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Ex-orphan Orok joined the orphans in the morning to share lucerne with them. Later he led Roho, Sattao, Ambo, Jotto and Dololo down to the water troughs. The five boys were incredibly happy to be in the company of Orok and surrounded him adoringly, and looked as though they were asking him lots of questions. Ten minutes later, Orok appeared to have answered all their questions as he slowly started walking off into the bush. The boys followed him a short distance then bid him farewell by raising their trunks up and directing them towards Orok. Kuishi and Musiara settled to drink water at the smaller water trough.

The sky was clear so we knew it would be a hot day ahead. The orphans browsed calmly throughout the morning. By the time they were heading to the mud bath it was so hot that all the orphans decided to swim after finishing their milk bottles. The intense heat continued into the afternoon and the orphans took a break from feeding to relax under some shady trees. In an effort to cool down further, the orphans then decided to head to the roadside mud bath where they splashed about and cooled off. After getting out of the mud bath Malkia, Ndiwa and Sana Sana took Naboishu with soon after mud bathing and browsed a distance away from the rest. They later, re-joined their friends on the way back to the stockade.

Kenze and Oltaiyoni’s late-night gang, who have now fully immersed themselves in the wild, were the only ex-orphans present in the morning. Shortly later, a wild mother with two calves appeared and joined the orphans for some lucerne too. Suguroi and Naleku were overjoyed to have some young wild babies to play and interact with. When it came time for them to leave, the ever-jovial Naleku and Suguroi happily escorted the wild babies a short distance, before returning to join their friends.

Ndiwa led the way out to the bush where Mukkoka teamed up with Larro to browse. Mapia chose Dololo while Sagateisa settled to browse with Malima. It was another hot day and the orphans looked for some suitable trees to feed under because with each passing hour the sun was becoming more unbearable.

After their noon milk feed the orphans jumped into the water hole to cool off. As usual, Sagateisa, Ambo, Roho, Musiara and Mapia spent the longest frolicking in the mud bath. The orphans then settled for a soil dusting exercise to dry off and make a nice layer of cakey suncream on their bodies, before heading to drink water. The Keepers had to move some wild bulls out of the way to make some space for the orphans to have a drink.

The orphans took a break and divided themselves into two groups, seniors and juniors. The senior group consisting of Kamok, Kauro, Rapa, Ndiwa, Malkia and Sana Sana while the juniors made up the rest. The seniors stood under the shade of one tree while the juniors stood under another. Kauro felt tired and decided to take a rest and lie down rather than stand. The orphans only resumed about two hours later once it was a bit cooler and they had finished resting. Later Neshashi led the first group back to the stockades while Naleku led the second one.

For the first time in a while Ambo made a right turn soon after leaving his stockade. This right turn takes him towards the lucerne store where he might try his luck and find the store open! The Keepers spotted him however and told him to go and wait for the Keepers to share out the lucerne like the rest of his friends. Ambo followed their instructions and walked out where he met with Vuria, who he exchanged morning greetings with by entwining their trunks together. Ambo got down on the ground to enjoy a rolling game, but Vuria pushed him up to go and join his friends who were already enjoying some lucerne.

The ex-orphans arrived and joined the orphans and Vuria. When they felt they had had enough, the orphans withdrew from the ex-orphans and, led by Ndiwa, the team headed out towards the Kone area where they settled to browse. There was some quite nice cloud cover this morning which made it a much nicer temperature for the orphans to browse, without having to seek shade under trees.

Some chattering baboons passed by close to the orphans. Such noisy baboons always seem to irk the orphans and Sattao mobilised some of the other bulls to help him drive away these noisy neighbours! Jotto, Ambo, Dololo, Musiara and Roho charged and ran towards the baboons. Naleku and Suguroi were curious about what would happen next and so decided to follow the boys and see for themselves! The baboons, upon seeing the orphans charging towards them, decided to run away as fast as possible. Their sudden disappearance meant the orphans stamped about in the bushes for a while in a charging mood, before calming down and going back to browsing. 

At mud bath time, not a single wild elephant showed up due to the more temperate weather. The orphans had their milk bottles then went for a drink of fresh water.

The clouds started clearing giving way to sun shine in the afternoon, which meant the orphans decided to take a break and relax under some trees for a while. In the evening they passed by the mud bath to cool off on their way home to the stockades.

Ambo scurried out of his night stockade in a hurry this morning, making a sharp right turn for the lucerne store. Ambo was in luck today and managed to grab a small bale of lucerne before the Keepers told him to walk down and wait with the rest of his friends. Tusuja, who had spent the night outside the stockades with his friends, was in a playful mood and tried to block Mapia from leaving the compound. The Keepers intervened however and told Tusuja to clear the way for his younger friend. Tusuja walked away from the gate reluctantly and walked down to wait for Mapia. Musiara, Neshashi and Larro settled to share lucerne together. Half an hour later, the ex-orphans arrived. Suguroi, Naleku and Roho were happy to be able to interact and play with Njema, Kaia and Iman for a while, before leaving for browsing.

The orphans settled to browse in the Kone area. Kuishi and Naboishu found a suitable rock that they scratched against. It was a cloudy morning which the orphans love, and they browsed calmly and quietly right up to mud bath time when Nabulu led the way to the eleven o'clock milk feeding area. After finishing their milk, Ambo kept himself busy by playing with Naboishu while Nabulu settled to play with Sattao. It remained cloudy so the orphans preferred soil dusting instead of getting into the water to wallow. Mapia engaged Rapa in a pushing game while Nabulu and Dololo joined four wild bulls at the water trough for some water.

The orphans settled to browse in the Imenti area for the rest of the afternoon. Kauro, Rapa and Mapia split from the main herd and browsed separately for nearly two hours, before returning to join their friends once it was time to head home for the night.

Several wild bulls were present in the morning. They were concentrating on drinking water and didn’t seem interested in sharing lucerne with the orphans, so the orphans had a quiet morning. As soon as they were done with their lucerne breakfast, Sana Sana led the way out to the bush.

At around eight o'clock in the morning, two warthogs darted past through the bushes close to where Sattao was browsing. This gave Sattao a huge fright as he hadn’t seen what it was that ran past at such high speed. With his ears raised and head high, Sattao trumpeted, alerting his friends to a potential danger. Rapa, Dololo, Mukkoka, Roho and Mapia heeded Sattao's call and reported immediately to where Sattao was standing. Sattao led them in the direction taken by the warthogs and the boys searched the entire area, but they couldn't see what might have frightened Sattao. The warthogs were long gone because they understood the consequences if they were caught by the orphans, who would most likely charge after them to scare them away! In the end yielded no results, the boys resumed browsing.

Nabulu led the first group to the mud bath for the midday milk feed, while Kuishi led the second one. After their bottles, Suguroi, Naleku, Rapa, Jotto, Neshashi and Larro jumped into the mud bath to cool off, and later dried off on the pile of loose soil, rolling and dusting themselves.

In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse at in the Imenti area. Roho challenged Naboishu but ended up losing the challenge. The rest of the day was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing without any other distractions.

A total of twenty wild bulls reported very early in the morning to the stockade compound to have some water. After having enough water, the bulls left, leaving behind only three of their friends who chose to join the dependent orphans and some ex-orphans for some lucerne. When they were done, Mapia, Kuishi, Jotto and Malima walked down to the water trough and joined Sapalan and Enkikwe to drink water. When they felt like it was time to go, Naleku and Suguroi created a scene by running up and down and trumpeting. Only Kuishi responded and ran to find out what the two girls were up to. The rest of the herd didn't bother because they have come to understand the young two girls’ theatrics.

Out in the bush, Naboishu, who is still trying to make himself relevant amongst the bulls, decided to tackle Ambo. Ambo defended himself for some time but then left because he didn’t want to waste too much time messing about. He knows it is still dry and he needs to concentrate on browsing to make sure he feeds enough during the day.

The orphans browsed calmly throughout the morning. At mud bath time, Neshashi led the first group while Musiara led the second one. The temperature was moderate and none of the orphans decided to step foot in the mud bath today. Dololo engaged Naboishu in a pushing game instead. Musiara passed by and helped Naboishu in defeating Dololo. Dololo couldn't withstand the strength from both boys, and so decided to surrender.

While the orphans browsed to the west of the hill for the rest of the afternoon, Naboishu chose to play with soft Malima, before later moving on to play with Mapia. Loving Malkia teamed up with Roho to browse while Ambo chose to relax and browse with his favourite older girl, Kamok. Sapalan and Enkikwe, who are now living wild, joined the dependent orphans for a little while, before walking off into the bush again on their own little mission.

Mutara and her herd were once again present in the morning for the lucerne feeding. As soon as the orphans were let out, Malkia headed straight over to Mambo and exchanged morning greetings with her favourite little boy. As the orphans were busy feeding on lucerne, a buffalo emerged from the west and walked to the water trough to have a drink. Sattao spotted the buffalo and bolshily decided to go down to block him from having any water. The buffalo was so thirsty though, that it really didn’t pay much attention to the little elephant and all his threats! Sattao rumbled as he tried to call for reinforcements from his friends to help him drive the buffalo away. Malima, Nabulu and Kuishi walked down to find out how they could help Sattao, but in the meantime the buffalo quickly drank his fill before the elephants could decide what to do, and disappeared off into the bush.

Shortly later, the senior ex-orphans arrived. The dependent orphans started leaving one by one as they headed out to browse. Suguroi remained behind for a while to play with Noah, before running to catch up with her friends.

Malkia was in a playful mood and decided to pick on her friend Ndiwa for a light pushing game, before leaving to join Mutara’s herd and her little baby Mambo. Rapa played with Mapia but the game ended when Rapa attempted to climb on Mapia’s back, which is a very rude manoeuvre amongst elephants, and very domineering, and ultimately a sure-fire way to bring about the end of a game! Ambo settled to browse with Dololo and at one stage they were helping one another to peel some bark from trees using their tusks.

At midday the orphans had their milk then waded through the mud bath water just to wash their feet, as the water was too cold for them to have a proper swim. Only Roho and Mapia were brave enough today to have a proper wallow despite the temperature! Ambo and Sattao locked trunks in a pushing game. Kamok, who was passing by, decided to separate the two boys as she didn’t want her favourite Ambo coming to any harm.

In the afternoon the clouds cleared giving way to sunshine. This prompted the orphans to relax under some trees for a while before resuming browsing and later, they all returned safely to the compound for the night.  

We have become accustomed to seeing the ex-orphans in the morning as they remain in the area until more rain falls elsewhere, and today was no different; they reported early before six o'clock in the morning. Several wild bulls were accompanying them. They all waited patiently outside, as they understand that the lucerne is always distributed soon after the orphans are let out. The dependent orphans had their morning milk then Naleku was the first one to leave, followed by Suguroi. Sagateisa settled close to Melia. Her baby Milo jealously tried to push Sagateisa away from his mother, but Sagateisa remained unmoved and didn't retaliate. Perhaps Milo though that Sagateisa would try and nurse from his mother, so eventually Sagateisa decided to move away and give him some space. 

Out in the bush Jotto had a disagreement with Mapia, when Mapia attempted to get some grass from Jotto's mouth. This resulted in a pushing game but it didn't go on for long as Kauro passed by and separated the two boys.

Poor Ambo slipped and fell as he tried to cross a small valley, but he stood up quickly and looked around, as if checking to see if anyone had seen him fall! He looked relieved that none of the other orphans were close by, for we often think elephants can feel a little embarrassed, like they ‘lose face’ if they take a tumble or something! Ambo is often trying to prove his strength so he was probably quite happy that none of the bulls were around.

Naboishu and Roho, who share a night-stockade, took a break from feeding to have a strength testing exercise that ended in a draw. Dololo enjoyed scratching his itchy bottom on some large boulders near where the orphans were browsing.

Although cloudy it felt quite hot and humid today, which meant all the orphans decided to wallow in the mud bath to cool off after having their midday milk bottles. In the afternoon, Kauro, Roho and Larro settled to browse together while Mukkoka decided to test his strength by attempting to push a tree down. It was a big and strong tree however, and Mukkoka couldn't even move it an inch, and so he eventually gave up. The rest of the day was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing.

Mutara and her herd reported early in the morning again. Sattao engaged Jotto in a morning warm up exercise by requesting a pushing game. The orphans fed on lucerne peacefully with Mutara's herd and no other ex-orphans showed up this morning. As soon as they had enough, Neshashi led the way to the browsing field. Naleku and Suguroi wanted to lead as well apparently, and tried to run ahead of Neshashi while maintaining a safe distance in front because they were wary of Neshashi punishing them for being disrespectful!

Naboishu chose to browse with Dololo this morning but after a while they seemed to disagree about something, which resulted in a fight. Luckily Ndiwa was passing by and separated the two boys, and to make sure they didn’t just go back to fighting, she cunningly decided to browse in between them.

It was another hot day and after the midday feed the orphans enjoyed wallowing for a long time. While in the water, Mapia started a pushing game with Ambo, while Rapa enjoyed climbing on Naboishu’s back. Later, when Mapia left the water, Rapa turned to play with Ambo instead. Some of the orphans joined a few wild bulls drinking water and then they all continued with their afternoon of walking along while browsing. It was a quiet afternoon as the orphans settled to browse in the Imenti area. Given the heat, they eventually had to take a break from feeding and relaxed under some trees for a while. Later the orphans passed by the mud bath once again to cool off on their way home for the night.  

The orphans were so happy when a herd with young babies joined them to feed on lucerne in the morning. Naleku Suguroi, Roho Naboishu and Neshashi were the first to play with the babies. Neshashi was slightly more rough with them, trying to push the young ones, while Roho was slightly more gentle and had light wrestling matches. Naleku and Suguroi were trying a different tactic and lay down on the ground, trying to entice the young ones to play on them. As soon as the adults had enough lucerne, the matriarch led her herd back out to the bush and her family duly followed. Naleku and Suguroi followed the wild herd for a short distance as if escorting their new wild friends, before running back to join the Ithumba herd. Kauro led the orphans to begin their day out in the bush.

The orphans settled to browse in the Kanziku area. It was a quiet morning as they concentrated mainly on browsing without any major distractions or pushing games from anyone.

By the time the orphans made their way to the mud bath it was very hot, so they all decided to get into the water to wallow.

Later, while they browsed in the Imenti area, Kauro, Kamok, Rapa, Malkia, Sana Sana and Ndiwa (who are all weaned off milk) decided to move deeper into the bush, leaving their young friends feeding close to the Keepers. Kuishi teamed up with Naboishu to browse as Musiara picked a fight with Dololo. Their fighting didn't last long as Mapia interrupted by walking in between the two boys. In the evening, Larro led the way back to the stockades for the night.

Wendi and her three children Wiva, Wema and Wimbi arrived very early in the morning, and were later joined by the rest of her herd. After the orphans were let out to begin their day, Malkia interacted briefly with Lili while Malima played with Njema. Later, Sana Sana rumbled, signalling to the dependent orphans that it was time to go. The always happy Naleku and Suguroi responded first. The two girls started walking towards the bush, swinging their trunks from side to side in an expression of happiness.

Jotto engaged Malkia in a strength testing match that didn't last for long as Malkia withdrew after deciding it was a waste of her time energy and time. Mukkoka teamed up with Dololo and Naboishu to browse, while Sagateisa settled to browse with Kuishi. At mud bath time, Suguroi led Naleku and Nabulu to the mud bath while Dololo led Musiara and Ambo in the second group, before the rest of the milk dependent herd followed. The sun was beating down and so after the orphans finished their milk, Roho and Dololo led their group into the water. After wallowing, Ambo played with Musiara. Musiara then quit playing with Ambo and moved on to play with Mapia. Larro, Neshashi, Ndiwa, Kamok and Rapa, who had lagged behind, arrived just as their friends were starting to walk back out to browse. Larro and Neshashi were given their milk and then ran to catch up with their friends. The orphans chose to browse in the Imenti area for the rest of the afternoon, which was quiet as all the orphans tried to fill their tummies before returning home for the night.

Naleku was so happy to have some wild born babies to play with in the morning. She engaged Noah, Njema and Silas in pushing games. Suguroi played with Njema while Roho tackled Wema. Shortly later, Rapa led the way out to browse.

Ndiwa, Sagateisa and Kamok teamed up to browse together while Kuishi chose to browse close to little bulls Dololo and Musiara. As they walked along browsing the orphans headed west towards Kanziku. It was quite hot, and they looked for trees with nice shade to feed under. All in all, it was a quiet morning and the orphans browsed calmly, looking forward to the mud bath when they could jump in the water to cool themselves down. At eleven o'clock they made their way for their milk bottles and just as we suspected, as soon as they were done, they immediately jumped into the water. After their mud bath, Suguroi, Roho and Neshashi settled for a soil dusting exercise to dry off. The wild bull known as Dad and three wild friends showed up briefly, before disappearing off into the bush. When they were done swimming, the orphans passed by the water trough and for some fresh water before Malima decided it was time to continue browsing, and led the herd back out into the bush.

In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. The weather changed and clouds started gathering which brought huge relief, as everyone felt a lot cooler. While it was unfortunate that no actual rain fell, this was a promising sign of rain to come!

Ambo left the stockades this morning and turned right to go to the lucerne store to help himself. Unfortunately, he found the store locked and so he decided to wait outside. The Keepers came and informed Ambo to go and join his friends. so he reluctantly left and went to join the others.

Lucerne was distributed and the orphans enjoyed their morning breakfast, and still no ex-orphans arrived. Shortly afterwards, Kuishi led the way out.

It was a quiet morning as the orphans settled to browse in the Kone area. Jotto met with Mapia and broke the peace by starting a pushing game. Sattao teamed up with Musiara and Nabulu to browse. Rapa and Kauro parted ways with their friends, only to meet up with them again at mud bath time.

The orphans had their milk next to the mud bath, then Nabulu and Roho stepped into the water to splash water behind their ears and wash their feet, before walking out without properly swimming. In the afternoon the orphans were briefly joined by a lone wild bull who seemed like he was looking for his friends. Rapa, Dololo and Naboishu lifted their trunks up as they tried to communicate with the wild bull, but the big fellow just sauntered on by after briefly greeting the youngsters. Pare, Dololo and Kauro came across a pool of water that they splashed themselves with before going back to feeding from the same bush. Roho led the way back to the stockades in the evening, but was overtaken by Suguroi who managed to make it back to the stockades in the lead!