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Soon after the orphans had settled out in the forest this morning, playful Malima, Jotto, Tamiyoi, Enkesha and Malkia were very happy and chasing after warthogs and their young ones who were also trying to graze next to the orphans. It was apparently great fun for Malkia and her young group to charge around after the warthogs amongst the bushes as they stamped around and trumpeted in delight. Their fun game took a turn though when Malkia chased one warthog which ran right between Malima and Jotto which gave them a fright and they ran away yelling loudly, to find their other friends. Their shouting drew the attention of caring and protective girls Godoma and Mbegu who ran after them to make sure they were okay. They touched and embraced the young elephants and reassured them that everything was okay. After some time they all walked together to rejoin the rest of the herd.

This morning the big girls were busy greeting and checking over the young ones Musiara and Sattao whilst almost all the boys, including Jotto and Ambo, were seen to be in a playful mood engaged in pushing games as they walked out and approached the forest. Jotto was playing with Ambo, Galla was taking on Wanjala, Pare was with Rapa, Lasayen with Ngilai and Murit was playing with his best play-mate, Luggard. Ndotto as usual had picked the biggest boy to play with and was messing around with, Kauro. Whilst the others settled in the forest the browse, all the bulls in the nursery were scampering about the bushes and trumpeting in excitement. Ambo and Jotto’s game was being watched by Tamiyoi and Malima and after a short while they wanted to join in. Tamiyoi took on Jotto and Malima Ambo, but when Esampu came over to join is as well it proved too many and the game came to an end.

Sopat is the name of the orphan who arrived on the evening of the 6th and he was moved into a stable since he is very weak and needs to be watched all the time, plus it is warmer in the stables. Tamiyoi was very happy when she came back from the forest that evening and had a new neighbour. She was very welcoming compared to Mteto and throughout the night they communicated through the space between their rooms. Sopat was not happy when Tamiyoi left her stockade this morning to head out to the forest and rolled around on the ground and pushed his head into the hay with low rumbling tones. Nothing could be done however as he is still too weak to join the others out in the forest. The orphans were very happy out in the forest this morning and were running around in excitement. Esampu led Malkia, Godoma, Sana Sana, Tagwa and Malima all around, but their happy time came to an end when the milk arrived. This morning Kiko had an unexpected visitor in the stockade compound when a wild female giraffe came over. After watching her for a long time he decided to go and hide in another stockade on the other side of the compound!

As all of the orphans settled out in the forest today and were busy browsing, we watched as both Tagwa and Maramoja, who had previously shown less interest in taking care of the young babies unlike Godoma, Mbegu, Esampu, Kuishi, Tamiyoi and Malima, very much attach themselves to the little ones. They even tried to fight off Esampu, Tamiyoi and Kuishi when they tried to approach the two little boys. Later in the day all the caring girls including Malkia, Tagwa and Maramoja were all spotted with the little boys – we have never seen so many protective females around the babies at once!

Jotto and Malima are good play mates these days. In the morning when most of the orphans come out of their stockades and greet each other, Jotto and Malima start pushing games and playing with each other. Jotto starts by pushing Malima and trying to climb on her, which annoys her and she retaliates by pushing him back and so their game continues. This morning when the orphans came out the keepers watched in awe as Malima came out of her stockade and ran to push Jotto who was just standing by his stable door figuring out how to start his day. Before he got to make up his mind however he was head butted by Malima! A pushing game ensued that was so vigorous a dust cloud formed above where their game was taking place. Tamiyoi came over and thought she would join in by taking hold of one of Jotto’s hind legs to give Malima a chance to beat him. When he turned to confront Tamiyoi she let go and ran away, but when he turned back she ran back to grab his leg again! Their game eventually came to an end when they all started to walk out to the forest to browse.

The orphans appeared to be in a very happy mood when they came out of their pens this morning and they were engaged in all different games. Jotto normally plays with Tamiyoi but today instead he chose to play with Malima who also enjoys his type of pushing game. They enjoyed their game for some time and we were surprised to see Murit and Rapa also playing. They have very different personalities and more often than not Murit will try to avoid Rapa when it comes to playing. Today Murit seemed to have found a way of tackling the naughty boy and they were engaged in a lengthy wrestling game. Brave boy Murit had the advantage of tackling Rapa due to his long tusks although Rapa is stronger than him, as these are to be respected amongst elephants. The wild giraffes that can be found all over the Nairobi National Park seem to be wondering what happened to Kiko after they saw him the other day. He had not been out into the forest for a couple of days, so two wild female giraffes paid him a visit in the stockade compound. They walked in swiftly without Kiko even noticing their presence until they were close to him. When they were but 5m from him he noticed them on the other side of the pole barrier that keeps him in the compound area and he watched them for some time, before deciding to run off and hide in one of the stockades. They waited there hoping for Kiko to return but they left when he did not return. Esampu is becoming quite the handful during public visiting. She has a new habit of always going into the mud pool and then coming out to run along the rope cordon kicking and putting mud on the visitors there. She gets even more excited when there are school children there too; she was very hard to control during today’s visiting!

It was a very dull and cold morning when the orphans went out into the forest this morning as a result from the rain last night. Most of the orphans were slowly browsing and it was only Lasayen and Murit who seems to be in a playing mood. The two engaged each other in a strength wrestling game, even though Lasayen didn’t show much interest in continuing the game. Tagwa is still showing interest in taking care of the little babies and perhaps this has been partly due to Malkia’s influence. Tagwa is almost the same age as her and they are together most of the time. Because of her influence the others like Kuishi, Esampu and even little Malima want to care and protect the little ones too. Today Tagwa chose to be with Malkia whenever she went to find little Musiara and Sattao. During the public visit today the polite boy Ambo was dusting himself on a heap of loose soil in the middle of the group and the cheeky girl Esampu came over and pushed him! Ambo didn’t take this lightly and started pushing her back and then they started fighting. His friend Jotto was meanwhile sizing up with Malima but Esampu went over and pushed Jotto. When Ambo saw that he came running over with his ears raised high ready to engage her but Esampu stood ready to challenge him and by the time they reached each other Jotto and Malima were also there to help put Esampu in her place. The trio jointly disciplined Esampu properly and drove her away from the group.

Musiara is so comfortable in the presence of Mbegu, the herd’s matriarch, and the other young girls in the herd. Most of his time today, especially during the early morning hours, was spent staying in the bushes surrounded by his older friends. Today was also a day of fun for the babies at the mud bath area. During the public visit as well the orphans had great fun in the fresh, loose soil which had been delivered in the morning. Most of the orphans in the first group tested the temperature of the water and found it too cold and they walked away without taking a bath. Esampu was one of the first to test the water, followed by Tamiyoi who tested it and walked away for a soil dusting instead. Murit dipped his trunk in whilst standing on the edge but after feeling the temperature he walked away too. However water-loving Malima doesn’t even believe in testing the water and she jumped into the mud pool straight away and started having a bath. Murit came over and spent a few minutes deciding on whether to get in or not and eventually followed suit and started having fun. Esampu, Ambo and Tamiyoi decided not to be left out and were busy playing with the football in the mud. Only Ndotto, Tagwa and Kauro from the second group decided not to go into the mud but all the others had a lot of fun until the end of the visiting time when it was time to return to the forest.

As that saying goes ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’ and some elephants like Tamiyoi seem to think this is the case. She is always running home in the evening ahead of the group to enjoy her neighbours food as well. As soon as she has finished her milk she stretches her trunk through the partition to share the delicious lucerne pellets belonging to her neighbours. She will be sad today though as very sadly little Sopat passed away this morning due to his very weak condition. She was fond of the new one and will miss him. During the public visit today Jotto was standing on the edge of the mud pool feeding on the green branches there. Tamiyoi came slowly up behind him and pushed him gently into the mud pool and he rolled down into the muddy water for a bath he had not planned for! Tamiyoi turned and faced the opposite direction and looked very innocent, pretending not to know anything about Jotto falling into the mud. He struggled to get out of the bath on his knees and settled on the loose soil to dry himself. Ambo seems to be copying Mbegu and Ndotto’s habit of drinking water straight from the hose pipe. Since he arrived at the mud bath area and finished his milk, the hose pipe never left his mouth and at some point he even had an altercation with Malima over it!

It seems to be the start of our ‘winter’ judging from today’s weather! It was a cold, foggy and drizzly morning today and very misty when the orphans came out of their stockades. The weather has been getting colder every day and today it seems to be the coldest! Because of the cold weather the babies Musiara and Sattao and even Luggard have been staying in their stockades for longer in the morning. Because of this Mbegu, Tagwa, Malkia have been making several trips back to the stockades. By the third time and this time with Pare in tow, the keepers finally realised it was because the babies were still in the compound. This time Mbegu went straight up to Musiara’s stockade and gave a low rumble to which Musiara responded by yelling, attracting Tagwa and Malkia to run to his door as well. They tried to push it open but in vain. There was no other option that to give the babies an extra blanket each and allow them out into the forest with the other orphans and they came out full of joy, walking alongside the older ones to the forest. Esampu was a naughty girl at the public visit today. After drinking her milk bottles she went on head butting everyone starting with Ambo who pushed her back. She proceeded on to knock Tamiyoi, Malima, Jotto, Kuishi and finally Enkesha who she pushed through the rope cordon and into the crowd. It was hard for the keepers to control her as she was clearly in a very bad mood. As they consoled one orphan she moved on to the next one! The keepers had to take her to the edge of the group and keep her there while she calmed down.

It was a lot warmer today than yesterday and the young Jotto was in a very happy and playful mood again. Today he decided to have some fun with Kuishi and she turned ready for a fight, perhaps thinking that Jotto wanted to bully her. He had to approach her in many different playing styles to lure her – he went down on his knees and raised his head and trunk high up in the air and eventually Kuishi complied and she too went down on her knees. They ended up having lots of fun and running around and rolling on each other too. Malima came over as the two were playing their pushing game, looking for Jotto who she is good play mates with. Kuishi didn’t want her to join in though and pushed her away. When Luggard came over though the situation was very different and Jotto was much more gentle in his pushing tactics, considerate of his bad leg. Kuishi wasn’t selfish with the game this time and gave Luggard the chance of playing with Jotto. She stood to the side as Jotto rolled on the ground and Luggard slid down his back. They also enjoyed a wrestling game before winding up their time together. Elsewhere Murit was playing with the naughty boy Rapa; they were breaking down dried and rotten branches and charging and pushing each other. Ambo does not normally take much time playing and doesn’t last too long in games but today he was engaged in a game with Ngilai, charging at warthogs and wrestling with each other. Today it seems to have been Maramoja’s duty to care for the little boys Musiara and Sattao. Since morning she has been walking around with Musiara and before she took over all the older females had surrounded both boys. When they dispersed Maramoja was left with the little ones and Sattao moved to walk next to the keepers, so Maramoja moved into the thicket together with Musiara.

Malima is quite a strange little girl with her love for mud! It’s natural for elephants to use mud to cool their bodies and sometimes for fun too. At 9am this morning the elephants drank their milk in the mud bath area. As it was morning and still a bit chilly, none of the orphans were expected the mud bathe but this young girl surprised everyone by jumping into the mud pool as soon as she had finished her milk bottles. She started wallowing and kicking the football up and down in the mud throughout the entire time the orphans were there, about half an hour! By 11am she was still in the same happy and playful mood. She engaged Ambo in a lengthy pushing and dusting game which was so funny to watch as they raised their ears up wide whilst playing and kicked up a lot of dust! Today Esampu was in a better mood and with the presence of so many school children she behaved well. Most of the orphans still tried to avoid her whenever she approached them. It seems to be the norm though that whenever she is about to cause problems, she will engage Ambo first. Apart from Luggard who tried to push her back when she went to him, Ambo and the others walked away from her. She stayed calm throughout the entire visit today, walking along the rope cordon paying no attention to the crowd. At one point she even assisted Tamiyoi in babysitting the little ones Musiara and Sattao.