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The first day of the third month of the year and all the orphans walked out of their stockades in a happy mood. The big females Ukame, Mbegu, Maramoja with the young girls Godoma, Sana Sana, Tagwa, Malkia, Esampu, Kuishi, Malima and tiny Tamiyoi were all busy welcoming the three little babies Musiara, Chumvi and Enkesha with the bad trunk. Mbegu, Godoma and Ukame were all struggling between them to be the one to take little Chumvi off into the forest, but the little one was presenting a challenge to them as he kept running back to his keeper. Seeing that he was not going to follow them anytime soon, Ukame and Mbegu decided to go over to Enkesha instead, leaving Godoma still vying for Chumvi’s attention. When he kept ignoring her preferring to suckle on his keepers fingers, she walked off and yelled in protest, but soon settled next to little Musiara . These days Kiko is showing less interest in spending his day out in the forest with the elephants like he used to. Today when he came out of his stockade, he only walked as far as the end of Maxwell’s stockade and just watched the warthogs who were grazing in the bushes there. His keeper tried to lead him out with a milk bottle but he only drank it and returned back to the stockade area! From there he walked from one stockade to the next, peering inside; what he was looking for we were not sure.

Luggard has been spending his days with the baby group as he is unable to walk as far as the others in the older group, but he has come to accept and even enjoy this. When all the orphans are let out of their stockades in the morning, he just waits beside his stockade, happily buying time to wait for Enkesha, Musiara and Chumvi. Today Luggard walked out as far as the end of Maxwell’s stockade, close to Kiko’s barrier, before he stopped and sneaked back to walk to Chumvi’s stable to buy some time. When the babies came out of their stables he was so happy and followed them, playfully swinging his trunk as he walked and happy to be with this little group. His gentle nature has made the little babies like him too and they like being with him throughout the day.

The two new babies spent a peaceful night in their new surroundings and were happy in the company of the keepers; their new surrogate mothers for the next few years. In the morning they woke up fine and were happy to join Musiara, Chumvi and Enkesha – though Musiara and Enkesha were jealous of them to begin with after seeing how much attention they were getting from the keepers. They kept trying to push the new arrivals, but that matter was soon sorted with some more hanging blankets which provided a motherly figure. Mbegu, Godoma, Malkia, Maramoja, Malima, Sana Sana, Tagwa and Esampu were seen milling around with Baringo and Bahati, touching and embracing them and trying to mother them as best they could. The babies were confused who to attach themselves too with so much attention, so just milled amongst the whole group. Enkesha went to her first public visiting time today in the company of Luggard who had gone for some days without attending that visit either. Upon arriving at the mud bath they immediately drank their milk and were the first ones to walk to the mud pool – they really enjoyed their mud bath, especially Luggard who loves it so much and had missed it over the past few days. Enkesha proved to love the mud as well as she only came out when it was time to leave the area – she was reluctant to leave and the keepers had to keep calling her, as she wanted to spend longer in the nice mud.

Young Enkesha is doing so well and as soon as she comes out of her stockade she looks for a finger to suckle on, or another milk bottle to enjoy! She is very greedy over her milk and will always yell and remain restless until she has had it. Today as she came out of her stockade, yelling for her milk as usual as she was following along behind Esampu, naughty Esampu turned around and pushed her, though she was quickly reprimanded by the keepers and ran away. Godoma heard the shouting and came back to investigate what was going on. During the public visit Enkesha walked in yelling as Jotto, Tamiyoi and Malima ran past her speeding towards their milk bottles. She took her milk bottle whilst she was still yelling! As the last group arrived for their milk bottles she was walking around looking restless and looking for more milk bottles. She was still shouting which annoyed Esampu who drove her into the mud pool; once in the mud amazingly she settled down and was quite happy playing in the mud!

Soon after the first group of orphans had settled out in the visiting area after their milk, some were busy drinking water from the water troughs and others were rolling around in the red, clay soil, like Tamiyoi, Malima, Enkesha and Jotto. Ngilai, who was the oldest boy amongst the group, was chasing after Kuishi and trying to climb on her, though she was thwarting his attempts by facing him and confidently pushing him. This saw Ngilai fold this game and go after poor Enkesha who was happily enjoying a soil bath alongside Tamiyoi and Malima. These are very gentle and peace-loving girls who have been very welcoming towards Enkesha since she joined the slightly older group. Ngilai’s attempts were pretty soon quashed by the keepers who forced him to keep away from Enkesha and the others in the group if he was going to be annoying. After being cautioned by the keepers he had no other choice than to go into the mud pool where he settled down to wallow. He clambered and slid on the sides of Godoma and Sana Sana who were busy enjoying a lengthy mud bath.

Malima and Jotto are becoming good play-mates and we have seen that normally whenever they are seen together they are engaged in some kind of pushing-game. As these two were playing this morning, Luggard kept trying to come between them, wanting to play with Jotto as well. Jotto wasn’t ready to invite him into the game though and kept running away from him. He might have been afraid that Luggard wanted to push and bully him, or he was just preoccupied with his game with Malima to engage him as well. The two were relieved when Enkesha came over to where they were playing as when Luggard saw her coming over he abandoned his efforts at trying to join their game and started chasing Enkesha around with the intention of trying to climb on her. She is much faster than him though and she ran back to the main herd for protection. Maramoja saw her running towards the group and Luggard following behind. She raised her ears high and waited for Luggard to arrive, but when Luggard saw she was ready to discipline him he stopped and changed his direction. Malima and Jotto had already come together by this time and carried on with their game without disturbance.

The playful boy Ngilai must have been dreaming about Maxwell the rhino over night as when he came out in the morning he ran straight over to his stockade gate. He wanted to have some fun with him, but Max was still sleeping beside his gate. Ngilai did not give up though and started pushing and pulling on the gate, making a lot of noise. Max got up and started playing the game, knocking on the gate with his horn – he then got really excited and started running up and down and around in circles as well, encouraging Ngilai to do the same. The game didn’t last too long though as Ngilai saw Enkesha coming out of her stockade and rumbling as she always does, to alert everyone she is out and on her way to the forest. Ngilai went running over to her and put his trunk on her back, ready to try and climb on her. Luckily however, Godoma was waiting for Enkesha nearby and she chased after Ngilai, sending him back in the direction he had come from. Ngilai managed to dodge Godoma’s charge though and made his own way into the forest. Little baby Musiara always falls asleep under the trees when he is avoiding the scorching sun. Today it seems he had a bad dream as he woke up suddenly yelling out, and it was Godoma and Ndotto who came to his rescue. They both charged over with the trunks and ears held high but when they arrived, Musiara has already made his way to his keepers. Godoma seems to know and understand each baby’s voice as she led Ndotto straight to Musiara, and after finding that he was okay, they walked back to join the rest of their group. Last night we rescued a new baby from Voi area in Tsavo called Satao. With the arrival of this baby Esampu was moved to a bigger stockade to make room for the new baby, but when it came time to return home in the evening to the night stockades, Esampu did not want to go into her new room. She fought hard to get back into her usual room which forced the keepers to swap her with Godoma.

Enkesha loves the little babies but a few days ago she was promoted to join the older herd. Sometimes she still wonders off to try and find her way back to the little ones who she has spent most of her time with since arriving at the nursery. In the morning, she left the stockades in the company of the older ones, but after learning that Musiara’s baby herd had arrived in the forest in their usual playing place she took off to go and join them. She did not leave alone however as Jotto, who had been standing beside her, decided to go with her as well. When Jotto saw her running of we think he thought she was making her way back to the stockades. He tried to overtake her running in that direction, but when he saw her divert towards the babies, he followed her. One thing Enkesha never goes without doing is screaming! When they arrived where the babies were she was so excited she started yelling, but this only attracted Tagwa and Mbegu who also left the main herd trumpeting and running towards the babies. When Mbegu started running, the whole family got involved and the air was filled with rumbling and trumpeting. The big boy Kelelari was left standing alone and confused wondering what the commotion was all about. He too eventually came over to the babies in a strong, low rumbling voice. In the end everybody was with the little babies all interacting and those that were less interested in the babies today, like Ukame, were dusting in the loose soil for the babies close by. They all had a lot of fun together, only leaving when it was time for the 9am milk feed. After the public visit today, some of the elephants came to escort new arrival Mteto out to the forest – it was a very smooth transition as all of the orphans were so nice and welcoming to her, especially Godoma, Sana Sana, Tagwa and Mbegu.

It was the first day for Mteto to join her friends out in the forest in the early morning. Murit was by her side the entire time this morning. At one stage Maramoja and Mbegu also came over to protect her, especially from boisterous Rapa! He had already tried numerous times to push her and that was why Mbegu and Maramoja took on that role. Kelelari, the biggest boy, was also not being very nice to her, whenever she came close, but otherwise she had a very enjoyable and relaxed morning, and that is why we decided it would be okay for her to attend the public visit. During the visit she acted as if she had been going there for months and behaved very well, avoiding Kelelari as much as she could! She had a wonderful time at the mud pool when she joined Mbegu for a bath. As the public visit went on we received another phone call from the Voi keepers that a little baby girl had been found trapped down a water hole. As the keepers prepared to leave, there was yet another phone call from the Ziwani anti-poaching team that they had rescued another male calf of about 16 months. The teams left immediately to retrieve the two orphans, with the plan that the baby from Ziwani would be rescued first before flying to Voi airstrip to collect the youngest. The plan went accordingly and both babies arrived safely at the Nairobi nursery shortly before 4pm. The girl was in a terrible condition and had been without her mother for some time. She was put on a drip to help her recover. The boy has a bit more fight, though he was also tired, but he ate some of the browse that was placed in his stockade. On the way home today the orphans were released in their small groups to make their way back to their stockades, but it seems that half way to the stockades Enkesha was bullied by one of those accompanying her, perhaps Rapa! She diverted off course without anyone’s knowledge and it was only realised that she had not returned home with the others when all the orphans were already in their stockades. The keepers in the forest knew she had been allowed to head for home and they were about to go and look for her in the forest when she came running in yelling for her milk.

Mbegu, Dupotto, Sana Sana, Malkia and Godoma were very interested in the new arrivals this morning and stretched their trunks to smell and interact with them. After spending some time there they proceeded to walk out to the forest for their browsing time. Enkesha is continuing with her shouting behaviour – and sometimes it is for no reason at all. Whenever she comes out of her stockade in the morning, she starts shouting as if just to announce that she is awake and ready to walk to the forest. Today she was screaming so loudly when she came out, that Godoma came over to find out what was wrong. Godoma found her shouting and rubbing her healing trunk on the floor, but she just watched her and walked away. Enkesha walked behind Godoma and followed her out to the forest where the others were already browsing.

Kiko is proving his very naughty character all the time and he did so again today during the public visit. These days it is very hard to get him to listen to the keepers and just before 11am he walked to the mud bath ground and didn’t want to leave. The keepers tried calling and persuading him with milk and his favourite vegetation to get him to leave before the public came but nothing worked. He remained busy feeding on the acacia trees around the area paying no attention to anybody. From a distance he watched the public as they began to walk down to the mud bath area where the elephants come for their milk. After they had all settled and the first group had finished drinking their milk, some of the orphans were rolling in the mud and the others were dusting in the loose soil. Kiko started trying to move around to the public but three keepers got in his way to block him from getting close to the rope cordon. He stopped and changed direction but made further attempts to get to the crowd, though they were all in vain. Eventually he went back to the acacia trees and carried on browsing. Malima has now has a little sister who loves mud bathing as much as her, in the form of Enkesha; Enkesha even fell asleep inside the mud bath today! She had to be woken up by the keepers as all the others were already leaving the area.

Enkesha is loved by almost everyone in the family and even the older boys! In the morning Ndotto was running after her and trying to climb on her back. During the public visit today it was the rough and playful Ngilai who was running after her. The keepers tried to keep him from bothering her, but he persisted and kept following her even when she went to the mud pool to play. Kiko for the second day in a row came down to the public visit but he did not stay long and left after a few minutes. Soon after the visit a few orphans were walked back to the stockade to escort little Ndiwa out to the forest. Godoma, Malima, Jotto and Kuishi were at the front of the group sent to collect her out. When the gate was opened, she was not in a hurry to come out! Malima was the first one to enter her stockade to help her out but she did not pay any attention. Malkia approached her when she was finally walking out and gave her a little push in the direction of the forest. The others followed behind them. When she arrived in the forest she looked very happy and set about eating all the different types of vegetation. Mbegu and the older orphans joined her later. She was being escorted by Dupotto and Sana Sana when the mother of the family came over to greet her and welcome her to the forest. Ndiwa’s first day out in the forest went very well. Because it was her first day out, the whole herd stayed close to the stockades in case there was any trouble with her, and Mbegu used this opportunity to go and visit the baby group. She was accompanied by Karisa. She went on greeting the little ones and enjoyed her time with them, but it was cut short when Karisa pushed Musiara when the babies went over to greet him. Mbegu charged and drove Karisa away back to the main herd, prematurely ending her time with the babies.

Finally we received some rain last night and this morning the orphan babies had something to smile about! In the early morning sun rays Enkesha, Ndotto, Mbegu and Kuishi all enjoyed rolling around in the small puddles formed in the forest overnight. Enkesha is a great fan of mud bathing and will not pass any puddle without splashing or rolling in it, so this morning she got the opportunity to lead her older peers to wherever there was mud or water. Ndotto was following Enkesha wherever she went, trying to climb on her back, but Mbegu kept an eye on her to protect her from Ndotto’s games. Eventually Mbegu invited Ndotto to a pushing game which distracted him from bothering Enkesha, which went on for some time. This made room for Kuishi to have fun with the little girl and roll around in the mud with her. Little Ndiwa made her first visit to the public visiting time at 11am today, and throughout her time at the mud bath she stuck close to Mbegu and Dupotto. She stayed next to one or both of them the entire time, and did chose not to follow Mbegu into the mud bath but stayed beside Dupotto who was busy browsing. Three boys decided to hide themselves away in the bushes today for nearly 2 hours! Ndotto, Rapa and Ngilai went missing but they were soon found happily browsing away around the corner on some thick bushes.

Sometimes in nature we find there are just born leaders, and we believe that Mbegu is one of them. She will not only protect and care for all the herd, but she also knows who is who and her day will never be complete without visiting all of the little ones. Today when she found the opportunity she visited the baby group with Jotto, Enkesha and Mteto. She went over them checking they were okay, and found that the two babies Musiara and Chumvi were missing, as they had not come out of their stockades yet. She waited around with the babies for some time, but must have lost her patience in not knowing where the other little ones were. She took off and ran back to the stockades to find them, and not even the calls of the keepers could stop her. On her way back however, she met up with them coming out and met them with joyous rumbles. She pulled them under her neck and walked them to where the other babies were in the forest. After spending some time with them all there, she walked Jotto, Enkesha and Mteto back to where the main herd was. Last night at around 9.30pm, we received a call that a woman in Turkwel had found a young baby all alone along the Turkwel River. The KWS reported to the woman’s home the following morning to confirm that she had rescued a young elephant baby and that it was still alive. A rescue team left immediately and returned by 3pm with the baby – a very tired looking 1 month old baby boy. He rested and after a short while devoured his tasty and nutritious milk formula.

The little boy who arrived yesterday who we have named Takaywa, has already attached himself to his new human family. When babies Bahati and Baringo came out of their stables this morning to welcome him, he didn’t seem to pay any attention to them, though they are still too young to understand. Baringo seems to have realised however that Takaywa is new in the Nursery and tried to approach him, but the new baby didn’t want anything to do with him and looked to his Keepers, following them wherever they went. This afternoon Enkesha was running all over the forest to and fro and we were not quite sure why. Suddenly she just ran off and the keepers thought she was still there, but when they looked behind the bushes she was not there and she had truly run off. She must have wanted a mud bath! As within a few minute she was found down at the mud hole enjoying wallowing with Mteto and Malima. Malima was in the mud pool too, whilst Mteto was standing on the edge of the mud bath watching them. They were escorted back to the forest until the 3pm private visit when they returned for the proper mud bathing session. After the 3pm visit Malkia and Esampu were taken to meet baby Takaywa for the first time and they didn’t want to leave his side until they were escorted back to their herd to return home later in the afternoon.