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Finally, after waiting some time for some rain, last night we received quite the downpour. Ambo, Jotto, Mapia and Sana Sana were left quite sleepless as they feared the heavy rain and they were all complaining in their rooms; they rumbled and tried to climb the walls. Whilst this was the reaction of some of the elephants, Maxwell the rhino was celebrating in his pen, rolling around in the mud and charging at his gate, running all over his stockade. He did not rest right up until morning when he engaged some warthogs in a playing battle around his pen, until he grew tired and went for a nap. This is the best weather for rhinos, though most of the elephants did not enjoy the same weather and they looked dull and quiet. All the elephants grouped together and fed amongst the bushes to avoid getting wet. Tagwa and Malkia seemed to have a plan to get to the milk feeding area early, before they were due at 11am. Their plan was noticed by the keepers however and it was put a stop to before they managed! Tagwa almost succeeded in her second attempt as she was sent back to their herd by the keepers and they pretended to give up. She managed to slip through the thick bushes though and went ahead of Godoma’s group, but whilst this small group was waiting with the keepers before being sent down for their milk, she was discovered hiding between Godoma, Jotto and Kuishi and was sent back to Mbegu’s group to wait her turn.

Ndiwa has apparently become the leader of the group that browses deep in the forest looking for nice green vegetation. Today she was directing everyone where to go, including Ndotto, Sana Sana, Lasayen and Ngilai who are usually known to accompany her, but she also had several more followers in Shukuru, Mbegu, Sattao, Ambo and Kiasa who were following behind her all the time. Ambo and Malima were the talk of the public visit today. This was after they engaged each other in a very physical pushing game. At the start of the visit Malima was having fun rolling in the fresh loose soil with Maktao. She then left the spot where she and Maktao had been playing and moved to where Ambo was playing alone, and then they ended up in a very funny pushing game which went on for some time. Murit was a bad boy during the visit today and he went around disturbing the girls that were trying to enjoy their games in the soil. He kept annoying Enkesha, Tamiyoi and Kuishi and climbing on their backs, and he wouldn’t listen to the Keepers when they told him to stop either. It was not until Godoma stepped up and told Murit off for his bad behaviour that he left. Godoma pushed him and used some force to discourage him from disturbing the other girls, and when he left she stayed to make sure no one else bothered them while they enjoyed their dusting game.

As we have said before, the orphans always wake up in a different mood every day. Today Sattao was in a very different mood. He is usually always attached to Mbegu and the only time they are apart is perhaps during the public visit and some feeding times. Today Sattao just wanted to be on his own however, even from his adopted mother Mbegu. After the 9am milk bottles the orphans all walked away in a long line, but Sattao walked away by himself through the thicket. When they reached the area they wanted to browse they all assembled together, except for Sattao who stood away from the others and the keepers inside some thicket. Beside the small bushes he was feeding on there was a bushbuck fast asleep. Neither one knew the other was there until Sattao got closer and closer to where it was sleeping when it suddenly jumped up and ran away in fear. Sattao was facing the other way when it jumped up and he got a fright, so he ran towards his keepers and the others shouting for help. He was happy and relieved when he saw the keepers running over to save him. Kiko had been giving his keepers trouble this morning as he kept wanting to walk back to the stockades. On his way he came across a wild male giraffe about his size. When he saw him he turned back running towards the elephants. The wild one was interested now however, and didn’t want to give up, so he followed after Kiko. Before the wild one could catch up to Kiko, Malkia, Sana Sana, Sagala and Kuishi saw him and started to charge at him. They charged and chased him away into the bushes, trumpeting until he had gone. Kiko watched the whole thing from the side as he stood with the other orphans – perhaps he knew if he went to join the elephants they would chase the wild giraffe away for him!

Kiko can still be very naughty and not listen to his keepers, and he can get away with it because he is so tall! This morning he was making his way out to the forest, following behind a keeper holding a milk bottle as usual to entice him out, but he stopped at the end of Maxwell’s stockade and refused to go any further. The keeper turned around to give him the milk bottle to encourage him further but Kiko started kicking in defiance and ran all the way back to the milk mixing area to feed on the acacia trees there. He stayed there for awhile before wandering down to the mud wallow area where he browsed on trees there until it was time for the first group of elephant orphans to come down for the 11am milk feed. He decided to join them in the area but Godoma, Kuishi and Murit gave him a hard time as they kept charging at him and trying to chase him away, which eventually meant he decided to walk back to the stockade area where he stayed for the rest of the day.

Kiko woke up in a happy mood today and joined the elephant orphans in the Park to browse. He didn’t get to browse too close to them however, as Mundusi kept following and even charging at the tall boy sometimes. After awhile Kiko got bored of this, and he moved further away in search of some tasty acacia trees, and also to get away from the cheeky Mundusi! As the sun rose higher and warmed the earth, the orphans took advantage of this and rolled around on the soil. Musiara and Sattao intertwined their little trunks and played a ‘pushing and pulling’ game. Ambo and Mbegu were busy feeding on a huge branch that the matriarch had broken from a nearby tree. As a group of keepers were enjoying their morning tea, Ngilai came over and pretended to browse next to them, but suddenly snatched a cup from an unsuspecting keeper, emptying its contents. The keepers warned him not to be naughty and the playful boy dropped the cup and moved off into the bushes to find Kuishi and Murit.

Ndotto is still acting very independent these days and although his best friend is still Lasayen, when it comes to browsing he likes to go it alone. He likes to walk deeper into the forest and takes his time feeding. He doesn’t even seem to be bothered when it is milk time! We saw this today for the public visit as he decided to dodge his friends and the keepers and not attend at all. He only decided to appear around lunch time, but looking at his full belly we knew he had found a nice green area to browse in! Shukuru was trying to prove she is the oldest orphan in the Nursery today and commands respect. She used her long tusks to push Kuishi away who was only trying to share a branch that Shukuru had. She yelled and ran away for help. Mbegu tried to protect her but Shukuru ended up pushing her away as well!