Choose your region

This morning the stockade compound looked deserted. Not a single wild elephant showed up, or any ex-orphans. Only Melia, little Milo and Tusuja arrived later to join the orphans for lucerne. Melia came because her baby is so little still and she can’t quite keep up with the rest of the herd as they venture far to find enough vegetation to eat. Elephants are good at reading signs and weather and they knew that it had rained elsewhere in the Park the previous day, so the ex-orphans and other wild elephants had perhaps ventured to those areas it had rained. If they don’t come back for a while, then we will know that those areas have received good rain! And so, the dependent orphans settled for lucerne without any competition today. Malkia interacted with Milo for a while before Ndiwa led the way out for the day.

The weather was funny today. It was cloudy and drizzled a little bit. The orphans enjoyed each moment as this was just the right temperature that they have been longing for for many days. Kamok, Malkia, Kuishi, Mapia, Pare, Jotto and Dololo had so much fun playing in the cool moist soil.

It was still cool when the orphans made their way to the mud bath for their midday feed, and none of the orphans dared to touch the mud bathing water after having their bottles. It was slippery at the mud bath edge too due to the drizzle. Poor Sapalan, unaware, walked too close to the edge and got the surprise of his life when he slipped and fell in the water! Esampu, Sattao, Musiara and Dololo all crowded around and we couldn’t help but think they were laughing at their poor friend. Sapalan looked embarrassed as he composed himself and got back to his feet. He could only hope that not too many of his friends had seen what happened. At the water trough, Nabulu slipped and nearly fell into the big mud bath too! She turned slowly and left to avoid a repeat of what had happened to Sapalan.

In the afternoon the clouds cleared giving way to sunshine. Musiara, Malkia and Maramoja teamed up together to browse while Sattao joined Malima. Later in the evening on the way back to the stockades, the weather changed yet again. Clouds gathered and it started drizzling, followed by a heavy downpour of about 55mm. We couldn’t be more delighted to receive this first rain shower. November has clearly got off to a good start for Ithumba.

Melia, Milo, Olare and Tusuja were the only guests this morning for the lucerne feeding time, which suggests that other areas have indeed received ample rain and the majority of the ex-orphans as well as the wild elephants who were around the Ithumba area have gone to explore those parts. The orphans were clearly happy this morning, expressed by the swinging of their trunks as they nonchalantly walked out of their night stockades. The orphans enjoyed the cool weather and wished for the rains to continue. Maramoja immediately joined Melia to help take care of Milo. The dependent orphans didn't stay for long as Mteto led the way out to browse.

The boys Mukkoka, Sattao, Dololo, Musiara and Pare, took sometime off from feeding to play and roll on the cool soil, still damp from the rain. The boys were later joined by Kuishi, Esampu and Ndiwa. Maramoja lagged behind with Milo and Melia but later joined her friends out in the bush.

Later the orphans came across a muddy puddle. Kamok, Nabulu, Ambo, Sapalan, Jotto, Mapia and Enkikwe all decided to have fun rolling in it. When the orphans went to the mud bath, they only had their milk then some water before going back to browsing, as they had had all their mud bathing fun earlier in the morning. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans concentrated mostly on browsing. Kauro and Jotto had a light strength testing exercise that lasted for just a few minutes.

In the evening, Nabulu led the way back to the stockades. Melia showed up again in the evening. She has developed a swelling in between her back legs and we’re wondering if it’s to do with her recent birth, because Milo was a very big baby compared to other babies born to first time mothers! We will continue to monitor her.

Oltaiyoni, Olsekki, Roi, Siangiki, Naseku, Kasigau and a wild elephant were at the stockade compound early in the morning. Melia, her baby Milo and Olare were missing. It appears that Milo has gained enough strength to walk further afield now.

Meanwhile, it seems the dependent orphans were slightly moody this morning! Dololo bumped into Naboishu, Musiara pushed Ambo for no apparent reason, Mundusi pushed Mapia while Jotto had a disagreement with Pare. The dependent orphans settled to share lucerne with the ex-orphans present. Karisa, who doesn't bother about any milk feeds these days, walked away from the orphans and headed east on his own, as the rest of the dependent orphans headed south.

Malkia teamed up with Naboishu to browse while Kauro decided to climb on Mteto’s back in a show of dominance. Sapalan engaged Pare in a pushing game while Ambo, Musiara, Dololo, Esampu and Ndiwa decided to have fun rolling on the ground.

Later, the orphans walked to the mud bath and after finishing their midday milk feed, decided to walk straight back out to the bush to browse. The afternoon was a quiet one as the orphans concentrated mostly on browsing. Sapalan and Pare broke the peace later as they engaged in a strength testing exercise that lasted for quite some time. In the evening, Nabulu, as usual, led the way back to the stockades.

It was a quiet morning and the orphans settled for lucerne soon after coming out of their night stockades. Kithaka limped from his stockade and joined the dependent orphans. A lone wild bull passed by heading east. The bull made a stop at the water troughs but didn't take any water. The orphans, with their trunks up, tried to find out the identity of the wild bull. Sattao, Mundusi and Kuishi volunteered to walk down to introduce themselves and interact with the wild bull, but he left even before the orphans could get close to him. When they were done, Naboishu led the way out to the bush followed by Ndiwa and Sana Sana. The orphans settled to browse in the Kone area.

Malima had a strength testing exercise with Sattao that ended in a draw. Yatta, Yoyo, Yogi, Naserian, Njema, Nasalot, Noah, Sunyei, Siku, Saba, Galana, Gawa, Lenana, Lapa and a wild elephant joined the orphans briefly before heading to the stockade compound. Yatta, Gawa, Yogi, Yoyo, Naserian, and Njema have been away for so long. As a result, Naserian and Njema have lost a bit of weight due to the drought. Hopefully they will stick around to regain the lost weight by feeding on our lucerne.

At mud bath time, the orphans had their milk then headed out to find some small puddles for a bush mud bath. After, Jotto led Esampu, Malkia, Pare, Enkikwe, Kamok and Ambo in a soil bathing exercise. The orphans settled to browse in the Kanziku area for the afternoon. Kamok, Enkikwe, Kauro and Sapalan dodged the Keepers and returned early to the Ithumba compound. When the other orphans came back later, they went into the stockades together but Kauro managed to open the gate, letting everyone out again! The Keepers coaxed them all back inside, but Kamok refused to go back inside and decided to spend the night out.

It was another cold morning. The orphans left their stockades and settled for lucerne. Lenana, Lapa, Galana, Ishanga, the ‘crazy’ wild female and her baby joined the orphans too. Ambo settled to scratch on a nearby rock as Mundusi, Sapalan and Ndiwa walked down to the water trough before heading out to browse before any of the others were ready. Mapia exchanged morning greetings with Lapa while Maramoja offered to help the wild female in babysitting her baby. Later, Malima led the rest of the dependent orphans out to browse. Naboishu took the wrong route and no one opted to follow him. In order to make himself relevant, Naboishu rumbled, pretending to have lost his way. Kuishi, Mteto, Esampu and Sana Sana responded quickly, running towards Naboishu to find out what the problem was. The four girls talked to him and managed to convince Naboishu that he was okay and that he should simply follow them. Naboishu felt very happy with the attention he received from the girls and so happily followed them. Malima settled to browse with Pare while Kauro opted for a soil dusting exercise in some damp, cool soil.

It was still cool when the orphans made their way to the mud bath but even so, soon after having their milk, Ndiwa, Musiara, Naboishu, Ambo and Dololo settled for a mud bathing exercise. Shortly later, Naboishu engaged Ambo in a strength testing exercise that ended when Naboishu surrendered. Five wild bulls showed up for water and left immediately after having their fill.

The orphans settled to browse along the upper part of the kalovoto seasonal river. Sapalan and Rapa took a break from feeding to have a strength testing exercise that saw Sapalan emerge as the winner. Ambo decided to browse with his favourite Kamok while Ndiwa teamed up with Naboishu. The rest of the day was quiet as the orphans concentrated mostly on browsing.

It was very wet this morning, following heavy rains we received early before dawn. The orphans left their night stockades very carefully, taking slow, measured steps in order to avoid slipping on the wet ground. Melia and her baby Milo emerged from the east unaccompanied by anyone and briefly joined the orphans to feed on lucerne. The lucerne feeding time didn't last long for it started drizzling, prompting the orphans to leave for browsing. Ndiwa led the way, followed by Naboishu and Mukkoka.

Larro, Mukkoka and Naboishu played with some mud and seemed delighted with the rain, and the fact that the drought might finally be over. This is the first time for the three orphans to see the change in weather and the rain at Ithumba since they came from the Nairobi Nursery. They have known Ithumba as a dry area that never receives any rain but today this changed and they thoroughly enjoyed playing in the wet weather. Kamok, Pare, Ndiwa, Mapia, Nabulu and Malkia also showed their joy with the rain by rolling on the ground and smearing themselves with mud. Later after all their celebrations, the orphans settled down to serious browsing.

On the way to their midday milk feed at the mud bath the rain started again. The orphans drank their milk in the rain then started playing in the rainwater. Esampu, Rapa, Kuishi, Mukkoka and Ambo had the best time since they rolled and played in the red soil until one could mistake them for small anthills.

The rain stopped later in the afternoon as the orphans made their way to the west of Ithumba Hill to browse. Oltaiyoni’s late-night gang passed by the compound to pick up Kithaka and take him for a walk. Kithaka returned later with Enkikwe, who had left his group.

It was wet in the morning following the heavy showers last night. The orphans left the stockades soon after finishing their morning milk bottles. Sattao led the way to the browsing field followed by Larro. The Keepers had distributed some lucerne but the orphans had only picked up a little bit as they raced out to the bush. A herd of buffaloes passing by close to the stockades frightened Sattao and Larro who were leading. With their ears raised, the two orphans started to retreat. The Keepers whistled, ensuring the orphans that there was nothing to worry about.

Out in the bush, Malkia broke off a big branch that had fallen on the ground and she decided to enjoy feeding on it slowly. Ndiwa saw what Malkia had done and decided to come and help her feed on the branch. Malkia didn't want to share and pulled the branch away from Ndiwa. Ndiwa respected Malkia's decision and so walked away to find her own.

The orphans had their midday milk feed and walked off away from the mud bath without wallowing or playing there for very long. Kauro came across a small pool of water that he drank from before splashing behind his ears. Shortly later, he was joined by Sana Sana, Kamok, Jotto, Kuishi and Naboishu. Naboishu spoiled the fun however when he forced himself in the small water hole, making it impossible for the rest of his friends to draw enough water to splash themselves. Kuishi tried to push him out but Naboishu wouldn’t listen. He enjoyed himself as much as he wanted before getting out on his own terms!

In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. Ndiwa, Esampu, Pare, Mundusi and Sapalan took a break from feeding to have fun rolling on the ground. In the evening, Kamok and Ambo lagged behind but showed up half an hour later to join their friends in the stockades for the night.

It was still drizzling this morning when the orphans were let out. The rains had started around two o'clock in the morning. The orphans converged in the lucerne feeding area — but not for the lucerne, but rather to decide which way to go today. They picked a few pieces of lucerne then Mteto led the way, heading east of the stockades. Kithaka and late-night gang who had collected him the previous day still did not show up this morning.

The weather was totally different today, for it kept raining for nearly the whole day. The rains gave the orphans so much joy. Every now and then, they would stop browsing just to celebrate by rolling on the muddy ground and play with the rainwater collecting in every nook and cranny. Maramoja, Malkia, Esampu, Sana Sana, Kuishi, Larro, Nabulu, Mukkoka, Pare and Ndiwa were the most active elephants playing and rolling on the ground in between bouts of browsing. At one point during their shenanigans, Naboishu accidentally stepped on Rapa. Rapa wouldn’t accept such insolence from such a young elephant and so went for Naboishu. Naboishu is a tough boy though and stood his ground and tackled Rapa like a gentleman. Naboishu finally lost to Rapa, but not after showing Rapa that he is capable of defending himself, so that next time Rapa wouldn’t underestimate him.

Larro, Mukkoka and Naboishu were the first ones to leave the stockades this morning. Jotto and Mapia settled for a pushing game soon after leaving their night stockade. Their game ended when Jotto decided to leave and head out to the bush to begin his day of browsing. Led by Mundusi, the orphans settled to browse west of the stockade compound.

Ambo settled to browse with Sana Sana while Rapa, Malima and Naboishu browsed a short distance away from the rest of their friends. It was a quiet morning as the orphans enjoyed feeding on the green vegetation. Shortly before mud bath time, Enkikwe came across a small water pool and decided to have fun by rolling around in it. Ambo, Pare, Kuishi and Esampu joined in and started rolling close to Enkikwe. Once Pare finished rolling, he found Mundusi waiting for him so that they could have a strength testing exercise. Pare declined and informed Mundusi that he had used so much energy playing and he was sorry to disappoint him. Pare knew that he was so tired and that he would certainly lose the game were he to indulge Mundusi! Mundusi shook his head and pushed Pare from behind, evidently annoyed with Pare’s decision, before moving off to find another friend who might be willing to play with him.

At mud bath time, the orphans had their milk then walked off to continue browsing. Malkia and Kuishi settled to drink water as they had girl to girl talk, while Jotto and Ndiwa met briefly to discuss their own matters. The orphans settled to browse along the upper Kalovoto river and had a quiet afternoon. In the evening, Mukkoka led the first group back to the stockades for the night.