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Soon after leaving the stockades, Barsilinga, Olsekki and Siangiki passed by the water trough and had some water before proceeding to walk out to browse. Karisa settled to feed with Wanjala while Sapalan and Esampu started their day by playing on an anthill. At around ten o’clock in the morning, the orphans came across a small pool of water that they used to have a mud bath. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse east of Ithumba Hill and had a quiet time until five o’clock in the evening when they returned home.

The weather was chilly in the morning and it was drizzling. Out in the bush, Jotto came across a suitable bend in a tree that he used to scratch his belly on. Later Ukame and Mapia also enjoyed a scratching exercise on some nearby rocks. Wanjala settled to browse with Malkia and later had a pushing game with Esampu that was disrupted by Kauro. Enkikwe took a break from feeding to have a game or rolling on the ground while Olsekki decided to play with Tusuja. 

At mud bath time the rain had moved on and it was very hot, which prompted the orphans to have a prolonged wallowing session. After mud bath, Rapa decided to scratch on an anthill while Mundusi and Pare had a game of rolling on the ground. At around nine thirty at night, Tumaren, Melia, Naisula, Kalama, Chemi Chemi and Kibo showed up briefly at the stockade compound after being away for several months. Perhaps they had heard the news and came to meet the new baby too!

It was wet in the morning following a heavy downpour received over night. Malkia and Jotto enjoyed playing on the wet soil in the morning. Kauro came across a nice bend in a tree that he used to scratch his belly on. Olsekki teamed up with Karisa to browse while Mapia kept the lead of the orphans as they walked through the bush. At mud bath time it was cool and the orphans only had their milk bottles before returning back to the browsing field without going for a swim. In the afternoon, Mundusi played with Tusuja while Esampu had her own game of rolling on the ground.

The sky was cloudy in the morning and mist covered half of Ithumba Hill when the orphans left the stockade. Sana Sana, Pare and Malkia teamed up to browse as Mundusi explored the hill behind the stockade. The orphans had a quiet morning as they concentrated on browsing up to mud bath time when Karisa led the way for the noon bottle feeds. Our naughty girl Roi this time picked up an empty bottle thinking that it had milk inside, but was disappointed when she found that it had nothing in it. Roi walked away hoping to plan more wisely the next time the opportunity presented itself for her to steal some more milk! 

Ukame and Esampu decided to play on an anthill while Tusuja and Olsekki had a strength testing exercise that didn’t last for long. In the afternoon the orphans settled west of Ithumba Hill where they browsed until evening and it was time to return back to the stockades for the night.

It was a quiet morning with the Ithumba orphans babies having their milk bottles and walking out for a day of browsing. Barsilinga had his foot checked and washed with hydrogen peroxide before iodine and green clay was applied. Enkikwe had his leg injury washed and applied with green clay too.

Later on in the morning, when all the orphans were busy browsing, Malima got a fright from a warthog who ran past her at high speed. Her fright gave all the orphans a shock and they started running in different directions. After a short while the Keepers managed to calm them down and the orphans settled down to browse once more. Kamok browsed with Esampu and looked very sleepy. 

After the orphans had their 11am milk bottle next to the main water hole they decided not to go for a swim as they felt it was a bit chilly. They had their milk and walked back out to the bush to browse. A few of them played in the small mud pool beside the road which is a lot warmer than the main mud bath. 

When the orphans were browsing in the afternoon it appeared Jotto and Pare were having their own conversation which wasn’t privy to anyone else. Sana Sana and Malima were browsing together quite happily. It started to rain as the elephants were on their way back to the stockades for the night. All the orphans and Keepers walked back to the stockades at once, rather than in groups, and it was all hands on deck to make sure all the orphans got their milk bottles. Barsilinga’s walking has improved and he is not limping as much as yesterday which is great. We recorded 35mm of rainfall today.

Barsilinga and Enkikwe had their wounds cleaned up carefully, Barsilinga's sore foot and Enkikwe his leg where he was attacked by a lion two years ago now, before they followed their friends who had already walked out to begin their day of browsing. They all looks happy in the bush as Ukame and Wanjala browsed together, Enkikwe, Siankigi and Esampu browsed together, and Pare, Sana Sana and Kamok were together too. Mapia and Oltaiyoni walked together until Mapia led the herd for their 11am milk bottle near the main water hole.

In the mud bath Esampu was the most playful today and was fully enjoying wallowing in the water alone even after the others had already left. Ambo was the only one who didn’t get into the water as he has seemingly gone off wallowing for some reason. All the orphans apart from Esampu swam through the water and came out in a line, but she stayed in their awhile longer all by herself. 

Once out of the mud bath, Siangiki started rolling around in the mud along the road. Olsekki came to join her. The rest were already in the bush busy browsing. Pare started play fighting with Namalok which was a game that went on for quite some time. Later Kuishi led the herd back home in the evening for their milk and to go to bed. Barsilinga hid from the Keepers again but we went on looking for him and found him one hour later after the others were all safely in their stockades for the night. He followed the Keepers back to the compound and went into one of the stockades too.

The sky was clear and bright in the morning. The orphans left the stockade and headed east to enjoy feeding under the warmth of the morning sun. Kauro teamed up with Malima to browse while Mundusi settled to browse with Namalok. Later, Galla engaged Sapalan in a pushing game, a game that ended when Sapalan surrendered. 

At eleven o'clock in the morning soon after having their milk, Kuishi, Ndiwa and Mapia kept themselves busy by scratching against nearby trees as they waited for their friends so they could all go and wallow in the main water hole together. Olsekki, Wanjala and Esampu were the last to finish swimming; Esampu is clearly enjoying the water these days. After coming out from the water, Olsekki and Wanjala briefly engaged one another in a pushing game before following their friends, who had by now disappeared out into the bush. 

Tusuja came across a small muddy pool of water that he used to change his body colour from grey to red, after smearing himself with mud. In the afternoon, the orphans had a quiet time as they concentrated on browsing throughout the rest of the day.

It was wet in the morning following some rain received over night. Led by Karisa, the orphans walked out of their stockades very carefully to avoid slipping and falling. Ukame settled to feed with Oltaiyoni while Naseku developed an itchy foot and so found a suitable rock that she used to scratch it on. Later on, the orphans came across a heap of soil that they decided to all play on together. 

At mud bath time, around 11am, the sun came out and it was actually quite hot, so the elephant orphans decided to have a swim in the main water hole too. Esampu left in an excitable mood, running around charging and trumpeting. Her actions made all her all friends quit wallowing to follow suit. Kauro, Kamok and Wanjala finally settled to play on an ant hill and later Wanjala left to play with Tusuja. Mundusi took an advantage of Tusuja engaging Wanjala while lying down and scratched up against him. When Tusuja stood up to engage Wanjala fully, Mundusi moved off to join Naseku who was enjoying rolling around on the ground. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill until just before 5pm when it was time to return back to the stockades. 

Soon after leaving the stockades, the bulls were in a playful mood. Sapalan engaged Galla in a pushing game while Tusuja played with Wanjala. Malima, Roi, Ndiwa, Rapa, Kauro and Esampu kept themselves busy for some time by scratching against some trees. Ukame and Naseku tried to compete who amongst them could reach the highest leaves in a certain tree. In the end, they found out that they had trunks of equal length thus their competition ended in a draw. At mud bath time, the orphans only had their milk bottles then returned back to browsing. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans mostly concentrated on browsing.