May commenced with some drama, courtesy of a wild bull whom Ngasha invited into the mix. Lima Lima, Sonje, and Quanza walked over to greet the visitor, but he only had eyes for Quanza. Unfortunately, he came on a bit strong, and Quanza ran off to find Murera and the others. Undeterred, the bull pursued her into the forest, which caused all the orphans to flee in a flurry of trumpets. Peace was only restored when the big bull retreated back into the trees.
Ngasha was the first nightclubber to appear this morning, in the company of a large wild bull that the Keepers did not recognize. As the Umani herd were already settled within the Kibwezi Forest, the Keepers immediately started to look around for an exit in case this new visitor decided to charge. The bull kept his distance, but he had this suspicious look as though he did not quite understand the orphans’ relationship with their Keepers.
Murera was also a bit nervous so she, with the help of Kiasa and Enkesha, ushered Mwana away, deeper into the forest. Lima Lima, Sonje and Quanza all walked over to greet the bull, and he was particularly interested in Quanza whom he kept trying to wrap his trunk around. Quanza was confused by his actions, and she eventually ran off to find Murera and the others, but this caused the bull to follow all the girls. Once further in the forest the Keepers could hear all the girls rumbling and trumpeting, and they spotted them dashing off to the open field, so the Keepers followed. Once out in the open field, Ngasha decided to follow the Umani herd and eventually his new friend went off on his way.
This afternoon, Kiasa once again took Mwana away from the older nannies as she wanted Mwana to be escorted by herself and Enkesha. From being one of the naughtiest members of the Nursery herd, Kiasa has turned into such a caring and doting nanny. They were both trying to escort Mwana to the mud bath, but that little charger was sprinting ahead of them both and she made it to the pool well before them. After a wonderful wallow, the Umani herd began to make their way back to the stockades for the evening.
This morning, Alamaya, Zongoloni and Jasiri were the first to arrive. They had not been seen for several days, so the Keepers and the other orphans were all happily greeting them. The only regular visitor the Umani herd had was Ngasha as he repeatedly returned to spend time with Murera, Mwana, Sonje and the other girls. Occasionally, Faraja would also pop in to greet the dependent orphans, but the others hadn’t shown up at all until this morning.
As the orphans were starting their day, Sonje and Lima Lima walked out and had a good look around before rushing over to Kiombo, who had already challenged Maktao to a strength testing match. These two boys love challenging each other and have done since they were at the Nursery, so the Keepers are always so happy to see them play. This morning, however, Sonje wanted to protect Maktao from Kiombo and as soon as she saw Kiombo challenging Maktao she stood right in the middle of them. For a brief second, it looked as though Maktao wanted to take advantage of this and swing round to challenge Kiombo, but Lima Lima quickly stood in his way.
The boys grew bored of their girls standing in their way and decided to wander off to browse. With the herd all settled, they had a wonderful day browsing in the Kibwezi Forest.
The orphans made their way to the Kenzili today, leaving the Umani hills behind them and enjoying the abundance of vegetation up ahead. As they were all browsing, a wild bull came over to greet the Umani herd. He comfortably approached Quanza and Alamaya, and Mwashoti wasn’t too far away. As the bull was browsing with Quanza and Alamaya, he suddenly spotted the Keepers amongst the orphans and this gave him a fright. He suddenly flared his ears and began rumbling at the Keepers, the Keepers moved cautiously and tried to call Quanza and Alamaya back to the herd.
As they called out, the bull suddenly charged the Keepers who all dashed off into the thicker bushes. As they ran off, Murera went running to move Mwana away, but the two avid nannies Kiasa and Enkesha had already scuttled her away. Kapei and Amali sprinted off, overtaking everyone including their Keepers and they both disappeared into the bushes. Quanza, Alamaya and Mwashoti then followed suit. With everyone disappearing, the bull lost interest and went off on his way.
Once he had disappeared, the Keepers appeared from the bushes and called out to the herd who all showed up apart from Amali. Amali is still very nervous around bulls and as soon as she gets a fright, she charges off without looking back. After a couple of minutes of looking, the Keepers managed to find her deep within the bushes. She was happy to see the herd and they all made their way back to the Umani hills.
As the orphans were browsing in the fields of the Chyulu Hills, they spotted Jasiri with a couple of his wild friends. The Keepers were amazed to see him and realised that he had made some new friends which is perhaps why they hadn’t seen him for some time. Sonje and Lima Lima were so excited to see him that they hurriedly walked over to him and as they greeted him, Faraja suddenly appeared in the distance. The older orphans and Keepers were overjoyed to see them both, and many a rumble were shared. Kapei on the other hand was too busy browsing and filling his belly to pay attention to them.
After a couple of minutes Jasiri and Faraja went back to their friends and Sonje and Lima Lima made their way back to the Keepers, Murera, and Mwana.
This afternoon, as the orphans were headed down the hills Murera was a bit a bit annoyed with Mwashoti. Although they are normally very close, Mwashoti upset Murerea this afternoon when he refused to let Mwana approach her one nanny, Enkesha. As Enkesha was browsing, Mwana tried to come running over but as soon as she did, he would stand in front of her. Mwana grew restless and rumbled at Mwashoti causing Murera and all the nannies to come running over. Mwashoti spent all afternoon trying to earn Murera’s forgiveness, and eventually when it was time for the orphans to head home, was he finally forgiven.
This morning, Ngasha showed up limping on his right hind leg. As he arrived, he was escorted to the Keepers by Lima Lima and Sonje and the Keepers immediately got themselves ready to attend to him. The Keepers were surprised to see him limping, as he was perfectly fine the night before and they wondered what he may have done with his wild friends. The Keepers first thought that perhaps he had misbehaved with his wild friends as he has done with his Umani herds, constantly trying to climb on the other orphans’ back especially smaller orphans such as Amali. The Keepers constantly had to tell him off so he would stop disturbing his peers.
The Keepers managed to entice Ngasha over with some lucerne pellets, and as he was munching away, they quickly applied rub on his leg to ease the pain and help him. They couldn’t see any open or infected wounds, so the Keepers concluded that he properly just twisted it playing one of his games. Ngasha then wandered off back to Lima Lima and Sonje who were already browsing in the Kibwezi forest.
This afternoon, a wild bull showed up to join the Umani herd, but Ngasha was not happy with his arrival. As soon as the bull approached the other orphans, he moved away to browse on his own in one corner. The Keepers thought that he was probably scared that the bull would challenge him and with his bad leg he wouldn’t be able to defend himself.
When it was time for the orphans to head back to the stockades, the bull wandered off on his own.
With the orphans all being rescues, it is a routine procedure to give them deworming tablets as they were all separated from their mothers at different ages and therefore did not get all the vital nutrients from their mothers’ milk. As such, they can be susceptible to such parasites. All the orphans, including the older girls and nightclubbers, were to be dewormed the night before.
As the orphans arrived back at the stockade compound, the dependent orphans all went into their stockades and the nightclubbers settled in the corner to eat their evening the pellets, the Keepers were busy preparing the milk bottles which all including the deworming tablets. Once the bottles were ready, the Keepers called out to the orphans and the first to run over were Lima Lima and Mwashoti, who charged over rumbling in excitement. The rest were then given their bottles as they were drinking Mwashoti and Lima Lima kept trying to steal from the other, but the Keepers chased them off. Once all the orphans had finished their bottles, they settled for the evening.
Mwana was of course not dewormed because she is drinking her mother’s milk and getting the all-important nutrients she needs to grow into a strong healthy girl.
In the morning, Alamaya came over all excited to receive a morning bottle but much to his disappointment there was no bottle ready for him. He then grumpily walked to the Kibwezi Forest to browse. The orphans had a quiet, wonderful day browsing near each other, and Maktao and Kiombo enjoyed several wrestling matches throughout the day.
With the recent rains, the Chyulu Hills are once again full of life and all the animals have returned from their different migratory routes. With such lush green vegetation all around the Umani Reintegration Unit, the Keepers are not surprised that they have not seen Zongoloni, Ziwa, Jasiri, and Faraja for quite some time as they have plenty to eat and so many wild friends to interact with. Being older, they are also not so dependent on their former herd. Now that Murera has little Mwana, all the nannies are so focused on this little bundle of joy, along with the orphan babies Kapei and Amali.
Down at the mud bath, the orphans were not interested in having a mud bath as the water was still quite cold amongst all the longer grass and under the shades of the trees. Sonje immediately walked back into the forest as she had no interest in having a mud bath. After a couple of minutes, Quanza led the orphans to another smaller and warmer mud bath. Kiasa was the first to approach the side of the mud bath and she started splashing water on her back. Once she felt it was warm enough, Kiasa went straight into the mud bath, and Mwana was quick to follow, closely watched by Enkesha and Murera, who didn’t want to get in the water.
After a short mud bath, the orphans moved over the dust mound, and began rolling about. Amali had a quick roll around before moving away to where Kapei was browsing. She briefly greeted Kapei before heading over to her close friend Mwashoti and they headed off back into the forest. Slowly, the whole herd joined them for a peaceful afternoon of browsing.
The orphans were all in such a playful mood this morning as they were finishing their morning bottles and exiting their stockades. As soon as Mwana finished her morning feed, she came charging out with Murera closely behind her. As they were enjoying themselves around the stockade compound, the orphans were overwhelmed with excitement to see Jasiri appearing from the forest. He went straight over to Murera and Mwana to greet them.
This was the first time Jasiri was properly meeting little Mwana, and he walked around her smelling and checking her out. Once he had finished greeting her, he walked over to Murera and gave her a big trunk hug as if to congratulate her on her new-born baby girl.
As the orphans were making their way out to the forest, Ngasha came charging over and he was quickly warned away by Jasiri. Jasiri and Ngasha haven’t ever been the best of friends and will often give each a wide birth, and don’t interact a lot throughout the day. As Ngasha was keeping his distance, he was soon joined by Faraja who also decided to visit the Umani herd today. Faraja was overjoyed to see his friend Jasiri and he went running over to greet him.
The orphans had a wonderful day together, browsing on the Chyulu Hills. In the evening as the orphans made their way back to the stockade compound, the nightclubbers ventured off on more night-time adventures.
The orphans were led up the hills today by little Mwana, closely followed by her nannies. Sonje and Murera were following from behind, going at their own pace and slowly coming up the hill. Murera fully trusts the nannies to take care of her little girl and keep her company as she catches up. Mwana was happily walking with Kiasa, Enkesha,, Quanza and Lima Lima. When they got to the top, she could be seen rolling around in the middle of them, and as soon as Murera caught up she went running over to breastfeed.
As they were all busy browsing, the Keepers suddenly heard one of the older orphans yell out. They and Murera quickly went to have a look when they noticed Mwana, Kapei and Kiasa all playfully rolling around in the long grass. They were being closely watched by Enkesha and Quanza, who were making sure that Kapei played gently with little Mwana.
After a wonderful morning, browsing and playing, the orphans made their way down to the mud bath areas for their midday bottles of milk. Once they had finished their milk bottles, Sonje and Murera walked straight over to the muddy pool to cool off. They were soon joined by Quanza and Kiasa and the rest of the Umani herd. Mwana watched on the side for a few minutes before she joined her mum and all her nannies.
After a long wallow and dust bath, the orphans had a peaceful afternoon browsing in the forest.
This morning, all the night clubbers apart from Zongoloni and Ziwa showed up as the orphans were making their way out to the forest. Zongoloni has not been seen for several weeks now which is normal for the orphans when they graduate as they can be adopted by a wild herd and migrate through different eco-systems. The Keepers were confident that she was enjoying her new wild life with her wild friends. Ziwa on the other hand has been visiting the Umani herd from time to time and coming back to join the orphans with his wild friends. The Keepers are hopeful they will come back and visit soon, especially with little Mwana bringing so much excitement to the herd.
Out of the others, Faraja, Jasiri and Ngasha, Ngasha remained the closes to the Umani orphans. Although he used to follow his wild friends and night clubbers out to the forest, he also enjoyed staying close to the stockade compound. Although over the last couple of days, he has been pretty unhappy with Jasiri returning to visit the Umani dependent orphans. As soon as Jasiri shows up, Ngasha wanders off to do his own thing. Jasiri and Faraja spent most of their day with Murera, Mwana and the nannies, whereas Ngasha veered off with Mwashoti and the others.
As the Keepers were opening the orphans’ stockades this morning, Kiasa and Enkesha both came out in such a hurry that they almost knocked their heads together, and they both had to quickly catch themselves before they ran off to the lucerne feeding points. They were both rushing to where Mwana was already standing at her gate with Murera closely behind. Kiasa immediately began greeting little Mwana and giving her trunk hugs.
When Enkesha arrived at the stockade, Kiasa didn’t want to let her have any time with Mwana and this started to aggravate Enkesha, who started to push back at Kiasa. The two were getting so annoyed with each other that Quanza, Lima Lima and the Keepers had to come over and separate them.
Once Enkesha and Kiasa had been separated, Murera and the others went over to Sonje, who was still enjoying the morning lucerne pellets with Kapei Maktao and Kiombo. Maktao and Kiombo were both quite relaxed this morning and neither of them were trying to start up any wrestling matches.
Amali and Mwashoti remain very close friends, and he behaves very much like her older brother, constantly watching over her and keeping her company throughout the day. Today, he spent most of his day right by her side. As a result, this gave Lima Lima, who also watches over her, some time to go and hang out with the other nannies. Kiasa, Enkesha, Quanza, and Lima Lima had a busy day fighting over Mwana’s attention.
With all the rainfall, there are quite a few ticks reappearing within the forest, which is of course normal in the wild. As a result, the Keepers do have to treat the orphans every so often to keep the ticks off them. With the new addition of little Mwana, the Keepers are trying different treatments that aren’t as strong as what the bigger orphans get with their tougher skin. Today, the Keepers tried coconut oil on Mwana, which made her feel very itchy. As Murera was walking around the forest with her, she could be seen charging around and scratching on tree trunks and rolling in the dirt. She eventually settled when she charged straight into the mud bath, during the orphans’ midday bottles of milk.
Kiasa and Enkesha, whom have both always love their mud baths, quickly entered the muddy water and began to roll about. Murera, Amali, and Mwashoti were next to join on the fun, splashing muddy water around and covering their bodies. Lima Lima, Sonje and Quanza all joined in too, but they stayed closer to the edge watching over everyone having a wonderful time. Maktao and Kiombo had to find their own little corner to roll around in as Sonje was being protective and keeping them away from little Mwana.
After a couple of minutes, Ngasha decided to join the Umani orphans, but he didn’t stay very long as he quickly started to cause trouble. Not knowing his own size, Ngasha immediately tried to play climb on Amali but she is too small to play with him and quickly began to yell out under his weight. The Keepers and Mwashoti when running over to check on Amali and usher Ngasha away. However, it was as though the large boy knew he was being naughty, because he didn’t listen to the Keepers at first. Ngasha was also ushered to the naughty corner with Kiombo and Maktao.
This morning Jasiri and Ngasha were in a particularly bad mood towards each other and kept fighting, despite the Keepers’ and the older orphans’ attempts to separate them. The Keepers didn’t know what may have caused this extended fight, but it seemed as though they needed to be left to it, because every time Lima Lima tried to walk over to separate them, Faraja would stop her. Faraja didn’t intervene once; he just stood by, watching Jasiri and Ngasha figure it out.
Eventually, after a very long time, Ngasha let up and ran off into the forest, leaving Jasiri victorious and alone. It is an important part of growing up for the bulls to challenge each other like this. However, these two have a particular grudge against each other, and neither wants to back down, so we wonder how their feud will resolve itself.
As the Keepers were getting the orphans’ midday bottles ready, this big wild bull with one long tusk and one broken one appeared from the forests. As he was a newcomer, he was not happy at all about seeing the Keepers and stood watching them with his ears flared. The Keepers tried to chase him away so the orphans could run down for their bottles, but as they did so, they saw Ngasha and Alamaya behind him. Once the Keepers saw the two boys, they calmed down and all the orphans ran down for their milk bottles.
Once the orphans had finished their bottles of milk, Sonje led them to a bigger waterhole and the wild friend decided to stay behind and he eventually went off on his way.
This morning all the orphans came out of their stockades looking for their morning lucerne pellets. Kiasa was first to arrive, and when she realised that the Keepers hadn’t brought them out, she began to flap her ears and rumble in protest. The Keepers were busy getting things ready, and within a couple of minutes one of them was on their way with the pellets. As soon as the pellets hit the ground, Murera and all the orphans started digging in — even Mwana was trying to pick some up, but as she is still learning how to use her trunk, this was quite the effort.
Whilst the Umani herd were moving through the forest, there were some disagreements between Enkesha and Quanza and Sonje and Lima Lima as to which direction they should go. The Keepers weren’t happy with the direction Enkesha and Quanza were heading in, so they too ushered the orphans towards Sonje and Lima Lima, who led the orphans to Kenzili along the Umani Springs. As the orphans were walking, they once again came across the big wild bull with one broken tusk and one long one. The bull was on edge with the Keepers, and as he saw them near Sonje, he mocked charged them. Lima Lima, who is always so protective of the Keepers, was very quick to step in front of the bull and stop him from getting close to them, leading him away from the herd.
As the orphans were starting their day, Sonje walked around, greeting all the orphans as their gates were being opened and checking that everyone was okay. All the orphans were happy to see her, and they were all greeting each other with warm rumbles, including little Mwana. Once all the orphans were up and about, Enkesha and Kiasa led the Umani herd back to the Kenzili area, where they spotted Jasiri browsing on all the fresh grass and vegetation. The were lots of warm rumbles as they all greeted each other.
Murera and Quanza led the herd down to the mud bath area when it was time for the orphans to have their midday bottles of milk. As soon as the orphans finished their bottles, Mwashoti, Alamaya, and Lima Lima were the first to walk straight into the muddy water to roll around and cool off. Eventually the whole herd and Jasiri joined them as it was quite a hot day, and they were all cooling off. Mwana too was joining in and rolling about in the middle of the herd closely watched by Murera and ever doting nannies.
As the orphans were enjoying themselves around the mud and dust bath, Faraja and Ngasha appeared but neither of the bulls were feeling social as they disappeared as fast as they showed up. The two bulls didn’t even greet each other and were avoiding one another, perhaps because of the argument between Ngasha and Jasiri the other day. If Faraja would try to approach Ngasha, Ngasha would challenge him to a wrestling match and Faraja had no interest in this. They eventually both settled and browsed with the Umani herd.
The Umani stockades are once again being visited by lots of wild herds. This morning, as the orphans were enjoying their morning lucerne pellets, Ngasha was the first to arrive from the forest. He was soon followed by a large wild herd with young calves. When Sonje arrived, she was disappointed to see Ngasha and the wild herd feasting away on the pellets. Sonje tried to approach the pellet area but she and Ngasha were quickly warned away by the matriarch of the herd. Ngasha and Sonje immediately stepped back and left the herd to enjoy the pellets.
After a couple of minutes, Alamaya, Lima Lima, and Mwashoti showed up and they were also surprised to see the wild herd feasting away. Mwashoti was the only one brave enough to approach the herd, and he slowly walked up to the lucerne feeding point and the matriarch immediately stood in front of him. However, as Mwashoti is such a gentle and friendly bull, he managed to sway her, and she eventually let all the orphans join them.
As the wild herd was heading away, one of their calves yelled out, which caused the whole herd to turn around. Fortunately, none of the orphans were near the calf but the matriarch still chased Mwashoti and Ngasha away, as they were standing the closest. Once the herd left, the Umani herd had a wonderful day browsing in the forest.
Amali and Mwashoti continue to have the sweetest friendship. Mwashoti loves her so much and is continuously watching over her. The Keepers are always overjoyed to see how happy Amali is when she is spending time with him. Today, Mwashoti was being so caring that he was picking up delicious twigs and sharing them with her. Kiombo on the other hand was just picking up old twigs and throwing them about as a game.
As the herd was wandering through the Chyulu area, Murera was following them from the back, sticking to her own pace. Mwana was charging at the front with her nannies, Kiasa, Quanza, Lima Lima, and Enkesha. Murera is happy to be able to walk at her own space, whilst her little girl is kept safe by her nannies and the Keepers.
As the orphans were settling to browse, Kiombo and Maktao started a wrestling match and were chasing each other around the bushes, rumbling and trumpeting in excitement. Alamaya, who stood near them, was quick to move away, so he didn’t get caught up in their game. It is amazing to see how close these two bulls have stayed, even since their graduation from the Nursery.
Lima Lima, however, always seems to be a bit concerned when the bulls start to play fight as she worries that their games may get a little rough. As soon as she saw Kiombo and Maktao playing, she walked over to Sonje with great concern, and then the two walked over to watch over the boys. Eventually, they both stood between the boys, effectively putting an end to their game. Kiombo and Maktao grew bored and walked off to where Jasiri and Faraja were browsing.
This morning all the night clubbers, apart from Zongoloni and Ziwa, were waiting outside the stockade gates for the Keepers and all the other orphans. Jasiri, Faraja, Alamaya, Mwashoti, Sonje, Lima Lima, and Quanza were all eagerly waiting for the others and their morning pellets. They all warmly greeted, Kiombo, Maktao, Kiasa, Enkesha, Kapei, Amali, Murera and Mwana when they walked out one by one. They all had a wonderful morning together.
As the orphans and Keepers were walking down the Kenzili road, they came across lots of wild herds around with young calves, some even younger than Mwana. As soon as the wild herd saw the Keepers and the orphans, they ushered their calves towards the forest and then disappeared within the bushes. Mwana was very enchanted by all the other babies and even tried to follow the herds wandering off. Kiasa immediately spotted Mwana and ran after her stopping her from wandering off. Kiasa then rumbled and all the other nannies came over, Enkesha, Kiasa and Quanza then all ushered Mwana back to Murera.
This morning, Sonje wasn’t at the stockade compound when the orphans were waking up. As the Keepers were enjoying their morning antics, they heard some rustling in the bushes and wondered if it could be Sonje coming. They went to have a look but quickly realised it was three large wild bulls making their way to the stockade. As soon as the bulls saw the Keepers, they flared their ears and looked as though they were about to charge. Before they could charge, Lima Lima quickly stepped in, blocking their path. The bulls realised that there was nothing to worry about and turned around and headed away through the forest.
At the midday mud bath, the three bulls reappeared, but Lima Lima managed to distract them from spotting the Keepers and walked with them to the mud bath. At the mud bath, she was trying to walk away from the bulls but also discourage them from following her back to the Umani herd. The bulls eventually had had enough and once again walked off.
In the afternoon, the orphans made their way back to the mud bath as it was such a hot day. Quanza, Kiombo and Maktao led the babies into the muddy pool. Quanza was happily throwing muddy water over her body, whereas Kiombo and Maktao were happily rolling around. Murera then joined them, and they all had a wonderful time splashing and rolling around before heading home for the evening.
The night clubbers were late this morning, and by the time Ngasha, Sonje, and Quanza arrived, the orphans were all making their way to the forest. Sonje walked over to Kiombo and they started to walk together. Quanza rushed past Kiombo, Maktao, and Sonje, heading straight to Murera to greet her. As they were walking along, Lima Lima, Jasiri, and Faraja all showed up. Ngasha was not impressed to see Jasiri and Faraja, as he hadn’t seen Jasiri since their big fight.
As soon as Jasiri saw Ngasha, he walked over to Faraja and the two seemed to gang up against Ngasha, who was keeping his distance. They suddenly both charged at him and chased him away. Ngasha quickly ran off. The Keepers were not happy to see him being chased and they tried to step in and stop Jasiri and Faraja. The herd, including Murera and Lima Lima, were not eager to intervene as this was something the bulls would need to sort out amongst themselves.
As the orphans were enjoying their midday mud bath, Kiombo and Maktao ended up in a tussle over the corner of the pool that they wanted. This wasn’t one of their usual disagreements, as they were both getting genuinely annoyed with each other. Kiombo started back-kicking Maktao, who then grew more incensed. Lima Lima and Enkesha tried to step in and stop them, but neither of the boys would back down. The Keepers eventually called all the orphans out of the mud bath, which put an end to the boys’ fight.
Sonje, Quanza, and Lima Lima led Amali and the boys to the dust bath, and Murera, Enkesha, Kiasa and Mwana all followed from behind. As the Umani herd arrived at the dust bath, they suddenly spotted four buffalo napping on the other side of the dust mound. Mwashoti and Alamaya stepped forward and challenged the buffalo, rumbling and flapping their ears at them. The buffalo stood up in a hurry and wandered back into the forest. Once the buffalo had cleared the area, Mwashoti and Alamaya trumpeted out of pride and excitement, and the orphans enjoyed a fun dust bath.
Whilst the orphans were all relaxing around the mud bath after their midday bottles of milk, they were joined by numerous wild herds that kept appearing from all directions of the forest. Some of the arrivals were with Jasiri, Faraja, and Alamaya, then Quanza arrived with several wild bulls, and finally, a big wild herd of females and their calves showed up. The herd had a tiny baby, smaller and younger than Mwana, so they were being protective of the little one.
Mwana once again was eager to play with this new little arrival, who the Keepers saw was a little boy, but as soon as she approached him, his mother stepped forward, blocking Mwana. Mwana got a fright and let out a little rumble, which caused all her nannies to come running over and check on her. Once she saw Quanza and the others, she ran over to them and then they all escorted her back to Murera.
The orphans and the wild visitors enjoyed a wonderful time around the mud and dust bath, with different groups wallowing in the muddy pool, others browsing and some dust bathing. The peace and quiet was abruptly ended but a huge bull that arrive with a female who he was trying to woo. As soon as the bull spotted the other wild bulls, Jasiri and Ngasha, trying to approach ‘his’ female, he grew very angry and started charging at all of them. Jasiri and Ngasha were quick to dash off and hide and everyone gave this bull and female a wide birth as they moved through the mud bath area.
This morning, the orphans headed out along the Kenzili oad, led by none other that little Mwana. As the orphans made their way down the road, Kiasa, Enkesha, Quanza and some of the others kept rolling around on the dust mounds on the side of the road. Every time they did so Mwana would copy them. At some point, however, Kiombo and Kapei thought it would be fun to block Mwana from joining her nannies. This aggravated the nannies a lot and the boys were quickly chased away, leaving Mwana to have fun.
Once again, the orphans came across a large wild herd with lots of wild babies. Amongst this herd, the Keepers were amazed to spot Zongoloni walking amongst them. They quickly called out her name and she immediately responded with a rumble and turned to face them, but as she was amongst the herd, the Keepers didn’t approach her too quickly. She eventually came over and warmly greeted the Keepers and her orphan friends, before running off to catch up with the wild herd. The Keepers were happy to see her part of a new, big, wild family.
As soon as they woke up, Maktao and Kiombo immediately started wrestling each other. They were pushing each other around as they ran out to eat their morning pellets. They then settled to eat the lucerne, and as they were munching away Sonje appeared. Kiombo, who loves Sonje, went running over to greet her and welcome her back. As he did so, Maktao saw it as his opportunity to playfully charge at his friend. Kiombo was quick to react, and he skilfully turned to challenge Maktao and their games commenced once again. Enkesha first tried to intervene, but she failed, and then Quanza and Mwashoti came over and they managed to calm the boys down, especially as Mwashoti is so much bigger than them. The orphans then happily made their way up the hills.
The orphans had a wonderful mud bath this afternoon before they all enjoyed a long dust bath. Dust baths are important for the orphans, as the dust protects them from bugs, flies and the sun and also helps them not itch from the muddy water and little Mwana is learning all of this from her herd.
The orphans were once again surrounded by several wild herds. Kapei can sometimes be on edge with all the wild elephants around, especially when the matriarchs are protective and start to rumble and be defensive. The Keepers must keep a close eye on him, to make sure he doesn’t run off and hide. Luckily, he is a lot more relaxed within the herd now and will generally just hide amongst the boys. Mwana, on the other hand, is very curious and wants to make friends with all the babies and follow them around. This morning, she even approached one of the wild bulls, smelling him with her tiny trunk and trying to figure out who he was. The bull quickly lost interest and walked off, so Lima Lima walked straight over and comforted Mwana, who was very confused. Murera then rumbled and her little girl came running over.
It was such a hot afternoon that Mwashoti and Alamaya were constantly hiding in the shade of the trees. When the herd was moving around, they looked so uncomfortable walking in the direct sunlight. As the orphans were walking along the pipeline route, Alamaya and Mwashoti kept stopping at all the little drinking spots for a swig of water and to splash some over their bodies. Eventually, Quanza, Enkesha, and Kiombo all followed their lead as they too wanted to call down. Later, the orphans all made a bee line for the mud bath, where there was already a wild bull wallowing. All but Murera and Mwana went in the water as Murera waited for the bull to leave before going in with her little girl.
The weather took a drastic turn over night, and it was very cold in the morning as the orphans were starting their day. Even though it was cold, Murera was eager to get going. When they were all let out of their stockades, they made their way over to the lucerne feeding place, where Jasiri and Faraja were waiting with Quanza and Lima Lima. Ngasha showed up a little bit later, but once again Jasiri was being hostile towards him, which then led to Ngasha charging at Jasiri. The three, Jasiri, Faraja, and Ngasha, once again had a fight, but this time the Keepers stepped in to separate the bulls. All the bulls knew they were in trouble and walked away with their heads down.
In the afternoon, the orphans pulled a little disappearing act, and Murera, Mwana, Quanza, Enkesha, Kiasa and Lima Lima all disappeared. The Keepers quickly spotted them walking up the hills. As they were sticking to Murera’s pace, the Keepers were able to catch up and they enjoyed a wonderful afternoon on the hills.
Enkesha was having a lot of fun with a stick today, picking it up and throwing it stick around and then chewing it for a bit before throwing it around again. Mwana was watching her every move, eagerly waiting for Enkesha to pass her the stick. After a couple of minutes, Enkesha dropped the stick for Mwana to play with. The little girl is still learning to use her trunk, so she struggled to pick up the stick, as it was to long and difficult to balance with her little trunk. As she grows older, she will learn to use her trunk and pick up bigger and heavier objects.
Sonje arrived with one of her wild bull friends today, and they both headed to where Lima Lima was standing with Mwana and Kiasa. Murera let them spend some time with her little girl before calling her back so she could breastfeed and spend time with her.
Amazingly, Ziwa and his wild friends came to visit during the orphans’ midday milk feeds. This was very early in the day for Ziwa to show up, as the last couple of times he’s appeared have been when the orphans are heading home for the evening. The orphans were all so happy to see him and rumbled and trumpeted in excitement. Ngasha, who continues to have a chip on his shoulders about being the dominant bull, tried to charge Ziwa, but Ziwa stood his ground and pushed Ngasha away. Ngasha was surprised to see how strong Ziwa was and he quickly ran off. Ziwa then left with his wild friends.
As the orphans were all enjoying their mud bath after their midday bottles of milk, Mwana was rolling around trying to copy all the bigger boys and girls around her. As she was having fun, Kapei was also splashing about and having a good time. But then, he accidently stepped on Mwana’s foot. The little girl yelled out, and the whole herd stood up to assist the little girl. Kapei quickly hid, as he did not want to get into trouble. However, everyone seemed to understand that it was an accident and no one got angry with him.
Sonje then led the herd to the Chyulu Hills so they could have a wonderful afternoon of browsing. As the orphans were making their way up the hill, they were being watched closely by a troop of vervet monkeys. Some of the monkeys were yelling at the orphans. In response, Kiasa and Lima Lima started trumpeting and rumbling back at the monkeys and stood guard as the rest of the herd walked away from where the monkeys were stood. The monkeys then started jumping from tree to tree, following the herd. This caused all the orphans, including little Mwana, to charge at them before running away.
As the orphans ran off, Amali and Kapei were right at the front, running away from whatever was scaring the herd. These two were certainly the best at running off and were always able to disappear quickly but as they were amongst the herd they didn’t disappear today. Mwana was sweetly running amongst her Keepers who were following the herd, and once the herd was clear of the monkeys they settled to browse.
All the night clubbers showed up this morning, including Zongoloni and Ziwa, but Zongoloni didn’t stay very long. As all the orphans were greeting each other, Mwashoti and Alamaya came over to greet Zongoloni but they were both ignored by her as she continued to focus on Murera and some of the other girls. The boys were very unimpressed by her refusal to greet them, and they walked off in a huff. Alamaya went off on his own to browse and Mwashoti went and stood near Murera and Amali. Once Zongoloni had finished greeting the herd, she disappeared back into the forest.
It was a bit cooler this afternoon and most of the Umani herd were uninterested in mud bathing, apart from Kapei and Amali. Although their mud bath was not as long as it normally is as they soon realised it was too cold to wallow for a long time. As they were exiting the water, Ngasha was really pushing his luck with Jasiri trying to probe him and he really crossed the line when he pulled Jasiri’s tail. Suddenly, another fight broke out between the two and Ngasha was asking for it none of the orphans dared intervene as they knew he needed to be told off. Jasiri chased Ngasha until he disappeared into the forest.
The orphans were once again joined by wild herds as they browsed along the Chyulu Hills. Lima Lima and Sonje were leading the herd today, with Quanza and Mwashoti happily following right behind, and then the rest of the herd was following. As the orphans were browsing, the Keepers and nannies were playing with little Mwana, giving Murera some time to rest and get her fill of greens. Mwana ran over to Sonje and Lima Lima and tried to go under their bellies to suckle, but of course the two girls let out a little rumble, as they don’t have any milk. Mwana quickly realised her error and ran to her mother, who was happy to have her suckle as she ate her greens.
As the orphans were down at the mud bath this afternoon, they were joined by a herd of buffalo that came to drink from the water trough. Amali and Kapei got such a fright when they saw the buffalo that they ran to Sonje and Mwashoti, rumbling and trumpeting as if they were complaining to them. Sonje and Mwashoti then took it upon themselves to chase the buffalo away. As soon as they approached, the buffalo stopped drinking and challenged them for a bit, but then as more and more of the herd showed up, the buffalo backed down and left. Amali and Kapei were so happy once the buffalo had left that they all settled down again.
None of the night clubbers turned up in the early hours of this morning. As Murera and Enkesha were making their way towards the forest, Alamaya and Lima Lima showed up from the other side and a couple of minutes later Sonje appeared. Later in the morning, Quanza arrived, but when she didn’t see all the orphans around, she yelled out with a massive trumpet and all the orphans stopped what they were doing to have a look around. She was clearly looking for little Mwana and Murera. As soon as she spotted them, she calmed down. Whilst they were walking off, Ngasha joined them.
In the afternoon, as the orphans were walking along the Umani hills they came across a herd of sleeping buffalo. The buffalo were uninterested in moving out of the orphans’ way. Some of the big bulls were standing their ground and protecting the herd. However, when Sonje and Ngasha trumpeted and challenged the buffalo, they also seemed to back down and eventually got up and walked off. With such a long stand-off between the buffalo and orphans, Kapei and Amali were frightened and ran off to hide. They hid right behind where all the Keepers were standing, as they knew it would be safe there, and just near them was Murera protecting little Mwana. Once they buffalo disappeared, the orphans settled to browse.