"Nevertheless, I like the wording "wild breasts". Yippie!"
Makes me think of "wildebreasts", for some reason...
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On our third day my guide Adobe spotted a small herd of wildebreasts in the distance. We made for the brush and crept closer, being quiet so as not to disturb the creatures.
As I reached the far end of the brush I gazed out across the grassland and there they were, watering themselves and sunning lazily around an oasis, light shimmering across their skin, beads of sweat and water droplets forming rivulets down their sides. They were breathtaking!
I counted twenty in the herd, mostly little ones, some older ones, and four elders amongst them. Always in pairs, Adobe had told me, and he was right; the wildebreasts seemed inseperable from their mates.
The little ones bounced around playfully, enjoying the sun and the air, a few of them splashing in the pond. Some were less developed than others, the youngest wildebreasts unsteadily nursing from their parents who held and conforted them lovingly.
The adults watched both watched over the young ones, and kept an eye out for predators. Fully grown, they held themselves majestically and proudly as the gazed out over the grasslands, missing sight of Adobe and myself, fortunately for us, concealed by our foliage cover. The herd contained a complete range of shapes and sizes, each one beautiful and wonderous in its own way.
Even the elders, who had survived this long, wore their lives with pride and confidence, every line and wrinkle a tale in itself. The herd looked to them as their leaders, never straying far as they foraged around the waters edge.
I was so taken by the sight that I had completely forgotten Jones, who had returned to the camp for a dose of medicine for his stomache. In his haste in returning to us, he completely overlooked us and stumbled upon the wildebreast herd, startling them and causing them to flee in panic. But I couldn't bring myself to admonish him, as I watched them bound across the plain, for little can stir a man's heart like the sight of a stampede of free, exhuberant wildebreasts at a full run, flanks rippling and jiggling in the sun and the wind rushing past them. It is truly a sight to behold!
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Information on wildebeests (aka gnus):
http://www.seaworld.org/AnimalBytes/wildebeestab.html