Ithumba was a hive of activity this month as there were a huge number of wild bulls in the area who frequented the mud bath almost every day, as well as arriving at the stockades in the morning for water. One day there were at least forty of them at the mud bath, with a number of them new to the area and our orphans too.
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.
So many ex-orphans including Mulika, Mwende, Lualeni, baby Lulu, Galana, baby Gawa, Teleki, Makireti, Kilabasi, Chaimu, Rapsu, Taita and Loijuk showed up at the stockade in the morning. It was a great relief to see Mulika and Mwende who were last seen in October last year, and Teleki who was last seen last year in July. Perhaps the excitement of new arrivals to Ithumba drew them closer? The ex-orphans joined the orphans for lucerne. Malkia introduced herself to Rapsu as Tusuja held a brief conversation with Makireti. Ndiwa held talks with Malima as Olsekki played with Tusuja. Shortly later, the ex-orphans led the way to the browsing field and briefly browsed with the orphans before heading towards Kalovoto.
Maramoja settled to browse with Malima and shortly later, Naseku and Tusuja took a break from feeding to play a game of rolling on the ground. Their game attracted Kamok, Kauro, Mapia, Malima, Wanjala and Galla who joined to spectate the soil dusting. Kauro took advantage of Kamok lying down to climb on her. At mud bath time, the weather was chilly and the orphans didn't participate in wallowing. Some hostile wild bulls reported for water and didn't allow the orphans to drink until the Keepers intervened by telling them to move and give way to the orphans. On the way back to the browsing field, Kuishi led the way, followed by Narok.
After their morning milk, the orphans strolled nonchalantly out from their stockades and settled for their lucerne. In the stockade compound, the juniors were joined by Mulika, Kinna, baby Kama, Makena, Chaimu, Vuria, Orwa, Teleki, Wendi, baby Wiva and three wild elephants. The bulls had some playful moments. Teleki played with Garzi while Orwa played with Vuria. Shortly later, the ex-orphans left, while the orphans headed north of stockade where they settled to browse. The orphans had a quiet morning as they browsed calmly without any major distractions. Shortly before mud bath time, Tusuja took a break from feeding to participate in a lone soil dusting exercise. At mud bath time, the temperature was moderate and the orphans didn't show any interest in mud bathing. The orphans had their milk and some water before heading back out to browse. It was another calm afternoon as each orphan tried to get enough before the day end, since it has already started to dry up now.
The orphans left the stockade early as usual and settled for lucerne. Only one wild bull was present at the stockade compound when the orphans were let out. Shortly later, two hyenas passed by at a run, and this sent the orphans into a panic, prompting them to run back to the stockade. The Keepers assured them that all was well by calling and whistling. Peace returned and the orphans walked back to resume feeding. Ndiwa and Sana Sana stood facing a wild bull with looks that suggested a lot of things were going through their minds. One being why the bull didn’t run when he saw the hyenas, and the other perhaps when would they ever grow to be that big. After several minutes of standing while thinking and facing the wild bull, Sana Sana made a bold move of walking towards the wild bull. Ndiwa followed with Karisa, Namalok and Tusuja. They joined the wild bull in drinking water, and the bull left moments later.
Later, Turkwel settled to browse with Rapa while the rest scattered in different directions. The ex-orphans passed by the stockade compound and after having enough water, they left again. At mud bath time, twenty five wild bulls showed up for water. Kithaka briefly joined them in drinking water but when the number kept on going up, Kithaka left to avoid running into trouble with the big bulls. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse in the upper Kalovoto area. Later in the evening, Mapia led the way back to the stockades.
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.
It was a quiet morning with no single wild elephant or ex-orphan reporting for water. The orphans left the stockade early as usual and settled for lucerne before going out to browse for the day. The orphans settled to browse in Kone area and browsed calmly up to mud bath time, when Lemoyian sneaked off and made sure that he was the first one to get to the mud bath for his share of milk. Twenty bulls showed up for water at mud bath. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse west of the Ithumba Hill. Pare and Mundusi had a strength testing exercise that saw Mundusi bow out after being defeated by Pare. Later, Esampu had a lone game of rolling on the ground.
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.
Two bulls were drinking water at the stockade water troughs when the orphans were let out this morning. The orphans settled for lucerne as usual. Sapalan, who has developed an appetite for challenging Rapa these days, invited Rapa for a pushing game that didn't last long. Mundusi had his own game of rolling on the soft grass. His game was cut short by Naseku who came to interrupt him by pushing him to stand up. Pare settled to scratch on a nearby rock and when he was done, Sapalan took over and after having enough of a scratch, he walked away. Karisa led the way to the browsing field where Ndiwa settled to browse with Sana Sana while Mundusi settled to browse with Naseku. Shortly before mud bath time, Roi took a break from feeding to perform a soil dusting exercise.
At the mud bath, the orphans were joined by Mutara’s group. After mud bath, the orphans had a soil dusting exercise and after, Mutara’s group escorted the juniors back to the browsing field. Mutara’s herd kept the orphan’s company up to five o'clock in the evening when again, they escorted them back to the stockades for the night.
Very early in the morning, six buffalos chose to rest some fifty meters away from the stockade compound. When the juniors were let out, Tusuja had a busy morning after spotting the buffaloes. He single handedly decided to drive the buffaloes away by charging and trumpeting as he ran towards them. It took Tusuja awhile before succeeding in his mission. After driving the buffaloes away, he returned to join his friends who were now drinking water as they prepared to head to the browsing field. Tusuja felt very pleased with himself as he walked and swung his trunk, relishing in his triumph of scaring the buffalos away.
Later on, Tusuja spent some time scratching against a tree while Roi, Naseku, Esampu and Wanjala had a game of rolling on the ground. On their way to the mud bath, the orphans were joined by Melia, Kibo and Kandecha. Sixteen wild bulls attended mud bath, and as the orphans returned back to the browsing field, the number of wild bulls at mud bath kept going up. Kauro had a friendly pushing game with Kamok while Tusuja challenged Olsekki, a game that saw Tusuja surrender after sensing defeat. In the evening Orwa, Narok, Bomani, Melia, Kibo, Kandecha and Mutara’s herd showed up at the stockade compound for water. They were joined by eight wild bulls and after drinking enough water, they left at their own pleasure.
It was a quiet morning with no single wild elephant or ex-orphan showing up at the stockade. The orphans were let out and settled for lucerne. Galla had a brief strength testing exercise with Rapa while Wanjala had a fun time rolling on the ground. Sapalan, who is very active these days, engaged Karisa in a pushing game while Tusuja played with Olsekki. Kuishi decided to keep herself busy by scratching on a nearby rock while Mapia stood close by. The orphans passed by the water troughs and armed themselves with enough water to see them through the entire morning.
Malima and Mapia started their day’s activities by scratching against the same tree. Galla had a brief soil dusting exercise before resuming browsing. At mud bath time, though the temperature was moderate, forty wild bulls were in attendance. Close to ten wild bulls were totally new and had never been seen before and one of the new teenager bulls tried to charge at the orphans and the Keepers as he was not familiar with them. The new wild bulls during the day time have confirmed why the consumption of drinking water has gone up from thirty thousand liters to forty thousand litres on a daily basis. We would certainly benefit from more rain in the area. The orphans didn't have a mud bath but drank some water before heading back to the browsing field. Sapalan engaged Namalok in a pushing game that ended in a draw. The afternoon was quiet and the orphans browsed calmly without any major distractions. In the evening, Mutara’s group and Olare’s group showed up at the stockade. Twenty wild bulls were also present and they left just before dark after having enough water.
It was a quiet morning when the orphans strolled nonchalantly out from the stockades. After feeding on their lucerne, they went for some water before going out to browse. Mundusi and Pare started their day by engaging in a strength testing exercise while Namalok tried to threaten Sapalan. Sapalan stood his ground and didn't take Namalok's threat seriously. Seeing that Sapalan wasn't intimidated at all, Namalok retreated and resumed browsing. Esampu had a brief chat with Enkikwe as she tried to find out how Enkikwe is feeling as far as his wound is concerned. Karisa, Tusuja and Olsekki came across some loose soil that they used to play on.
At nine o'clock in the morning, the truck carrying Jotto and Ambo arrived at Ithumba. Kuishi, Mapia, Malima and Malkia were the first ones to meet Jotto and Ambo. After a brief interaction and introduction with the new babies, the orphans went back out to browse. After a short walk, Jotto started feeling the heat of Ithumba and drew water from his stomach and sprayed it behind his ears to cool himself down. At mud bath time, the temperature was moderate and the orphans boycotted the wallowing exercise. Only Esampu briefly had a mud bath and then came out. Kamok played with Tusuja while Wanjala played with Ambo. In the afternoon, the orphans headed west of Ithumba Hill where Ambo and Jotto continued to learn the layout of the area. Ambo was quite calm and interacted with the other orphans while Jotto stayed close to his Keepers. In the evening, the orphans returned back safely to the stockade for the night.
Ambo and Jotto woke up to a new different environment this morning. Ambo walked out as if he knew the routine perfectly. Olare’s group was outside the stockade compound and joined the orphans as soon as they were let out. Mundusi and Rapa had a warm up exercise with a pushing game. Their game was cut short by Kibo who passed between them and separated them. Olsekki tried to challenge Kitirua but was overpowered. Jotto played with Ambo as Naseku played with Malima. On the way to the browsing field, Kithaka engaged Lemoyian to a pushing game. The ex-orphans accompanied the orphans into the browsing field where Melia and Olare tried to snatch Ambo. The Keepers intervened and rescued Ambo back. After realizing that their intentions were now known, the two girls decided to lie low and wait for the next available chance. Kauro, Pare, Galla and Roi took a break from feeding to participate in a soil dusting exercise. At mud bath time, Lemoyian as usual, dodged the Keepers and headed for his share of milk before the others. The orphans decided not to have a mud bath again for although it is not raining it is still quite cool. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse east of Ithumba Hill. In the evening, Pare climbed on Mundusi but Mundusi wasn't happy and challenged Pare for riding on him without his permission.
It was a quiet start to the morning, without a single wild elephant visiting the stockades; the orphans soon settled for lucerne pellets as we await more grass from Nairobi after the harvests. They stopped by the water trough before heading off to the browsing field.
The five new babies seem to be forming their own little group and were often seen browsing together. Malkia also chose to stay close to them, but bullied Mapia every now and then. Garzi, Barsilinga, Kithaka and Lemoyian, who like to browse further afield, away from the Keepers, parted ways with the juniors and showed up at the mud bath just before the others arrived, only to depart again and return to the stockades around five o’clock in the evening. Not many wild elephants visited the mud bath today; we think it is perhaps because the weather was quite chilly. Ambo made a rather bold move, leading Jotto to the water trough to where the wild bulls were drinking water. The Keepers then moved the bulls away to give the dependent orphans a chance to drink. The orphans then moved to the smaller mud bath where Esampu, Roi, Garzi and Sana Sana partook in a brief mud bath. Olsekki lingered at the waterhole to chat to the wild bulls and shortly after joined his friends.
In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse on the western side of Ithumba Hill. Naseku and Wanjala enjoyed a brief chat which was followed by a soil dusting exercise. Later Roi, Ukame, Enkikwe and Mundusi took a break from feeding to have a soil bathing exercise before Mapia led the way back to the browsing field.
This morning the orphans were rather tense, as at night they heard the sounds of a leopard hunting a dik dik, this disturbed the orphans, especially the new babies.
Jotto seemed most unsettled as he darted back and forth out in the bush. His behaviour prompted a similar reaction from the rest of the orphans. Narok, Orwa and Bomani helped the Keepers restore calm. Malkia stayed close to Jotto and Ambo reassuring them all was well. As always, Barsilinga Kithaka Garzi and Lemoyian parted ways with their friends and made their way to the mud bath early. The weather today was also quite chilly and only fifteen bulls were seen at the mud bath. The orphans settled to browse on the eastern side of Ithumba Hill. As the evening approached, the orphans made their way slowly down the slopes, and Olsekki decided to push Wanjala who fell, hitting his left tusk on a rock which broke a bit of it off. Kuishi led the first group back to the stockades while Esampu led the second group.
This morning, the orphans left the stockades quite early and quickly settled for their pellets. A short while later, Taita emerged from the south west side of the stockade and joined the orphans at the water trough. As the orphans got ready to leave to go out to browse, Kithaka entertained the thought of challenging Taita, but quickly changed his mind as the older bull approached him.
Taita briefly interacted with the orphans before leaving with Kithaka, Barsilinga, Garzi and Lemoyian. At the mid-day feed, Lemoyian, who is always amongst the first to arrive, appeared to have miscalculated the time as he arrived late for his share of milk, shortly after the first group had already had theirs. The weather was chilly again and none of the orphans participated in wallowing. In the afternoon, the orphans settled west of Ithumba Hill to browse. Jotto and Ambo stayed close to the Keepers until five o'clock in the evening when it was time to return to the stockades.
This morning, as the orphans exited the stockades, they saw two wild bulls at the water trough. Namalok was the first to exit his stockade. The orphans soon settled for their pellets, after which Mteto led them to the browsing field.
Mteto, Galla, Rapa, Karisa and Jotto partook in a brief soil dusting exercise. Rapa then decided to engage Galla in a strength testing game which ended in a draw. The rest of the morning remained uneventful with the orphans concentrating on their browsing. As usual Kithaka, Barsilinga, Garzi and Lemoyian, went their own separate way, meeting up with the orphans at the mid-day feed. Today, twenty five wild bulls were present at the mud-bath. The orphans enjoyed their milk bottles and engaged in some soil dusting before making their way back to browsing.
Later in the afternoon, Jotto decided to have his own rolling game close to his Keepers; he then had a quick one minute power nap before resuming his rolling game again. Temperatures continued to soar all afternoon, and so the orphans decided to stop at the mud bath to cool off on their way back to the stockades in the evening.
Twenty eight more wild bulls arrived at the water stockade later in the evening to quench their thirst; they stayed for quite a while before retreating back into the bush.
The orphans were greeted by a beautiful clear sky this morning, and they quickly settled into feeding on their pellets. It was a quiet morning too, with no wild elephants joining them.
Roi took the lead and led the orphans out to the browsing field, settling to browse in the Kone area. Malkia teamed up with Karisa to browse whilst Sapalan engaged Rapa in a strength testing game. Rapa seemed to lose interest very quickly and surrendered to Sapalan so that he could carry on browsing. Later, the orphans were joined by Mutara, Kasigau, Suguta, Sities, Kainuk, Kibo and Kanjoro. The ex-orphans browsed with the stockade dependent orphans and then escorted them to the mid-day milk feed. The orphans had their bottles of milk and a drink of water before plunging into the mud bath. In the afternoon, the orphans returned to the Kone area to continue browsing.
In the evening, Mutara and her group escorted the juniors back to the stockade for another night.
As soon as the orphans were done with their lucerne, they made their way straight out to browse. Esampu took the lead with Ambo and Jotto bringing up the rear, staying close to their Keepers.
A clear blue sky indicated a very hot day ahead. Mapia developed an itchy ear and found the closest tree to scratch his ear. Later he settled into a soil dusting exercise and was joined by Jotto. Malkia decided to browse with Kuishi, wanting to know how she was settling in. Kuishi assured her she was adjusting well. Ambo and Rapa also joined in the dusting game. At the midday feed, Mteto led the first group of Naseku and Pare for their milk bottles, followed by the second group of Kuishi, Malima and Mapia. Ambo had a bit of an incident, where he chose the wrong place to exit the mud-bath and in doing so, got stuck. The Keepers encouraged him and helped him to get out. Ambo was not a happy boy and made a mental note to be more careful next time when wallowing.
In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse on the western slopes of Ithumba Hill and had a quiet remaining part of the day.
Narok, Bomani and Orwa joined the orphans for fresh lucerne in the morning. Narok went off to drink some water and all of a sudden turned around and came running back. Her running scared all the orphans prompting them to run towards the Keepers. The Keepers calmed them down and assured them of their safety. The Keepers weren’t entirely sure whether Narok had done it on a purpose to check the reaction of the young orphans, or if there was truly a danger about that she had detected. Two junior bulls then appeared out of the bush, and the Keepers thought this might have been the reason behind Narok getting a fright. The two wild bulls settled for some water and the dependent orphans walked down to join them. Malima was surprised when one of the teenage bulls, instead of treating Malima as a baby, charged and attempted to drive her away. Malima learnt a valuable lesson about respecting boundaries and the privacy of her elders then! Kuishi settled to scratch her belly on a nearby rock.
On the way to out to browse, the playful Mundusi decided to challenge Karisa. Karisa didn't waste time in showing Mundusi that he has what it takes to drive a young boy like him away. Mundusi surrendered and went to try his luck on Pare, but he was again defeated as at the same time, Rapa attempted to climb on him. At milk feeding time Malkia, who came down in the same group as Jotto and Ambo, decided to punish Jotto by pushing him, simply because he had drunk all his milk faster than her and stood close by watching her. Several wild bulls decided to watch at a distance how the orphans were getting into the mud in style. The wild bulls then jumped in as soon as the orphans had finished their mud bathing. Olare’s group showed up later and followed the orphans as they browsed.
Four wild bulls were drinking water at the stockade water troughs when the orphans were let out. The orphans settled for lucerne and shortly later, one wild bull tried to join the orphans for Lucerne, but as he was about to reach where the orphans were, the bull changed mind and turned back. Tusuja looked perplexed as if wondering why he had gone back. The bull didn't turn back and Tusuja raised his trunk in the air and bid him goodbye.
Kuishi started a soil dusting exercise and was soon joined by Ukame, Mundusi and Pare. Pare and Mundusi went at it for a very long time and in the end engaged in a strength testing exercise. Mapia led the way to the mud bath and on the way, the dependent orphans were joined by Mutara’s group. After mud bath time, Turkwel, Kithaka, Barsilinga, Garzi and Lemoyian teamed up with Mutara’s group and left, as the other orphans went north of the mud bath. Later in the evening, Olare and Mutara’s herd brought the rebels back to the stockade for their milk.
It was very cold morning with the dependent orphans having their milk and coming out of their stockades to feed on lucerne. Enkikwe’s leg was treated as usual before he came out. The others were busy feeding on lucerne with Ambo carrying some extra lucerne on his head while still feeding. Malima started scratching her neck on the fence wall and later whole group walked out to the bush to browse.
In the bush, Tusuja was scratching his neck on a tree stump with Sapalan on another tree beside him. Maramoja browsed on leaves high in a tree as it is still quite dry in the area. The orphans later walked to the mud bath for their noon milk bottles. It was cloudy and they didn’t feel like playing in the water so they slowly filtered out to the bush again to browse. It’s very dry around and the orphans walked long distances in search of enough food.
A group of wild bulls came to drink water this evening at the stockade compound. Rapsu also appeared alone to drink some water.
It was a lovely morning today with the orphans coming quietly out of their stockades after having their milk. They had their lucerne in their usual feeding area, with Garzi feeding separately from the other orphans. Enkikwe joined the group after he had been treated. A wild bull came in straight to the water trough to drink water and later walked away. Malima and Roi started scratching their necks on the off-loading wall. Mapia joined them in scratching and at the same time waved to the Keepers with his trunk. Kuishi and Mteto started playfighting while Kauro, Barsilinga and Garzi walked to the water trough to drink water and headed to the bush to browse.
In the bush, all the orphans were busy browsing with Jotto browsing next to the Keepers. Galla was tired and dozed with his head leaning on a tree. The orphans later headed to the mud bath for their milk. It was cold and none of the orphans could be bothered to enter the mudhole. They had their milk, drank some water and walked back out to the bush.
Later on as night drew close, the orphans browsed as they made their way back to the stockades. Kamok browsed separately from the group on her own. As the orphans reached the stockades they found Kithaka, Barsilinga, Garzi and Lemoyian already there waiting for them to arrive and have their share of milk. The four are choosing to browse separately from the others in the day now, but still keep coming back for the night.
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.
The orphans settled for lucerne soon after leaving the stockades. The sky was clear and this was an indication of a hot day a head. The vegetation is changing colour which shows how dry it's becoming. No single wild elephant or ex-orphan showed up this morning however. As soon as the orphans were through with the Lucerne, Namalok led the way out. It was all quiet as the orphans concentrated on feeding.
At mud bath time, Jotto led the first group while Mapia led second. After their milk, the orphans headed for a mud bath before joining some wild bulls in drinking water. Naseku and Namalok emerged as the stars of the day in the mud bath and spent a lot of time in the mud bathing water. Kuishi, Mapia, Jotto, Ndiwa and Roi settled for soil dusting before heading back out to browse. Kithaka, Barsilinga, Garzi and Lemoyian parted ways with their friends, only to show up early before 5pm at the stockade. The four rebels were accompanied by Orwa, Narok and Bomani. They joined ten wild bulls that were drinking water at the stockade water troughs.
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.
It was a quiet morning with the orphans occupying the stockade compound without any other elephants around. The orphans peacefully fed on their Lucerne with Sana Sana throwing some on her head to look as if she was wearing a grass hat. Kamok had a light pushing game with Kauro while Galla played Rapa. The orphans settled to browse east of Ithumba Hill. Mapia teamed up with Malima to browse. On the way to the mud bath, the orphans were joined by Mutara’s group.
The temperature was moderate and the orphans boycotted the wallowing exercise again today. Tusuja tried to challenge Sities which was daring, and as expected he was overpowered and therefore opted to surrender. Enkikwe tried to play a pushing game with Mutara, which was also daring considering his set back with his bad leg, but Mutara understood his condition and she didn't play long with Enkikwe. The orphans settled for soil dusting and shortly later headed back to the browsing field. The orphans settled west of the Kalovoto seasonal river and had a quiet, peaceful afternoon of browsing. In the evening, twenty-eight wild bulls, a wild mother and her two calves showed up for water at the stockade compound and left at dusk when they had had enough water.
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.
Soon after leaving the stockade, the brave Esampu walked straight to the water trough and joined a wild bull to drink water as the rest of the herd settled for Lucerne. Out in the bush, Sapalan engaged Olsekki in a pushing game while Pare played with Rapa. Shortly later, Rapa quit the game and teamed up with Kuishi to soil dust. The rest of the morning was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing. At mud bath time, the orphans joined several wild bulls in drinking water. When they were done, Kuishi and Jotto walked up to a wild bull that was also soil dusting and started imitating what the bull was doing. In the afternoon, Kamok led the way back to the browsing field. Pare engaged Mundusi in a strength testing exercise that was disrupted by Turkwel who walked in between them and separated them. In the evening, Malima led the way back to the stockades.
It was quiet and peaceful in the morning as the orphans left the stockades and settled for lucerne. There was no disturbance from any others. Shortly later, Buchuma showed up and the babies were happy to see him and walked down to surround him as he drank water. Some of the orphans were not even drinking water, but instead were admiring Buchuma. After enough water, Buchuma bid the orphans goodbye and left. The orphans settled to browse east of Ithumba Hill where Mundusi had strength testing exercise with Rapa while Mapia came across a nice tree that he used to scratch his itchy neck on. Ndiwa passed close by and decided to move Mapia away so as to use the same tree. Tusuja had a lone game of rolling on the ground but was later joined by Mapia, Malkia, Mundusi, Kuishi, Karisa, Roi and Naseku in soil dusting. At mud bath time, the sun was hot but only Karisa volunteered to participate in mud bathing. Jotto later led the group back out to browse.
It was another quiet and beautiful morning. Ambo finished his pile of Lucerne and went and stood close to the only remaining acacia tree in the stockade compound. He raised his trunk in the direction of the east to find out who was coming. Shortly later, a lone wild bull appeared and headed straight for a drink. Ndiwa gathered her courage and walked down to share water with the wild bull. As soon as Ndiwa had enough water, she started walking towards the browsing field, rumbling. Her friends heard her call and followed.
Kuishi came across a tree stump that she used to scratch the side of her belly. Pare and Mundusi had a pushing game while Pare was rolling on the ground and Mundusi was standing. The game went on for quite some time until Pare decided to stand up when he felt he was losing.
At mud bath time, fifteen wild bulls were present. The sun was hot and so Malima and Mapia headed straight for wallowing soon after having their milk. Kuishi had her own game of rolling on the ground as the rest of the herd participated in soil dusting soon after mud bath. Mutara, Narok and Olare’s groups joined the orphans at the mud bath. Mutara had a private conversation with Turkwel for some time until Turkwel walked away. Jotto led the way back out as Olare walked over to interact with Ambo. The junior ex-orphans continued to browse with the babies up to five o'clock in the evening when they escorted them back to the stockade for the night.