A Geographer's Time

Meet Tippi Benjamine Okanti Degré:

A girl who spent her first 10 years on this earth growing up in the African bush amongst ‘wild’ animals. One could even say she is the real life 'Mowgli’. 

Tippi’s parents are French wildlife photographers and filmmakers Alain Degré and Sylvie Robert, who published a book "Tippi My Book of Africa" back in 2005, showcasing breathtaking images of Tippi and her friends. 'She was so at ease with animals. She would talk to them with her eyes and her heart,' said Sylvie.

Born in Windhoek, Namibia in 1990, Tippi was named after the actress Tippi Hedren. Tippi lived with her parents and the three of them travelled through Africa on a unique adventure in which Tippi befriended elephants, leopards and tribespeople (who taught her how to survive on berries and speak their language).

We are assembled here today to pay final respects to our honored dead. And yet it should be noted that in the midst of our sorrow, this death takes place in the shadow of new life, the sunrise of a new world, a world that our beloved comrade gave his life to protect and nourish. He did not feel that sacrifice a vain or empty one… and we will not debate his profound wisdom at these proceedings. Of my friend, I can only say this. Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, …his was the most …human.

favourite films: Hello Dolly (1969)