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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. 

Three wild bulls joined the orphans in the morning. Lucerne was served and the orphans were happy to share it with the wild bulls. No ex-orphans came to visit. Soon after having enough of the lucerne, Esampu led the way out to browse.

Jotto engaged Ndiwa in a pushing game that lasted for quite sometime. Mapia wasn't happy that Jotto chose Ndiwa as his playmate and he showed his frustration by nose diving and digging at the soil with his tusks in anger. Eventually he grew tired since there was nothing he could do and he simply resumed browsing.

The orphans settled to browse in the Kanziku area and when it was for their noon milk feed, Sattao led the first group to the mud bath while Naboishu led the second one. It was another hot day and most of the orphans decided to wallow in the main mud bath. Only Jotto, Kauro, Esampu and Mundusi boycotted the wallowing exercise, which is what we have come to expect of them. Ex-orphans Wendi, Wema, Kinna, Kaia and Kama arrived and joined the orphans in the water. Kama ran into trouble with the dependent orphans when she tried to push Esampu. Mteto, Maramoja, Ndiwa and Sana Sana all ganged up together to defend Esampu and they managed to drive Kama away. Mapia and Musiara emerged as the stars of the day as they had a prolonged wallowing session and were the last ones to leave the water. The comedian Musiara got out of the water charging and trumpeting. His friend Mapia joined him and the two boys trumpeted as they headed south. Their trumpeting drew the attention of Malkia and Maramoja, who ran to check what was happening. Of course, they found that the two boys were just doing it for fun, and they walked off shaking their heads.

The rest of the afternoon was quiet all the orphans concentrated on browsing for the rest of the day.

The orphans settled for lucerne in the morning as soon as their stockade gates were opened. The ex-orphans Wendi, Kinna, Lualeni, Loijuk, Lenana, Chyulu and their babies joined the orphans. Malkia had a disagreement with Wiva that ended in a pushing game. Mundusi and Pare joined Malkia and together they defeated Wiva, and Wiva ran back to her mother. The orphans didn't follow Wiva because they knew how unfriendly Wendi can be so they dare not get close to her! As soon as they were done, Sana Sana and Naboishu led the way out to browse.

Kauro came across a baobab tree where the bark had been peeled by wild elephants and started pulling what was left hanging. Usually elephants don’t go for baobab trees unless conditions are extremely dry, so that just shows what things are like in the area at the moment. The orphans browsed calmly while heading north west as they tried to utilise the time very well and spent most of their time browsing and not messing about.

The ex-orphans joined the orphans at the mud bath at noon as well. Maramoja, Esampu, Ndiwa and Mteto left with the ex-orphans as they tried to play nanny to the young babies, but the ex-orphans brought them back to the stockade compound later in the evening. Mutara’s herd didn’t mix with Wendi and the others as they remember all too well what Wendi did to Turkwel and Mambo! (Last month, Wendi pushed Turkwel, who fell onto Mambo, creating a big drama in the process.) Mutara’s herd chose to stand a short distance away and only approached the compound when Wendi’s left. Mutara’s herd and Wendi’s have become like oil and water who will never mix even if you put them together. About one hundred elephants visited the compound for water this evening.

It was a quiet morning today. The orphans settled for lucerne as usual. Half an hour later, the ‘crazy’ wild female with her baby in the company of Kitirua and Kalama arrived and joined the orphans too. Mteto, Esampu and Maramoja walked over to the baby and played nanny for a while before parting ways. Sattao had a small pile of lucerne that he later threw on his head as he walked to the water trough. Nabulu followed behind Sattao and later Mapia led the way out.

Out in the bush the orphans got in a playful mood: Sana Sana started a game with Pare and their pushing game attracted Malkia who played with Jotto. Sapalan played with Musiara and later turned on Rapa. Mapia played with Kuishi while Ndiwa played with Maramoja. Eventually game-time was over and the orphans settled for more serious browsing.

At mud bath time the orphans were joined by the late-night gang who had teamed up with the crazy female and her baby. The visit to the mud bath was brief as the orphans were in a hurry to get back to browsing. Rapa climbed on Mapia's back to show some authority but Mapia wasn’t happy about it. As soon as Rapa got down Mapia turned and faced him, demanding an explanation. Rapa seemed to just smile and inform Mapia that he is just a junior, so Mapia moved forward and to attack Rapa for demeaning him in the presence of the others. A wild bull walked over and saved the day as Rapa and Mapia went in separate directions soon after spotting the wild bull approaching.

Later Mukkoka engaged Ambo in a strength testing game that lasted for quite sometime. In the evening, Mukkoka led the first group back to the stockades for the night. 

It was a quiet morning. The orphans settled to have some lucerne soon after leaving their stockades. No wild elephants or ex-orphans joined in the lucerne feeding time today. The orphans had the whole compound for themselves and enjoyed each moment and freely moving about the place without avoiding any seniors. Later, Larro rumbled, giving the signal that she was ready to leave. Mukkoka joined her and together started heading east. The other orphans started leaving one by one so as to catch up with Larro and Mukkoka.

Sapalan engaged Ndiwa in a pushing game while Jotto played with Mapia. Mundusi played with Pare while Malkia played with Kuishi. Ndiwa decided to quit playing with Sapalan to have her own game of rolling on the ground but Sapalan followed her and took advantage of Ndiwa lying down to climb on her. Mundusi ended up overpowering Pare and turned to climb on his back.

At mud bath time the weather was chilly and none of the orphans wanted to wallow in the mud bath. Esampu, Enkikwe, Malima and Mteto only had a short soil dusting exercise before catching up with their friends who had already left to continue browsing. Later in the afternoon, Jotto and Mapia continued with their pushing game which only came to an end when they were too exhausted to continue, and they needed to continue browsing to replenish their energy! The rest of the day was quiet as the orphans concentrated mostly on browsing. 

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.

There was very little commotion in the stockades this morning as only a small group of ex-orphans shared the compound with the orphans. Lualeni and Chyulu and their babies Lulu, Lexi and Cheka arrived just as the orphans were finishing up with their supplement breakfast, so the dependent orphans really enjoyed themselves moving about freely from place to place and having the whole lucerne feeding area to themselves.

The dependent orphans were really well-behaved this morning and none of them strayed far as they huddled together again for warmth. When it’s warm, the orphans are really relaxed and wander off freely in different directions covering quite far distances, but now that it’s cold they seem to be doing the opposite. Kauro was concentrating on browsing from a tasty shrub he had found, while Mapia and Jotto decided to take a break and were busy playing. These two seem to be very close friends and sparring partners at the moment.

At the mud bath Pare, Malkia, Nabulu, Mteto, Esampu, Larro, Naboishu and Ambo played in the small mud wallow off to the side of the main water hole. They really splashed about there as all the cloud cover had burnt away and it was quite a hot afternoon. Musiara stayed behind at the feeding area to beg for another milk bottle, holding his trunk up in the air and smelling to see if there might be any more, but the Keepers told him he had finished his share and to go and join his friends in the mud. Maramoja enjoyed rolling in the loose soil, covering her whole body to dry off. Larro struggled to get out of the little mud wallow and had to use her tusks to anchor herself as she climbed out. 

Later in the afternoon all the orphans concentrated on browsing as they had all had so much playing while at the mud bath. When it was time to return to the stockades for the night, Nabulu led the way home.

Today we were happy to see that ex-orphan Makena stayed with Ithumbah and her new baby Iman for the whole day. Ithumbah and some of the ex-orphans visited the stockades during the day, but Ithumbah knew where to go to safely have some lucerne supplement without being pushed around by any of the other elephants. 

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.

A group of ex-orphans and their babies were comfortably sleeping outside the compound under the watchful eye of Chyulu, who was awake. As the dependent orphans had their milk bottles and came out of their stockades, the ex-orphans woke up and started moving over to the lucerne feeding area as they know the morning routine! Fifteen wild bulls were enjoying drinking water at the stockade water troughs. Kauro decided to go back into the stockades to look for any leftovers while Kuishi walked down to inspect the water truck before settling to drink some water.

Esampu spotted two buffaloes down at the water trough and decided to scare them away by trumpeting. The buffaloes turned to walk away simply because they had already finished drinking water, but Esampu felt very pleased with herself as she believed she had singlehandedly managed to chase the buffaloes away! When it was time for the orphans to head out for the day, Sana Sana led the way followed by Naboishu.

Out in the bush Sattao started the day activities by having a lone game of rolling on the ground. Jotto engaged Pare in a strength testing exercise while Ambo engaged Mapia in their own sparring match. Mukkoka tackled Musiara but ended up losing the game to Musiara. Pare and Jotto's games ended in a draw while Mapia won in his game against Ambo, which he signaled by climbing on his back. Mteto, Enkikwe and Karisa left with the ex-orphans Lenana, Lapa, Chyulu, Cheka, Loijuk and Lili.

It was quite hot when the orphans arrived at the mud bath for their midday milk bottles, but only Sana Sana, Nabulu, Esampu, Kauro and Pare decided to wallow. The others headed to drink water before walking back out to the bush to continue browsing. The afternoon was a quiet one as the orphans concentrated on browsing. Karisa, Enkikwe and Mteto were brought back by the ex-orphans late in the evening. 

Ambo led the way out from the stockades this morning. Chaimu, Kasigau and the late night gang of Oltaiyoni, Olsekki, Siangiki, Roi and Wanjala were waiting for them outside and they all went for lucerne together. A lone buffalo reported for water and none of the elephants even bothered to chase it away like they normally might try to! The buffalo left immediately after quenching its thirst. Mteto led the way out to browse today, and the orphans settled to browse in the Kone area. Malima teamed up with Larro to browse while Ambo joined Sattao. Mteto came across some loose soil and decided to roll around on it. Pare, who was browsing a short distance away, came running over in a hurry to take advantage of climbing on Mteto while she was on the ground. Kamok came running over to save Mteto from being bullied by Pare and pushed Pare away. Mteto got up and seemed to thank Kamok for driving Pare away.

At mud bath time the orphans were joined by Challa, Kilaguni, Meibai and twenty-five wild bulls. Only Pare and Mundusi wanted to swim in the mud bath, while Jotto, Esampu, Mukkoka, Kauro, Sapalan and Nabulu opted for a soil dusting exercise.

In the afternoon Ndiwa took Naboishu and they browsed for the rest of the day together. When the orphans returned back to the compound this evening they found the area full of ex-orphans and wild elephants totalling nearly one hundred! As darkness approached the elephants started leaving one by one however, after drinking enough water. 

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. 

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. 

Four buffaloes arrived in the morning and joined some wild bulls drinking water. One of the buffaloes decided to walk to the smaller water trough which was currently occupied by the junior orphans. Mapia, Esampu, Mundusi, Pare and Maramoja made it impossible for the buffalo to drink in peace however; these girls and boys charged and trumpeted at the buffalo and eventually the noise and disturbance was too much for the buffalo and so it decided to leave. It seems that Esampu was just waiting for the buffalo to turn its back on them and she gathered the courage to even trumpet and follow the buffalo. Malkia joined Esampu and together they drove the buffalo away.

Larro led the orphans out to the bush where Ambo and Mapia started the days activities by engaging in a pushing game. Ambo lost to Mapia and decided to move to Sana Sana to request for some training to acquire some new wrestling techniques. Sana Sana accepted Ambo's request and trained with him for some time before letting him go to have something to eat. Pare and Jotto teamed up together to browse and later decided to take a break and stand under a tree and have their own private conversation.

At the mud bath, the orphans had their milk bottles and then went for a soil dusting exercise. The weather was chilly and none of the orphans wanted to wallow. The rest of the day was quiet as the orphans settled to browse in the Imenti area again. Kauro, Enkikwe, Mundusi and Rapa parted ways with their friends and disappeared to look for the ex-orphans. The four boys returned to the stockades shortly before eight o'clock at night in the company of the late-night gang.

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 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.