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Faraja and Quanza reunited with the orphan herd while the orphans were browsing along the Kenzili area. At first, the Keepers were unsure it was Faraja, as he was not expected to be seen on that side of Chyulu, but later they confirmed his identity after also spotting Quanza patrolling and browsing on the shrubs.

Maktao and Kapei went to join Faraja, with Mwashoti following too. Immediately upon reaching him, the boys were full of questions about where Faraja had been during the many days he hadn’t visited. Maktao was busy asking questions, but Mwashoti got himself into trouble when he touched Faraja’s tail. Faraja turned on him and pushed him away, sending Mwashoti off.

Kapei then moved to grab Amali, but Amali ignored his advances when he tried to jump on her back. She could not handle his rough play, so she dodged him and joined Murera and Mwana. When Kapei saw Murera, he did not follow Amali. Instead, he turned his attention to Enkesha — but Enkesha gave him a very tough look, a strong warning not to try his games on her.

Kapei became very troublesome towards Amali today. He would not let Amali get along with the little babies in peace. Every time Amali passed by, Kapei blocked her and even jumped over her back. Amali clearly did not enjoy this. When Kiasa spotted him chasing Amali, she moved in to stop him. Enkesha then joined with Quanza to help Kiasa, as Kapei was not showing her respect. Together they managed to chase Kapei away from Amali.

From the bushes, Alamaya appeared to meet the orphans. His friends Mwashoti and Maktao walked back to welcome him. However, Alamaya was not alone — he had brought some of his wild friends with him. The wild friends stood with Alamaya and at first chased Mwashoti and his friends, blocking them from approaching. Mwashoti did not retreat, and instead, the boys began pushing back and forth in play. Before long, both the wild herd and Mwashoti with his friends understood one another, becoming friendly. They went on to browse together and later moved to the waterholes as companions.

Lima Lima and her team these days have changed their visiting arrangements, since the Kibwezi forest has become very dry due to prolonged drought. Lima Lima, with Sonje and the little angels, now go very far in search of food and fresh branches to eat. When the orphans were ready in the morning, Lima Lima and her team did not show up with the little babies. Only Murera and Mwana, with the rest, came to the pellets. Amali and Enkesha were not at peace when they could not see little Lenny and Zigi around. Amali left with Enkesha to look for the little babies with Lima Lima and Zongoloni. Some elephants were heard screaming on top of the hills, which made Amali and Enkesha go to investigate, but this time they were not lucky. They failed to find the babies and returned back to where Murera and her team were.

Kapei moved to play around with Maktao, who was trying to climb on his back. Kapei also turned his back for Maktao to mount him, but then he played a trick. Just as Maktao was getting ready to climb, Kapei stepped aside, leaving Maktao to fall down to the ground after missing his target.

At the bottle feeding point in the afternoon, the nightclubbers arrived with all their little babies running behind them. When Amali and Enkesha caught their smell, both girls ran to receive Zigi, with Kiasa blowing trumpets and charging at trees around them. The reception was very lively, with loud trumpeting and screaming from all the orphans, Murera included with Mwana. All the noise signalled a very happy reunion of the herd.

Kapei became very mad at Amali when he realised she was enjoying the pods that had fallen to the ground — Sonje had shaken the branches, so that many pods would fall for the babies to eat. Amali shared with Mwana and Sulwe, but greedy Kapei, who wanted it all for himself, pushed Amali as he fought for more space. Sonje and Kiasa turned against him, and he was chased away immediately, leaving Sulwe, Zigi, and the little nannies to enjoy the pods without fighting each other. Then Maktao was also shown the door after he was spotted trying to get back to where the little babies were enjoying their pods. Mwana was very happy, sharing pods with Sulwe and Lenny. Kiasa and Enkesha would not stay too far from the little babies.

When the orphans began moving towards the Umani Springs for a drink of water, a monkey jumped over the tree near where Enkesha and Mwana were browsing. The monkey was chased away, but Mwana and Enkesha got very scared and screamed for help from the older females. Murera and Zongoloni quickly responded, while little Lenny made a tiny trumpet sound. As the Umani orphan baby trumpeter, he blew his trumpet, which brought Lima Lima running over.

Later, Lenny did not want Sulwe to pass by his place. He grabbed Sulwe’s tail, but Sulwe did not give up easily — it turned into a tug-of-war between Sulwe and Lenny. Immediately, Sonje saw Lenny fighting with Sulwe and walked over to stop the two from fighting each other.

It was a very good morning for Amali when she came out of her room and, after waiting a few minutes, saw Quanza arriving with little Sulwe. This made Amali rumble in welcome, as she was very happy to be reunited Sulwe. Then Sonje and Lima Lima arrived with Zigi for the morning pellets. When Lenny reported, he moved towards Murera and went under her for breastfeeding. Murera warned him when he tried, even kicking his head, but he was very persistent. Despite Murera’s signals telling him not to, Lenny insisted until he managed to sip some milk before returning to his mother, Lima Lima.

Later, the journey back into the forest began when Murera and Mwana took off, and all the babies followed their lead. Even big boy Mwashoti joined Murera as the journey began. Once the orphans had left, the feeding area was invaded by hungry baboons who came to clean up the leftovers from the morning pellets.

Later, Maktao and Kapei approached Mwashoti and tried to play, but Mwashoti did not like their plan of pushing each other. When Kapei ignored this and bit his tail, Mwashoti got annoyed and turned against both Kapei and Maktao, pushing them to the side. Seeing that Mwashoti was not in the mood to play, Kapei ran off and joined Enkesha and Quanza, but even they were not ready for games. Both girls ignored Kapei and Maktao. Eventually, everyone settled into their own browsing space, showing seriousness about eating before it became too hot.

Enkesha and Kiasa had a disagreement over Zigi. Enkesha wanted Zigi by her side and blocked him from going towards Kiasa. She did this because she had missed him overnight, while Kiasa had been with Zigi since last night and was not letting him mingle with other nannies. Enkesha hoped for her own time with Zigi, but Kiasa kept calling him over. When Zigi tried to cross the waterhole towards Kiasa, Enkesha blocked him. This denial of Zigi’s movement brought tension, leading to some pushing and pulling between the two nannies.

At the mud bath, everyone enjoyed swimming. Then Mwana and Amali left for the dust pile, climbing to the top of the hill. Mwana won the climbing contest against Amali, and soon they were both lying on the dust with their bellies hanging down. Murera relaxed nearby, sleeping on the slope of the hill and not ready to move anytime soon.

Sonje joined her good friend Murera and little Sulwe walked over too, stepping on Murera with her small feet. Murera only opened her eyes to see who it was, realised it was little Sulwe, and did nothing — letting her continue playing while she rested. Later, Mwana came and woke her mother to take her to the shade, as the hot sun was becoming too much for the babies.

A wild herd showed up today in very big numbers, outnumbering the orphans, who seemed very few in comparison, though almost everyone was present. It began when Faraja arrived first, followed by one wild bull. Soon after, a huge group came rushing out of the bushes towards the waterhole, where they found the orphans already gathered. Sonje and Murera were very surprised to see such a large number joining them. Murera quickly called her baby Mwana and the two left in a hurry, while Lima Lima, Sonje, and the other girls joined them.

Little Sulwe, Lenny, and Zigi were not immediately visible. Lenny proved his courage by joining some wild young boys to play. Zigi, however, sensed the situation was becoming hostile when one wild female turned against Sonje and Zongoloni, chasing them away, so he left with Sulwe. When Lima Lima realised Lenny was still inside the wild herd, she went to fight back for her baby. The Keepers called out for Lenny, urging him to find a way out. At last, he heard his name, spotted a small window, and escaped back to Murera, with Lima Lima escorting him. Once safe, Lenny went straight to nurse from Murera. Mwana was also very happy to see him back. She placed her trunk gently over Lenny in comfort.

Later, Amali called Zigi to join her and Enkesha for a walk, but Kiasa did not want Zigi to leave her side. Kiasa blocked his way, yet Zigi was determined and managed to dodge past her to follow Amali. Upset by this, Kiasa decided to join Zigi and the other nannies as they headed together towards the Chyulu Hills in search of fresh browsing branches.

Kiasa had a small problem with Amali when Amali walked over to Zigi while Kiasa was still at the waterhole drinking. Amali moved in and took off with Zigi, which made Kiasa unhappy. She wanted to be the only one close to Zigi, so she warned Amali. Amali, wanting to avoid trouble, stepped away from Zigi to give Kiasa peace. When Sonje and Quanza saw Kiasa trying to charge at Amali, Quanza quickly stood between them to prevent Kiasa from pushing Amali, who was already innocent of any wrongdoing and had moved away from the baby Zigi.

Mwashoti then arrived with a muddy face after coming from the waterhole, where Faraja and some wild friends had left him. Kapei, with Maktao following, approached Mwashoti in an attempt to assert some dominance over him, even though Mwashoti was very innocent and calm — not to mention much bigger than both young boys. Kapei began pulling Mwashoti’s tail, but soon realised it was a mistake. When Mwashoti started to show his annoyance and prepared to charge, Kapei quickly backed off and moved away.

Maktao was already headed towards the Kibwezi Forest with Enkesha and Lima Lima, while Lenny was with Murera. Lenny tried to persuade Murera to allow him to suckle, but Murera was not ready and firmly warned him to wait. Lenny was not happy about the situation, but Murera’s decision was final, and the Keepers observed how she stood her ground. Resigned, Lenny walked back to his mother, Lima Lima, after realising he was not going to be successful with Murera.

The elephants lined up happily, walking to their midday bottle feeding. Enkesha led the way at first, but later gave up her place to greedy boy Kapei, who was rushing to be number one for the bottles. Maktao came close behind, while Enkesha slipped into third position. She was not interested in competing with the boys, knowing that each elephant would get their one bottle no matter when they arrived. Confident in her speed, she knew she would still get hers in good time.

Suddenly, Faraja and his friend Mwashoti appeared from nowhere. The Keepers had not expected them, as the two had been hiding in the bushes, keeping their faces out of sight to avoid Murera noticing them. Their sudden arrival took everyone by surprise.

At the waterhole, all the babies enjoyed swimming together. Mwana began playing with Faraja, but the game turned inappropriate when Faraja tried to mount her. The Keepers were shocked to see such bad behaviour from the older boy towards such a small calf. Murera immediately rumbled in a low tone to call Mwana back, and Mwana quickly responded, moving away to the safety of her mother. Murera wanted to separate her baby from Faraja, who was clearly trying to imitate wild elephant behaviour in the wrong way with little Mwana.

Meanwhile, Sonje took Sulwe off on their own, keeping away from young boys Kapei, Zigi, and Lenny. A short distance away, Zongoloni gathered the rest of the babies and their mothers, calling them over to help pull down a large acacia branch for everyone to enjoy. Realising she was heading in the wrong direction with Sulwe, Sonje later turned back and joined Zongoloni, so that all the babies could feast on the branches together.

The afternoon grew very hot, with no shade for the babies to play under. The Keepers called them all to a waterhole along the pipeline, where they could find relief in the mud. As soon as they reached the water, the orphans wasted no time, plunging into the mudhole and splashing their chests with cool muddy water before it was time to head home.

Faraja brought a friend with him this morning. Faraja was leading the wild bull, who was keeping a little distance behind, seemingly clueless about where Faraja was taking him. When the wild friend spotted the Keepers, he bolted in a hurry, running back into the forest towards the water springs. He doesn't trust the Keepers, unlike Faraja who was perfectly comfortable with them.

The wild bull, still blowing his trumpet and charging through the bushes, seemed confused and disappointed that Faraja had brought him to humans. Meanwhile, Faraja was delighted to be reunited with the orphans. Lima Lima guided him to where the other babies were browsing with Murera, who had just emerged when Faraja arrived.

Lenny is turning into a friendly young boy. Whenever the Keepers sit under the trees, he insists on approaching them. When one Keeper called his name, he obediently came over — but expected to be given pods. This time, the Keeper had none. Disappointed, Lenny turned around and kicked the Keeper backwards with his bottom before marching off. He went straight to Murera to quench his thirst, convincing her to allow him to nurse.

Kiasa and her close friend Zigi could not be separated. Amali tried to draw Zigi away to join Enkesha, but Kiasa was having none of it and made sure that didn’t happen.

Many wild families continue to visit the orphans almost daily — sometimes in the evening, sometimes joining the herd for the whole day. Today, a lovely young girl about Enkesha’s age came with her family. She intentionally lingered behind when her herd departed, clearly wanting to stay with the orphans.

Her intentions became obvious when she gravitated towards Sulwe. Lenny rushed over to pull her to his side, and soon the playing began. Kiasa joined in, and before long all the babies were pushing and shoving the visitor. They seemed to think she was trying to run off with their youngest, though this was not the case.

When the orphans were heading back to the stockades, Enkesha and Quanza stood at the gate to block the visitor from entering. That was the end of her time with the herd. Left alone, she began trumpeting and searching frantically for her family, but by then they were far gone.

Lima Lima and Zongoloni were particularly protective, while Sonje shielded Sulwe to ensure he stayed well away from the stranger. The young wild girl trumpeted and screamed as she tried to locate her herd, but she was not allowed to leave with any of the babies.

Amali could not hide her joy when the little babies came onto the hills with both nightclubbers, led by Sonje and Lima Lima. Amali had been struggling to see little Zigi, her favourite, and when they failed to report early in the morning she found it very hard to wait. She kept moving around, raising her trunk to test the air for the babies’ scent. When she finally heard Lenny blowing his trumpet, together with Enkesha, they ran into the bushes and soon emerged with Lenny and Zigi pushing in front of them, happily reunited.

Maktao and Mwashoti then showed off their boys’ pushing talents. Maktao approached to test Mwashoti, but quickly discovered that Mwashoti was in no mood to play. He got his own medicine when Mwashoti chased him with all his strength, proving that he was the older bull and deserved respect from youngsters like Maktao and Kapei. After the pushing ended, Enkesha stepped in to broker peace between the boys and to remind them to give Mwashoti the respect he was due.

Later in the day, before evening, the orphans were visited by a wild herd that had clearly just come from the mud bath, their bodies wet and muddy. This wild family seemed to be old friends of Lima Lima and her team, as the nightclubbers welcomed them warmly. Murera and the milk-dependent orphans, however, were less comfortable. Murera quickly called Mwana to her side and moved closer to the Keepers, choosing not to mingle with the wild visitors.

Kapei, meanwhile, found a young wild playmate, but the calf was not interested in his games and ran back to his mother, leaving Kapei stranded on his own. He was later joined by Amali and Kiasa, who coaxed him to walk back with them so they could all go home together.

Zongoloni sped off with Zigi after seeing Murera and Sonje pull down a big branch for the little babies who could not reach the tall branches. She was followed by Kiasa, who would never leave Zigi or even stay far from him — something she never lets happen. Enkesha and Amali also joined them, and soon it became a gathering place for everyone to enjoy the fresh branch pulled down by the matriarchs. Everyone was welcomed to share more of the branch, which was sweet and perfect for the little ones.

Later, Maktao caused some disorder when he tried to play rough with Mwana, mounting her in front of her mother. Murera intervened immediately, stopping Maktao and making it clear that such behaviour would not be tolerated.

Later, Lima Lima heard the tractor heading into the bushes to drop lucerne. Knowing what this meant, she rumbled in excitement. All the orphans followed her as she ran after the tractor, trumpeting as if to announce the delivery. She led the herd straight to where the lucerne was dropped.

The morning was lively, with all the babies in high spirits. Murera came out with Mwana and Amali. Amali was running fast to be the first out, but Kapei blocked her at the gate. Enkesha soon arrived with Mwana, and together they pushed Kapei aside, leaving Murera and her baby to enjoy the morning pellet treats.

Some baboons then approached Mwana, who did not want them near. She charged at them, chasing one after another. She sought backup from her friends, and Quanza and Enkesha joined in to help her keep the baboons away. In the end, Murera led Mwana and the others off towards the Umani Springs.

At the midday bottle feed, every mother came along with her baby. Only Lenny arrived ahead of Lima Lima, in the company of Enkesha and Amali. Lima Lima came a few minutes later with Sonje and others, and found Lenny amusing himself with the bottles. He tried to drink by kicking the empty ones and even attempted to lift a bottle into his mouth, copying the others. But he soon discovered the bottle was too big for his trunk to manage.

The orphans headed back this morning towards Kenzili Hills after Lima Lima arrived and changed the direction from which Murera wanted to go. Lima Lima was not ready for the route Murera had chosen, so she took the lead and steered the group towards Kenzili. In the end, Murera agreed, with Mwana and Amali following her. Later, Mwana left her mother to join Enkesha and Amali, who were busy pulling up acacia roots to eat.

Lenny, the noisemaker, began screaming after Murera refused to let him nurse. When his pleas went unheard, he stormed off on his own. Murera simply moved deeper into the bushes. Quanza observed the situation but soon turned her attention to Sulwe, who was not far off with Sonje. Frustrated, Lenny made his way over to Zigi and grabbed at his tail, but Zigi stood his ground and refused to give Lenny the time to play around with him.

At the waterhole, Mwashoti and Alamaya linked up with the rest of the herd for a swim. Alamaya only splashed some water over his body before leaving for the bushes again, while Mwashoti remained with the girls — Murera, Quanza, Lima Lima, and others — as he always preferred their company.

As Alamaya was leaving the waterhole, two buffaloes appeared and tried to block his path back to the bushes. In response, he raised his ears wide to make himself look larger, steadily moving closer and blowing his trumpet to scare them off. The buffaloes eventually backed down, clearing the way for him.

The orphans followed the water truck that was taking water to the waterholes, and when they reached the waterhole everyone was drinking directly from the truck before the water reached the ground, when it was still clean. Murera and Mwana fought for the wider space for themselves, keeping the other babies away. Kiasa brought Zigi along with her and Amali, and when both had enough water, Kapei and Quanza went to the waterhole and swimming began. Later, only Sonje with Zongoloni took the little babies to the dust pile, but they left for the bushes after finding it too hot for the babies. Both elephants then walked to the Chyulu sides for more food and shade.

Jasiri, with a group of wild elephants, ambushed the babies under the shade, but some of the wild elephants were not friendly to the little ones, making their mothers move away for the peace they needed for their babies. Ziwa and friends arrived again with Mwashoti, who at first excused himself and walked away, but later decided to return with Ziwa and his friends. Ziwa was received into the herd by Quanza and Kiasa. After Ziwa had settled for some minutes with his orphan friends, his adopted mother and her friend approached him and rumbled to tell him it was time to leave. Both Ziwa and his wild herd left quickly, disappearing into the bushes towards the top of the Chyulu Hills for much-needed browsing, leaving Murera and Sonje to guide and take care of the orphans before it was time to return home.

When it was time to come back to the stockades for evening bottles, Amali and Enkesha took over to lead the herd, placing the little babies Lenny and Mwana between the nannies to guide and keep them following. Sulwe then tried to take over from behind to the front, but Sonje called her back and allowed Mwana, Enkesha, and Quanza to lead the orphans to the stockades.

Kiasa was not a happy nanny this morning. She came along with Zongoloni but stayed some distance away, leaving an unusual gap between her and Zigi. This was unlike them, as Zigi has always been her closest little boy who loves her dearly. When both arrived back from their night away from home, it became clear that it was Zongoloni who was upset with Kiasa. The night before, Kiasa must have overstepped her role by misbehaving towards Zongoloni and shielding Zigi even from his mother.

Zongoloni wanted to prove that she remained the mother, and that a nanny must respect the mother’s authority. Family matters had to be dictated by her, not by a nanny. This morning, she made that clear, and Kiasa was left trailing the herd — close enough to follow, but not too close to Zongoloni and Zigi.

Sulwe, meanwhile, was well protected by Sonje and tightly guarded by the older nannies Quanza, Enkesha, and little Amali, while Mwana strolled around with Lenny. Lenny later walked back to Mwashoti, his older “brother,” and played with his little trunk against Mwashoti’s much larger one. Mwashoti even laid his big trunk across Lenny’s back, which looked too heavy for the youngster.

Murera, standing nearby, interpreted Mwashoti’s gesture as a threat to little Lenny. She stepped in and warned Mwashoti to remove his trunk. After he complied, Lenny turned and went under Murera, thanking her in his own way by trying to nurse. Murera calmly let him finish, before moving with him into the shade of the bushes to browse.

Faraja visited with Mwashoti after taking a break of some days away from the orphans. Mwashoti immediately walked over to Sonje and Quanza, who were nearby. Faraja hanging alone, so he decided to go back and look for two wild bulls who had come with him.

The bulls were trying to make their way towards Murera and Mwana, but Murera rumbled loudly to the other babies, telling them it was time to go. Murera never trusts Faraja and his friends. She was then joined by Enkesha, Kiasa, and Lima Lima, and together the elephants walked to the other side of the Kibwezi Forest for more foraging.

Meanwhile, the Keepers had moved away from the wild bulls, who were walking toward them with Faraja. They called the names of the orphans, so they could find them. Kapei, Maktao, and Enkesha were the first elephants to show up, followed by the rest. We proceeded to the waterhole for cooling off time. Amali and Mwana showed the swimming styles and directions, which motivated both the little babies and the nannies to join the swimming pool. Murera and Sonje also kept splashing themselves with water as the babies enjoyed swimming in style.

Murera, the gentle matriarch of Umani Springs, continues to thrive in the Kibwezi Forest despite her old injuries. This morning, she led the herd with calm and strength, guiding the younger orphans Amali, Kapei, and Enkesha, along with her own baby Mwana, out for the new day. Some of the nightclubbers, led by Lima Lima, failed to report on time, but Murera took control and steered the babies towards the Chyulu Hills. As always, she offered protection and comfort in the Kibwezi Forest.

Maktao and Kapei tried to misbehave up front while Murera was nursing Mwana. When she saw the two boys pushing roughly near her baby, she immediately intervened, giving each boy a strong warning. Both quickly retreated into the bushes, not willing to risk the no-nonsense Murera, who never allows rough play near a baby under her watch.

From inside the thick bushes, the Keepers heard the shouting of a little baby elephant. Amali and Enkesha stopped pulling down a branch to listen. They hoped it might be little Lenny and friends coming to join them. When they heard the cries again, Enkesha and Amali went to investigate. They returned with Lima Lima and Sonje, and the team was once again intact.