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The orphans were looking forward to their midday bottle feed today. As soon as it was time, they all rushed towards the Keepers.  

When they were done, they all made their way to the waterhole to quench their thirst as it had been a hot day so far. Murera and Luggard walked slower than the rest. Luggard stopped to drink straight from the water pipe that was filling the waterhole. What started off as a simple activity, soon turned into a game of tug of war, with all the orphans pulling the water pipe for themselves. In the end it was big boy Mwashoti who won; his might and size wore everyone out and Mwashoti enjoyed the fresh clean water, straight from the pipe.

Murera didn’t want to wait her turn at the water pipe and so decided to carry on walking to the waterhole with Luggard. Enkesha joined Murera and as they drank their water, while Luggard stood by watching them. As soon as Enkesha was done she looked for Mwashoti and they both took off into the bushes, where they remained for the rest of the afternoon browsing peacefully.

Early this morning, the seemingly elusive partially-independent orphans visited the stockades and the orphans were overjoyed to see their friends. The six night-clubbers, Ziwa, Faraja, Jasiri, Zongoloni, Alamaya and Ngasha haven’t been very regular visitors lately and when they do visit, they visit at very odd times, not staying for long.

Shukuru and Enkesha observed from a distance – there was much exuberance as the other orphans greeted each other and they decided they wanted a quieter start to their morning. They know if Ziwa joined, he would take over and decide where they should browse, so without wasting another minute, both the girls snuck away and found a quiet spot where they could browse peacefully.

Later as the orphans moved towards the Chyulu Hills a troop of monkeys, swinging tree to tree, were making quite a commotion, the noise alone got the orphans a bit agitated, especially Enkesha and Sonje, and they moved as far away as possible from the monkeys.  

As soon as the orphans were done with the morning feed of milk and Lucerne, Sonje ushered everyone towards the water trough, where she also stopped for a much needed drink of water. Enkesha followed Sonje but was quickly distracted when she spotted some nice juicy green branches. Little Enkesha tried to reach up to the tall branches but was unable to reach them. Sonje saw her little girl struggling and went over to help her.

The Umani herd started to make their slow move towards the springs. Upon reaching the springs, Quanza decided she would stop a while longer to drink the fresh spring water. The rest of the herd moved knowing Quanza would join them later. Quanza is quite a shy and quiet elephant. She prefers her own company and browsing by herself. She often breaks away from the main herd to find her own private browsing spot, but the Keepers always ensure one or two of them are accompanying her.

On their way to the midday feed, Lima Lima and Murera stopped at the waterhole with Luggard to quench their thirst as it had been quite a hot day. Mwashoti ventured into the bushes in search of fresh green grass, but found that the grass was very dry, so instead he kicked the soil to push up some roots and enjoyed those. The rest of the herd waited for Murera to finish drinking so that she could lead them to the where the Keepers would be waiting for them with their bottles. 

Mwashoti and Quanza spotted Lima Lima making her way down the hill. They assumed she was walking down to the midday bottle feed and so decided to follow her. On her way down, Lima Lima was a bit cheeky and tried to dodge the other two in the hope of losing them, so that she could get to the midday feed before everyone else. En-route, she picked up the little girl Enkesha, who was very engrossed in an acacia tree she had found.

Sonje and Murera are steadfast when it comes to keeping Luggard safe. They make sure they stay close to the young bull, to ensure none of the other boisterous boys get too close. Luggard is a little intimidated by Alamaya’s sheer size, so he too knows to stay close to the older girls, in case Alamaya gets a bit carried away with his games.

After a while Murera decided to move the herd to their afternoon browsing activities, she paired up with Luggard, as did Sonje with Enkesha. Jasiri had other plans and started to make his way to the forest. He seemed hesitant, as he would walk ahead, stop, look back at his friend Ngasha and Ziwa, and then carry on walking again and stop. The Keepers then realized that there were two monkeys in the trees trying to escape a troop of baboons and were making quite a ruckus in the forest. Ngasha and Ziwa were too busy engaged in a strength testing game, keeping fit to ensure they can take on any wild friends they may encounter during their nightly escapades.

It seemed Lima Lima had a bit of sneaky plan to steal Luggard from Murera today. She walked down the hill as though she was going towards her beloved Keepers, but quickly detoured towards where Luggard was, thinking she could entice him to join her.  

Luggard was already with Murera and rumbled a little when he saw Lima Lima. Unsure why he rumbled, Lima Lima walked towards Luggard and placed her trunk lovingly on his back to comfort him. Murera caught on to Lima Lima’s plan and decided her and Luggard should move, so she collected Luggard and started to walk towards another browsing spot. Zongoloni, who was browsing nearby, joined Murera and Luggard.

Every now and then Enkesha likes to take the lead and show the herd what routes to take and where the best browse is, which is usually towards the Chyulu Hills. Today Enkesha kept away from the hills though. Ngasha and Alamaya, who had been out all night, seemed to have passed on the information about the Tsavo fires in that area. The Umani herd was content to avoid the area and stay closer to the springs for the day.

Ngasha, in anticipation of joining the Umani herd for their morning activities, arrived at the stockades relatively early, but was disappointed to find his friends had already left.

Walking out he raised his trunk in the air to catch their scent. He soon caught up with them, where they were browsing near the hills. Ngasha found Luggard already in search for browse. Luggard’s favorite food is the soft fresh green grass that is abundant around the Kibwezi area but he was not so lucky today. Lack of rains has meant that Luggard’s favorite food has been a bit sparse. It took the young bull a while but he soon found some nice shrubs and settled to browse.  

Shukuru knows how clever Enkesha is when it comes to finding the best browsing spots, so when she spotted Enkesha walking up the hill, the older girl decided to follow Enkesha. The foot of the hills had not provided the browse Shukuru was looking for. She soon caught up with Enkesha who had also managed to find a waterhole that had probably been dug out by a wild elephant. Both girls stopped to have a drink of the cool water and then carried on browsing at the top of the hill.

Shukuru then made her way to the midday milk feed, where she cooled off from the morning heat by wallowing in the mud and later joined her friends at the dust-bath. Once every one was sufficiently rested, they made their way to the forest where the continued browsing for the rest of the afternoon.

Murera noticed that Ziwa was savoring something this morning and curious as to what that might be, she placed her trunk in Ziwa’s mouth to investigate. As soon as she did that Ziwa spat out whatever he was chewing on. Murera sniffed what had fallen to the ground to discover it was acacia bark. Acacia bark is not something Murera considers particularly sweet, so she decided to browse further afield, in search of her own special treat.  

Come midday, all the hungry babies rushed to the milk feed area, with Enkesha in the lead. Thinking one of the other orphans might steal her second bottle, she guarded it by standing over it, whilst she finished her first one. Murera waited for Luggard to finish his bottle and then they moved on to carry on browsing in the bushes.

A little while later, we saw Zongoloni, Ngasha, Jasiri and Faraja appear out of the bushes; they had clearly picked the orphans scent and followed them to where everyone was now browsing. Quanza was the first one to spot them and let out a low happy rumble. This startled the Keeper’s, not sure why Quanza was rumbling, but then realized that she was walking towards the bushes, to welcome the night-clubbers. Later in the afternoon, a herd of wild elephants joined the stockade dependent orphans at the waterhole and mud-bath.

As the orphan’s exited their night stockades this morning, they found a large herd of wild elephants already at the water trough. The orphans quickly finished their lucerne and then joined the wild herd at the water trough. The Keepers noticed there were many young babies in the herd. They wanted to take photos of the little ones, but the wild elephants, not used to being around humans, were very wary. The wild herd didn’t stay for too long; they finished at the water trough and made their way towards the Chyulu Hills.   

Sonje decided to make a head start without the rest of her friends; she made her own way into the forest leaving Quanza in charge. Little Enkesha was undecided who she wanted to walk with today. Both Lima Lima and Zongoloni always take good care of her, but in the end she settled on Zongoloni as they have formed quite a special bond.

Later after their midday milk bottles, Luggard, Murera and Enkesha, made their way to the waterhole, where they took their time drinking and then engaged in a very leisurely mud wallow. Luggard and Murera rolled around covering their entire bodies with mud as the Keepers watched joyfully. Murera then led Luggard to the dust pile, where they were joined by the rest of the herd.

Lima Lima had plans on enticing Luggard to join her today. She decided to hide behind a tree to watch Luggard and Murera’s moves, waiting for the right moment to approach Luggard. Her secret mission was a bit of a flop when Murera and Luggard both spotted her right away, putting a stop to her tactics.  

As soon as Enkesha is done with her midday milk feed she likes to sneak off unnoticed to the back the vehicle that brings their milk bottles. She will poke her trunk around in search of a stray extra bottle that she can help herself to, but no such luck today. All the bottles were empty.  

Sonje and Murera signaled all the orphans to wait whilst they contemplated their next move on where to browse. The younger ones waited patiently for instructions, whilst Zongoloni and Alamaya gathered their night-club members and made they own way, separately from the Umani herd.

Luggard is starting to make more friends in the Umani herd. Today he joined Quanza and the others at the waterhole. It had been quite a hot day and Luggard was one of the first to arrive. He started splashing the cool muddy water on his body in an effort to cool down. All the other orphans were just as eager, but stopped to watch Luggard for a while as he showcased his own unique style. Murera watched him like a proud mum.  

Ziwa and the other five partially-independent orphans turned up at the mud bath but did not stay for too long. They greeted everyone briefly and were on the move again. Little Enkesha who loves Zongoloni’s company decided she would follow them, but halfway through realized she couldn’t keep up the pace with the big boys like Jasiri. She turned around and found her way back to where the Keepers were waiting for her. She found a nice waterhole, where she stopped to quench her thirst and then re-joined her dependent friends.  

Mwashoti and Quanza were in a hurry to start their day today. They rushed out of their night rooms to have their milk and lucerne and started to walk towards the forest in search of greens. Enkesha spotted them and not wanting to miss out, she followed them too. The little girl tried to keep up but her path was blocked by a few bush-buck ewes in search of greens as well.  At first Enkesha waited, but grew impatient so she blew her little trunk to scare the bush-bucks and get them to start moving a little faster.

Shukuru emerged from the mud-bath with her body covered in muddy patches; she thoroughly enjoyed her mud bath today. She made her way to the dust bath but as soon as she saw the more boisterous orphans come out of the mud bath she quickly moved off with one of the Keepers, who was calling her name, to browse on her own, wanting to avoid the overzealous orphans and their pushing and strength testing games.

Later that afternoon, as the sun got hotter, Shukuru was pleasantly surprised to find a broken water pipe. She stopped to quench her thirst first and then called on Enkesha to come and do the same. The heat was quite unbearable so both girls used the water to to cool down.

Today Lima Lima decided she would go on a solo adventure. She took off towards the Umani Hills, not stopping until she had got all the way to the top. She seemed rather pleased with herself when she turned back to see where she had left Luggard under her friend Murera’s care. She knew as long as Luggard was with Murera, the little boy would be well looked after whilst she enjoyed her little escapade.  

The day was turning out to be quite hot and once the orphans had had their midday bottles, they all partook in a very lengthy mud wallow. Everyone joined in the fun, splashing mud and showing off their own bathing skills. Slowly one by one, starting with Enkesha, they all made their way to the dust pile. Mwashoti decided to extend a friendly climbing match with Enkesha, but the Keepers were quick to intervene and stop the big bull from doing so. Enkesha is far too little and is more interested in rolling in the dust then engaging in any sort of games with Mwashoti.

The orphans then made their way towards the Kibwezi forest to get away from the searing heat, where Mwashoti discovered a broken water pipe. Both Shukuru and him drank thirstily from the pipe but Enkesha decided to make a little game of it. Splashing the water around, she created a mini mud bath for herself, in which she proceeded to wallow with Shukuru keeping an eye on the little girl.

This morning, Lima Lima was given the privilege of looking after Luggard. This is because Murera wanted to feed on her share of the lucerne and knew she would be a while. She could see Luggard was eager to start his browsing activities and so got Lima Lima to start without her. Lima Lima, overjoyed with this special honor, led Luggard out towards the browsing fields. As soon as Murera was done, she caught up with Lima Lima and took over looking after Luggard again.

As the Umani herd was making their way out towards the midday milk area, Mwashoti stopped at the water trough for a drink of water. The resident baby crocodile that lives in the water trough popped his head out startling the big boy. Mwashoti got such a fright that he did not even stop to look at what it was and ran toward the safety of where Shukuru and Enkesha were browsing peacefully.  

The six night-clubbers also turned up at the middy milk feed. Looking very hot and dusty, all of them made a beeline for the water troughs. It seems wherever they were they may not have had access to any water and they appeared very thirsty. They stayed for a while at the water troughs, splashing and filling themselves with water, knowing that it might be a while before they had another chance. As soon as Zongoloni was done, she turned towards the forest, signaling her group that it was time to leave.

A big bull turned up at the mud bath today. He attempted to interact with the Umani herd, curious to know who these new elephants were.  

Sonje was a bit cautious and so stayed away from him. Later on Alamaya and Ziwa joined the orphans and when they greeted the older bull in a knowing and friendly manner, that is when the Keepers realized that these two younger bulls knew the wild bull. He must be one of the older bulls that our partially-independent orphans spend time with at night, when they are out in the forest. Murera’s protective instinct took over and she moved Luggard away from the wild bull and moved closer to the bushes where the Keepers were standing keeping an eye on everyone including their new visitor.

As soon as the orphans were done at the dust bath after their midday bottles, Enkesha and Quanza moved to the water trough where they found a flock of crane birds drinking water at the edge of the water trough. Enkesha was feeling a bit playful and decided to chase the birds. Quanza joined in the fun by letting out a few loud trumpets which sent the birds flying in different directions. Quanza didn’t stop at the trumpeting; she thought a little chase was in order as well, she ran after the crane birds until they were all out of sight. Luggard, Lima Lima and Murera who were browsing nearby, carried on with their activity, unaffected by all the trumpeting and chasing.

Even the sweetest of elephants sometimes need lessons in manners, and no one better to impart this then Sonje and Murera who continue to prove why they are the successful mother figures of the Umani herd. Today at the water trough, little Luggard was being a bit stubborn and not moving out of the way to allow Sonje and Murera to get to the water. They gently tried to persuade him to step back, but Luggard would not budge. Sonje placed her trunk on Luggard’s back and Murera let out a low rumble, signaling the little bull that the time for games was over. Luggard immediately moved aside to allow the girls to have their fill of water.

The rest of herd was feeling rather playful. They all indulged in lengthy mud wallowing sessions. Splashing and rolling around, rubbing their bottoms in the mud. Shukuru and Enkesha were the first to exit the mud-bath and make their way to the dust pile. They wanted to avoid Mwashoti’s boisterous games. Of late, Mwashoti seems to have taken up the habit of climbing on top of Lima Lima. Lima Lima does not like this, and avoids Mwashoti as much as she can.

After everyone was done at the dust pile, Murera and Sonje signaled the orphans to start moving towards the forest. Everyone was browsing peacefully, when a big baboon, not aware that Luggard was browsing in the trees startled him. The poor little boy let out a trumpet and this sent Murera into action. Murera and her rescue team of Lima Lima and Sonje ran towards the sound to see what had happened to their little boy. The big baboon startled by all the commotion, ran off into the trees.

Enkesha had a great time in the mud bath today; she rolled and splashed, covering her entire body with mud. The mud not only cools them down and provides a protective layer on their body but it also protects from insect bites and the sun. Elephant skin looks very tough, but it can be sensitive and get sun burnt.  

Mwashoti’s naughty character came into play today; he decided to attempt climbing games with Quanza but was not very successful. Quanza is taller than Mwashoti, so even at his very best Mwashoti was unable to reach Quanza’s back. Shukuru as usual preferred not to engage in these games and proceeded to find a quiet spot by the mud-bath, far from everyone else, where she could play in the mud by herself.  

The orphans decided to spend the afternoon browsing in the forest where they encountered a few wild bulls. Murera, as always because of Luggard, was very cautious, and decided to retreat further into the forest, putting some distance between the two of them and the wild bulls. The Keepers observed that the wild bulls were actually quite friendly and not at all scared by the Umani herd or the Keepers. In fact, so much so, that later on, when Zongoloni and the other partially-independent orphans joined the Umani herd, the wild bulls joined them and accompanied the orphans back to the stockades. 

As the orphans were making their way down to midday milk feed Lima Lima was in the lead, with Luggard in the middle, followed by Murera. Murera preferred to do it this way as this ensures that Luggard is protected from both sides.

Mwashoti proved to be the swimming star today, he made sure to wade right into the middle of the mud-bath, where the thickest mud is, and proceeded to splash and roll around covering his whole body with the mud. Shukuru did not leave the mud-bath when Mwashoti was showing off his skills; instead she stood by and watched. We realized why, as she was waiting for Mwashoti to exit so that she could have her turn. As soon as Mwashoti made his way to dust bath, Shukuru waded into the mud, where she stayed for quite a while, enjoying a good wallow. In fact everyone indulged in the mud-bath today, since it was so hot and they needed to cool off.  

As Quanza and Enkesha were browsing together in the late afternoon, out of the bushes came Jasiri, Ziwa and Faraja. Quanza was overjoyed to see her friends and let out low happy rumbles. The Keepers heard the rumbles and wondered what was going on. They walked over to where Quanza was, only to see the orphans greeting their friends with trunk hugs and more rumbling. It was quite a joyous sight, as they had not seen each other in a few days.

The day started off very well today, with the night-clubbers arriving very early at the stockades. Both Ziwa and Faraja kept themselves busy on the soil pile that is near the stockades as they waited for the Keepers to bring out the Lucerne. The Keepers were quite surprised to see the partially-independent orphans and they loaded more Lucerne in their wheelbarrows for them too. The six nearly independent orphans couldn’t wait much longer and started to pick the Lucerne bales out of the Keepers wheelbarrows even before they had a chance to put them down.

Enkesha was particularly happy to see her friend Zongoloni, who was waiting by the gate for her little friend. All the orphans enjoyed the Lucerne together. Today no wild elephants or any other wild animals visited the stockades so it was a very quiet and peaceful start to the day. The night-clubbers made their separate way back into the forest after their Lucerne. 

At the midday milk bottle feed Alamaya was the first to arrive, followed much later by the other five partially-independent orphans too. As soon as Zongoloni arrived, she encouraged Enkesha to join her and the two girls spent the rest of the day browsing as though they were two friends catching up after a long time. They day ended on the same note, quiet and peaceful with the dependent Umani orphans making their way back to the stockades in a single file.