instead of Oltaiyoni and the others. Some of the bulls were obviously in a playful mood which they expressed through pushing games. Jotto played with Mapia while Dololo played with Musiara. Pare tackled Sapalan as Mundusi tested his strength against Kauro. Shortly later, the boys settled into a serious browsing session. Sana Sana, Malkia and Ndiwa separated themselves from the rest of the herd as they browsed and engaged in some girl-talk.

The weather was chilly and at mud bath time none of the orphans dared to step into the mud bathing water. The orphans had their milk bottles then headed to join some wild bulls who were drinking water. The bulls didn’t want to let them through at first but soon the Keepers intervened and asked them to step aside, so the bulls moved and allowed the orphans to drink.

The afternoon was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing. Enkikwe and Karisa sneaked off and returned back to the stockades early before five o'clock in the evening. The wild bull known as Dad with fifteen friends visited the stockade compound and left two hours later after having enough water.

It was a chilly morning and it actually even drizzled slightly which was very exciting. Only six wild elephants and no ex-orphans showed up for water this morning and the wild bulls left immediately after taking enough water. The orphans had an easy-going morning as there was no disturbance from their seniors. When they were all done, Ndiwa led the way out to browse.

The orphans enjoyed the cool morning temperature which helped them browse comfortably. Jotto and Mundusi decided to warm-up through a wrestling match. Shortly before mud bath time, Mteto, Maramoja, Rapa, Ambo, Nabulu, Malkia and Kamok took sometime off from browsing to roll on the ground to play in the damp soil. As soon as they had enough, Larro, Naboishu and Mukkoka led the way to the eleven o'clock milk feed. The weather was still chilly from this morning and none of the orphans dared to step into the mud bathing water. The mud bath almost seemed deserted as there weren’t even any wild bulls around which is normally the case. The orphans had their milk bottles then headed straight to the water trough where they enjoyed drinking in peace.

In the afternoon the orphans continued to enjoy the cool weather as this enabled them to browse without having to find shade. In the evening all the orphans returned safely as the most out-going ones like Dololo, Enkikwe, Karisa, Mteto and Sapalan had no one to sneak away with as there weren’t any seniors around! 

Ex-orphans Kinna, Kama, Kaia, Wendi, Wiva, Wema, Ithumbah, her baby Iman, Meibai, Buchuma, Loijuk, Lili, Lenana, Lapa, Lualeni, Lulu, Lexi and Tomboi were present in the morning during the lucerne feeding time. Mteto, Esampu and Malkia interacted with Kaia for a while before Kama came over to pick her sister up. On the way to join their mother Kinna they met with the unfriendly Kamok. Kamok was her usual bad-tempered self and she pushed Kaia, causing her to cry out for help as her sister looked on helplessly as she was still too small herself to retaliate and push Kamok back. Kama was disappointed in Kamok's behaviour and left wondering what kind of mother she might be one day! Maramoja, Mteto, Sattao, Jotto, Esampu and Larro protested by rumbling at Kamok's behaviour, and they offered to escort Kama and Kaia over to join their mother. Meanwhile, Lapa invited Malkia to a pushing game. Malkia honoured the invitation and the two enjoyed their game for quite some time since it looked like Malkia was more teaching and training Lapa in new tactics, other than engaging him in a normal pushing game. Eventually the ex-orphans parted ways with the dependent orphans so Lapa left to join his mother and the others.

The dependent orphans had a quiet morning as they all concentrated on browsing without any major distractions. At mud bath time, Naboishu, Jotto and Sana Sana were in the first group to the milk feed. Though the sun was shining, the orphans decided not to go into the water after finishing their milk feed because of the cold wind that was blowing. Larro splashed water behind her ears twice before following her friends who were heading for a fresh drink of water. In the afternoon, Dololo, Karisa, Sapalan and Rapa decided to dodge the Keepers and sneak off, but returned to the stockade compound later by themselves shortly after six o'clock in the evening. 

The orphans settled for lucerne soon after leaving their stockades. Ex-orphans Wendi, Kinna, Loijuk and their families, who visit the Ithumba stockades at least twice a day at the moment, joined the orphans for the supplement feeding session. Kithaka showed up later and his hind-leg is still slightly swollen, probably due to a muscle injury or something he did to his knee. He was put in a stockade and given some lucerne and pellets separately so he could enjoy them without any disturbance. The ruthless Wendi gave the young ones a hard time as she tried to push them whenever they came close to her share of lucerne. Malkia and Mteto had nice time with baby Kaia before deciding to follow Mundusi who had started leading the dependent orphans out to browse. 

Jotto engaged Sapalan in a pushing game while Sattao played with Kauro. The sky was clear and the sun was beating down, but the orphans browsed calmly throughout the morning session. At mud bath time, Larro, Naboishu and Pare were in the first group to the mud feed while Musiara, Maramoja and Sana Sana formed the second group. After finishing her milk, Larro got into the water and started wallowing. This caught the attention of Karisa, Naboishu, Sana Sana, Pare, Malima and Dololo who all decided to join her. Fifteen wild bulls were present too and the Keepers had to move them aside from the water trough to make way for the orphans who needed a drink too. Kauro was the last one to drink before running to catch up with his friends. The orphans settled to browse west of the Ithumba Hill in the afternoon. Enkikwe sneaked off as usual, but returned later to the stockades in the company of Barsilinga, Tusuja Olsekki and Galla. 

Kinna and her little herd spent the night just outside the stockade compound and were happy to join the dependent orphans in the morning for some supplement lucerne. Kamok attempted to bully Wema but Wema ran for protection to her mother. Of course, Kamok wouldn’t dare get too close to Wendi because she is aware that Wendi can be quite aggressive! Wendi pointed at Kamok with her trunk which is a warning signal from an elephant – it was as if she was putting Kamok on notice since this wasn’t her first time bullying Wema. Kamok left with Kuishi and walked down to the water trough were the two enjoyed drinking water.

Out in the bush, Jotto engaged Mundusi in a pushing game that ended in a draw. Pare played with Ambo and just as it looked like Ambo was about to lose his game to Pare, Kamok emerged and picked him up and they walked away together. Kauro and Sattao took a break from feeding to have a game of rolling on the ground. It was getting quite hot and at mud bath time the orphans had a spectacular wallowing session, with the exception of Kauro, Dololo and Rapa who opted to boycott the exercise. Esampu, Naboishu, Ambo, Nabulu, Maramoja and Mteto participated in a soil bathing exercise soon after wallowing, in order to dry off. Enkikwe and Karisa didn't turn up for the mud bath as they had joined the ex-orphans in the morning.

In the afternoon, Kuishi settled to browse with Nabulu. The two girls had also a lengthy conversation. Perhaps Nabulu was trying to find out from Kuishi if she has ever experienced a drought like this since coming to Ithumba. Musiara stuck with Maramoja for the entire afternoon while Mukkoka and Naboishu teamed up with Ndiwa. In the evening, Karisa and Enkikwe returned to the stockades safe and sound, about an hour after all the other orphans had already arrived.

Buchuma and Kanjoro joined the orphans briefly in the morning. After sharing lucerne with them, the two boys left and walked off back into the bush. Enkikwe, who has been spending time with the ex orphans, left with the late-night gang led by Oltaiyoni.

Out in the bush, Maramoja and Sapalan came across a tree that had been broken by wild elephants. The two orphans were so happy as they settled to feast on the tree thinking how lucky they were this morning. The orphans understood that for them to be able to bring down such a big tree, it will still be a few years before they have such strength! Mukkoka ran into trouble with Sattao when he tried to pick up a fallen branch that Sattao had set his eyes on. Mukkoka decided to defend himself by fighting back and luckily for him, Malima was feeding close by and intervened by separating the two boys. After separating the two boys, Malima picked up the branch, causing the conflict for herself! Esampu took a break from feeding to have a game of rolling on the ground. Her game attracted Malkia, Ndiwa, Pare and Dololo who came to join her. Malkia stood up and decided to scratch her belly against Ndiwa. 

When the orphans made their way to the mud bath for their 11am milk bottles, it was very hot and they all fully participated in a wallowing exercise, where they were joined by seven wild bulls. When they returned to browsing, they settled in the Imenti area for the rest of the afternoon. Pare engaged Rapa in a pushing game while Mundusi played with Mapia. Ndiwa teamed up with Naboishu and Larro to browse. The rest of the day was quiet as the orphans tried to make sure that they had enough to eat before returning to the stockades in the evening for the night. 

Mutara and her herd joined the orphans in the morning again. Mteto, Esampu and Maramoja took their time looking after Mambo, who they absolutely love, but Mambo wasn’t as interested in their company and went off in search of his mother. Shortly later, ex-orphans Kinna, Wendi, Loijuk and Lualeni with their children turned up and joined in the feeding. An hour later, the group parted ways.

Jotto, who is trying as much as he can to become dominant over Mapia, engaged Mapia in a strength testing exercise. Dololo, Ambo and Musiara stood to the side as if they were spectating, waiting to see who would emerge as the winner. Unfortunately, the game between the two young bulls ended when they saw Bomani and Lemoyian approaching. Both the spectators and the competitors left as they knew that Bomani and Lemoyian would push them aside. Ambo walked towards Lemoyian as if to inquire why he was approaching, but Lemoyian greeted him gently and perhaps informed Ambo that they were only passing by. Ambo exchanged greetings with Lemoyian and they stood with their trunks entwined; moments later, Lemoyian and Bomani left. Sapalan engaged Rapa in a pushing game while Musiara, Malkia, Sattao, Pare, Naboishu and Mukkoka took a break from feeding to enjoy a game of rolling on the ground. Later, Naboishu engaged Ambo in a pushing game that ended when Naboishu surrendered. 

It was quite cool at the mud bath when the orphans visited later, and only Mapia, Pare, Esampu and Larro decided to wallow in the waterhole. Later, Ambo, Sattao, Dololo, Mapia and Mteto had a roadside show, rolling along the sandy road embankment and showing off. Mapia played with Jotto as Ambo teamed up with his favourite girl Kamok to browse until it was time to return home. 

It was a very active morning. After the dependent orphans finished their milk bottles, they walked down to share lucerne with ex-orphans and wild elephants who joined them this morning. Ithumbah and Iman were among the ex-orphans and we couldn’t help but remark how beautiful and sweet Iman looked, and very active. Dololo and Jotto started playfighting with each other once their stomachs were full of lucerne. Chulu and Cheka were present too and very much enjoyed their lucerne supplement this morning. Cheka got distracted watching Ambo and Larro, who were having their own wrestling match, and she had to run to catch up with her mum who has started walking away from the feeding area. The ex-orphans decided to follow the dependent orphans as they walked into the bush to begin their day, including Kinna, Kama and Kaia. Sana Sana started playing in the soil by digging down at the ground with her tusks and throwing the chunks of soil on her head. Enkikwe approached and started a pushing game with her. Wiva was being very playful and charging the Keepers about the bushes as they watched over the dependent orphans browsing.

When the orphans visited the mud bath, they had their bottles and went for a soil dust bath without wallowing, as it was a cold afternoon and no one wanted to get in the water. Only one wild bull walked in and started splashing water on his body.

The orphans concentrated on browsing in the afternoon without playing too much, as they had to focus on filling their tummies. In the end, it was Malima and Pare who decided it was time to head home, and they led the group back for the night.

It was a very quiet and cold morning today. The orphans had their milk bottles and walked down to feed on lucerne as usual. Not as many ex-orphans decided to visit today so the dependent orphans had more of the feeding area to themselves, which they always enjoy. There was a small group of wild bulls present who had come to drink water. A lone spotted hyena passed in front of the stockades, perhaps on their way home to their den, as they are a nocturnal animal.

The orphans looked happy and active in the bush this morning. Some were playing games. Ambo was playing with Mapia and Rapa was playing with Ndiwa. Esampu and Sattao played off to the side in some loose soil that they found along the roadside. The others all concentrated on browsing until it was time to head for the noon milk feed.

At the mud bath as it was still cold no one bothered to get into the mud hole to wallow, not even the wild bulls who were present drinking some fresh water. Malima and Jotto started a playfight after finishing their milk bottles and later Jotto went on to playfight with Dololo. Dololo then went in search of his old Nursery friend Musiara to play with. When it was time, the orphans returned home in the evening for their evening milk bottles and to go to bed.