What if your childhood was spent in the wild with exotic animals and beautiful African nature scenes in the background?
That was the case of French actress Tippi Degré when she was a child. Her parents were nature photographers and were living in Namibia during her early childhood. Although she may not have lived a conventional childhood, it definitely seems like she has some rich memories from her early years.
She was born in 1990 and lived on the African savannah until she was 10 years old.
That means she had 10 years of exploring the wild. Can you imagine how fun that would have been when you were a child?
Her parents are Sylvie Robert and Alain Degré, and they worked as wildlife photographers. It was their job to take pictures of the nature they were exposed to on a daily basis, and Tippi regularly got in on the fun. In fact, she is in many of their pictures. These photos have gone viral not only because they are beautiful, but because they’re pretty shocking. After all, it’s not every day you see a young French girl exploring the African savannah with her animal friends.
In some of the photos, it almost seems as if Tippi would be in danger.
She is posing with huge elephants, cheetahs, and other animals that most people would consider dangerous. However, her mother has assured the public that she was always safe. That’s because they lived in an area where local farmers would regularly take care of the wild animals around them. Because of that, the animals got very used to being surrounded by humans. Some of them were even close to being tame. That’s why Tippi was able to get so close to them and why her parents were able to snap such beautiful pictures of them close together.
Since she got to bond with these animals and their surroundings, she got a unique experience that not many children can say they’ve had. Her mother told the Telegraph:
“She was a lucky little girl. She lived in the wild until she was ten years old. It was just the three of us along with all the animals. We did not have much contact with other people.”
Her mom also said:
“It was a magical time to be able to be out in the wild and free with our child.”
And when you look at the pictures they took of their experiences, it’s easy to see why it was such a special time. Since there weren’t that many other people around, the family just got to bond with each other and with the animals and nature surrounding them. While most people they knew in France were hustling and bustling, they instead got to spend almost all of their time in nature with their family. And Tippi probably got an education that none of her peers got to experience.
When Tippi was 10, the whole family moved back to Paris together.
But that doesn’t mean that she forgot where she came from. In fact, she now has a book called “Tippi: My Book of Africa” where she documents her experiences on the African savannah with photos her parents took. Now, she works as an actress. She has returned to the African savannah several times to film there. She also has worked on several wildlife documentaries where she shares what she learned during her time on the savannah.
And here are even more photos of her:
And finally, look at Tippi today! She is 27 now.
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