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Jotto and Mapia, who appeared to have slept dreaming about how they might challenge each other this morning, met soon after coming out of their rooms. The two boys didn't stop for morning greetings but went straight into a head-on fight. Rapa, who was passing by, wondered why Mapia and Jotto hadn't said good morning to each other and why they were fighting so early. Rapa saw it wise to intervene by separating them, so that they could all go for lucerne before engaging in any other business. Ex-orphan Kenze in the company of some wild bulls were drinking water at the stockade water troughs. The moment the Keepers started distributing the lucerne to the dependent orphans, Kenze and two wild friends walked to join them. The ex-orphans and their babies showed up half an hour later. Nusu threatened Kuishi when she wanted to greet little Noah. Kuishi stood her ground and informed Nusu that she is not the type who gets scared easily and if Nusu was a bold enough he could very well try and tackle her in a wrestling match! Without hesitating Nusu went for Kuishi who steadfastly defended herself. Noah decided to run to his mother’s side and avoid getting caught up in the fray. Eventually Nusu surrendered and followed his brother.

Out in the bush the dependent orphans were briefly joined briefly by Sunyei, Siku, Saba, Chyulu and Cheka. Ndiwa decided to befriend Saba by staying close to her. Siku, her sister, stayed close by too, making sure that Ndiwa didn’t steal her sister and take her to join the orphans. Sapalan engaged Jotto in a pushing game while Mapia played with Ambo.

Some African Wild dogs passed by a short distance away but the orphans weren’t bothered by them. Esampu spotted some guinea fowls and chasing them just so happens to be one of her favourite games; she started trumpeting and charging as she ran towards the almost flightless birds. The guinea fowls didn’t hang around and half flew half jumped up into the trees above, leaving Esampu simply charging at the bushes.

At mud bath time, the weather was chilly and none of the orphans wanted to wallow after having their milk bottles. Later in the afternoon Musiara and Dololo had a brief strength testing exercise before being interrupted by Kauro who came in between them. In the evening, Nabulu led the way back to the stockades for the night. 

A buffalo who came for water this morning brought some excitement to the orphans. Led by Esampu, some of the young orphans tiptoed and crept up behind the buffalo, looking as if they wanted to bite its tail! The buffalo sensed danger however and turned to face the orphans. Esampu moved two steps towards the buffalo and it was at this point the buffalo decided to scarper, because it noticed the way the orphans were arranging themselves behind Esampu which it knew meant trouble! The moment the buffalo turned its back on the orphans, a song of trumpets filled the air as the orphans raised dust while chasing after the buffalo. The choir master, who happened to be Pare, kept the trumpeting going on until way after the buffalo had disappeared into the bushes. On the way back to their friends, the groups of orphans encountered some guinea fowls. The guinea fowls didn’t hand around as they had seen what kind of mood the young elephants were in, and they flew up into the trees squawking in protest, leaving the orphans still in a charging mood.

Later on out in the bush, Malkia, Sapalan and Malima enjoyed a game of rolling on the ground while Kauro played with Jotto. Mapia attempted to climb on Ambo which annoyed him and so he turned to push him away. Later Ambo moved to play with Musiara. At mud bath time it was very hot and all the orphans enjoyed wallowing in the mud bath. Only Kamok and Mteto decided not to get into the water with their friends.

In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. Mukkoka engaged Sattao in a pushing game while Malima settled to browse with Ndiwa. It was still vert hot so the orphans decided to take a break from feeding and relax under a tree. Dad visited the stockades with some friends in the evening and left immediately after drinking enough water. 

The orphans left the stockades soon after having their morning milk bottles. The ex-orphans had already arrived and were patiently waiting for the lucerne too. Esampu, who appears to be a little obsessed with the buffalo that comes to drink water every morning, decided to go down in the bushes in search for him since he hadn’t turned up this morning. Shortly later, we heard trumpets of excitement, meaning that Esampu had located the buffalo. Malima, Malkia, Ndiwa and Maramoja decided to run and check on Esampu, but met her in hot pursuit of the buffalo. The girls joined her in trumpeting and charging the buffalo far away. The boys didn't bother with what the girls were doing as they apparently considered it a waste of time and energy this morning.

Mteto decided to befriend baby Saba, but Saba kept moving further away as she was scared of the Keepers who had managed to catch her the previous day and remove a snare that was caught around her hind leg. Kauro engaged Mundusi in a pushing game as baby Kofi extended his trunk out to say hi to Sattao. Sattao didn't respond to Kofi's greetings as he was scared of Kilabasi who was standing close to her baby.

Later in the bush, Jotto played with Sapalan while Rapa played with Dololo. Sapalan then started a game of rolling on the ground. His game attracted the attention of Jotto, Kauro, Mapia, Mukkoka and Naboishu who all joined him.

The sun was beating down when the orphans made their way to the mud bath just before noon, so all the orphans enjoyed wallowing after having their milk bottles. Their wallowing came to an end when a teenage wild bull arrived and got straight into the mud bathing water. He was quite hostile towards the orphans and that is why they decided to give the bull space and get out of the water. Kauro, Sattao, Dololo, Naboishu, Larro and Enkikwe headed for a soil dusting exercise. Sana Sana led the way out to the bush.

In the afternoon, Mteto and Nabulu took a break from feeding to relax under a tree as they had their own private conversation. In the evening it was interesting to watch eleven year olds Orwa and Bomani line up along the stockade wall where some of the older orphans were also lining up for their evening milk bottles. It was clear the two boys were asking for milk as well, even though they have long been weaned off milk bottles. When no one paid them any attention they decided to push poor Kamok, Mundusi and Pare away in an effort to get their share! The Keepers brought the situation under control and warned Orwa and Bomani not to repeat such childish behaviour. 

Mteto and Maramoja settled to feed on lucerne with Musiara whom they had sandwiched between them. The ex-orphans were present as well as a few wild bulls who enjoyed drinking water at the water troughs. Two of the wild bulls joined in feeding briefly, before taking off into the bush. Olsekki and Enkikwe walked down to the water trough and joined two wild bulls having some water there. Esampu remained calm even when the buffalo who comes every morning failed to turn up, and she didn’t appear interested in going to look for it today. On the way out to the bush, Mundusi engaged Mapia in a pushing game. Shortly later, a teenage wild bull met with the orphans on its way to look for water. The wild bull stopped the orphans and stood in their midst as if lecturing and asking them questions. After a while it appeared that the wild bull and the orphans had come to some sort of understanding, and parted ways. The bull walked towards the stockade compound while the orphans continued on towards the area known as Kone.

Olsekki joined the orphans briefly and was admired by Mukkoka and Naboishu for having such big tusks at his age. It was a very hot day and the orphans relaxed under a tree shortly before going to the mud bath. After having their noon milk bottles they wallowed in the main waterhole then walked to the water trough for a drink. Though it was hot, not a single wild elephant showed up at the mud bath while the orphans were there. Mteto, Esampu, Larro and Dololo settled for a soil dusting exercise before joining their friends who had gone back to browsing. In the afternoon, Kauro engaged Mundusi in a strength testing exercise that ended in a draw. In the evening, all the orphans returned safely to the stockades for the night. 

It was a quiet morning today. The ex-orphans were late reporting for lucerne. The dependent orphans enjoyed the company of a wild bull who joined them to feed on lucerne. After the orphans were through, Larro led the way out, followed by Esampu.

The boys, Mapia and Sapalan, decided to have a warmup exercise in the form of a pushing game. Shortly later, Mapia surrendered and decided to have his own game of rolling on the ground. Larro settled to browse with Kauro and later shifted to feed with Sattao. It wasn’t very hot yet and the orphans had a quiet morning as they browsed calmly up to when it was time to head to the feeding area next to the mud bath.

Today only Rapa, Sana Sana, Malkia, Dololo, Musiara and Mukkoka decided to wallow. The rest of the group headed to the water trough and enjoyed drinking water with some wild bulls. Mapia was the last one to finish drinking water as he was enjoying the company of one of the wild bulls.

In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse in the Imenti area. It grew slightly warmer as the afternoon wore on, so at one stage the orphans took a break from feeding to relax under a tree. They all returned safely to their night stockades in the evening.

It was a quiet morning. Naboishu led the way out followed by Mukkoka and Larro. The ex-orphans didn't report this morning, so the dependent orphans enjoyed moving freely around the stockade compound without any disruption from their seniors! After feeding on lucerne, Sana Sana led the way out.

Enkikwe briefly engaged Kauro in a pushing game and later played with Mundusi. Naboishu settled to browse with Sapalan but quit when Sapalan attempted to bully him. Malkia teamed up with the other girls Ndiwa and Kuishi to browse. The temperature started skyrocketing and Maramoja took her favourite Musiara over to some shade where they relaxed before heading for their midday milk feed.

Despite the hot weather only Rapa got in the main mud bath today. The rest of the group went to drink water. Only six wild elephants showed up at the mud bath while the orphans were there too. After the orphans had enough water to drink, Mukkoka led the away from the mud bath and into the bush. The orphans passed by the smaller roadside mud bath and decided to cool off there quickly, before continuing on with their afternoon of browsing.

A pack of African Wild Dogs met with the orphans and there was a short stand-off before Esampu gathered some courage and charged at them. Dololo, Larro, Jotto, Pare and Malima joined Esampu in charging and trumpeting. The trumpeting scared the Wild Dogs and they ran away. In the evening, the familiar wild bull known as ‘Dad’ showed up at the Ithumba compound in the company of several of his friends and ‘bodyguards’, as he is a magnificent big bull. Nabulu led the way back to the stockades in the evening. 

Mutara and her herd spent the night just outside the compound and in the morning the dependent orphans joined them. Forty wild bulls were present and drinking from the stockade water troughs this morning, with four buffaloes waiting a distance away. Malkia, Mteto and Maramoja settled upon babysitting baby Mambo as they waited for lucerne. Malkia wanted to have Mambo all to herself but Mteto would hear none of that and so squeezed herself in between Malkia and Mambo. Esampu, who never likes seeing the buffaloes close by and likes chasing them, spotted the four waiting nearby. She didn’t even bother waiting for lucerne but charged and trumpeted at the buffaloes. The buffaloes didn’t hang around to encounter the crazy little elephant and ran off, with Esampu in hot pursuit behind them. On the way, Esampu met with the senior ex-orphans and their babies. Sunyei was leading the way followed by her two babies Siku and Saba. Esampu abandoned her mission of chasing the buffaloes away and turned her attention to little Saba as the ex-orphans walked up to the compound to feed on lucerne.

Out in the bush, Musiara had a game of rolling on the ground under the watchful eye of Maramoja. Later, Musiara got up and walked to engage Rapa in a strength testing exercise. The rest of the morning was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing without any major distractions.

It was very hot when the orphans were at the mud bath and all the youngsters decided to swim in the waterhole. It was still hot later in the afternoon and the orphans took a break from feeding to relax under a tree. They resumed browsing later in the afternoon once the temperature dropped to a favourable level. Once again, the orphans decided to cool off in the small mud bath as they made their way home for the night.

Mapia and Jotto were at it again this morning! The two boys went for each other soon after leaving their stockade as they try to establish who among them is the most dominant. Neither of the two has ever emerged as a clear winner and they will continue to test their strength against each other that happens. The orphans settled for lucerne as up to fifty wild elephants comfortably settled to enjoy drinking water. The drought continues to bring more and more elephants by the Ithumba compound in search of water. No one knows how long the drought will last. The orphans must count them the luckiest as they get everything they need.

Mukkoka and Naboishu spent the better part of the day learning from Malkia on how to strip bark off from trees. Larro settled to browse with Esampu and Mteto. At mud bath time, Dad and his friends arrived a few minutes before the orphans and briefly had a mud bath before going to drink water. The orphans arrived, had their milk, then skipped the wallowing exercise completely, all except for Rapa who thoroughly enjoys swimming.

In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. Ndiwa chose to browse with Naboishu while Maramoja settled to browse with Musiara. Sana Sana, Mundusi, Pare and Malima broke from the main herd and moved off for a bit. They later re-joined the group when it was time to return to the stockades.  

Kitirua, Kalama and a wild mother with her baby arrived at the compound early before six o'clock in the morning. This was to make sure that they were on time to join the orphans for lucerne. Kauro woke up in a playful mood and walked over to Mundusi to request a pushing game. Mundusi was hesitant at first but as Kauro persisted he finally accepted. Their game ended in a draw. Kauro moved over to Jotto but Jotto wasn’t interested in Kauro's pushing games. Jotto tried to move away from Kauro, but Kauro kept on following him! When Kauro realised that Jotto was trying to totally ignore him, Kauro decided to humiliate Jotto by climbing on him. Jotto tried as much as he could to disengage and finally managed to free himself from Kauro. Maramoja and Esampu took over looking after the wild baby from its mother for a little while, but this changed when the wild mother saw the two girls leading her baby further away towards west. The mother came running over and took her baby away because she didn't trust the direction taken by the young girls. Esampu and Maramoja returned to join their friends after the baby was escorted away by the mother. Shortly later, Kinna, Kama, Kaia, Wendi, Wiva, Wema, Loijuk and Lili arrived. Ndiwa and Maramoja walked over to baby Kaia and tried to baby sit her before older sister Kama rejected them and pushed the two girls away from her sister.

Later in the morning Ndiwa decided to have fun by rolling on the ground. Kuishi came over and tried to play on her. Malkia was feeding close by came and tried to push Kuishi away because she was hurting Ndiwa by sitting on her. At mud bath time, only Rapa, Enkikwe, Sapalan and Jotto decided to wallow. Later, Sapalan, Kamok and Jotto settled for a soil dusting exercise. In the afternoon, Ndiwa settled to browse with Naboishu while Maramoja settled to browse with Musiara. 

The morning was quiet as the ex-orphans were late joining the orphans for lucerne again. The young orphans enjoyed every moment until the ex-orphans started arriving half an hour later. As the dependent orphans had already had their fill, they started leaving one by one as the ex-orphans and all their wild born babies slowly took over the compound. As usual Karisa chose to remain with the ex-orphans while his friends headed in the direction of Kone. Jotto and Mapia engaged briefly in a pushing game while Mteto had a meeting with Malkia, Maramoja, Ndiwa. Their meeting was disrupted by Kamok who passed by and evidently felt jealous at not being invited, and she charged at the small group to dissolve the meeting.

It was very hot when the orphans made their way to the mud bath and all of them wanted to swim after having their milk bottles. A wild bull briefly joined the orphans and then left. Dololo, Esampu, Musiara, Nabulu, Mukkoka, Naboishu and Kauro settled for soil dusting exercise soon after they had enough of wallowing. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse north of the mud bath. It was still very hot, and the orphans took a break from feeding to relax under under some trees until the temperature dropped to a more favourable level. In the evening, Larro led the way back to the stockades.

The ex-orphans joined the dependent orphans in the morning. Lucerne was distributed by the Keepers and all the elephants shared without any conflict. When the younger orphans felt that they had enough, Mteto led the way out to browse.

Out in the bush, Sapalan engaged Rapa in a pushing game while Pare played with Karisa who had decided to spend the day with his friends instead of the ex-orphans. Mukkoka settled to browse with Larro while Mundusi settled to browse with Ndiwa.

The day was getting hotter as time progressed. Maramoja and Musiara decided to take a break from feeding and relax under a tree. They were later joined by Naboishu, Jotto, Dololo and Nabulu. At mud bath time, Esampu, Kamok, Kauro, Enkiwe, Rapa, Malkia, Malima and Mapia had a prolonged wallowing session due to the heat. Ambo, Kuishi, Dololo, Nabulu and Rapa all went for a soil dusting exercise before returning to browsing. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans browsed calmly throughout the remaining part of the day. 

It has been a while since Ambo played his old trick of making a right turn towards the lucerne store immediately after leaving his stockade, but this morning for some reason he decided to do just that. Ambo was extremely lucky and delighted to find the lucerne store open! He rejoiced as he got inside to help himself before he could be spotted by the Keepers. By the time the Keepers came and found him, Ambo had already enjoyed getting the best fresh lucerne first-hand. The moment he saw the Keepers approaching, Ambo turned and carried enough fresh lucerne to continue enjoying outside as well! The ex-orphans Nasalot, Wendi, Sunyei, Loijuk, Chyulu and their babies were present too, and shared lucerne with the younger orphans before parting ways. Malkia had a brief interaction with Lili before leading the way out to browse.

The orphans had a quiet morning. The boys Mundusi, Pare, Kauro, Sapalan, Enkikwe and Mapia split from the main herd and browsed a short distance away. They later re-joined the group when it was time to go for the eleven o'clock milk feed. Kauro, as usual, arrived carrying a stick which he dropped when it was time to take his milk. After finishing his milk, Kauro picked up the stick again and put it in his mouth before walking away.

The sun was beating down and the orphans all jumped into the waterhole to cool off. A wild bull emerged from the northern side of the mud bath and briefly joined the orphans before heading for a drink.

In the afternoon, the orphans encountered the same large pack of Wild Dogs. Esampu, Dololo and Mteto, who spotted them first, charged and trumpeted in an effort to scare them away. The Wild Dogs started running away and more orphans joined in, their trumpeting filling the air. The dogs didn’t want to get trampled and so increased their pace and disappeared from sight. The orphans were left charging and knocking down bushes in excitement. After they grew tired of celebrating, the orphans resumed browsing and later, Pare led the way back to the stockades for the night.