“And he grew and grew strong as a boy must grow who does not know that he is learning any lessons, and who has nothing in the world to think of except things to eat” (23).”
– Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book
TIPPI : A girl raised in wild for 10 years, much like the Rudyard Kiplings “The jungle book” character mowgli, riding on an African elephant, ostrich, hunting like bushmen.
There’s something about childhood friends that you just can’t replace but tippi friends included the wild beasts of the jungle with whom she played,ate,slept and learnt the survival techniques in the wild.
Her friends included Abu the African elephant, meerkat friend,Linda a tamed ostrich,sea birds,Cindy the baboon,J&B, a tame adult leopard, a mongoose, a cheetah, a snake, a zebra, a few chameleons and some giant bullfrogs.
Childhood is the world of miracle or of magic: it is as if creation rose luminously out of the night, all new and fresh and astonishing.
Everyone must have had pretty laid back childhood, playing all day, eating whatever you wanted, enjoying with friends and so on. everyone cherishes the memories of childhood spent with our best friends. Tippi chose to be different.
Tippi’s story and her pictures are so profound that you’d want to keep looking at them forever . Who wouldn’t want to have had such an amazing childhood?
Exploring the wild with her friend.
Abu the African elephant
J&B, a tame adult leopard
They accepted her in their life
Linda a tamed ostrich
According to Tippi’s mother Sylvia, “It was magical to be able to be free in this nature with this child. She was a very lucky little girl – she was born and raised until the age of 10 totally in the wild. It was just the three of us living in the wild with the animals and not too many humans. She was in the mindset of these animals. She believed the animals were her size and her friends. She was using her imagination to live in these different conditions.”
Taking naps with a Mufasa a lion cub
Snake Kissing tippi
Gecko playing around tippi
Hugging a bullfrog
Growing up among the native tribes people of Namibia
She was taught all sorts of survival techniques of the wild
Sipping water
Leading the march with abu.
Tippi with the local bushmen
