At the Nursery, Weka was a notorious troublemaker — but since graduating to Ithumba, she has become so even-keeled. We were reminded of this one morning, when Weka passed behind Kinyei as she walked towards Shujaa. Kinyei threw a back kick that landed on Weka, but Weka didn’t react in any way and simply continued to where she was going.
But sometimes, we see glimmers of Weka’s old personality. One morning, Lualeni’s son, Luki, tried to push her. The no-nonsense girl did not spare the rascal, pushing him continuously until he ran back to his mother.
Early in the month, we had an dawn visit from Nasalot, Noah, Nala, Naleku, and Suguroi, who recently left the dependent herd to join Nasalot’s family. Roho, Lodo, Olorien, Kindani, and Kinyei greeted Suguroi and held a brief meeting, wanting to find out how she was feeling now she has started life in the wild. Suguroi appeared to be happy and fulfilled spending all her time with Nala.
It seems that Naleku has magnanimously given Suguroi ‘nannying custody’ of Nala, while she has turned her attention to Kilabasi’s baby, Kanika. It is not clear whether this is a temporary arrangement or if it will be permanent — only time will tell. One morning, Kindani got to spend some time with Kanika as Naleku stood close by.
Mukutan loves the water and will try anything to ensure the fun doesn’t end. At one memorable mud bath, he tried to block Roho from coming out by pushing him back into the water again and again. After some time, Roho finally managed to overpower him and exit the water.
It’s always funny to witness how the orphans entertain themselves depending on the time of day. After a heavy breakfast of lucerne, we watched Kindani, Olorien, Lodo, Esoit, Bondeni, Choka, and Mayan languorously rolling on the ground, using minimal efforts as they massaged their full bellies.
Conversely, in the evening, the weather changed. The cloudy sky gave way to rain, which activated the orphans’ playing moods. Weka, Mukutan, Muwingu, Kindani, Bondeni, Lodo, and Olorien had fun splashing on the wet ground and continued until it was time to go home.
Choka, meanwhile, always makes his own fun. One afternoon, spotted two dik-diks ahead of him and scared them by trumpeting. Hoping for greater effect, he charged in their direction, but they were long gone. Refusing to admit defeat, he then tried to knock down several bushes in search of them.
There is always some sort of contest over who can lead the way to the stockades. Weka or Mageno often take the lead, but one evening, Loldaiga saw the competition, blocked the two competitors, and took charge all the way back to the stockade.
Our Kaluku Trio remain the best of friends. We find Kindani, Bondeni, and Kinyei together throughout the day, sharing a pile of lucerne for breakfast or dusting themselves side by side.
Mid-month, we were treated to a visit from Musiara, who had been away for some time. He remained with the herd for the entire day and seemed to have a lot to discuss with Lodo. Musiara then spent the night outside the stockade and joined the orphans as soon as they were let out. He shared lucerne with them and later walked with them to the browsing field. That day, he again adopted the dependent herd’s schedule, escorting the orphans to the mud bath and later home in the evening. He must have been nostalgic for his old home routines.
13th March brought a worrying development. Nasalot, Nala, Noah, Suguroi, Naleku, Lualeni, Lulu, Lexi, Luki, and Ishanga reported at the stockade compound before dawn. Our attention was drawn to Ishanga when we saw no baby following her.
It was a shock and disheartening to see Ishanga without her adorable Imp. Ishanga looked well, and it is not clear what happened to the baby. Ishanga and Imp were last seen on the morning of 25th February, and after sharing lucerne with the orphans, they headed towards Kalovoto. Only Lualeni and Nasalot’s families can explain what happened.
In happier baby news, Makena and baby Merri were among our many visitors this month. After such a fraught journey to motherhood — her first baby didn’t make it, and her second pregnancy didn’t carry to term — it is wonderful to see Makena thriving with her daughter by her side.
During one of their visits, Kindani assigned herself the role of taking care of Merri, while Weka and Kinyei took care of Yara. At the time of heading to the browsing field, Kindani was reluctant, as she didn’t want to get separated from Merri. The Keepers kept insisting that she should follow her colleagues, and eventually she walked off, upset, shaking her head as she joined them.
The month ended with a reminder that more dependent orphans may hear the call of the wild in the not-too-distant future. Mirroring most afternoons this month, Lodo, Olorien, and Roho — who think that now they are grown-ups — split from the main herd and browsed some distance away. Come evening, they were very reluctant to head back to the stockades and only returned after much coaxing.