Choose your region

A wild bull joined the orphans and Mutara’s herd group for lucerne in the morning. Olsekki, one of the biggest dependent bulls who is in his final class, decided to confront the wild elephant, but the wild elephant wasn’t bothered at all since he knew that Olsekki was just a boy trying to show off. When Olsekki received no response or any reaction from the wild elephant, he decided to go down to the water trough and join Barsilinga and Karisa to drink water. 

Shortly later, the orphans in the company of Mutara’s herd headed out to browse. At mud bath time, though the sun was shining, the orphans totally refused to go into the water. There was a cool breeze blowing that prevented them from doing so. Maisha and Nabulu were given water in their bottles since they couldn't compete with their older friends to access to water from the water trough. There was a lot of pushing and jostling and the new babies were wary of that. Kainuk stood close behind the girls as they were taking their water and placed her trunk on Nabulu’s back. Kainuk seemed to like the fact the two girls were getting their water from the bottles! 

In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse along the western slopes of Ithumba Hill where Sities, Suguta and Turkwel came up with a plan of leaving with Dololo without the Keepers knowledge. Galla, Kamok and Rapa also joined in. Fortunately the Keepers were able to find the girls and Dololo thirty minutes later after the other orphans had gone back to the stockades. The Keepers brought the whole naughty group back to the stockade. Dololo, Kamok, Rapa and Wanjala were allowed into the stockades while Sities, Suguta and Turkwel remained outside. Later, two herds of wild elephants showed up at the stockade for water. One family herd joined the ex orphans to feed on lucerne after drinking at the water troughs. 

Ambo stood at the gate and tried to block Dololo from coming out this morning. Dololo wondered whether Ambo might dare to do such a thing when his adopted older sisters Suguta, Turkwel and Sities were around! Dololo just stood there smiling at Ambo and it seems Ambo suddenly thought wiser of his actions, and turned to let Dololo pass to prevent him from rumbling or yelling out, which would surely bring the older girls running to see what was upsetting their favourite boy. 

Out in the bush, Galla played with Mapia and the game came to an end when Galla attempted to climb on Mapia. Musiara, who is trying to prove how tough he is these days, engaged Rapa in a fierce fight that almost ended in a draw were it not for Rapa who used his vast experience to narrowly escape defeat by Musiara. Musiara normally walks from place to place very slowly, and you wouldn’t expect such a spirited fight from such a boy who is normally so slow! Musiara is a bull to watch in the near future. 

The orphans visited the Kone dam which is slowly drying up, and managed to play there for a bit in the mud before heading to the main waterhole. The temperature was moderate so the orphans only had some water from the trough after having their milk bottles, before disappearing into the bush again. 

The Keepers changed the direction the orphans were going in, towards an area they preferred for the orphans to browse in, but they were met with some complaints from Dololo's escorts in Mutara’s herd who wanted the orphans to go in another direction which would work to their advantage: to abscond with their favourite Dololo, which is exactly what the Keepers were trying to avoid! Mutara’s herd was left with no choice other than to follow the orphans in the direction the Keepers had chosen, or leave and walk their own way on their own; the escorts chose the former just to make sure they got to spend a little time with their favourite baby. 

In the evening, several wild bulls and a family herd visited the stockade compound for some water, and left later shortly before dark.

Kilaguni was still sleeping outside the stockades when the dependent orphans were let out. As soon as he heard them coming out, Kilaguni woke up and stood facing the lucerne store in anticipation of a good breakfast. Suguta and her group waited for their Dololo outside the gate, and escorted him for lucerne. Shortly later two groups of wild herds showed up and joined the orphans to feed on lucerne without asking permission from anyone. One of the females had a one month old baby. Interestingly Sities abandoned Dololo and decided to familiarize herself with the small baby, suggesting that she is just happy to be around any small babies! Esampu the drama queen wasn't left out either, but also placed herself in the queue so as to have a glimpse of the baby. When the lucerne finished, the wild herd left. Maisha and Nabulu decided to follow the wild herd since there were babies their size within the group, but the Keepers quickly intervened to make sure that the two girls didn't go with the wild herd. It was a cool morning and the orphans enjoyed their time browsing. 

At mud bath time the orphans had their milk then settled for soil dusting since it was too cold for them to get into the water. Sattao settled to play with Pare but their game was cut short by Wanjala who passed by and pushed Sattao so hard that he cried out. Wanjala was cautioned by the Keepers to stop bullying the small boys. 

In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse east of Ithumba Hill. Rapa, Sana Sana and Wanjala decided to feed far away from the others and when it was time to return to the compound the three couldn’t be found. An hour later the Keepers found them however and they were escorted back to the stockades for the night. 

After finishing their morning lucerne the orphans left for browsing and settled in the Kone area. The Kone dam has shrunk in the dry weather and is only mud now. Mapia enjoyed rolling in the mud before Jotto came over and ruined his fun by pushing Mapia out. Mapia didn't take this lightly however and he started a pushing match with Jotto. The two boys pushed each other for quite some time before Jotto surrendered and moved to play with Pare. Rapa intervened and separated Jotto and Pare. Shortly later Rapa climbed on Jotto and this led to a fight. Jotto lost to Rapa and moved away to resume browsing. 

Musiara settled to browse with his loving adopted sister Maramoja, while Ambo had a brief strength testing exercise with Sattao that ended in a draw. 

Four wild bulls joined the orphans at the mud bath to drink water. Mundusi was punishment by one of the wild bulls for disrespecting his seniors by being too brazen around them. Mundusi ran away from the water trough to avoid being punished again. 

On the way back out to browse, just like Dololo gets escorted by Sities, Kainuk, Turkwel and Suguta, Ambo was escorted by Naseku and Kamok. The orphans settled to browse east of the Ithumba Hill until five o'clock in the evening when Maisha and Nabulu led the first group back to the stockades. 

Melia, Kibo, Chemi Chemi, Kalama and Kandecha, who had been away for some time, reported in the morning and joined the orphans and Mutara’s herd to feed on lucerne. Jotto took his share of lucerne and walked down to the water trough in order to enjoy feeding without being disturbed. The orphans together with the ex-orphans settled to browse in the Kone area. 

Dololo had the pluck to challenge Sapalan who is a couple of years older than him. Sapalan didn't take this lightly and so turned to tackle the boy. Dololo decided to surrender moments later. Sapalan decided to lecture Dololo and let him know that he should never mistake his politeness for cowardice, and that he wasn’t concerned about the protection from Dololo’s big sisters in Mutara’s herd, he would reprimand him nonetheless!  

At mud bath time only a few orphans, including Nabulu and Maisha, wallowed in the mud bath. In the afternoon, Jotto and Pare had some disagreement that erupted into a fight. Its only when Olsekki passed by and cautioned the boys that they stopped fighting. In the evening, thirty wild elephants reported for water at the stockade compound. 

A wild bull joined the orphans at the lucerne feeding area this morning. The bull was totally comfortable interacting with the orphans and keepers close by. As soon as the bull had enough, it was time for him to go and wash it down with some water at the water troughs, then he disappeared. 

Out in the bush, Dololo came across a nice rock that he scratched himself on. His scratching didn't last for long as Pare passed by and pushed him away. Dololo couldn't do anything as his minders were quite a distance away. After pushing Dololo away, Pare scratched on the same rock but was disrupted by Mundusi who had woken up in a playful mood. Mundusi wanted to have a pushing game that Pare willingly accepted. Their game lasted for quite some time before they finally parted ways to resume their browsing. 

Sattao settled to browse with Oltaiyoni and engaged her in a long conversation, perhaps as he wanted to find out why Oltaiyoni and her friends always come back late in the evening. At mud bath time, the orphans were joined by eleven wild bulls who weren’t hostile and were quite friendly towards the babies. As it was a cool day the orphans didn’t wallow and instead had some water, a soil bath, and then returned back to the browsing field. Mutara and her group as usual took all the class five members with them, and Galla from class four and Ndiwa of class three too. Mutara and her team all returned later in the evening. 

Bomani, who has been away for sometime, is back now and it's not clear where he has been for all this time! He used to be Orwa's best friend but we aren’t sure what happened to end their friendship. After feeding on lucerne, the ex-orphans and dependent orphans parted ways, only to meet up again at the mud bath. Kamok and Olsekki had a strength testing exercise that lasted for quite some time. 

Bomani settled to pass the time with the dependent orphans and played with Sattao, Dololo and Karisa as he taught them pushing tactics that he had learned while he was away. At mud bath time, ten wild bulls were present and after a brief interaction with the orphans the wild bulls moved to one corner of mud bath and had fun there, while the orphans used the other corner, before going back out to the bush to browse. Barsilinga, Tusuja, Olsekki, Oltaiyoni, Roi, Kamok, Naseku and Siangiki teamed up with Mutara’s herd and ended up coming back to the stockades later. 

The orphans settled for lucerne soon after leaving the stockade. Nabulu has taken to following the rest of the herd while her friend Maisha stays behind, and she doesn’t seem to mind too much. Mutara and her herd joined the dependent orphans shortly later. Dololo was happy to have his older ‘sisters’ with him. As usual, they kept him right in their midst. 

Later, Mutara led the way out to browse. Mundusi, who from time time tries to elevate his position by challenging his older friends, got a rude shock from Kauro this morning. Kauro didn't take Mundusi's challenge lightly and so decided to teach the young Mundusi a lesson in how to be respectful to his seniors. He pushed Mundusi so hard and chased him around until he thought he might have learnt his lesson.

After their noon milk feed, the orphans only had some water and attended a soil dusting session before heading back out to browse. After, as usual, Mutara and her herd took the class five members with them, and returned to the stockade compound with them later in the evening. The orphans had a quiet afternoon and concentrated on browsing throughout the rest of the day. 

This is the first morning for Nabulu to wake up without her friend. The two had only spent one month together at Ithumba since they were brought from Nairobi. Luckily some ex-orphans visited the stockades which cheered everyone up. It is quite amazing they arrived this morning, of all mornings, and just goes to show how much elephants remain in contact with one another. Ex-orphans Galana, Gawa, Loijuk, Lili, Lenana, Lapa, Makena, Kilabasi, Narok, Kitirua, Naisula, Ishanga, Tumaren and Ukame showed up at the compound. The small babies Lapa and Lili reminded Nabulu of the good times in the nursery while she was taking care of the young ones. Seeing these young babies made her very happy as she tried following them and interacting with them, and at one point nearly disappeared with the ex-orphans were not for the intervention by the Keepers. Nabulu really wanted to be close to the babies but this couldn't happen as they stayed next to their mothers and were always on the move. 

After being intercepted, Nabulu walked over to Malkia and teamed up with her to browse. Malkia has been very comforting towards Nabulu and stays by her. 

Esampu got it rough when she challenged Gawa as they are roughly the same size. But Esampu couldn't withstand Gawa’s strength and so surrendered. Kauro had a brief conversation with Ukame who left with the ex-orphans a few months ago. Perhaps Kauro wanted to know from Ukame how life is treating her now she is living in the wild. Kauro parted ways with Ukame and walked off to join the others. 

Ambo had a pushing game with Malima as Sattao played with Musiara. Pare decided to have his own game of rolling on the ground and Dololo, who was close by, thought it a clever idea to go and roll on Pare, which he would never be able to do if he were standing! At mud bath time the weather was chilly and none of the orphans dared to step into the mud bathing water after having their milk bottles. 

In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse east of Ithumba Hill. The rest of the day was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing. 

Galana and her herd reported early at the stockade compound and waited for the orphans to come out. They shared lucerne together and in the process Mundusi ran into trouble with Gawa when he tried to pick some lucerne that was close to her. Gawa pushed Mundusi hard and since her mother was close by she knew that Mundusi wouldn’t retaliate. Galana left to drink water leaving Gawa with the dependent orphans. Mundusi was happy that Galana stepped out of the way, and he quickly mobilized a few bulls and went to attack Gawa. Gawa had no option other than to run away for her safety, leaving Mundusi feeling elated.  

Out in the bush, Siangiki and Musiara teamed up with Ukame to have a conversation that lasted for quite some time. Dololo challenged Pare to a pushing game that lasted for quite awhile too, before Dololo decided to surrender. 

At the mud bath the sun was shining though a cold wind was blowing. Nabulu, Esampu and Kauro did choose to wallow but the others opted for a soil dusting exercise instead. In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse east of Ithumba Hill. 

A wild herd visited the stockades in the morning. Noticeable were two wild babies, one of them as young as five months old. As the other orphans were busy feeding on lucerne, Nabulu was busy enjoying interacting with the youngest wild baby. Shortly later, Esampu joined her and kept on tricking the baby to follow them but the baby was unwavering and wouldn't leave her mother. Nabulu stepped aside and held a brief meeting with Esampu to discuss how to win the baby over but they couldn't reach an agreement. The two girls kept on following the baby each using their own techniques but none worked. Nabulu decided to leave with the wild herd when it was time for the herd to leave. The Keepers were quick to intervene though, and blocked Nabulu from following the wild herd. 

Out in the bush, Mundusi decided to challenge Kauro, but Kauro wasn't in a playful mood and so shoved Mundusi out of his way. Dololo continued to enjoy love from his big sisters Sities, Suguta, Kainuk and Turkwel in Mutara’s herd. 

One wild bull visited the orphans while they were at the mud bath. The orphans only had their milk and some water then participated in a soil dusting exercise. Ambo tried to challenge Mapia but then decided to surrender. In the afternoon, Musiara decided to team up with Malkia to browse and at the same time, listen to any advice that would be helpful coming from Malkia.

Soon after leaving the stockades, the orphans were joined by Rapsu and had lucerne together before heading to wash it down with some water at the stockade water troughs. Ambo led the way to the browsing field, closely followed by his friends Naseku and Kamok. Dololo enjoyed a strength testing exercise with Karisa but ended up losing to Karisa. Mapia played with Mundusi but their game ended abruptly when Barsilinga passed by and pushed them out of his way. Musiara had a brief conversation with Rapsu and wondered how long it would take for him to reach that height! Rapsu read Musiara's thoughts and informed him that he should be patient as he has a long way to go to reach the size of an 18 year old. 

After having his milk at the mud bath, Ambo walked to the mud and had a lone game of playing and rolling in the mud. Ten wild bulls were present at the mud bath. The orphans participated in a soil dusting exercise before returning back to the browsing field. 

In the afternoon, Enkikwe, Rapa, Wanjala and Sapalan quietly sneaked off and disappeared. Galana and her herd visited the stockades shortly before five o'clock in the evening. As the orphans were returning back home, the rascal Lapa stood in their way to greet them and escort them for a few metres before returning back to his mother. Enkikwe, Wanjala, Sapalan and Rapa returned back to the stockade around eight o'clock at night.