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After their midday bottles of milk, the orphans made their way over to the waterhole were they enjoyed a long mud bath. It was quite amusing to watch as Tamiyoi, Maisha, Enkesha, and Nabulu similarly sat with their bums in the mud and were all splashing mud all over their bodies with their trunks. Even though most of the orphans enjoy a long mud bath there are a few orphans that don’t always seem so eager and prefer to stay dry. Today, Kiombo and Sattao were not in the mood to have a mud bath as they both preferred to browse on the shrubs around the waterhole. When the Keepers tried to get close to spray them with some muddy water, Kiombo went running off, trumpeting in protest. 

Larro seems to enjoy all the attention and protection she gets from the older girls. This morning as the orphans came out of their stables, they all greeted each other and the older girls Tamiyoi, Nabulu, Enkesha, Maisha, Tagwa, and Kiasa all checked on the younger orphans before making their way out to the field. Larro was confidently leading the Nursery herd out into the forest and seemed to want to walk them very far out. She seemed to know that the older girls will always follow her, so she kept walking further afield to find the perfect spot to browse. 

Luggard, who seems to have noticed that Ziwadi likes to keep to herself and doesn’t always rush to follow the others, kept her company today as they made their way out into the forest. The two happily browsed together as the others carried on further afield. Ziwadi seems to really enjoy Luggard’s company and is often happy to browse with him. 

Tagwa is doing very well since she has moved back to the Nairobi Nursery, as her health and body condition seem to be improving. She also appears to be enjoying the company of her old friends such Tamiyoi, Maisha, Enkesha, Nabulu, and Luggard whom she grew up with in the Nursery. She is often seen browsing with them in the field and walking with them when they move around in the forest. 

Kiko was well-behaved today and not up to his usual antics. This afternoon as he made his out to the forest, he happily followed his Keepers and settled to browse exactly where the Keepers stopped, near the orphans. When the orphans were making their way down for their afternoon bottles of milk and mud bath Kiko didn’t rush off to follow them but instead happily stayed in the field with his Keepers. In the evening, he calmly walked back to the stockade compound and went into his stable for the night.

Musiara, who is now one of the older bulls in the Nursery, often enjoys browsing on his own and doesn’t have much of an interest in playing any games whilst browsing. This morning, when he reached the forest, he immediately went off on his own and started to eat some of the green branches on a bush not so far away from the rest of the herd. He was so preoccupied, that he didn’t notice the rest of the herd moving further afield, and when he suddenly looked around, he seemed shocked to see no other orphans around. As soon as he noticed he was on his own, he began to trumpet loudly as if he was looking for the others, and when nobody trumpeted back, he decided to run back to the stockade compound. Tamiyoi and Enkesha, who appeared to notice his worry, came running after him and one of the Keepers was walking in his direction too. As soon as he saw the Keeper, he quickly calmed down and was soon joined by Enkesha and Tamiyoi. He seemed so happy to see the two girls, and Keeper, that he excitedly went running back to join the rest of the herd. 

It is always pleasant to see how the orphans care for one another even though they are still so young. The orphans always seem conscious to keep Luggard company, and you can often see a different orphan with him at different times. This morning Enkesha was seen walking with Luggard out to the field, Sattao then kept him company before the midday mud bath, and Musiara then stayed with him the entire afternoon. There are, however, some days when Luggard prefers to be on his own and enjoys browsing slightly further away from the other orphans. 

Maktao and Musiara were in a playful mood today, and when they were down at the mud bath area for their midday bottles of milk, they began to wrestle each other in a strength testing match. The two played for the entire time they were down at the waterhole. 

The orphans had a great time at the midday mud bath today. Most of the older orphans including Sattao, who doesn’t always like to have a mud bath, were rolling around and splashing mud all over their bodies. He was joined by Tamiyoi, Tagwa, Kiombo, Maisha and Enkesha. They were all thoroughly enjoying themselves when a big male warthog came walking over to join them in the mud bath. Tagwa didn’t seem too eager for the warthog to join them, as she tried to chase him away. When the warthog wouldn’t budge, Tagwa was seemed so annoyed that she walked out the pool. She even tried to wave her trunk at the warthog, but the warthog did not budge. Eventually, when Maisha and Tamiyoi started to rumble at the warthog, the big male decided to run off back to the forest. 

Mukkoka is also turning into quite the curious young bull, always watching, smelling, and listening to his surroundings. This morning, whilst out in the forest, a wagtail bird flew straight past his face and he quickly turned around in fear. He raised his ears and began to charge at the bird, but the wagtail just ignored him. He seemed to get more agitated by this, as he began to trumpet loudly at the bird. All the commotion appeared to catch the attention of some of the orphans and Sattao, Kiasa, Maktao, Tamiyoi, and Enkesha all came running over to see what was happening. The bird, seemingly unbothered by the orphans, flew up to the top branch of a tree not so far away. As Mukkoka could no longer see the bird, he calmed down and decided to join the others. 

In the afternoon, Mukkoka came across a large tortoise as he was walking around the mud bath area. He again began to charge around in fear. Musiara quickly ran over and calmed the young bull down so that they could all carry on with their mud bath.