Choose your region

Mutara’s herd arrived early at the stockade compound this morning and waited for the dependent orphans to come out of their stockades to join them in the bush. The babies had their milk bottles and then walked out to join them.

Of course the older girls, mainly Suguta, were after Dololo. Suguta always wants to be close to him and she stayed right by his side. After a few minutes some of Yatta’s ex-orphan herd arrived including Lenana and Chyulu and their babies Lapa and Cheka. Ukame and Namalok were also with them, who joined the ex-orphan herd about a month ago now. They looked very active and in good health. Enkikwe started hugging Ukame with her trunk and asking where she had been all this time. The dependent orphans rumbled and seemed very happy to see their old friends Ukame and Namalok.

Maramoja and Malkia seemed even happier to see the babies Lapa and Cheka. They took Cheka and started walking with him while his mother Chyulu just watched them. Lenana was very busy browsing with Lapa however and stayed very close to him. Turkwel became quite jealous when she saw Maramoja being a nanny to Cheka, and went over to intervene and take over. Roi and Esampu later got a chance to walk with and interact with Cheka for a bit, before the herd disappeared again, leaving the dependent orphans to walk to the mud bath for their milk bottles.

It wasn’t very hot at the mud bath and not many of the orphans chose to wallow after having their milk bottles. Mutara’s herd appeared again and joined the dependent orphans. Later when the orphans walked back out to the bush, they left Sities and Kanjoro behind enjoying a play fight. A group of wild bulls arrived at the same time to drink water and later walked away.

Out in the bush all the orphans were busy browsing despite it being very hot. They later decided to walk to the water pool along the roadside and started playing there to cool themselves down, before walking back to the stockades for the night.

Wendi and a splinter group from Yatta’s herd came to drink water from the stockade water trough today before wandering off. A herd of wild elephants also visited for water and later walked away.

It was a beautiful morning today with the Ithumba dependent orphans having their milk bottles before walking straight out to browse.

There they met with Mutara’s herd and also Kinna with some of the senior ex-orphans. They all interacted with the young wild born babies Kama, Siku, Lapa and Lili. Mutara enjoyed looking after little Lili. Siku stayed very close to her mum Sunyei. When the dependent orphans walked to the mud bath for their milk bottles, Kinna and the other ex-orphans went their separate ways. 

At the mud bath Wendi arrived with a small group including her two babies Wiva and Wema. Yetu was with them too. Wiva started playing with Esampu and later with Olsekki. The rest of the orphans had their milk bottles and walked to the mud bath but didn’t want to swim. A group of wild bulls came in too to join them. Later the orphans walked away back to the bush for browsing.

It was such a hot afternoon and all the orphans went to cool down in the waterhole along the road to the Tiva River. They played vigorously before coming out to dry by rolling around on the soil. Esampu was really enjoying rolling around. Enkikwe is one of the elephants who likes playing in the mud the most and was left behind playing there alone. Later the orphans walked back home in the evening for their milk and to go to bed.

An hour after the dependent orphans left the stockade compound this morning, Mutara’s herd passed by the stockades, perhaps searching for the whereabouts of the dependent babies; they managed to catch up with them about 10 minutes later. 

Later into the morning, the orphans were joined by ex-orphans Kinna, baby Kama, Nasalot and baby Nusu. Pare had a brief tussle with Kama that ended when Kinna separated the calves from fighting. Pare and Kama then went their separate ways. 

At mud bath time the orphans were joined by several other ex-orphans from Yatta’s herd including Loijuk and her baby Lili. Esampu, the drama queen, decided to make herself nanny to Lili. Esampu followed Lili and Loijuk wherever they went around the mud bath. Dololo and Musiara teamed up with Suguta, Turkwel and Sities from Mutara’s herd to relax under a tree. Later, Mutara led the dependent orphans back out to browse. 

The temperature skyrocketed again in the afternoon so the elephants walked down to the roadside mud bath where they cooled-off before resuming browsing. In the evening, Ambo led the way back to the stockades.

Nasalot, baby Nusu, Sunyei, baby Siku, Galana and baby Gawa joined the dependent orphans in the morning soon after they were let out. The three babies Nusu, Gawa and Siku interacted with the dependent orphans for nearly half an hour before joining their mothers. Ambo had a game of rolling on the ground under the close supervision of Kamok. After Ambo had enough of rolling on the ground, Kamok escorted him out to browse. Roi took some time to herself, having fun rolling on the ground before resuming with her browsing activities. 

Shortly before mud bath time, the team of potential baby-snatchers arrived, consisting of Turkwel, Suguta, Sities, Suguta and Kainuk! The Keepers couldn’t help but feel slightly dismayed at the sight of their beloved, if not mischievous, older orphans, as their arrival always signals a tug-of-war with their favourite dependent babies and potentially walking long distances while trying to recover them whenever they get taken by these older girls for their own wanderings. It appears Suguta and her group were fully prepared for a confrontation with the Keepers, made easier by the arrival of more ex-orphans at mud bath to hide their intentions. 

In the afternoon, the orphans and ex-orphans headed west of Ithumba Hill where, as expected and despite the Keepers best efforts, Suguta and her team succeeded in snatching Dololo, Musiara, Sattao, Mapia, Esampu, Karisa, Jotto, Enkikwe and Sapalan. As soon as the Keepers realized they started tracking the missing orphans, and luckily located the missing babies just before dark, and led them back to the stockades for the night. 

Out in the bush this morning the orphans met a wild female elephant and her baby, and they were very friendly both with the orphans and the Keepers. The mother was so calm and just allowed her calf to suckle right in front of the Keepers with no fear at all, and she had no problem interacting with the orphans. She didn’t want the orphans interacting with her baby too much, and after staying for about an hour browsing with the orphans, she and her baby left, and the orphans walked to the mud bath for their noon milk feed.

While at the mud bath, a wild herd visited and walked away after having enough water. Mutara's herd arrived together with Kithaka, Garzi and Lemoyian among them. Kithaka is really naughty these days and sometimes even charges at the Keepers! Most of the orphans keep a wide berth of him. Suguta and Turkwel came to pick Dololo up and were about to walk away with him but the Keepers were watching and brought him back to the dependent orphans. Chyulu and her baby Cheka arrived and were being well escorted by Esampu, Maramoja who wanted to look after little Cheka. When the orphans went back out to browse they were accompanied by all the ex-orphans, including naughty Kithaka. They all browsed together but later in the afternoon as the orphans were about to return back to the stockades, Mutara's herd managed to walk away with Dololo, Jotto, Mapia and Karisa. Luckily Mutara’s herd just escorted them back to the stockade compound and all the dependent orphans went into the stockades for the night.