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The early hours of this morning were calm and peaceful. The orphans were out of their stockades enjoying some Lucerne pellets. Then Ngasha and Alamaya arrived back from their night out and everything changed. Murera was unhappy to see Ngasha because she knows he is such a bully, she started to walk away, and he followed pushing her and Kiombo into the corner. The Keepers were watching this and intervened, separating Ngasha from the rest of the orphan herd. They allowed Alamaya to join, as he doesn’t cause trouble. 

Sonje and Quanza called the little babies to their sides while Mwashoti joined Murera. The orphans all headed to the Umani Hills to browse. That evening Enkesha took over the leadership duties and led the orphans back home after a long day. 

Faraja and Jasiri arrived and immediately started sparring, trying to show off how strong they are. Jasiri has longer tusks, so he has an advantage when pushing with his tusks, but Faraja is stronger at pushing with his body. Sonje watched them for a little while then called Lima Lima to help her separate the boys. Sonje did this perfectly. The boys stopped fighting and followed Lima Lima and Quanza over to the Umani Hills to browse. Murera, Mwashoti and Alamaya stayed browsing lower on the slopes of the hills, while Kiasa stayed with the keepers under the shade. 

Ngasha joined the orphans later, so Maktao and Enkesha moved away to avoid him. With the help of the Keepers, they kept him separated from Enkesha, Murera, and the little babies, leaving them to browse in peace. 

Ngasha came to the herd this morning. Sonje and Murera watched him for a short time then he reached his trunk out to Sonje who didn’t seem to mind, but Murera started flapping her ears and signalling her discontent. Sonje then walked away with Kiombo and all the babies followed her out to the Umani Springs. 

Alamaya and Mwashoti fought over an Acacia branch. Alamaya picked up the branch to scratch his chest, then Mwashoti came and wanted to take the stick, but Alamaya didn’t want to give it up. Luckily Murera arrived in time and separated them to stop them fighting. Alamaya sensibly agreed and moved away, leaving Mwashoti with the stick. Alamaya knew he could get another stick on his way. 

Kiasa, Enkesha and some of the other little boys moved to the Chyulu Hills side without the older girls, showing they could be independent. Enkesha led this little group, she had proved that she was a calm and capable leader, and she never fought with anyone.  

Lima Lima and Alamaya arrived early while the orphans were having their morning milk bottles. They waited for the Keepers to open the gates and for the orphans to come out of their stockades. Murera smelt something in the bushes and started rumbling. The Keepers knew this meant Mwashoti was close by, and soon after, Mwashoti arrived at the stockades. Murera welcomed him with lots of hugs and questions of why he was so late, but he ignored the questions and focused on the lucerne. Later Ngasha arrived from another direction, but he was late and missed out on the lucerne pellets. 

Sonje started walking away and all the babies followed her. Quanza stayed in the middle of the herd to make sure all the little babies were okay. Kiombo moved between Enkesha and Maktao which caused a fight between Kiombo and Maktao. Kiombo resented being pushed by Maktao but he was overpowered. Enkesha didn’t bother to stop the fight or help her best friend, Maktao; instead, she continued to walk past Sonje and pretended that nothing was happening.  

This morning, when the orphans got let out of the stockades Sonje started scratching herself on the terraces outside the stockades before heading out browsing for the day. 

Quanza and Zongoloni teamed up with the big boys today. Lima Lima saw that Quanza didn’t know where she was being taken, and that she was just following the others, so Lima Lima filled her in and explained that they were going to meet up with some wild bulls. Quanza was not happy about this and moved back to where Kiasa and Enkesha were scratching on a tree. Quanza started ignoring Zongoloni because she didn’t tell Quanza where they were going, and Lima Lima remains an honest informer. 

Murera went swimming with the babies. She is very gentle and patient with them, allowing Kiasa, Maktao, and Kiombo to climb all over her when they are playing. 

This morning was much cooler. The orphans were enjoying lucerne at the stockades. A baby baboon was being naughty and ran away from its mother and right into the orphans. Kiasa and Kiombo spotted the baboon. Kiombo decided that it should not be with the elephants, so he started chasing it. Kiasa and Mwashoti joined in. The baby baboon ran back to its mother, but the elephants kept trumpeting and trying to chase the whole troop of baboons away. Once the baboons had moved off, Sonje intervened and stopped the babies from going too far away from her. Kiombo and Enkesha came back, but the naughty Ngasha led Mwashoti astray and they continued chasing the baboons. 

As the day got hotter, Murera and Quanza moved under the shade of some trees. A big bull appeared from the bushes and started interacting with Sonje. Kiombo got scared and ran away leaving Sonje and the bull alone. The bull smelt Sonje for a while then left her and followed Lima Lima and Zongoloni to the Chyulu Hills.

It was so hot today. The orphans went to cool off in the mud bath, but they encountered a herd of wild elephants already wallowing there. They must have startled the wild elephants because a wild bull started chasing the orphans. The little babies ran away in fear, but Sonje and Murera stood up to the bull and protected the little ones. 

The wild elephant then moved off; all the orphans were so happy that the older girls had protected them. They all cooled off in the mud bath. Enkesha and her little friend Maktao indulged in a gentle friendly pushing game after their mud bath. 

Ngasha came back early in the morning with a girlfriend. She was very cautious of the Keepers and kept her distance from them. The other orphans took a liking to her and were following her around. Sonje and Quanza were especially fascinated by her and spent the whole day with her. In the evening, they even tried to bring her back to the stockades, but she refused to come in the gate. She joined Ngasha and they went back into the bush. 

Quanza and Enkesha took turns leading Maktao. Quanza has become a very good matriarch for Maktao, she really looks after him and he follows her everywhere. Enkesha is still young, and she is still only learning, but the Keepers think she will be a very good leader, because she is calm and fair with the younger orphans. 

Murera really enjoyed playing by herself in the mud today.

Lima Lima is a very intelligent girl. While the orphans were browsing, she kept walking to the swamp then back to the orphans. The Keepers thought something must be wrong, so they followed her and found a buffalo had gotten stuck in the swamp. They called one of our mobile vet units and they managed to get the buffalo out. Thank goodness for Lima Lima’s observant nature. 

Kiasa spent the day browsing with Enkesha. Enkesha is really starting to act like a matriarch, looking after the babies. 

Alamaya joined the orphan herd at the mud bath. 

Mwashoti has recently joined the wild. He spends nights out in the forest with the ‘nightclubbers.’ Murera used to look after him and they used to share a stockade. When the new babies, Kiasa, Maktao, and Kiombo, graduated from the Nairobi Nursery and came to Umani Springs, Murera was fascinated by them and gave Mwashoti less attention. As a result, Mwashoti started spending more time with the ‘nightclubber’ boys. However, he still remembers his friend and comes to give Murera a hug and an update every morning. 

The orphans browsed through some grassy plains before spending time playing in the mud bath. Kiasa was enjoying Enkesha’s company and followed her everywhere. Enkesha is really enjoying having younger orphans to look after.