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It was their first morning at Ithumba after sleeping in the open stockades for Mapia, Kuishi and Malima. The three followed the other orphans outside and were shown where the lucerne is served. Malima left with a branch in her mouth which she kept herself busy chewing as she waited to be shown the next step. Wanjala played with Rapa as Karisa handled Esampu. Shortly later, the orphans were joined by ex-orphans Meibai, Kilaguni, Bomani, Narok and Orwa. Kilaguni challenged Meibai but was defeated and so invited Orwa for a game. Orwa accepted but when the going got tough for him, he decided to surrender. Olsekki had a brief headstand exercise before following his friends out to browse. 

Later on, Tusuja made time for Kuishi and Mapia and the three interacted nicely for some time. Shortly before mud bath time, the orphans were joined by other ex-orphans Sunyei, baby Siku, Makena and Loijuk. At mud bath time, twenty two bulls were present. Siku had her own game of rolling on the ground as she was surrounded by her mother, Loijuk, Makena, Roi, Malkia and Sana Sana. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse in Kone area with Kuishi, Mapia and Malima learning the layout of the area. In the evening, the orphans returned back safely to the stockade only to find that Kithaka, Barsilinga and Garzi had already arrived a little earlier. 

Soon after leaving the stockades early in the morning, Galla and Rapa had some scores to settle and went at each other in a strength testing exercise. Shortly later, Rapa gave up and walked off to drink water. Mundusi stood with Tusuja as they decided which way to go and all over sudden, Mundusi turned and tried to challenge Tusuja. Tusuja moved swiftly and countered the attack from Mundusi. Mundusi couldn't match the strength of Tusuja and so surrendered. Karisa faced east as he waited for the signal for which direction to go and when he got none, he started walking out on his own. It's only when his friends saw him leaving that they decided to follow. 

Sana Sana found some time to have a brief chat with Kuishi as Garzi took a break from feeding to have a game of rolling on the ground. Orwa, Bomani, Kilaguni and Narok joined the orphans for browsing and later headed to mud bath together. Naseku played with Rapa and at mud bath time, Narok led Kuishi, Mapia and Malima for their mid-day milk feed. Later, Narok escorted the new babies back to the browsing field. Ndiwa had a private chat with Kuishi before she resumed browsing. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing only.

Chaimu and Kilaguni were outside the stockade when the orphans were let out this morning. The two great friends joined the orphans for lucerne. Mundusi and Mteto settled for scratching against the wall outside the stockade while Malkia kept Mapia and Kuishi company. Sapalan had a brief strength testing exercise with Rapa that ended in a draw. 

Later on while they were browsing, Karisa settled to feed with Maramoja and shortly later, Kibo, Olare, Melia, Tumaren, Kandecha, Kalama, Orwa, Narok, Bomani and Kitirua showed up and joined the orphans. The ex-orphans later escorted the juniors to the mud bath. After mud bath, Garzi left with the ex-orphans as his friends headed to Kone area where they settled to browse. Thirty two wild bulls showed up later, moments after the orphans left. In the afternoon, Mapia and Kuishi took a break from feeding and relaxed under a tree for some time before resuming browsing later. In the evening, an hour after the orphans had returned back to the stockade, Garzi, in the company of Chaimu and Kilaguni, reported back to the stockade. The gate was opened and Garzi was ushered in and joined his friends. 

It was a cold morning today. Naseku enjoyed scratching her trunk while Ambo and Jotto fed together on Lucerne. We had no ex-orphans or wild elephants around this morning, which meant the dependent babies enjoyed feeding on the Lucerne in peace. When they were finished, they walked out to the bush to browse.

Malima, Namalok and Wanjala browsed together in their own little group. Ambo was seen scratching his eye a few times but the Keepers checked it and found it was okay. Karisa and Mundusi started play fighting and pushing each other again. Enkikwe browsed quietly on his own until the group made their way to the mud bath for their milk. On the way Mutara’s group met the orphans and joined them to walk to the mud bath. It was cold again and the orphans didn’t want to swim. They had their milk and walked back out to browse.

In the afternoon all the orphans concentrated on browsing as it is still very dry, and they wanted to make sure they ate enough food before returning to the stockades for the night. Turkwel stretched her trunk very high to reach the green leaves in the trees.

In the stockade compound today, we had Mutara’s herd who arrived in the morning with Narok among them. They came to drink water and walked away. We had also two groups of wild bulls who waited under the shade for the water truck to arrive and fill the troughs. Olare's herd also came in the evening and joined Mutara's group for a bit before heading back to the bush. Melia started playfighting with Kilaguni while Kasigau went to interact with some wild bulls around the water trough. 

Six wild bulls were drinking water at the stockade water trough when the orphans were let out. The orphans were joined by ex-orphans Mutara, Kainuk, Kanjoro, Suguta, Kasigau, Chaimu, Kilaguni and Sities. Kasigau seemed to be very much admired by the dependent orphans who all crowded around him. Malkia threw a back kick to Kuishi who happened to pass behind her. Kuishi dodged the kick and tried not to pass close to Malkia again. 

Garzi engaged Kanjoro in a strength testing exercise as they all walked out to browse. The orphans settled to browse in Kone area and shortly before mud bath time, Tusuja, Namalok, Sana Sana, Kuishi, Siangiki and Karisa took a break from feeding to perform a soil dusting exercise. 

Malkia led the first group for their milk bottles while Maramoja led the second one. Esampu led the third group while Jotto led the fourth. After their milk the orphans walked around the mud bath without getting in the water as it was cloudy and they didn’t feel like it. Only Tusuja opted to join Olare’s herd in the mud bath. Olare’s group had joined the dependent orphans on the way to the mud bath. Garzi and Lemoyian had a light pushing game before heading in a different direction to the others. In the afternoon, Naseku had a brief chat with Wanjala, but we didn’t know what they could be discussing. In the evening, the orphans returned back safely to the stockade for the night. 

Ndiwa left the stockade this morning with a branch in her mouth but dropped it when she spotted the ex-orphans. Ndiwa knew very well that upon meeting the junior ex-orphans she would definitely lose the branch, peacefully or forcefully. Four wild bulls joined the orphans to feed on lucerne. Among the ex-orphans who visited the stockade in the morning were the baby-snatchers Melia and Tumaren in the company of Olare, Kalama, Kitirua, Kilaguni, Chaimu Orwa, Narok, Bomani, Kandecha, Olare and Kibo. Melia sidled up to Ambo and paid a lot of attention to him, but the Keepers spotted the two together and from that moment were very vigilant in making sure she couldn’t make off with Ambo into the bush. Shortly later Ambo and Jotto saw a wild bull leaving and decided to catch up with him to go for a walk. The Keepers saw the two boys walking off and intervened by blocking them from leaving with the wild bull. 

Later on when the orphans were browsing, Karisa had a strength testing exercise with Rapa and later teamed up with Kuishi to browse. The junior ex-orphans spent the entire morning with the dependent orphans. At mud bath time, Jotto led the way. The weather was chilly and none of the orphans dared to step into the mud bathing water. The ex-orphans followed the orphans in the afternoon but when they realized they might never get their chance to make off with the new babies, they decided to leave and probably come back another day to try their luck.