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Ex-orphans Lualeni, Lulu, Lexi, Chyulu, Cheka, Lenana, Lapa, Kanjoro, Chemi Chemi, Garzi, the wild female elephant and her baby, plus Melia, all joined the orphans for lucerne in the morning. Musiara ran into trouble with Lulu when he tried to share lucerne with her. Lulu pushed Musiara away to go and look for his own. Kanjoro disagreed with Garzi and they pushed each other, but we weren’t sure what it was about. Garzi decided to surrender and run away. Musiara bumped into Lenana’s baby Lapa and they had a light moment of pushing each other, but Lapa couldn't withstand Musiara’s strength and so surrendered and walked towards his mother. Mteto, Jotto, Enkikwe, Sapalan, Dololo and Ambo walked down to the water trough for a drink. A lone buffalo joined them there. Enkikwe tried to charge at the buffalo but the buffalo was unconcerned and only left after taking enough water. The ex-orphans parted ways with the orphans soon after they had all finished feeding on lucerne and Larro led the way out to browse.

The orphans settled to browse in the Kone area and concentrated on browsing without any major distractions. Pare led the first group to the mud bath for their milk feed. A bright sun shone down and it was very hot. Pare, Musiara, Maramoja, Karisa, Rapa and Dololo went for a swim in the mud bath, as the rest of the herd participated in a soil dusting exercise. Jotto tried to block Pare from coming out of the mud bath, but Kauro pushed him aside to let Pare out.

In the afternoon, the orphans settled west of the Ithumba Hill. Larro, Naboishu and Mukkoka teamed up with Sana Sana to browse as Enkikwe and Karisa sneaked away and returned to the stockades early without the Keepers’ knowledge. In the evening, forty wild bulls showed up at stockade for water.

Ex-orphans Meibai and Kenze were among the wild bulls who reported for water this morning. Ambo tried his usual trick and turned right to head towards the lucerne store, before the Keepers arrived and told him off. Enkikwe walked down to the water trough and tried to charge at a buffalo who was sharing water with a wild bull. The buffalo totally refused to leave, leaving Enkikwe with no other option than to retreat and use the other water trough to have a drink. As soon as the orphans were through with the lucerne, Malkia led the way out to browse. 

Larro came across a tasty shrub that she tried to uproot with her trunk. When the pulling become difficult, Larro got down on her knees and used her mouth to cut the shrub. Larro finally managed to pull it up and enjoyed feasting on it! Kuishi took a break from feeding to play with Rapa as Jotto played with Mapia. Mteto, Malima, Dololo, Nabulu, Esampu, Ndiwa and Mukkoka took some time off from their busy feeding schedule to enjoy dusting themselves. 

At the main mud bath the orphans were joined by Mutara and her herd. Mambo jumped into the water to cool off and his nannies joined him. The late-night gang led by Oltaiyoni arrived at the mud bath later when the orphans and Mutara’s herd were leaving. They were in the company of Challa and Lemoyian too.

In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse west of the Ithumba Hill. Lemoyian engaged Kauro in a pushing game as Dololo played with Musiara. Ndiwa, who rarely plays, engaged Mteto in a pushing game too. In the evening, Larro led the way back to the stockades for the night.

The wild female known as the ‘crazy one’ was at the stockade compound with her baby this morning. It is our own ex-orphans who are actually the main nannies to her baby. The orphans settled for lucerne soon after leaving their stockades. Shortly later, Sana Sana and her favourite little Naboishu led the way out to the bush. On their way out Ndiwa came across a rock that she used to scratch her belly on. 

Out in the bush Karisa and Mundusi had a warm up exercise through a pushing game. Their game attracted Ambo and Sattao who started their own pushing game. The orphans settled to browse north of the Kalovoto seasonal river. Kauro ‘the stick carrier’ teamed up with Enkikwe, Karisa, Rapa and Pare in browsing as Kamok settled to browse with her favourite Ambo. 

At mud bath time Rapa, Kauro and Mundusi lagged behind as Malima led the first group while Esampu led the second one. Larro led Naboishu and Mukkoka. After getting their milk, only Pare, Dololo, Kuishi, Nabulu, Mteto and Malkia decided to wallow in the mud bath. As they were leaving, Galana, Nasalot, Nusu, Noah, Ithumbah and several wild elephants arrived. Mteto and Esampu, who love babies, went back to say hi to Nusu and Noah before following their friends out to the bush. 

The orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. Given the dry conditions at the moment the orphans were careful not to waste any time as that would mean going home without filling their tummies. In the evening, all the orphans returned safely to the stockades.

Ex-orphans Lualeni, Lulu, Lexi, Chyulu, Cheka, Loijuk, Lili, Ithumbah and Galana were present in the morning and joined the orphans for some lucerne. Mteto had a brief chat with Lili before moving to check on Cheka and Lexi. All the orphans fed on lucerne peacefully and as soon as they were all done, Larro led the dependent orphans out to browse for the day. 

They headed towards the Kalovoto area, an area they like the most at the moment given that it has quite a lot of vegetation still, perhaps due to the water underground, and it’s not far from the stockades where they can access water easily. The orphans settled to browse until Sattao and Musiara became engaged in a heated argument over a branch that they came across, probably dropped by a wild bull. As they continued with their stand off and while they were distracted, Mukkoka passed by and picked up the branch! Mukkoka taking the branch away brought the stand off at an end, as the two boys ran after Mukkoka to retrieve the branch. Mukkoka dropped it and walked off, and Musiara and Sattao resumed their fight as they each pulled an end of the branch and tried to out do each other. Luckily the branch broke in two pieces, so each got to leave with their own share! Soon it quiet again as the orphans got serious about their browsing. 

It was hot when the orphans made their way to the mud bath, where they were joined by four wild bulls to wallow in the waterhole. Kilaguni, who travels alone these days, showed up at the mud bath too, but left a few minutes later. Naboishu challenged Ambo but the game ended when Naboishu surrendered. Dololo played with Musiara as Mapia played with Pare. Sattao and Esampu joined several wild bulls to have some water before running to catch up with their friends. 

In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse in the Imenti area. Later on Enkikwe and Karisa dodged the Keepers and arrived back at the stockades early before the others.

Mapia, Naboishu, Rapa, Ambo, Kauro and Musiara settled for a scratching exercise along the wall at the stockade compound this morning. Moments after the orphans settled for lucerne, Mutara’s herd along with a wild herd showed up and joined the them. As usual, Kamok had an unfriendly attitude towards the wild babies, and as such the wild babies avoided Kamok like the plague – they have had encounters with her several times so they know her character well! Sattao shared lucerne with Rapa as Ambo engaged Musiara in a pushing after a disagreement, but no one knew why it started. Dololo tried to make friends with one of the wild babies but the mother took her baby and drew it closer to her before Dololo could have more of a conversation. 

The orphans settled to browse north of the kalovoto area. A troop of chattering baboons passed by and this annoyed some of the orphans. Mundusi, Pare, Rapa, Jotto and Mukkoka joined efforts to drive away the baboons since they were disturbing them with their relentless noise. The baboons didn’t hang around and disappeared as quickly as possible, leaving the elephants in peace. Mutara and her herd arrived out of nowhere and joined the orphans, and later accompanied them to the mud bath. Karisa and Enkikwe arrived later and after having their milk bottles they walked off to join some wild bulls drinking water. In the afternoon, Larro, Mukkoka, Malima, Naboishu and Sana Sana teamed up to browse as Karisa disappeared, only to show up later at the stockades. 

A wild herd of elephants arrived at the stockade compound early in the morning. Soon after drinking water the wild herd joined the dependent orphans to feed on lucerne. Mteto, Esampu, Malkia and Ndiwa bonded with the young wild babies and later escorted them when they were ready to leave with their family. 

Nabulu led the way out to browse. Kuishi challenged Kauro to a pushing game but lost the game since she wasn’t quite strong enough to defeat Kauro. Musiara played with Mapia but when he lost to Mapia, Musiara moved to attack Dololo out of frustration. Dololo, who appears to have expected the move taken by Musiara, had prepared himself so the two boys locked trunks and had a pushing game that lasted for quite sometime. Naboishu and Jotto had a brief conversation before Jotto pushed Naboishu, probably after Naboishu said something that made Jotto annoyed or unhappy. 

Later in the day Musiara teamed up with Ndiwa to browse as Kamok knelt down to pull up a shrub with her mouth that she couldn't uproot just using her trunk. At mud bath time the orphans were briefly joined by ex-orphan Tomboi and a wild friend. The two big boys didn't stay for long but had water then splashed water behind their ears before disappearing. 

After mud bath the orphans settled to browse in the Kanziku area. As has become their usual routine in the afternoon, Karisa and Enkikwe sneaked away and disappeared, only to show up at the stockades shortly before six o'clock in the evening.

The orphans left the stockades early as usual and settled for the supplement lucerne food. Nasalot, her baby Noah, Kanjoro and Tumaren joined the orphans. Mundusi and Mapia tried to wrestle with Noah but Noah was clever and ran to the safety of his mother. The two boys were scared of following Noah as they understood the consequences if they were too rough with Noah in front of his mother! Sana Sana took her favourite little Naboishu and started walking away towards the bush. Larro and Mukkoka followed as everyone started to get the message that it was time to head out to browse. Kamok, Ambo, Rapa, Pare and Nabulu passed by the water trough and drank enough water to see them through the entire morning. 

Out in the bush, Jotto settled to browse with Musiara and Sattao as Malkia, Ndiwa and Kuishi teamed up together. It was another hot day and at mud bath time, the orphans participated fully in the wallowing exercise. Ex-orphan Challa was the only senior bull present while the orphans were at the mud bath. 

The orphans settled to browse west of the Ithumba Hill in the afternoon. Malima settled to browse with Mteto as Musiara and Dololo engaged in a strength testing exercise. In the evening, Jotto led the way back to the stockades for the night. 

It was a quiet morning with no wild elephants or ex-orphans present. The dependent orphans settled for lucerne soon after leaving their stockades. Half an hour later however, ex-orphan Kilaguni, ‘the loner’, arrived. Kilaguni joined the orphans for lucerne too. A wild bull also showed up and settled for some water. Sapalan, Rapa, Mundusi and Jotto got wind of the wild bull and decided to walk down to find out a bit more about him. They found it was a bull they know and so settled to share water with him. Shortly later, the wild bull left after drinking enough water. The orphans were left with their trunks up as they tried to find out where the bull was heading. Enkikwe found a suitable tree that he used to scratch his neck against. Malkia teamed up with Malima and as the time approached for the orphans to head for their milk bottles, they followed Larro to the milk feeding area. 

The weather was chilly and none of the orphans wanted to wallow in the main waterhole. In the afternoon, Mukkoka decided to challenge Dololo. Ambo, who was close by, couldn't allow Dololo to be humiliated by this young boy, so Ambo intervened by teaming up with Dololo in defeating Mukkoka. Mukkoka couldn't withstand the strength from the two boys combined and so decided to surrender to maintain his dignity. 

In the evening, Yatta her family along with Kinna, Sunyei and their families, Makena and Vuria showed up after being away for more than one month! It was lovely to see them all.

Nasalot, Nusu, Noah, Tumaren and Kithaka were at the stockade compound this morning. As soon as the dependent junior orphans came out of their stockades, the ex-orphans joined them for lucerne which the Keepers were busy distributing. Nusu ran into trouble with Musiara when he tried to block Musiara from picking up some lucerne. Dololo, who is Musiara's play mate, joined in and punished Nusu by driving him away. Nusu ran back to his mother. Shortly later, a wild herd showed up in the company of their young ones and joined in feasting on the lucerne too. Nasalot’s baby Noah picked one of the young babies about his size and engaged it in a pushing game. Sana Sana and Esampu stood close to the two babies ready to separate them if anything went wrong. Eventually they ended up separating the two babies anyway, when they felt their pushing game had gone on too long. 

The orphans left for browsing soon after finishing their lucerne. It appears that Kamok woke up in a good mood today as she and Malima were engaged in a light pushing game; it's rare for her to entertain her juniors. She only treats Ambo with any level of care and love! The light pushing game didn't last for long as Kamok left and started a lone game of playing on the ground. Ndiwa came across a small rock that she tried to move by using her foreleg but it was too heavy. Eventually she gave up and walked off to join Malkia to browse. Enkikwe dodged the Keepers and left, thus skipping the eleven o'clock milk feed. It was really hot, prompting all the orphans to get into the mud bath to cool off. Kamok and Rapa emerged as the stars of the day, showing off all their swimming techniques and splashing around, while Ambo and Pare emerged as the best soil bathing team. Despite the hot weather, only one wild bull showed up for water while the orphans were there. In the afternoon, the orphans browsed in the upper Kalovoto area. Enkikwe showed up later at the stockade compound accompanied by the ex-orphans. 

Three wild bulls were drinking water at the stockade water trough in the morning when the orphans were let out. One of the wild bulls walked up and joined the orphans since he knew that by teaming up with them, he would definitely get to share their lucerne. Shortly later, Mutara and her herd arrived. After an hour of sharing lucerne, Larro settled to have a word with Suguta before leading her friends out for the day. Sattao spotted some monkeys a head of him and decided to chase them. He trumpeted and charged at them. His trumpeting attracted Mundusi and Malima who ran to check what was bothering Sattao. The moment they saw the monkeys, Mundusi and Malima helped Sattao in chasing the monkeys away, who ran up into the trees.

Ex-orphans Melia, Kilaguni, Chemi Chemi and Kibo arrived shortly later after the orphans had left for browsing and teamed up with Mutara’s group who were still in the stockade compound. The orphans had a quiet morning as they concentrated on browsing. 

When they went to the mud bath area for their noon milk bottles, Karisa, Rapa, Mundusi, Jotto, Dololo, Sana Sana and Naboishu decided to get into the water for a swim soon after finishing their milk. Tomboi joined the orphans briefly at the mud bath before leaving. 

In the afternoon Mukkoka challenged Sattao. Their game came to an abrupt halt when they saw Rapa approaching. Mukkoka and Sattao stopped their pushing game and faced in opposite directions, pretending nothing was happening just to let Rapa pass. As soon as Rapa went past them, the two boys resumed their pushing game.

Several wild bulls arrived at the stockade compound early before dawn but at that time there was no water left in the water troughs. One wild bull decided to lie down and sleep as he waited for the water troughs to be filled up. Mutara and her herd spent the night outside the stockades and joined the orphans as soon as they were let out. Ndiwa and Maramoja went over to supervise Mambo and assume the responsibility of watching over him. Maramoja naively offered to nurse Mambo but when he tried to suckle of course she had no milk, so Mambo opted to go back to his mother. Yatta’s ex-orphan herd arrived moments later. Mapia and Mundusi tried to block Kama from accessing any lucerne but were cautioned by Kinna not to try. Mapia and Mundusi left to team up with Nusu who defended himself when the two boys tried to bully him. A buffalo arrived to share water with the elephants, which surprisingly they allowed today. The unfriendly Kamok pushed Noah when the baby walked in front of her. Noah stood up and ran towards his mother as if to tell on Kamok, but Kamok just walked away as if she had done nothing wrong. One day she might receive a punishment for her grumpy behaviour from an older elephant and it might be about time!

Later in the morning Ambo was spotted playing with Esampu while Pare played with Karisa. Mundusi played with Kauro and ended up losing his game to Kauro. To stamp his authority, Kauro climbed on Mundusi's back.

At mud bath time, only Rapa, Musiara and Maramoja decided to swim in the main waterhole after their milk feed. The others had their milk, then headed straight over to join a group of wild bulls drinking water. In the afternoon, Dololo engaged Ambo in a strength testing exercise that lasted for quite some time. Karisa and Enkikwe disappeared off into the bush and by the time it was time to return to the stockades, the two boys still couldn’t be found. They ended up bringing themselves back to the stockades much later in the evening. 

Barsilinga and Tusuja, who have been away close to two months now, arrived at the compound in the dead of the night. It’s not clear where the two boys have been for that long given that this is a dry season. Kithaka, who is part of their small group, already arrived a week back with a small limp. No one knows exactly what happened to him and we wish that Barsilinga and Tusuja could tell us, for they would surely know too. The orphans settled for lucerne as soon as they left their night stockades, and Barsilinga and Tusuja were all too happy to join them. Mutara’s herd joined in with the feeding too. Maramoja and Mteto decided to keep Mambo company by standing close to Mutara. Mundusi, Rapa, Karisa and Enkikwe were standing next to Tusuja and Barsilinga, eagerly waiting to speak to them and perhaps ask why they had been away for so long. The two older bulls only seemed to concentrate on the lucerne that they had missed for a very long time however, and as far as we aware they didn’t engage the younger bulls in much conversation!

Out in the bush, all the young boys seemed in a playful mood. Jotto engaged Ndiwa in a pushing game and later tackled Pare. Mukkoka gauged his strength with Musiara while Karisa played with Dololo. Maramoja, who had lagged behind the rest of the group as she opted to take care of Mambo instead, joined her friends about an hour later. 

It was quite chilly when the orphans made their way to the mud bath and none of the orphans dared to step into the water. In the afternoon, they settled to browse in the upper Kalovoto area. Jotto and Mapia enjoyed a short pushing game, stopping when they realised that they had wasted a lot of time instead of concentrating on browsing. When it was time to return to the stockades, the Keepers realised that Rapa and Sana Sana were missing. A search was mounted but they couldn’t find them, although Rapa and Sana Sana happily reported back to the stockades later all by themselves, shortly before six thirty in the evening. 

A family of wild elephants arrived at the stockade compound shortly after midnight. The herd with two young babies decided to wait around until daybreak to join the orphans for their supplement lucerne feeding session. The late-night gang led by Oltaiyoni arrived in the morning too, and waited for lucerne to be served. At six o'clock in the morning as soon as it began to get light, the orphans had their morning milk bottles then Naboishu led the way out. After sharing lucerne with all the other elephants hanging about, Sana Sana led the way out for the day. Enkikwe decided to stick with the late-night gang where he has his friends Siangiki and Olsekki. 

The sun shone brightly and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky today, so we knew it was going to be hot. Naboishu engaged Ambo in a pushing game while Pare played with Ndiwa. None of their pushing games didn't last for long as they are aware of the current drought and so they didn't want to mess around by spending too much time playing. 

Mapia had a disagreement with Jotto when Jotto broke a branch that Mapia had his eyes on. Jotto tried to defend himself but after a second thought, he just let the branch go then moved on to break another one. Jotto didn't want any prolonged conflict but to browse peacefully without any undue stress. 

It was very hot when the orphans made their way to the mud bath, so they all enjoyed cooling down in the waterhole after their milk bottles. Even Kauro, who rarely swims, was seen in the middle of the waterhole enjoying it to the maximum. Thirty-five wild bulls were present at the mud bath while the orphans were there. After having enough of wallowing, the orphans headed for a drink of water and then went back out to browse. Pare engaged Karisa in a pushing game while Dololo teamed up with Jotto to browse. Enkikwe walked off and returned early to the stockades while Mteto, who had left the previous day with the ex-orphans, came back to the stockades shortly after six o'clock in the evening.