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Some wild elephants and ex-orphans came to share lucerne with dependent orphans this morning. Ex-orphan Melia and her baby Milo were among them. When the dependent orphans decided it was time to leave for the bush, they left the older elephants behind finishing up the lucerne.

While their friends browsed, Bondeni, Dololo and Sattao grouped together and looked as though they were having their own private conversation, heads bowed towards each other. As the orphans responded to their ‘tummy clock’, they started to browse while making their way slowly towards the mud bath for the midday milk feed. When they arrived they found some wild bulls already wallowing in the mud bath. When he finished his milk bottles, Esoit decided to join the bulls to cool off in the water. After he came out to join his friends who were enjoying a soil dust bath. Mutara and her baby Mambo came to join the babies and joined in the dusting session on the loose soil. Mutara scooped up a huge amount of soil in her big trunk and threw it in the air and on her back, as some of the smaller orphans watched on with admiration.

Back out in the bush, Olorien was being very affectionate with Larro, while Bondeni used his trunk to explore Kinyei's ear which was quite funny to watch. Esoit and Larro then decided to browse together from the same bush quite contentedly. Later, Lodo and Olorien led the group back home to the stockades in the evening.

The orphans guzzled down their milk bottles on this beautiful morning before coming out to have their lucerne breakfast. Some ex-orphans arrived to share lucerne with them too. Sunyei and her baby Saba were present, and Saba was running around with the orphans trying to play pushing games. Eventually the two-year-old settled to play with Suguroi, before following her mother back out to the bush. Kinna’s herd then arrived; they came running in for water and were clearly very thirsty, before settling to have some lucerne as well. The dependent orphans decided it was time to browse and walked out to the bush in the direction Sunyei had taken.

All the orphans quietly concentrated on browsing this morning, with even the bulls in the herd taking a break from their wrestling matches to concentrate on feeding. We kept watching Bondeni and Esoit to see if they would give into their usual wrestling match, but the two young bulls looked very intent on filling their tummies.

While at the mud bath most of the orphans decided to wallow after having their milk bottles. Lodo and Esoit managed to get themselves into a bit of trouble when they decided to walk through the area where the mud was thick and deep. They got stuck but after struggling for a bit they managed to free themselves. Jotto, Dololo, Ambo and Kuishi thoughtfully came back to rescue their two friends, but by the time they reached them, they were already free. They all walked together to join their friends who were showering themselves with loose soil. Some wild bulls arrived and drank water from the trough.

In the afternoon the orphans looked very busy browsing and didn’t really play many games. They browsed right up until it was time to return home.

Kinna, Nasalot, Lualeni and Sunyei’s families joined the orphans for lucerne in the morning. After having their fill and playing with their wild friends for a while, Roho, Sagateisa and Kindani led the way out to the bush. On the way, the three orphans in the lead got distracted by some loose soil that they used to have a soil dusting exercise.

Out in the bush, Esoit engaged Bondeni in their usual strength testing exercise. When the going got tough, Bondeni surrendered and went off with his oldest friends Kinyei and Kindani. Larro settled to play with Lodo while Olorien played with Suguroi. Slightly later the orphans were joined by Tusuja, Sapalan, and Enkikwe, who are now living wild. Jotto teamed up with Kuishi and Esoit to browse. Later, Roho and Naboishu had a disagreement over a branch they came across at the same time. This resulted in a fight that went on for quite some time, and while the two were battling it out, opportunistic Lodo passed by and picked up the tasty branch for himself! By fighting, Roho and Naboishu ended up losing the prize, and they felt a little foolish when they realised.

Ambo led the first group for the midday milk feed, followed by Musiara. It was very hot and as soon as the orphans had their milk, Sagateisa led the herd for a mud wallow. After splashing about and enjoying larking around in the water, Naleku led everyone out again. Sagateisa remained in the water the longest, and later joined a few wild bulls heading to drink water at the mud bath water trough. She is such an independent young girl.

The orphans dried off on the loose soil before being led back out to browse by Dololo. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans browsed calmly for the rest of the day.

Yatta, Yogi, Yoyo, Enkikwe, Mutara, Mambo, Kainuk, Chaimu, Suguta, Turkwel, Ithumbah, Iman and Queen's family joined the orphans for lucerne in the morning. The wild babies were very busy being social with the dependent orphans. Naleku had a brief chat with one of the babies in the wild elephant Queen’s family. Yoyo had a disagreement with Kuishi that resulted in a fight. It has been a while since we have seen Yatta’s oldest daughter Yetu. We presume that she is with Mwende, who is a similar age to her. The last time Mwende was around she was pregnant, so perhaps Yetu is with her. Since she is in the company of her mother as well, our ex-orphan Mulika, we are sure all is well. After feeding on lucerne, Kindani led the orphans out to the bush.

Dololo decided to remain behind with Mutara’s herd. He used to be the absolute favourite with this herd, before Mutara had her baby Mambo, and they always used to try and kidnap him to spend time with him! Suguta was always particularly fond of Dololo, and she patted him in an affectionate way, but the truth is they had to devote all their time to being excellent nannies to Mambo. Perhaps she was hoping Dololo might join them so they could have two little boys to look after! Kanjoro, who used to be with Mutara’s herd as well and the only bull in the group, left them some time back to spend more time with wild bulls, as they do. When he was ready, Dololo left Mutara’s herd near the compound to find his friends.

The orphans had a quiet morning as they concentrated on browsing up to around eleven o'clock when it was time for the midday milk feed. The orphans had their milk then participated in wallowing before winding up the mud bath activities with a soil dusting session. In the afternoon, the orphans were joined briefly by Kinna, Kaia, Kama, Nasalot, Noah, Yatta, Yogi, Yoyo, Loijuk and Lili. The two groups parted ways later. In the evening, on the way back to the stockade, the orphans passed by the small roadside mud bath where they cooled off before heading home.

Kindani left the stockade in the morning with a branch in her mouth. She met with Larro on her way out and Larro took the branch from her! Kindani didn't resist or complain because Larro is older than her and she knew there would be consequences if she tried to fight back. Being the placid girl she is, Kindani just gave in and headed straight to the water trough where she was joined by her friends Kinyei and Bondeni. The three inseparable friends shared water as Kindani sought comfort from her friends.

Musiara teamed up with Dololo to browse this morning while Esoit settled to browse with Kinyei. Bondeni practised how to peel the bark from trees using his tusks, while Naboishu and Roho took a break from browsing and rolled around having fun on the ground. At mud bath time, almost all the ex-orphans were present and interacted with the dependent orphans for about half an hour. It was quite cool so the orphans didn’t spend much time at the mud bath, as it was ideal browsing weather. Olorien led the way back to the bush. The afternoon was quiet as everyone browed calmly and heartily for the rest of the day.

Melia and Milo were outside when the orphans came out this morning. The Keepers put out some lucerne pellets and shortly later Zurura with two wild bulls arrived too. The little rascal Milo tried to engage Sagateisa in a pushing game but Sagateisa wasn’t interested, and continued feeding on pellets as Milo continued to push her from behind. Naleku passed by and Milo changed his mind and turned to play with Naleku, as he wasn’t getting very far with Sagateisa. Naleku was ready for Milo's games and played with the little bull for some time, until Milo grew tired and went to nurse from his mother. When the pellets were finished Kindani led her friends out for the day.

Esoit teamed up with his favourite Kuishi as all the orphans browsed quietly throughout the morning.

Later in the morning at the mud bath, the orphans were joined by Mutara’s herd, Kinna, Kaia, Kama, Yatta, Yoyo, Yogi, Challa, Olare, Lenana, Lapa, Malima, Oltaiyoni, Enkikwe, Sapalan, Siangiki, Namalok, Olsekki, Barsilinga, Neshashi and Ndiwa. The orphans had their milk then walked to have a mud bath. It was quite sweet to watch Kama saunter over and join the dependent orphans while they were swimming. Roho had a strength testing with Naboishu while still in the water and they had a lot of fun sparring. Later, Kama pushed Roho aside so that she could challenge Naboishu too. Their game ended in a draw. Meanwhile Olorien had some kind of disagreement with Lapa that resulted in a fight. Suguroi, who was passing by, assisted Olorien in fighting Lapa. Lapa couldn't withstand the strength of two girls and so surrendered and walked away.

In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill where they were joined by Mutara’s herd again. An hour later, Mutara’s group walked off, but in doing so they kidnapped Naleku, Sagateisa, Suguroi, Roho, Olorien, Naboishu and Dololo at the same time! It took the Keepers three hours to locate the kidnapped babies and led by Naleku, the orphans were frog-marched back to the safety of the stockades for the night.

The area was calm in the morning as we heard no roaring lions in the night like the past two days. Several wild bulls were drinking water at the stockade water troughs as the orphans came out of their night stockades. Shortly later, the ex-orphans showed up and joined the orphans. Bondeni found a suitable rock that he used to scratch his rear end on. Kinyei warmed up her sleepy limbs by having a pushing game with Lodo. Lapa was there with his mother, Lenana. This funny wild baby seems to have an ongoing feud with our Olorien, and this morning was no different. He walked over to Olorien and pushed her from behind, but Olorien decided not to retaliate today, and just walked away. After having enough lucerne, Jotto led his friends out to the bush where they settled to browse in the Kanziku area.

Dololo, Ambo and Sattao split from the main herd and headed north. It was another hot day and once again Olorien led the way to the mud bath. She is a good time keeper for the dependent herd! All the orphans had their milk and then Naleku led the team into the mud bath to cool off. After wallowing, Suguroi led the way to the loose soil so everyone could dry off.

While browsing in the afternoon, Naboishu, Larro and Sagateisa separated from their friends and disappeared into the bush, but the Keepers were quick to track them down before they got too far! All three were safely brought back to join the herd. Roho led the way back to the stockades for the night.

Sunyei, Saba, Siku, Loijuk, Lili, Enkikwe, Mteto, Naisula, Nyx, Yatta, Yoyo, Yogi, Kauro and Rapa joined the orphans for lucerne in the morning as it is very dry and they would like all the extra food they can get at the moment! Sagateisa had a disagreement with Lili that resulted in a fight. Loijuk, who was nearby, separated the two girls. It was Suguroi who took the lead out to the bush today, and led her friends east. Fourteen wild dogs passed by which drew the attention of the orphans. Mukkoka, Dololo, Ambo and Roho started charging and trumpeting in an effort to scare them away. The wild dogs disappeared as fast as they could! The orphans calmed down and resumed browsing. Musiara came across a nice rock that he used to scratch his belly on. Esoit engaged Bondeni in their usual strength testing game, which was cut short by Kinyei who came in between the two boys.

The orphans browsed calmly as they headed towards the mud bath. It was another very hot day, and when they arrived they found twenty wild bulls between drinking water and mud wallowing. The orphans had their milk then headed straight into the mud bath to cool off. Sagateisa, Naleku and Kindani trumpeted for joy! After swimming, Bondeni, Kindani and Kinyei headed straight to the area where the loose soil was piled high, so they could roll around and dry off. The result of being wet and then soil dusting provides a thick layer of soil stuck to the skin which acts as a good sunscreen. In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse in the Imenti area where they spent a quiet afternoon.

After feeding on lucerne, Dololo led the way out to the bush. The sky was clear and we knew it was going to be another hot day.

Naboishu chose to browse with Larro as the three inseparable orphans Kinyei, Kindani and Bondeni browsed together. Jotto, Ambo, Sattao and Roho split from the main herd and browsed a distance away. Roho later went up to Esoit and Bondeni as he tried to sort out their differences and persuade them against wrestling today. However as soon as Roho left, Esoit and Bondeni turned against each other and started their pushing match, showing that they weren’t even slightly listening to Roho! Kindani and Suguroi settled for a scratching exercise against different trees. Later, Olorien led the way to the mud bath.

The orphans were joined by Melia, Milo, Yatta, Yoyo, Yogi, Chemi Chemo, Pare, Lapa, Lenana, Nasalot, Noah, Ndiwa, Teleki, Tusuja, Malkia and Challa. Olorien and Naleku briefly interacted with Milo and even got to escort him around for a bit. The rascal Milo decided that he had his mother to watch over him though and he didn’t need to be escorted, and so started pushing Olorien and Naleku. They were so happy to have the opportunity to look after a baby, Naleku and Olorien didn't mind Milo’s antics and continued walking with him. Lapa decided to confront Olorien once again, part of his ongoing quarrel with our young girl. Olorien defended herself by pushing Lapa away. Esoit and Suguroi were close by and came forward to help Olorien in driving Lapa away. In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. In the evening Bondeni led the way back to the stockades for the night. 

Just like he used to do, Ambo came out of his stockade and walked straight to the lucerne store. The Keepers saw him and told him to go down and instead wait patiently like his friends. The lucerne was distributed and the ex-orphans who were present joined in. Kinyei scratched her neck against the loading bay wall in the compound. Kauro carried his share of lucerne and settled far away from his friends. He likes to eat much slower than the others, due to the compromised end of his trunk, and likes the peace and quiet to do so. Lapa, in the company of his mother Lenana, pushed Olorien and turned to Sagateisa to do the same. Sagateisa understands Lapa’s behaviour well and knew his next move. When Lapa turned to push her, she was ready for anything. She stood her ground and fought Lapa until Lapa surrendered and retreated to his mother. Sana Sana escorted the dependent orphans out to browse.

Naleku and Kindani started their day’s activities with a restoring soil dusting exercise. Kinyei settled to browse with Bondeni as Mukkoka teamed up with Dololo. As the day grew warmer, Lodo decided to take a break from feeding and relax under a tree with nice shade.

Sana Sana, who had joined the orphans in the morning and decided to stay, had a hidden agenda that the Keepers didn't realise until it came to fruition. At eleven o'clock in the morning, when it was time to head to the mud bath, the Keepers couldn't believe it when they found Naboishu and Sana Sana were not amongst the herd. It dawned on them that the reason Sana Sana had joined the group in the morning was to kidnap Naboishu, and her mission had succeeded! The Keepers took the orphans to the mud bath minus Naboishu — but upon arriving there they found the young bull, happy as could be, in the company of the ex-orphans! Naboishu withdrew from the ex-orphans and came for his share of milk and rejoined his dependent friends. Everyone proceeded to enjoy a playful and refreshing mud bath. In the afternoon, Roho and Naboishu had a strength testing match that lasted for quite a while.

Loijuk, Lili, and Mundusi arrived at the compound in the company of some wild elephants. We noticed a wild mother with her new born baby in the group. After feeding on lucerne, Musiara led the dependent herd out to the bush.

Kindani, Olorien, Sattao, Lodo, Suguroi and Roho settled for a soil dusting session as their first activity of the day. Kindani had a funny style of kneeling down while soil dusting. Sagateisa had a brief chat with Roho before heading to join Naleku to browse. Ex-orphan Zurura passed by as he headed towards the stockade for some water. Kinyei found a suitable rock that she used to scratch her belly on. Bondeni and Jotto found a nice tree to peel some bark from – a common source of nutrition during the dry season. Suguroi briefly talked to Kindani then walked away to challenge Esoit. Esoit didn’t seem in the mood for playing with Suguroi however, as he surrendered before even the challenge started! Mukkoka settled to browse with Dololo as Naboishu teamed up with Roho. It was very hot while the orphans were at the mud bath, and they all had a lengthy swim after finishing their bottles. In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse in the Imenti area.