Choose your region

Kinna and her ex-orphan group who are clearly very present in the area at the moment and who show up every day, joined the dependent orphans in the morning for the Lucerne feeding time. Ambo, who most of the time never bothers with the Lucerne, headed straight out to browse. After finishing as much Lucerne as they cared for, the orphans followed Ambo out to the bush as well. 

Tusuja engaged Wanjala in a pushing game as Rapa kept on trying to climb on his friends as a sign of dominance. He started by riding on Mteto then later moved to Mapia. When he got tired of his climbing games, Rapa tried to have a pushing game with Kuishi, but Kuishi appeared uninterested and moments later moved away. Namalok had a lone game of rolling on the ground. His game was cut short by Oltaiyoni who passed by and pushed him to stand up. 

At mud bath time, Tusuja and Barsilinga as usual dodged the Keepers to arrive at the mud bath early and wait for the milk car to arrive. Eleven bulls were present at mud bath today. The orphans had their milk first before heading for wallowing in the water hole, as it was a hot morning. After wallowing, the orphans went to drink some fresh water from the water troughs before enjoying some soil dusting, before returning back to browsing. In the afternoon, Malkia took Musiara in her care and browsed together with him for the rest of the day.

Mutara and her ex-orphan group were present in the morning. When the gates were opened, Turkwel walked over to meet Dololo and they entwined their trunks in morning greetings. Shortly later, Rapsu joined the orphans at the Lucerne feeding venue. Kauro walked over to the water trough soon after having his share of lucerne. He was later joined by Kuishi and Rapsu. 

On the way out to browse, Kauro and Esampu came across a nice rock that they shared to scratch on. Karisa took some time off from feeding to have fun rolling on the ground. Rapa attempted to climb on Mapia while Enkikwe engaged Lemoyian in a pushing game. Enkikwe lost to Lemoyian and Lemoyian proved his win by riding on Enkikwe. Ex-orphans Kitirua, Kandecha, Chemi Chemi and Kalama passed by the stockade compound mid-morning. They drank some water then disappeared off into the bush again. At mud bath time, only a few wild bulls showed up. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse in the Kanziku area.

Ex-orphans Kandecha, Kitirua, Chemi Chemi, Bomani, Kilaguni, Melia and Kibo were at the stockade compound in the morning. It’s interesting to note all these ex-orphans aren’t necessarily in the original groups they formed when they left their human family a few years ago now, but what matters is that they are all familiar with each other and were raised the same way, so they understand each other. 

Ndiwa decided to go for water first before settling for Lucerne. She was joined by Kamok and Mundusi as the keepers kept an eye on Kamok who likes to push the gates for fun every morning. She well understands that the electric fence is always turned off whenever they leave the stockade in the morning! Kuishi was slightly limping and upon checking on her we found that she had been pierced by a thorn but the thorn had come out. Mapia seemed happy as this meant Kuishi couldn’t run after him whenever he passes close to her (for some reason Kuishi has a tendency of pushing Mapia whenever he passes close by).

Out in the bush Bomani, who is Orwa's friend but we don’t know where he had left Orwa, had a nice time with Dololo and Sattao. Bomani appeared to be giving the two boys a lecture on what an independent life is like to prepare them for the future! Bomani informed the boys not to expect to sleep in the stockades for the rest of their lives, but a time will come and they will be ready to leave too. 

At mud bath time, only four wild elephant bulls showed up. The dependent orphans and a group of ex-orphans who attended the mud bath had the venue all to themselves. The ex-orphans present at mud bath were Bomani, Kitirua, Chemi Chemi, Kalama, Kibo, Tumaren, Olare and Makena. Shortly after mud bath, there was drama when two ostriches passed close by. Mundusi and Tusuja charged and trumpeted as they tried to scare the birds away. The two ostriches disappeared quickly on their long powerful legs, thus bringing the tension down! In the afternoon the sun was hot and Roi, who is proving to be very caring these days, decided to walk Ambo under some shade when she found him feeding under the scorching sun. The rest of the orphans were relaxing under some trees. In the evening, Kamok, Mapia and Enkikwe could not be found as the orphans gathered together to walk back to the stockades. Finally the three orphans were located a short distance from where the rest were feeding. Olsekki and Siangiki, who are slowly weaning themselves off from drinking their milk bottles, didn't bother to follow their friends in having milk, but went straight into their stockade. This means they are becoming more independent and their time soon approaches when they will build the confidence to leave the stockades.  

Mutara and her group were waiting outside to welcome the babies out in the morning. Ambo headed straight to the water trough and then started walking east towards Kalovoto, rumbling to his friends that he was off to the browsing field. Kamok wasn't happy about Ambo's decision and therefore hurried to catch up with him. Kamok convinced Ambo to come back for Lucerne first, and besides it wasn't safe for him to walk on his own. Ambo accepted the advice given to him by his adopted elder sister Kamok, and they walked together to join their friends feeding on Lucerne. 

After the orphans had enough of lucerne Karisa, the street-wise boy, who at one time disappeared for three months before walking himself back to the stockades, led the orphans to the water trough to drink water. After the orphans left for browsing, ex-orphans Loijuk, baby Lili, Melia and Ishanga showed up at the stockades. It appears that the group of four had split with Kinna, Sunyei, Lenana and their babies for the time being. 

Malkia teamed up with Kuishi to browse and they walked together for quite some time before being interrupted by Kauro. Kauro passed close to them and decided to show his might by driving them away for no apparent reason. Ndiwa was fascinated by Sapalan's acrobatic skills as he played on the ground, and stood close to watch him. Sapalan got to his feet and confronted Ndiwa for watching, and then started a pushing game with her. Ndiwa decided to defend herself but then their game turned into a more serious fight. The Keepers intervened by shouting at them, and Sapalan decided to withdraw and walk away. 

Only six wild bulls attended mud bath and were joined by the orphans. Esampu and Kauro had fun by rolling on red soil soon after wallowing while Tusuja and Wanjala disagreed on an issue that only the two could tell. The disagreement led to a pushing game that saw Wanjala surrender. Tusuja tried to bite Wanjala’s tail but Wanjala increased his pace making it impossible for Tusuja to catch him. In the afternoon, Roi decided to take care of Dololo since the nannies who always like to take care of him in Mutara’s herd were not present.  

Orwa and Bomani were waiting outside in the morning. After spending several days with the dependent orphans without Orwa, Bomani decided to go in search of his friend and indeed found him, and they came back together. It was a happy reunion. Bomani felt so comfortable in the presence of his friend that he lay down on the ground and slept as Orwa stood close by. Two wild bulls were comfortably drinking water at the stockade water troughs. Lucerne was provided and the orphans settled to have some. Orwa and Bomani joined to have their share and shortly later, Loijuk and her group emerged from the south east, running as they were almost late for the morning Lucerne breakfast. After the Lucerne breakfast was over, the groups parted ways. Orwa and his friend Bomani decided to go with the dependent orphans. 

Karisa and Sapalan decided to a have a warm up exercise in the form of a pushing game. When Sapalan had enough, the bulls quit playing to start browsing. Karisa felt that he had not done enough exercise though and decided to have a stretching exercise on the ground. Roi felt happy as Dololo's nannies in Mutara’s herd have decided to stay away for now, leaving Roi with all the time to spend with Dololo whenever she feels like, without competition. Later Kuishi took a break from feeding to have a soil dusting exercise. 

At mud bath time fifteen wild bulls were present and noticeable was Makena who was following her boy friend. The two love birds headed for bathing together then walked out to have a drink of water from the trough together, before slowly walking away from the mud bath. The orphans had a spectacular wallowing with Naseku emerging as the star as she had fun whipping the water using her trunk. After wallowing, the orphans left for browsing and settled north of the mud bath. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans understand that it's becoming very dry and dilly-dallying would result in returning to the stockade compound that evening without having enough to eat. 

It was a quiet morning. The orphans strolled nonchalantly out from their stockades and settled for Lucerne. Only two wild bulls showed up for water this morning. Sattao and Olsekki were brave enough to walk to the water trough to say hello to one of the wild bulls. Sattao lost confidence when he drew closer to the wild bull and saw his size; he retreated to avoid stepping in the way of the big bull, but Olsekki went ahead and shared water with the bull. 

Kauro pushed Ambo hard thinking that he was coming for his share of Lucerne. Ambo complained bitterly since he was only passing by peacefully. This prompted Siangiki and Kamok to run to Ambo and find out if he was okay. Kamok and Siangiki comforted Ambo by placing their trunks on his back. Ambo was very happy to have these caring sisters. 

Out in the bush Tusuja and Wanjala, who hardly pass a day without engaging in some form of pushing game, went on fighting each other for dominance. As usual, the game ended in a draw though. Malkia, who these days is living a quiet and private life, led the way through the bushes in search of the best vegetation. 

At mud bath time, the mud bath was well attended by the wild bulls again. As usual, the Ithumba orphans occupied one end of the mud bath to wallow, without disturbing their older wild friends. Kuishi and Rapa quit the mud bath early and decided to have a light pushing game as they waited for their friends to come out. Soon after wallowing, the orphans attended soil dusting exercise before heading back out to browse. 

Rapa, Enkikwe and Sapalan hatched a plan to dodge the Keepers and their friends. In the evening the Keepers started gathering the orphans together to begin the process of putting them into their groups to return home, when they found that the three boys were missing. It took the Keepers about an hour to find them and when they did, the three bulls seemed totally untroubled as they were found still browsing heading in a northerly direction. This is how it begins when the bulls start to want to detach themselves from the Keepers and stockades but time will tell when they are ready; at only five and six years old however they still have a little while before they will become totally independent. 

The wild elephant known as Kijana and ex-orphan Kilaguni arrived early before the orphans were let out. The two boys stood patiently waiting for Lucerne to be provided when the orphans were let out. After having their milk bottles, the orphans joined Kijana and Kilaguni and Lucerne bales were distributed out. When the orphans had enough of the Lucerne, Ambo led the way to the water troughs where the orphans were joined by four wild bulls. The orphans started leaving one by one until Mundusi found himself the only one left sharing water with the wild bulls. Mundusi felt happy sharing water with his seniors who didn't by any means try to intimidate him because of his size. Mundusi looked like he was dreaming of becoming big just like the bulls sharing water with him. 

Sapalan, who at one time was the slowest and couldn't run to keep up with his friends, found that his friends had left him when he tried looking for a certain shrub he had an appetite for. Sapalan started trumpeting and running, heading in the direction taken by his friends. Kilaguni parted ways with Kijana and decided to follow the orphans. 

Later, Ndiwa had a disagreement with Karisa for some reason. Ndiwa showed Karisa that even though she is a younger girl she can fight for her feeding space too. The pushing ended when Tusuja came in and saved Karisa from embarrassment. The two boys left the venue as Ndiwa warned Karisa not to try her again. 

Kauro was having fun rolling on the ground which attracted the quiet Malkia over. They both lay down and took a nap for a minute before getting back to their feet again. Enkikwe was not left out as he also had fun by lowering his head down while raising his injured leg up. The knee injury is still recovering though the joint will never be able to bend properly after the wound heals completely. The good thing is that Enkikwe has kept his spirits up and can keep pace with his friends. 

At the mud bath, the venue looked deserted with only four bulls showing up. Ambo boycotted the wallowing exercise and left the area. Kuishi and Sattao opted for a soil dusting exercise. Kilaguni was the senior most ex-orphan accompanying the orphans. The gentle Kilaguni escorted the orphans back to the browsing field and later in the evening back to the stockades as well.