Tippy Benjamin Okant DeGraw - a unique French.She was born in June 1990.Parents Tippi - Sylvia and Alan - professional photographers, they take pictures of wildlife for various publications.
Tippy Long before the birth of her parents once came across in some book on the article on the fauna of West Africa.And there was a photograph of two cute little animals - mongoose-turn over.Sylvia and Alan have decided to go on a trip to Africa to see mongooses live, and stayed there.
In total DeGraw family lived in the Kalahari Desert for seven years, on the border between the states of Namibia, West Africa and Botswana.Sylvia and Alan DeGraw filmed many documentaries about animals, released several albums of the African fauna.When Tippi was born, the management of the West African national park for safety reasons the girls demanded that the family left DeGraw Reserve.
DeGraw moved to the reserve in Botswana.There also were not thrilled with the fact that the child will grow among wild animals allowed to live in the park.
Most of Namibia - a very dry savannah and desert, not all forests and tropical moist and dry.With a relatively warm climate in these areas (as opposed to the rest of Africa) are not so many parasites and other microorganisms that cause various dangerous diseases.Therefore DeGraw and settled there.
Tippi's parents in search of new photos spent whole days in the nature and overall took his daughter with him.The girl studied the dangers that await human nature: snakes, scorpions, wild cats, which need to look straight in the eye, never turn your back on them and not run away from them."It just sounds so complicated - mother says the girl - but actually much more difficult to teach a child pedestrian rules."
fellow in children's games and friends for Tippi from infancy were wild animals, including an old elephant, Abu, leopards, crocodiles, lions, giraffes, huge frog-bulls, and even chameleons, as well as a lot of other animals.
And, of course, the natives of the Kalahari became best friends for a little French.Tippy Aborigines taught not only their language and customs, but also a variety of other useful things, such as to produce edible roots and berries.
itself Tippi says about animals: "Well, they were not really wild and people are used to seeing most of his life, it's all the same to reserve!I would not be walking with strangers lions.I'm still not crazy!A really wild was only one frog. "
later Tippy with his parents moved to Madagascar, and when she was 10 years old, the family returned to their homeland, France.
Paris Tippy went to a local school the first two years, butthen I began to study at home because the school for her it was too unfamiliar, unusual, because life in the wild is very different from life in the civilized world.
general, live in the city Tippy is not very much. Too noisy, too dirty, toounlike the familiar world with the natives and animals. Tippy drinking just plain water, no Fanta or Coca-Cola.
She had to learn the modern world again, because she used to be so far away from him.
Tippy regrets that all her knowledge wasuseless in the modern world. She knew all kinds of chameleons, but did not know anything about Harry Potter. She knew how to behave when meeting with a baboon, but frightened the subway.She played with the elephants and never talked with a friend.She kept under the bed pythons, but I have never heard of Michael Jackson.
In a small two-room apartment all family DeGraw recalls life in Africa.Exotic African furniture, on the floor - African vases, on the walls - African masks, even African dishes.Tippy itself feels real African woman - because she was born and raised in Africa!
book about the adventures of Tippi - "Tippi of Africa" - was published and translated into many languages.It is even more popular than the books about Harry Potter!Tippy is not only the main character of this book, but also one of its authors.And still Tippi leads his journal on the Internet.
After moving to Paris Tippi for some time, returned to Africa to make six documentaries for the famous channel Discovery.
Now Tippi Degré student at the University of Sorbonne in Paris.It studies the art of cinema.
Photo source: "Tippi of Africa"
Articles Source: zateevo.ru
