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The ex-orphans arrived early to join the dependent orphans feeding on lucerne. Kauro got into trouble with Kama when he tried to reach for some lucerne that she had stepped on. Surprisingly, Kauro, who is older than Kama, didn’t even try to defend himself and just ran away when she charged at him. Dust rose in the air as Kauro increased his speed to make sure that she didn’t get him Kama is tough, just like her mother, Kinna. 

Karisa led the way out to browse and Sapalan and Mapia settled for a soil dusting session when they got there, before going back to browsing a while later. Jotto spotted a dik dik ahead of him and decided to chase it out of the way. He was joined in the chase by Mundusi, Musiara, Sattao, Ambo and Malima. The dik dik disappeared as soon as it saw the elephants running towards it! The orphans took several rounds trying to locate the dik dik but they didn't succeed, and they abandoned the mission of chasing the small antelope to resume browsing. 

At mud bath time, Sana Sana led the way followed by Malkia, Ndiwa and Mteto. The temperature was moderate, so the orphans only had their milk bottles and some water, and then skipped the wallowing exercise entirely. Esampu led the herd away from the mud bath to continue browsing. A bit later, Jotto took a break from feeding to play with Pare. After losing the game to Pare, Jotto decided to climb on Malima just to vent his anger after losing his game. Mapia, Karisa, Rapa and Galla parted ways with the rest of the group and walked off deep into the bush on their own but reported back to the stockades later and rejoined their friends. 

The ex-orphans joined the dependent orphans early in the morning for lucerne. Shortly thereafter, the groups parted ways. The dependent orphans headed east while the ex-orphans headed south. Out in the bush, Ambo stood under a small tree while Mapia leaned against another, perhaps wondering when will this drought will come to an end. At the moment, they have to walk very far each day in search of nice food. Malkia teamed up with Sana Sana, while Malima took a break from feeding to scratch her hind against a rock. 

The orphans browsed calmly as they made their way to the mud bath for noon. It was very hot indeed and the orphans headed straight for wallowing soon after having their milk. Ex orphans Tomboi and Challa joined them, and they all had fun together in water. Sana Sana spotted some baboons drinking at the water trough and decided to chase them to clear the way for her friends to come and drink. 

After the orphans had enough wallowing, Esampu led everyone to continue browse. Shortly after the dependent orphans left, we were delighted to see Nasalot arrive with a brand new baby! She arrived with her older son, Nusu, as well as Chaimu, Namalok, Olare, Melia, Lenana and three wild elephants. The group was running and clearly very thirsty, as they immediately settled for a drink. After having enough water, Nasalot took her two sons to cool off in the mud bath. The group was last seen in April this year, when Nasalot only had Nusu, and now she has returned with a second little boy! Now she joins the club of mothers at Ithumba with more than one baby – Yatta, Mulika, Kinna, and Wendi all of whom have two babies now. Yatta will have a third one soon, and even her eldest daughter, Yetu, is pregnant! Later, Nasalot took her herd to the stockades where they were provided with some lucerne after what was evidently a long journey. In the evening, Kuishi, Mapia and Rapa dodged the Keepers as the orphans were returning home, but arrived shortly before seven in the evening. 

The ex-orphans, as usual, joined the orphans for lucerne in the morning. Kamok, who isn’t always friendly towards little ones — especially when food is involved — pushed Kaia away when the baby passed by, following her mother. We wonder what kind of mother Kamok might be! The orphans later separated with the ex-orphan's once they finished the lucerne. Sana Sana hung out with the ex-orphans, taking for granted that her friends were still around, too. Once she realised that her friends had left the compound long ago, her trumpeting filled the air, as well as dust, as Sana Sana ran as fast as her legs could carry her to catch up with them. 

Pare and Mundusi decided to have a strength testing exercise that was disrupted by Kauro. Kauro emerged from nowhere and decided to climb on Mundusi. Mundusi wasn't happy about it and as soon as Kauro got down, Mundusi and Pare walked far away from the scene. The two boys met with Orwa and they had a good time together. Shortly before mud bath time, Kauro, the ‘stick carrier’ dodged the others and went to the mud bath early to wait for the milk bottles, with his trademark stick in his trunk. 21 wild bulls showed up to the mud bath. Notable among them was Dad, who was accompanied by several friends. 

In the afternoon, Rapa, Galla and Kamok left to team up with Barsilinga’s group. On their way back into the stockades in the evening, Musiara, Nabulu and Malima made a brief stop to say hi to Wema. Dololo walked behind them and didn't tolerate Wema standing in the way, and so pushed her aside to pave way for him to pass. Kamok, Rapa and Galla didn't return to the stockades this evening. It appears that Kamok is in the process of forming her own group! Only time will tell how long it will take for her to become fully independent.

Rapa, Galla and Kamok spent the night out and showed up in the morning with Mutara, Suguta, Sities, Kanjoro, Garzi, Namalok and Turkwel. After feeding on lucerne, Maramoja led the way out to browse. 

Maramoja settled to browse with Malkia, while Mundusi and Kauro engaged in a warmup exercise. Ambo played with Dololo while Jotto played with Sattao. Kuishi came across a nice rock that she used to scratch her bottom on. Shortly before mud bath time, Sana Sana spotted two jackals minding their own business, but she signaled their presence to her friends. Mapia, Karisa, Malima and Nabulu responded and started charging and trumpeting at the small jackals. The trumpeting alone scared the jackals away, and by the time the orphans got to the spot where they had been, the jackals had already disappeared. 

At mud bath time the orphans had their milk bottles then headed straight to wallow. Twenty wild bulls attended the mud bath. Later, Yatta and her herd passed by the mud bath as they headed towards the stockades. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse in the Kanziku area. It was a quiet afternoon. In the evening, all the orphans returned to the stockades safely for the night. 

It was a quiet morning, as the ex-orphans didn't show up. The orphans enjoyed feeding on the lucerne without any competition! As soon as they finished, Sana Sana rumbled, signaling the orphans that it was time to leave for browsing before it got too hot. Malkia, Mteto and Esampu responded and trailed behind Sana Sana. The rest of the herd followed too.

Out in the bush, Ndiwa settled to feed with Jotto and Malima. Karisa teamed up with Sattao and Enkikwe, but Karisa and Sattao left when Enkikwe started harassing them. Barsilinga, Roi, Kamok, Galla, Naseku Olsekki, Siangiki, Oltaiyoni and Tusuja parted ways with their friends and walked off into the bush. Musiara and Sapalan came across a nice tree that they shared to scratch the side of their bellies on. 

Pare and Jotto had a competition about who could run the fastest to have their milk bottle at noon. Pare won the competition. It was hot and the sun was beating down, so all the orphans decided to swim in the mud bath. 22 wild bulls were there, too. Later, Naserian, baby Njema, Ithumbah, Makena, Wendi, Wema, Wiva, Sunyei, and baby Siku showed up at the mud bath. They relaxed under a tree before finally walking away towards the stockades. Buchuma and some friends also visited the stockades during the day to have water.

In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse in the Kanziku area before returning to the stockades in the evening — except for Kamok, Galla and Siangiki, who failed to turn up. Kamok and Galla are avoiding the stockades these days and often just choose to turn up in the morning. They are slowly finding their feet and becoming more independent! This is a sign that when it rains, only few of the Class Five members might choose to come back to the stockades at all. We are sure that if the conditions were more favourable, they might have chosen to leave already. 

It was a very cool morning today. The orphans enjoyed their normal routine, and the only other elephants present were ex-orphans Kibo and Chaimu. 

Out in the bush, Jotto took a break from browsing to scratch his head on a rock. As it is still quite dry, the orphans mostly concentrated on browsing, without messing around. Esampu stretched her trunk high into the trees to reach some food. Later, Mapia and Jotto couldn’t resist taking a break to start a pushing game with one another. Karisa also took a break to roll around in the dust. Chaimu and Kibo accompanied the babies all morning. It was quite cloudy and the sun wasn’t so harsh today, which meant the orphans could browse in comfort. 

It stayed cloudy into the afternoon, so the orphans didn’t feel like wallowing after their noon milk feed. Malima found a small puddle and she started playing in it, splashing water on her body for fun and to cool down a little. The orphans then walked back home to the stockades for the night. Barsilinga's herd arrived yesterday, but without Siangiki and Oltaiyoni, who stayed out for the night. In the afternoon, we received another 54mm of rain, which was wonderful.

It was very muddy this morning, after last night’s rain! The dependent babies looked a little cold and didn’t want to stick around feeding on lucerne; they wanted to get moving to warm up. Sana Sana was clever and carried some lucerne on her head, as if she was saving it for later. 

Out in the bush, the orphans looked very busy browsing. Eventually, Dololo and Jotto needed a break and started playing together. Mundusi and Kauro enjoyed a play fight as well. Kauro was climbing on Mundusi, and then went and did the same to Malima. Sana Sana, Malkia and Karisa were busy playing and rolling around in the mud created by last night’s rain. Kamok doing the same on the other side of the herd. Jotto walked over to keep Ndiwa company, but soon they started their own little wrestling match. The orphans must have gotten restless before their noon milk feed and didn’t want to browse anymore, so instead they played games while they waited for their milk bottles. 

It started drizzling as the orphans made their way to the mud bath for their noon milk feed. Understandably, none of them wanted to wallow today – they just went straight back to the bush to continue browsing. It then started raining heavily, making it hard to even take any pictures of the orphans! Later, the dependent herd walked home for the evening. We didn’t see any ex-orphans or wild elephants again today. We were very happy with the 5mm of rain we received.