June began with ex-orphans Mbegu, Ndotto, Ngilai, Murit, Tagwa, and Godoma padding up the path to join the dependent herd for breakfast, as has become their habit.
On a calm sunny morning, ex-orphans Mbegu, Ndotto, Ngilai, Murit, Tagwa and Godoma padded up the path to the stockades for breakfast and settled in the lucerne feeding area. Meanwhile, the dependant orphans ran out of their shared stockades for a morning milk feed. After drinking their milk, most walked on to the feeding trough full of range cubes but Lumo and Sileita went straight over to join the ex-orphans around the pile of lucerne.
While the others ambled out in a long line to the browsing fields, Thamana stayed back to bond with Ndotto. The bulls stood close in the lucerne area until Thamana ran off to catch up with the herd. Ndotto and the other ex-orphans remained at the stockades for a time before heading out towards the river.
After spending the morning browsing on the slopes of Msinga Hill, the orphans came down for the afternoon milk feed and mud bathing session in the baobab tree wallow. Lemeki, Ashanti and Epiya drank from the trough while the others paddled and splashed in the muddy water. Ushindi was trunk hugging Serenget while Kilulu and Thamana were playing pushing games in the wallow.
Covered in thick mud topped with dry soil, the orphans headed back to the hill to continue browsing.
Ex-orphans Mbegu, Ndotto, Ngilai, Murit, Tagwa and Godoma visited again this morning. They arrived in good time to join their dependent friends for range cubes and lucerne grass.
Dabida took the crucial role of guarding newbie Lumo while he browsed on lucerne. After feeding, the happy young bull scratched himself against one of the boulders in front of the stockades.
In a repeat of yesterday, our herd left the stockades first. They walked out in single file and settled to browse over the slopes of Msinga Hill. The visitors left later after finishing up every piece of lucerne and drinking from the water trough.
In the afternoon, we sent the elephants down in groups for another milk feed. Busara ran along behind Losoito but sprinted past when Losoito made the mistake of slowing down! Busara arrived for her bottle seconds in front of Losoito, much to her annoyance. After drinking her milk, Epiya massaged her backside against the baobab tree while lifting one leg and then another in a funny way.
It was a wonderful beginning of the day with the milk-dependent orphaned elephants sprinting to their milk bottles and later settling with their ex-orphan friends at the range cubes trough and in the lucerne feeding area. Ashanti has a special way of eating lucerne; she manages to pick up a small bunch with her trunk but uses her front foot to propel the lucerne from her short trunk into her mouth. It takes her a little longer than the other elephants but her technique works well!
After browsing on lucerne, Epiya walked over to greet and trunk touch Mbegu who was standing next to a boulder massaging her body while Dabida stared at the two elephants with great curiosity.
The two herds headed out from the stockades in different directions to browse. In the afternoon, the dependent elephants returned to the stockade for milk feeding and mud bathing. When Kilulu draped his trunk along Losoito’s back in the wallow, Lemeki watched them closely. She suspected that the bull was on a mission to climb onto Losoito’s back and was ready to push him away from her baby. Caring Ushindi was staying very close to Seri.
After cooling off in the wallow and covering themselves with dry soil, the herd wandered over Msinga Hill before returning to the stockades for the night.
Mbegu’s herd of ex-orphans were outside the stockades again this morning and joined our herd for range cubes and lucerne. When they arrived, Busara moved away from big sister Rokka and attached herself to Mbegu. Feeling jealous, Rokka then attached herself to Lemeki and showed off by striding past Mbegu and Busara, who were standing near the lucerne, with the mini matriarch.
The dependent orphans gathered in the walkway at the beginning of a long and busy day of browsing. Busara was reluctant to leave Mbegu behind and so we shepherded her out to be with the others. Ndotto was resting, standing under a tree and closing his eyes after a long night. For many ex-orphans, visiting the stockades is a time for relaxing because they feel safe in their old home.
Mbegu, Ngilai, Tagwa, Godoma and Murit left Ndotto behind when they returned to the bush. Ndotto joined our herd at the baobab tree mud wallow in the afternoon and then walked away to be with Mbegu and the others.
The dependent orphans browsed around the hill in the morning, visited the mud wallow in the afternoon, and returned to the hill in the late afternoon. Soon after they left the water hole, a herd of wild elephants streamed in to drink water and bathe in the mud.
Mbegu, Ndotto, Ngilai, Murit, Tagwa, Tamiyoi and Godoma were present in the morning and the two groups mingled peacefully in front of the stockades. Tamiyoi, who has been away for a few weeks, was with the ex-orphans today. Busara and Baraka were very happy to see Tamiyoi and stuck close to her throughout the lucerne grass feeding time.
After filling their bellies, the orphaned elephants played on the mound of dry soil. Ashanti and Losoito rolled around together and Kenderi played with Kilulu and Itinyi. Tamiyoi was with Juni, Baraka and Busara.
The stockade dependent orphans later left for the field. Today, Ushindi looked after Serenget and Lumo, browsing with one on either side.
In the afternoon, during a wonderful mud bathing session, Hildana was wallowing in the mini water hole. Losoito lay on top of him in a bid to force him out so that she could have a playing space. Even though he is older and stronger, Hildana voluntarily came out to give Losoito ‘her’ playing place.
Soon after dawn, the orphans emerged from their shared night enclosures and gathered in the area in front of the stockades. They stood quietly in small groups either on the terraces or at the feeding trough and then Rokka led the herd out to browse on the slopes of the hill.
After browsing for a time, the elephants played a hide-and-seek game, running here and there with flapping ears and trunks and trumpeting in excitement. Lemeki tried to maintain her dignity as the mini matriarch but soon joined the game of charging through the bushes. Rokka and Sileita were leading the charge, whirling around in the field and bush bashing with their friends before finally settling to browse again.
Later in the afternoon, we sent the orphans down in groups to the baobab mud wallow for a milk feed. Akina, Kilulu, Seri and Dabida were in the last group. After drinking their milk, all four raised their trunks with open mouths to request a bonus bottle. We pushed them on to join the rest of the herd at the wallow. While many of the others paddled around him, Thamana had a wonderful wallow today. He lay on his belly and rubbed his backside against the wall with trunk twirling and head shaking.
The dependent orphaned elephants were happy to welcome ex-orphans Mbegu, Tagwa, Godoma, Tamiyoi, Ndotto, Murit and Ngilai for breakfast in the early morning. Lumo, who does not like crowds, walked away with a stash of lucerne on his head to browse in peace. Hildana also left the others in the lucerne area and enjoyed a solo dust bath on the mound of red soil, rubbing his face and rolling on his back.
The herd headed out early this morning. They left the stockades in a long line at the beginning of the browsing day. As the land is drying out and there is no green grass, the elephants are spending more time browsing and walking further to fill their bellies.
After the afternoon milk feed, the orphaned elephants visited the mud wallow as usual. Today, they came across a herd of wild elephants around the water hole. The wild elephants were very shy and left soon after drinking water and mud bathing. Hoping to kidnap a tiny wild calf, Epiya followed the wild herd for a time before coming back to join her herd.
Harea, the little elephant rescued towards the end of last month, is doing well but is still recovering from his injury in a stockade.
On a bright sunny morning, the orphans spread out in front of the stockades to eat and to play. When Kilulu tried to push Baraka away from the range cubes feeding trough, Thamana came to her rescue and shoved Kilulu and also Hildana away from the younger elephant.
While the others continued to enjoy range cubes, best friends Sileita and Mushuru joined ex-orphans Ndotto and Murit in the lucerne feeding area and Lumo wandered around the milk feeding area hoping for an extra bottle.
The dependent orphans soon headed out and settled to browse on the northern side of Msinga Hill. Ndotto and Murit remained behind to finish the lucerne and then walked off towards the river to find Mbegu, Godoma, Ngilai and Tagwa.
In the afternoon, Lemeki and her herd waited with the Keepers for the milk truck to arrive. Becoming impatient, greedy Losoito and Serenget broke away, ran down to the feeding place, found no truck and stood there until the truck arrived.
After another milk feed, the herd wallowed in the water hole, covered themselves with dust, and walked out to continue browsing on their way back to the stockades for the night.
Ex-orphan Ndotto arrived early for breakfast and waited under the tree while the dependent orphans were having their morning milk feed.
Ashanti drank her milk quickly, dribbling lots on the ground, and went after Rokka who, as a slow drinker, was still enjoying her second bottle. When Ashanti tried to push Rokka away, she stood her ground. After several attempts, Ashanti gave up and walked away, colliding with Lumo who was walking towards the pile of lucerne.
Ndotto joined many of the others at the feeding trough for range cubes. He stood by the trough with his eyes closed, enjoying a nap after a night of browsing, while Thamana and Kilulu scooped up every last pellet whether in the trough or on the ground.
Lemeki and Losoito waited in the entrance for the others and then led them out from the stockades. The herd settled to browse over the dry savanna, twisting up every piece of browse they could find.
In the afternoon, the orphans did not linger around the mud wallow. They drank from the water trough, stood in the shade of the trees and walked away to continue browsing. Minutes later a herd of wild elephants took their place, looking for water and a break from the scorching sun.
After finishing their breakfast, the orphans hung around the stockade compound playing and bonding. Losoito, Busara and Kenderi were having an early morning dust bath, rolling on the soil while Itinyi splashed in the mud wallow.
Rokka led the herd out to the browsing fields. She manoeuvred her way over the rocky Msinga Hill and down to the open browsing fields near the baobab water hole with the others wandering along in her wake.
Ushindi has fully adopted Serenget, taking over responsibility from Rokka who often chooses to be with Lemeki. Ushindi spent the morning browsing with Serenget on the slopes of the hill, protecting her from bullies like Busara and Losoito who are jealous of the youngest baby in the herd.
Not far away, Juni was trying to look after Lumo, trunk touching him and following him around. Lumo is independent and likes to wander off to browse by himself, so she was not having an easy time.
In the afternoon, Rokka, Lumo, Serenget, Busara and Mushuru ran down in the first group to the feeding area for their usual milk feed and on to the mud wallow where they had a lot of fun mud bathing. The others followed them down to the wallow to splash in the mud and hose themselves with dry soil.
Most of the elephants lined up at the feeding trough for range cubes early this morning except for Sileita, Juni, Mushuru, Sholumai and Rokka who prefer to browse in peace on the terraces.
While the others continued eating pellets, Akina and Dabida moved on to the pile of lucerne. Dabida rubbed her backside against a boulder and picked up pieces of lucerne at the same time. A few minutes later, Kilulu, Hildana, Ashanti, Baraka, Epiya, Ushindi and Losoito wandered over to join the two friends.
Ex-orphans Ndotto and Murit arrived late for breakfast. They drank from the water trough and settled at the feeding trough to scoop up every last pellet.
Today, the orphans hung around the stockades for a time. Akina scratched herself against the big rock while Serenget chose the famous rock. Ashanti, Murit and Losoito rubbed faces and bodies on the pile of red soil.
Led by Rokka and Juni, the herd left the stockades and spent the morning browsing over the hill. In the afternoon, the orphans returned to the stockades for the milk feed because of sightings of lions at the baobab water hole. Afterwards, Thamana challenged Murit to a wrestling match. Murit, as the older stronger bull, was the winner but Thamana was a determined opponent!
After browsing and playing in front of the stockades, Rokka and Sileita led the herd out to browse around Msinga Hill. Ushindi spent the morning with Lumo on one side and Serenget on the other while Juni was with Baraka and Busara.
In the afternoon, as the others padded down to the mud wallow, Busara tried to grab a bottle of milk from Lumo. We intervened to push away the naughty girl and allow Lumo to drink in peace. But Busara would not leave him alone. She walked a few steps away, turned around, and chased poor Lumo. The newbie sensibly ran for cover to the Keepers who were still feeding the other elephants.
On another hot day, most of the herd cooled off in the mud. As Ushindi lay on her belly in the mini water hole, Dabida climbed on top of her in the hope of making her stand up. When this tactic did not work, she stepped onto Seri while she also lay in the muddy water. While Ushindi continued to wallow, Serenget stood close by, waiting for her nanny.
With Ushindi and Serenget tagging along at the end, the herd wandered out to continue browsing on their way back to the stockades for the night.
Ndotto and Murit were back again this morning. The two ex-orphans mingled peacefully with our herd in front of the stockades. Juni stood with Sholumai and Kenderi at the trough while Akina, Baraka and Mushuru hung out on the upper terrace.
Leaving the older bulls behind, the orphaned elephants soon headed out to the field, browsing in single file. Some climbed to the summit of the hill with others stayed at the bottom. A jealous Losoito stood tall on the lower slopes to block Lumo and Serenget from approaching adopted mother Lemeki.
In the afternoon, the herd visited the baobab water hole as usual. We observed a dead buffalo that had been killed by some lion nearby but decided that there was no risk to the elephants. They paddled briefly in the main wallow and then played mud bathing games in the mini water holes. Sholumai and Losoito squatted on the edge together, rubbing their bottoms from side to side. Water baby Kilulu stood in the mud, expertly slapping mud with his trunk along his back and sides.
As the herd ambled back out to browse, Epiya and Kilulu stayed back to playing a wrestling game and ran to catch up with the others.
After drinking their milk, the orphans spread out in the front of the stockades. Serenget and Sileita browsed on lucerne while the others lined up at the trough full of range cubes. Lumo was hanging around the feeding area waiting for a bonus bottle that will never come, but he never gives up.
Rokka, followed closely by Sileita, Mushuru and Losoito, led the herd out from the stockades for their daily browsing adventures. They settled in the open grass fields walking towards the baobab area.
In the afternoon, a pride of lions was sighted lying in ambush in the grass by the baobab water hole. As a result, we shepherded our herd back to the stockades to avoid any risk of a confrontation.
After another milk feed, the orphans played on the terraces and had a mud and dust bathing session. Hildana showed off his poses on the terrace while Ushindi challenged Itinyi to a sparring game. Itinyi had a solo mud wallow and then play mounted Ashanti who was rolling in the dust with Baraka. After covering their bodies in mud, Kenderi scratched himself against the famous rock and Kilulu and Seri drank from the trough.
The elephants walked over for a final browse in the dry bush before Lemeki led them back to the stockades.
On a wonderful sunny morning, the dependent orphans had the area to themselves for the second day as the ex-orphans did not visit. Hildana was showing off and calling the shots. He strolled from the lucerne to the range cubes and back to the lucerne.
As they browsed on lucerne, Ushindi stayed close to Serenget and Lumo walked away to enjoy his stash by himself. All drank deeply this morning after feeding on range cubes and lucerne.
Rokka led the way out to the browsing fields and Lemeki brought up the rear. The elephants spread out to browse on the slopes of the hill. When some zebras tried to graze alongside the elephants, Epiya and Ushindi had fun chasing them away while trumpeting and throwing tantrums.
Rokka also led the first group of orphans down for their milk feed in the afternoon. Each group ran down the hill with trunks aloft, emptied their bottles, and walked on to the wallow. Lemeki and Thamana were last as they are no longer on the milk feeding program. On their way to the water trough, Lemeki made a quick stop at the milk truck in case by chance there was a bottle left for her!
The mini matriarch ran on to join Thamana and the others. The herd had an amazing mud wallowing session, covered themselves in dust, and padded back to their shared stockades.
The orphans were pacing around in their stockades this morning while we prepared bottles of milk. When we opened the gates, Losoito flounced out of her stockade, having a tantrum because she thought breakfast was late. Her behaviour led to chaos as Lemeki responded and then most of the others began trumpeting!
As soon as they had eaten the lucerne, the orphans left the stockades for their usual browsing adventures. Rokka and Sileita led the herd to the northern side of the hill where they settled to browse. Ushindi has adopted Serenget and is making efforts to bring Lumo under her wing; she spent the morning browsing close to the two youngest orphans in the herd.
In the afternoon, the orphans rushed down to the baobab tree mud wallow after the milk feed. While Lemeki enjoyed a mud splash, Sholumai scratched her belly on the edge and rolled in the mud with Ushindi standing by her side protecting her from any bullies. Ushindi then lay down in the mud as Sileita and Sholumai tumbled together on the pile of dry soil.
This morning, the orphaned elephants gathered at the feeding trough or on the terraces. They stood in groups except for Lumo who was on his own. Ushindi, Dabida, Lemeki and Epiya walked over to Lumo, surrounded him, and began touching him reassuringly with their trunks. Rather than accepting the attention of the older females, silly Lumo ran off to join Serenget.
After finishing all the lucerne, the herd headed out from the stockades. The land is becoming dry and tasty browse is hard to find. Kenderi, Itinyi and Hildana climbed over the boulders to reach the top of the hill while the rest stayed on the lower slopes. Today, when Lemeki pulled rank to browse close to Serenget, Ushindi moved a short distance away as she had to respect the mini matriarch.
In the afternoon, the orphans drank their milk in groups and continued on to the water hole to paddle and wallow in the mud. While Juni, Mushuru, Baraka and Akina paddled around her, Sholumai balanced her body on a mound in the mud for a fabulous belly rub. After covering themselves with soothing dust, the herd headed out for another browsing session.
It was another wonderful morning. While we prepared the milk at dawn, the orphans waited for the stockade gates to be opened so that they could sprint out and have their breakfast. Some were making deep rumbles, signalling to us that we should hurry up! Rokka stood calmly next to her gate, making it clear that she was coming out first for her milk bottles.
The herd wandered over the hill to the plains in the morning, browsing in small groups. After browsing for a time, some played pushing games while others rubbed their backsides against boulders.
In the afternoon, the orphans had another milk feed and a mud bath in the wallow. Many paddled or rolled in the muddy pools. Kilulu and Lumo took up positions strategically in a mini-water hole to mud bath together. Kilulu tumbled around with Lumo but was careful not to upset the younger bull by climbing onto his back. Baraka came over to investigate the unusual scenario.
Two little babies were the stars of the show today; after wallowing in the mud, Busara lay in a shallow hole next to Serenget and invited her to play a dust bathing game.
The herd spent the rest of the afternoon browsing over the hill on their way back to the stockades for the night.
Soon after dawn, Ashanti lined up at the feeding trough for range cubes with Juni, Losoito, Lemeki, Thamana and Akina. Meanwhile, Sileita, Rokka, Serenget and Ushindi browsed on lucerne at the far end of the stockades. Ushindi was trunk kissing adopted baby Serenget and Kilulu was laying his trunk over Juni’s head.
As our dependent orphans were drinking from the water trough, ex-orphans Mbegu, Ngilai, Tagwa, Tamiyoi and Godoma arrived with Naipoki and her first wild-born baby, Nsimba! Their visit led to excitement and jubilation among the herd. The elephants were very happy to see Naipoki and her baby as she has not visited since she gave birth. The visiting elephants settled at the trough to drink while Ashanti, Dabida, Epiya and Busara surrounded the baby with trunks outstretched in greeting. Tiny Nsimba took refuge from all the wannabee nannies under her mother’s belly, from which position she managed to suck up one trunkful of water before the nannies pestered her again!
After lots of interaction between former and current orphans, our herd left for their daily browsing adventures while the ex-orphans remained behind to browse on lucerne. The orphans spread out over the hill looking for green browse.
On a cloudy afternoon, the orphans came down the hill for the milk feed and mud wallow. Seri and Losoito engaged in a wrestling match but were separated by Lemeki when the game became serious. Itinyi was hanging out with Ashanti until he tried to mount her and she shoved him away. Only one or two paddled in the mud today before the herd walked out to resume browsing.
On a wonderful sunny morning, the orphans were out having breakfast: bottles of milk served with lucerne and range cubes. Accepting that a bonus bottle was not on offer, Lumo went straight to the terraces and joined Rokka, Ushindi, Seri and the rest for range cubes.
The orphans soon headed out from the stockades on their daily adventures and settled to browse over Msinga Hill, walking towards the baobab tree water hole.
In the afternoon, Rokka led the first group of Busara, Sileita, Mushuru and Losoito down for their milk feed, and Ushindi was in the second group with little Serenget. Best friends Lemeki and Thamana sauntered in at the end of the line. The oldest two elephants in the herd know that they will not be offered milk and walked straight down to drink from the mud wallow as the water trough was crowded. Itinyi joined Lemeki and Thamana while Kilulu and friends carried on drinking from the trough.
Today, Juni, Epiya, Dabida, Ushindi and Sholumai had a quick splash in the mini mud hole before catching up with the herd who were already walking off to resume browsing. The orphans settled again on the slopes of the hill, browsing peacefully until it was time to return to the stockades.
The orphans sprinted out from their stockades one by one for the morning milk feed. Losoito and Busara were having a squabble at the doorstep over who should come out first and this continued in the milk feeding area. Naughty Losoito stopped drinking halfway through her bottle to give Busara a big shove, possibly because the other elephant was drinking more quickly than her! Being a clever girl, Busara held on tight to her bottle and ran away without spilling a single drop.
Losoito is an accomplished if rather greedy browser of lucerne. In contrast to the others who tend to twist up small mouthfuls, Losoito prefers to stuff her mouth so full that lucerne bulges out of each side! While Losoito filled her large belly this morning, Busara took on the role of nanny to Serenget and browsed close to her.
Finally, the herd ambled out to the browsing fields. Juni stayed close to Baraka and Akina on the slopes while Itinyi, Kenderi and Sholumai browsed on dry grasses over the plains overlooking the water pipeline area.
In the afternoon, the orphans stood around the mud wallow but did not get wet due to the cooler weather. Itinyi and Thamana were sparring around the baobab. After several pushes back and forth, Thamana challenged best friend Lemeki to a wrestling match but their game was disrupted by Kilulu. Kilulu ended up sparring with Thamana and Lemeki walked away with Rokka to browse.
On a bright sunny morning, the orphans were out having breakfast. Lemeki, Ashanti, Busara, Losoito, Thamana, Kilulu, Juni and Hildana lined up next to the feeding trough for range cubes while Rokka, Sileita, Mushuru, Lumo, Ushindi and Serenget browsed on lucerne on the terraces.
Rescued about three weeks ago, Harea is still recovering in his stockade. Although he is not with the other elephants, he is getting to know them and becoming part of the herd. Some stop off to greet him in the mornings and evenings and Harea is calmer when they are around.
The herd wandered out to browse on the slopes of Msinga Hill. Ashanti and Losoito clambered over boulders and climbed all the way to the summit but Akina and Juni remained on the lower slopes and Hildana and Thamana ambled over the plains.
In the afternoon, Rokka led Lumo, Serenget, Busara, Sileita and Mushuru down for a milk feed in the first group.
Losoito came barrelling down in the second group behind Ashanti and followed by Busara, Ushindi and Dabida. The orphans gathered around the mud wallow to drink from the trough and paddle in the shallow mud pools.
As Lemeki and the herd gathered at the feeding trough or on the terraces this morning, ex-orphans Ngilai, Mbegu, Tagwa and Godoma strolled in to join them. Mbegu and Godoma settled at the range cubes trough while Ngilai joined some orphans around the pile of lucerne.
Ngilai stood close to Lumo and kept trunk touching the younger bull while Godoma and Tagwa sandwiched Serenget between them and draped their trunks along her back. A protective Ushindi arrived a minute later but she had to defer to the older females.
The ex-orphans spent a long time with our current orphans before the two herds went their separate ways. As usual, the independent elephants walked off towards the river circuit where they spend most of their time while the dependent elephants headed only as far as the hill.
In the afternoon, an acrobatic Ushindi took centre stage in the mud wallow while Sholumai scratched her bottoms against the wall and Ashanti slapped mud over her body. After cooling off, the orphans walked off to browse on the afternoon lucerne treat. Because of the lack of green browse in this dry month, we give the elephants supplementary lucerne in the mornings and afternoons.
Early in the morning, the stockade dependent orphans were standing by their gates in anticipation of delicious milk. Losoito shoved everyone away so she could be first out when we opened the gate. Being a peaceful orphan, Rokka walked away without a fight and stood calmly at the back.
Once the bottles were ready, we opened the doors and the elephants ran out in groups. After filling their bellies, they stood together on the terraces in the sunshine or playing pushing games in front of the stockades.
The orphans spent the morning browsing over the plains before visiting the wallow in the afternoon. It was a quiet session today at the mud wallow as the elephants were not being lively and active. They drank from the trough, rubbed their bodies against the trees or the dry ground, and meandered back out to continue browsing.
As the orphans walked away, a herd of wild elephants with many babies took their place. In contrast to the other day, today Lemeki did not show much interest. She carried on leading her herd while the wild elephants gathered around the water trough.
On another sunny morning, the orphans gathered outside their shared stockades. Lumo, Sileita and Serenget headed straight to the lucerne area to avoid the morning rush at the feeding trough.
The herd later left the stockades and settled to browse on the slopes of Msinga Hill. Many climbed to the top in search of fresh foliage. In the afternoon, when a few elephants did not respond to our calls even though they could see us, we went up the hill and brought the orphans down.
Today, they returned to the stockades for the afternoon milk feed. After splashing in the mud wallow, Losoito and Hildana tumbled together on the mound of dry soil, Kilulu joined Ashanti and Kenderi at the water trough, and Epiya scratched her bottoms on the rock.
After the afternoon lucerne grass treat, Ashanti returned to the summit of the hill to browse on shrubs while Ushindi stayed at the bottom with adopted baby Serenget and also Lumo.
Lemeki and Thamana got to the range cubes trough first this morning as they did not stop off for bottles of milk. Akina, Dabida, Rokka, Epiya, Kenderi and Seri chose to browse on the terraces but the rest of the herd joined the two oldest orphans in our herd. Ushindi stood at the trough with Lumo on one side and Serenget on the other, and Lemeki was trunk kissing Losoito between mouthfuls.
Ex-orphan Ndotto visited on his own this morning. He drank from the water trough and enjoyed range cubes with the others.
Led by Juni and Rokka, and with Lemeki at the end of the line, the orphans headed out for their daily bush walk. They ambled over to the hill and settled to browse in the open grasslands beyond.
After the afternoon milk feed, Epiya led Serenget, Lumo and others over to greet a herd of wild elephants gathered around the baobab tree water trough. Cheeky Epiya then tried to kidnap a small wild calf but was chased away sternly by the mother. Lumo and Serenget got a big fright and took refuge far from the wild herd under a tree. Epiya also ran away but not very far!
The herd kept a distance until the wild elephants had moved away from the wallow. Once they had disappeared into the bush, other orphans drank from the trough and paddled in the shallow water holes.
Only Ndotto visited again this morning, looking for water and pellets as the land is dry and there is very little green browse. After drinking deeply and filling his belly, he wandered off towards the river where we think he had left the other ex-orphans browsing. Our herd spent some time outside the stockades before wandering out to browse in the surrounding bush.
In the afternoon, the driver of our truck that transports water to the baobab mud wallow came across close to ten lions lying in ambush in the tall grass around the wallow. As a result, we brought our orphans back to the stockades for the afternoon milk feed to avoid any risk of a confrontation with the lions.
Several elephants had fun dust bathing today. Sholumai and Mushuru were first to tumble around on the mound of soil but they were soon joined by Baraka, Akina and Busara.
For the remainder of the day, the herd browsed over the western side of the hill, keeping their distance from the lions around the mud wallow.
The stockade dependent orphans finished their breakfast, left immediately for their daily bush adventures, and settled to browse on the slopes of Msinga Hill. Ushindi was browsing on shrubs side by side with adopted baby Serenget and her friend Lumo. Itinyi, Thamana, Kilulu and Akina were also wandering over the grasslands while Lemeki and the rest of the herd climbed up the rocky side of the hill.
Later in the morning, Ashanti was playing with Itinyi. The two friends stood with trunks entwined before she lay down and he play mounted her. She will always have a soft spot for this bull! Leaving Ashanti rolling on the dry ground, Itinyi walked away to challenge Kenderi to a wrestling match.
On another hot dry afternoon, the orphans cooled off and splashed and played in the mud wallow. Lemeki and Ushindi splashed in their favourite spot; Seri, Kilulu Hildana and Kenderi wallowed together in the middle; Lemeki rubbed her backside against the mud wall; Epiya crawled on her belly out of the wallow; and Sholumai hosed herself with red dust.
Covered in layers of thick mud and dry soil, the orphans meandered back to the hill to browse again on the slopes on their way back to the stockades for the night.
On a wonderful early morning, the elephants sprinted out of their shared stockades for bottles of milk, range cubes and lucerne. Some lined up at the trough while others waited in the lucerne area, relaxing as soon as the load of dry grass arrived. Juni, Kenderi, Seri, Epiya, Ushindi and Serenget, Lumo and Sileita browsed on lucerne while the rest of the herd including Rokka, Lemeki, Kilulu and Losoito scooped up range cubes.
In the afternoon, the first group of elephants made up of Rokka, Losoito, Busara, Mushuru, Sileita and Serenget ran down the hill for another milk feed. They emptied their bottles and ambled on slowly to the mud wallow to cool off from the scorching sun.
Today, Lemeki spent time with adopted baby Rokka, hugging and kissing her next to the wallow while the others paddled or wallowed in the muddy water. Rokka was enjoying being treated like a small baby by Lemeki while Serenget and Lumo watched on jealously. Best friends Seri and Hildana splashed in the mud together and good friends Ashanti and Ushindi also rolled together in the wallow. Akina, Hildana, Thamana and Kenderi took turns to rub their bodies against the scratching tree and then caught up with the herd as they walked off for the afternoon lucerne treat.
After the milk feed, the orphans settled at the range cubes trough and around the pile of fresh lucerne grass. As usual Lumo and Sileita ran over to the pile of lucerne after briefly feeding on range cubes. Rokka, Mushuru and Busara followed a few steps behind. Kenderi and Kilulu rubbed their faces against the pile of dry soil while Mushuru and Sholumai climbed all over each other, playing soil bathing games.
The herd headed out from the stockades to wander in the wilderness. Seri and Hildana stood close with trunks entwined but Itinyi wandered deep into the woods towards the plains in search of delicious shrubs.
In the afternoon, Rokka, Busara, Serenget and Ushindi arrived at the milk feeding area ahead of time before the van had arrived. They were soon joined by Sileita and Mushuru who had snuck away from the herd. As soon as the truck arrived, the orphans drank their milk and headed down to the wallow.
After covering her body with mud, Losoito lay on the edge relaxing. Meanwhile, Busara dug into the mud with her tiny tusks; Serenget overcame her fear and wallowed in the middle; Thamana submerged his whole body; and Itinyi scratched her belly on the wall.
The elephants spent the remainder of the day ambling over the plains on their way back to the stockades for the night.