Choose your region

It was very cold in the morning, and the babies felt the cold, as did the Keepers. Sonje and Faraja had a disagreement when Faraja tried to get behind Sonje to smell her from the back. Sonje felt disrespected and took it as a serious slight, so she left the herd with her baby Sulwe. Sonje thought Faraja should respect her and Murera, as both are matriarchs, especially since Faraja and his friend Jasiri had been “night clubbing” and were not showing respect to the head females. This is why both Sonje and Murera kept their distance from those two boys.

When the Keepers arrived with the orphans for the afternoon milk feeding, a few babies walked to the waterhole to drink, but none was ready to take a mud bath. Enkesha and Mwashoti put their trunks in the water but found it too cold for wallowing. However, Lenny challenged everyone by jumping into the water, which was covered with water lilies. Enkesha, who thought it was too cold to swim, eventually joined after seeing Lenny in the mud bath with his tiny head floating among the lilies.

After the water, the babies teamed up and headed to the dust pile, where Murera was already asleep on the dust, followed by her baby Mwana, who then woke up and climbed to the top of the dust hill, showing everyone how big a girl she was today.

Umani seems to be blessed with many kinds of wild animals at this time, making their way to the Umani Springs in search of water. Some wild elephants mingled with the orphans, including a group that had little babies about the same age as Lenny and Sulwe. This brought some confusion to the Keepers, who had a hard time identifying the three little orphans among the wild babies. But Zigi was brave — he easily identified his mother. Then Lenny did the same, walking over to where Murera and Amali were browsing by the side of the herd.

Amali later changed course and followed Kiasa and Enkesha, who were walking with Sonje. Meanwhile, Kapei and Maktao were welcomed by one of their wild bull friends, who seemed to want their company back in the Kibwezi Forest. The wild bull group began trying to chase Quanza, but Quanza dodged them and made it clear she wasn’t interested — she wanted to be left alone. Only Kapei and Maktao joined the bulls for a walk toward Chyulu.

However, when one of the old bulls tried touching and smelling Kapei, it startled him so much he ran away faster than anyone expected. He returned quickly to join Zongoloni and Lima Lima, clearly no longer interested in spending time with the disrespectful wild bulls. He left Maktao behind with the group.

From a distance, the Keepers watched as Sonje gathered the orphans and gently persuaded them to group together and move away from the wild herd. Together, they made their way back home.

The morning was especially cold, and both Murera and her Keepers seemed to be feeling the chill. When the Keepers spotted Murera trying to leave her room, she hesitated and turned back inside. Mwana, however, didn’t seem to mind the cold — she quickly joined Amali, ready to start the day.

When Enkesha and Amali noticed that the nightclubbers hadn’t returned that morning, they were visibly disappointed. They had hoped to see the little babies and the rest of the team. Enkesha raised her trunk high above her head, and Amali followed suit — both girls were trying to catch a scent to locate where the others had gone.

Soon, sharp little Amali began trumpeting as she marched into the forest, with Enkesha following close behind to help her. After about an hour of searching, they found Lima Lima and Sonje with the little babies and walked them back to where the Keepers were gathered with the others.

When they reunited with Murera and Mwana’s group, the air filled with loud trumpeting and celebration. The elephants were clearly overjoyed to be together again. They then all walked to Chyulu to browse as one family.

Later, Jasiri arrived with a large wild herd — they had brought many wild friends, almost double the size of the orphans’ group. Faraja joined in, bouncing over to meet the others. But once Murera saw Jasiri and Faraja already within the herd, she stepped back and quietly moved away with Mwana. She wasn’t comfortable around the wild bulls who had come with them.

Quanza soon joined, and the two head girls stayed close to Murera and kept their distance, leaving Kapei and the other boys to play their pushing games with the wild friends.

This lovely morning began with all the nightclubbers reporting in very early, waiting for the other orphans to come out with Murera and Enkesha. Murera and Enkesha found Lima Lima and her team already gathered by the gate, waiting for the Keepers to bring them pellets. The nightclubbers had already recognised the familiar sound of the wheelbarrow — when Lima Lima and Zongoloni heard the creaking of the wheels, they knew the pellets were on the way. This caused a bit of pushing and shoving as the herd scrambled for position even before the pellets were released.

Kapei and Quanza didn’t wait for the Keeper to spread the pellets for everyone — in his usual greedy fashion, Kapei plunged his trunk straight into the wheelbarrow to scoop out pellets. But he wasn’t lucky; before he could run off with his loot, Mwashoti cornered him, prompting Kapei to flee into the bushes for safety.

Jasiri, Faraja, and Alamaya also arrived and appeared to enjoy spending time with the orphans. However, Murera, with Mwana and Kiasa, quietly moved away. Soon after, Zongoloni and Lima Lima joined them, leaving the older boys to socialise on their own.

At the dust pile, Mwana tried to convince Lenny and Sulwe to follow her to the top. Sulwe didn’t take part, but Lenny and Zigi followed Mwana and climbed up the dust hill, rubbing their bellies in the dust. Lenny even climbed on top of Mwana in play, while Mwashoti lay asleep on the slope nearby.

Faraja and Mwashoti walked to the water trough close to the lodge cottage to drink clean water. The Keepers were some distance away and did not see their movement. After drinking, Faraja saw a baboon sitting on the lawn and blew his trumpet to chase him away—he didn’t want him sitting there. Mwashoti also joined to help with the situation, but the baboon tricked them and disappeared into the forest as they were still trying to track him down. They kept charging into the bushes, which attracted other orphans to start following them to help, but in the end, they failed to find the baboon. He was now watching them from the treetops.

Enkesha and Quanza were focused on keeping the little babies from wandering too far. Sulwe and Lenny, in support of Mwana, helped by blowing their little trumpets. Sulwe charged but missed her target while running and ended up bumping into Amali, who was standing in front next to Sonje. Sulwe had hit her foot on a rock and rumbled as she tried to find her way back to her mother. Amali then escorted her to where Zigi and Zongoloni were also playing around Murera.

At the waterhole, the orphans arrived after their games in the bushes looking for the baboons. They looked tired and thirsty. Kapei and his friend tested the water with their trunks under the water lilies and found it was cold. Later, Murera, Enkesha, and Sonje decided the babies must swim, and it was Lenny who opened the swimming session, which soon attracted all the orphans to join. Kapei and his friend initially ignored swimming, but eventually, half the herd joined in.

Ziwa and his wild friends came in the afternoon to visit his orphan friends. However, his wild companions — mostly older girls — didn’t give Ziwa much chance to linger. They waited patiently for him to finish his visit, but when they noticed he was taking too long, one of the lead females made sure they left with Ziwa, not allowing him to stay behind.

Later, after the Keepers finished lunch and delayed in joining the orphans, Lima Lima was seen walking back, trying to get their attention. She clearly wanted them to return to the orphans, who were now further into the Chyulu Hills. The Keepers chuckled, then followed Lima Lima and her baby Lenny into the forest, where they found Sonje and Sulwe near Zigi, who was fast asleep. Upon spotting him, Sulwe climbed on him to wake him up. Zigi quickly got up and went to Kiasa, who had been entrusted by Zongoloni as the only one, besides his mother, to care for him. Zigi was not encouraged to socialise with any other babies beyond Kiasa.

When a wild bull elephant arrived, the atmosphere among the orphans quickly changed. Quanza and Enkesha were the first to spot the bulls, and the other orphans sensed their presence immediately. Murera, having caught the scent, quietly moved away with Mwana to avoid any encounter. She knew she might become a target and wasn’t ready for that kind of attention.

The wild bulls lost their chance as Zongoloni and Lima Lima swiftly took off with their babies toward the Keepers, escaping the encounter. Disappointed, the bulls wandered away with Kapei and Maktao, followed later by Mwashoti. However, by nightfall, Kapei and Maktao returned to the stockades — very late — after being left behind in the bushes by the wild bulls. Maktao helped Kapei navigate their way back home after their unexpected adventure.

Quanza today seemed unhappy with the other babies when Lima Lima and Enkesha moved around her. When Sulwe tried to get to Quanza, Enkesha blocked her way, prompting Quanza to react by pushing Enkesha. Enkesha ran to Mwashoti for safety, and after he turned against Quanza to protect her, Quanza left the place and went into hiding inside the forest. She did not stay long in the bushes before returning to be with Zigi and Zongoloni, only to find Kiasa already playing around with little Zigi, leaving Quanza without a play partner.

Meanwhile, in the forest, the Keepers heard bushes moving and big animals charging on the trees, which made them very vigilant and cautious. From a distance, they saw it was Jasiri and his wild friends entering the herd. One of the wild elephants caught the Keepers’ scent and stopped, then turned back, leaving Jasiri to join the orphans. Immediately, Murera sensed Jasiri’s presence around the herd, which made Murera and Mwana walk away.

Today, the weather was not very friendly for elephants to approach the waterhole due to the cold. Sonje stepped in and tested the water with her trunk but quickly withdrew when she realised it was too cold. Her baby Sulwe also tried with her tiny trunk but slipped into the waterhole. Sonje and the other Nannies rushed to help, and Quanza lifted Sulwe out of the waterhole. Sonje and Kiasa then helped Sulwe to safety. Once Sulwe was out, all the babies gathered around her and walked her to the dust pile to dry off. Later, the orphans walked away with her towards the Kibwezi forests.

Today, at the time of mud bath, a huge wild bull arrived ahead of the orphans, before bottle feeding time. The Keepers tried to hide, hoping to avoid being seen or smelled by the wild bull. They began calling the names of the orphans loudly, urging them to cross over and come for their bottles. When Lima Lima, Sonje, and Zongoloni heard their names, Amali pulled away from the larger orphan group, then Kapei followed, and soon all came running towards the Keepers for their bottles.

Meanwhile, the wild bull remained at the waterhole, drinking. As the Keepers distributed the bottles, Murera and her baby Mwana never came out of the bushes — Murera didn’t want the bull to spot or find her, so she skipped the midday bottles.

Lima Lima surprised the Keepers and the other babies when she suddenly ran back, leaving Lenny behind. She went straight to the wild bull and screamed very loudly, confusing everyone. The bull just looked at her and didn’t seem bothered. Seeing this, Quanza stepped in and took Lenny, who was clearly unsettled without Murera or Mwana around. Quanza walked Lenny back to his mother to give him some peace. After being reunited, he drank more milk and then returned to play with Sulwe and Zigi.

Later, Kapei cut the game short, and Amali called in Kiasa and Enkesha to come take over from Kapei and Maktao, who weren’t playing safely with the little babies. The group was heading towards where Murera was with Mwana. When Mwana spotted Amali running to meet her, both were very happy to reunite after missing each other at bottle feeding time — which caused Murera to miss her bottle today.

A big group of wild elephants was seen arriving into the orphans’ herd. When the orphans spotted them, they could hardly believe the sheer number of wild elephants joining them. Sonje and her baby Sulwe were the first to move away, and soon all the other orphans followed suit, retreating with Sulwe — leaving only Mwashoti, Kapei, and Faraja to greet the wild arrivals.

Murera, Sonje, and the other mothers were worried they might lose their babies in the confusion, as the little ones might not be able to tell their mothers apart from the wild elephants. Kiasa and Amali made sure Lenny and Zigi stayed close to them, struggling through the crowd but determined to keep the babies safe as they led them back to Murera and Sonje.

When Murera took off toward the Keepers — who were calling them over for safety — Quanza got surrounded by a group of wild elephants. Realising she was no longer with her own group but among strangers, she screamed for help. Lima Lima rushed back to retrieve her and guide her back to the orphans.

Meanwhile, two warthogs darted across the open field, fleeing the noise and commotion of the wild herd. As they entered the bushes, they startled Amali and Enkesha, who had been resting. Frightened by the sudden movement, both elephants ran off in alarm, trumpeting and charging through the trees to scare off the intruders — making sure the warthogs didn’t come back.

At the waterhole in the afternoon, the elephants arrived looking very thirsty after all the running and chaos. After quenching their thirst, the babies jumped into the water for a cooling-off session. They kicked up the water, splashing under their bellies and swimming about. The commotion caused several turtles to scramble out of the pool — the waves stirred up by the excited elephants had tossed them out onto dry land.

This morning, the semi-wild orphans led by Sonje and Lima Lima failed to show up. Only Murera and her team of five milk-dependent orphans arrived to celebrate their morning pellet feed. Amali and Enkesha spent some time looking and sniffing around the bushes in the hope of finding the missing group, but none of them picked up the right direction. Eventually, Murera called off the search and led her group into the Kibwezi Forest to browse along the Unau Hills.

While on top of the hills, Amali caught the right scent trail after one of the babies screamed—believed to be Lenny. Amali and Enkesha ran toward the sound and, as it turned out, Amali was right. She returned with Lenny and Zigi, who followed Enkesha to rejoin Mwana.

However, when Kapei saw the little ones heading toward Mwana, who was peacefully playing in the dust with Zigi and Sulwe, he grew jealous and went over to mount on Mwana—something entirely inappropriate and uncalled for. This disrupted the peaceful moment the babies had been enjoying. Zigi, tired from play, lay down and fell asleep. When Kiasa and Amali noticed, the two attentive nannies moved quickly to surround the babies and stood guard over Zigi, allowing him to rest safely and undisturbed.

The entire herd remained under the shade, patiently waiting for the babies to wake from their nap. Once the little ones were well-rested, Sonje and Murera relocated the group to the Chyulu Hills in search of fresh greens. While there, loud trumpeting from wild elephants was heard nearby. Before long, the wild herd encountered the orphans, prompting the Keepers to call the young ones away to prevent any from being taken off by the wild elephants. Despite their efforts, Kapei and Maktao became swept up with the wild herd and wandered off with them.

Mwashoti and his close friend Faraja took Maktao and Kapei with them, forming what seemed like an all-boys outing that excluded the girls. The females were left behind to care for the babies, while the boys set off on an adventure toward the slopes of the Chyulu Hills, likely mingling with a wild herd. From a distance, the Keepers heard loud elephant trumpeting and screaming, confirming that Faraja and his group were indeed heading in that direction.

When Lima Lima and the others caught the scent of the wild herd’s commotion, she left her baby, Lenny, in Murera’s care. But Lenny became a nuisance to Murera, demanding to breastfeed when she was clearly not in the mood. Frustrated and not willing to give in, Murera left Lenny stranded. His next option was to find company in Zigi, who came over and the two played together until Amali arrived with Sulwe.

Later, Kapei returned and tried to get close to the babies again, but Enkesha stood her ground and wouldn’t allow him near. Amali also stepped in to block Zigi from getting too close to where Kapei was, reinforcing the protective barrier around the babies.

Suddenly, a group of warthogs came running through, cutting right between the orphans. The babies were caught off guard as the warthogs darted between them. Their fun was abruptly interrupted—their playful mood turned to confusion and fear, as they couldn’t make out what had passed through, only seeing dust and warthog tails disappearing into the Chyulu Hills. The young elephants ran back into the bushes, still startled by the unexpected interruption.

It was turf time for Mwashoti and Maktao after what seemed to be a disagreement between the two boys. At first, the Keepers assumed it was just playtime, but Mwashoti got too rough with his younger brother. He pushed Maktao hard, and one of his long tusks came dangerously close to Maktao’s eyes—almost poking them. Fortunately, the tusk missed, but it was too close for comfort. Sonje noticed what was happening and realised that Mwashoti had crossed the line. She stepped in immediately to stop him, and Mwashoti was shown the door, leaving Maktao alone.

That gave Maktao and Kapei the perfect excuse to change course and move away from the other babies, who were resting peacefully under the big trees within the Kibwezi Forest. Mwana was enjoying her day nap under her mother, Murera. Meanwhile, Enkesha and Kiasa seemed to be planning to lead the babies elsewhere.

As mud bath time approached, the Keepers gave their familiar whistle, and all the orphans recognised the signal. Quanza stepped out and headed towards Kiasa and Zongoloni, who had already made their way ahead. Just then, Lima Lima passed by the little ones, prompting Lenny and Sulwe to take off running, dashing straight for the bottles—as if they still had bottles to collect! Lenny reached the bottles and, in his excitement, kicked one down without a second thought.

Amali soon arrived with Zigi, who also demanded an empty bottle and kicked it away. Afterwards, Zongoloni took her baby Zigi and Mwana to the waterhole for a swim. After the mud bath, Amali climbed to the top of the dust hill, proudly watching the others from above and proving herself queen of the hill. No one followed her. Mwana later appeared from behind and cheekily threw some dust in Amali’s direction using her trunk—but Amali simply moved on, leading the rest of the orphans back to the Chyulu Hills for the remainder of the day.

Murera kept warning Lenny and Mwana that her milk was drying up. Mwana, now a big girl with small tusks, was becoming more difficult to nurse—her tusks would hurt Murera whenever she tried. This often led Murera to kick Mwana away to stop her from breastfeeding. But Mwana persisted, and today she pushed Murera too far. After ignoring several warnings, Mwana got a dose of her own medicine, as Murera lost her patience and pushed her away more firmly.

Lenny, who had been playing with Zigi, wandered over to Murera for a chance to nurse. Murera sympathised and allowed him briefly, but after a short while, she pulled away and signalled that it was time for him to stop and go browse instead. Lenny reluctantly moved on, visibly unhappy, and ended up joining Amali and Enkesha.

Meanwhile, Kiasa and Quanza set off with Zigi and Zongoloni in search of more browse. Zongoloni and Quanza spotted some acacia trees with ripe pods and stopped to shake the branches, trying to drop some pods for the little ones who couldn’t reach the tall limbs. Kapei and Maktao arrived soon after, but Kapei’s greedy nature got the better of him. He pushed in too fast, not giving Zigi and Lenny enough space to enjoy the fallen pods. Quanza wasn’t pleased and made sure Kapei was driven off, allowing the younger orphans their turn to enjoy the treat while Zongoloni continued shaking the branches.

In the evening, before heading back to the stockades, the orphans made a stop at the waterhole to cool off after the heat of the afternoon. After their mud baths, Mwashoti and Lima Lima led the way to the dust pile, where both enjoyed a long dusting session. Later, Mwashoti was seen taking a nap on top of the dust hill, clearly in no hurry to walk home.

Nightclubbers and their babies this morning failed to show up, making Amali keep looking and raising her trunk as she struggled to smell if she could find the side on which she might locate the babies. Enkesha tried to join Amali to help in the search for the babies, but neither was accurate in finding the way to the nightclubbers. Sometimes, when little Zigi is asleep, none of the orphans move until the babies are awake. Because of the delay this morning, Lima Lima and the babies went far, not coming home on time.

Murera, with the small number of orphans, had to move out to Kenzili place for more browsing, as they were still waiting to meet with Lima Lima and friends. At bottle time, all nightclubbers reported on time — they knew the time for midday bottles not to miss. Amali and her friend Enkesha were now very relieved to see Sulwe, Lenny, and Zigi running strongly to the bottle point. Lenny couldn’t control his top speed when running to the bottles; he lost control until he kicked two bottles down and started kicking the two bottles with his feet as if he were kicking a soccer ball.

Kiasa crossed over to the other side and stopped him from breaking the milk bottles. Later, Keepers had to call Sonje and Zongoloni out from the bottle feeding fields to the waterhole for all orphans to take part in drinking water. Then later, Kapei with Mwashoti started to splash water using their feet inside the waterhole. When Quanza arrived, she opened up the swimming officially, making everyone jump into the swimming pool, and all swam in style. When Kiasa walked away with Zigi, she cleaned him alone by splashing water using her feet to reach Zigi, because Kiasa did not want Zigi to get into deep water.

Kiasa grabbed Zigi from his mother, Zongoloni, while Zongoloni was busy pulling down a branch to eat and didn’t see Kiasa walking away with her baby. Kiasa walked Zigi around the water trough. After drinking, Zigi rumbled to be taken back to his mother, Zongoloni. The screaming made Zongoloni run very fast toward the side where the sound was coming from. When she found Kiasa, she didn’t care who was with her baby — she pushed Kiasa, making her afraid to come back to where Zongoloni now stood with Zigi.

Kiasa, who usually loves Zigi more than any of the other little babies at Umani, was left wondering why Zongoloni turned against her like that today. But before Zongoloni could settle down again with Zigi, Zigi himself turned around and went back looking for Kiasa. He was very much welcomed by Kiasa, who remained his best nanny ever, because Zigi had no idea why his mother had disagreed with Kiasa.

Sonje and Enkesha walked away with Sulwe and Lenny, leaving Lima Lima without her baby, because Lenny had been playing push-and-pull games with Sulwe, his age mate. Amali tried to join them. When Kapei tried to be part of the little babies’ group, he was given a very big no by Quanza, who stepped between them. This was because Quanza didn’t want to see Kapei with the babies after he was seen trying to climb over little Sulwe, which was a very wrong thing to do to a baby.

Enkesha, who also saw Kapei raising his feet on Sulwe, agreed that Kapei should not attempt to climb on little babies.

Jasiri and his wild friends came to the stockades this morning and met with the orphans, but Murera and her baby Mwana left and stayed away after seeing Jasiri had brought along two wild bulls whom Murera did not trust to be part of the herd or join the orphans' group.

Lima Lima, who enjoys associating with different bulls, welcomed the newcomers and went to be with them, leaving Lenny with Kiasa to take care of him. Later, Lenny moved to where Murera was with Mwana.

In front of Murera and Mwana, two buffaloes were approaching. When she spotted the buffaloes, Mwana took off with Lenny and then whispered to Murera, trying to signal her mother about the buffaloes—only to find that Murera had already picked up the hint and was moving into the bushes for safety with the Keepers.

Later, before midday, Jasiri and his friends left the area for Chyulu.

Lima Lima led the babies in a strong run for the midday bottles. Enkesha and Kapei couldn’t compete fairly, as Kapei passed by Enkesha as if she wasn’t running at all—his top speed far above hers.

At the dusting pile, Amali walked to the top of the hill as the little babies tried to follow. Lenny and Zigi followed Amali, but found it hard to reach the top because the soil was too slippery for little babies. This forced Amali to come back and pull Lenny by his trunk until both reached the top of the dust hill.

Quanza felt it was time to take the little babies back to the bushes for shade, as the day was becoming hot and Zigi needed shelter. It became a duty for Quanza and Kiasa to begin walking with the babies back to the bushes. All the other orphans decided to follow Quanza and Zigi into the shade along the Kibwezi Forest.