Lydia Shepard

Lydia Shepard

Lydia Shepard

I love to travel. When I was little, one of my many dreams was to visit every continent. Like most little-girl aspirations, it was quite an ambitious goal.

I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it.

I have been lucky in having a family who also loves the excitement of travel, of experiencing the sensations; the smells, the tastes, the colors, and the sounds. Through this shared curiosity we have been able to travel to several different places, both together as a family, and on our own separate endeavors.

My newest journey that I will embark on is a journey to Africa: first a safari to Botswana and Northern South Africa, and then a six-month study abroad in the Western Cape of South Africa. I want to use this blog to share my experiences with those who are interested enough to read about them, and also to record my memories for my own reasons, both of this trip to Africa and on future journeys. Hope you all enjoy!

Peace



Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Stellenbosch June 1st 2010

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." -Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom And here is the end. After five months of being in Africa, living in Africa, and learning to accept Africa, I will now return back to the US. My emotions are everywhere. Stellenbosch has become my home. The people that I have met here have become my family. The idea of leaving both behind tears me apart. I will miss the mountains, the beautiful natural beauty, the easy-going atmosphere, and the lifelong friends that I have made here. During our final dinner, Hestea told us that South Africa is going to follow us wherever we go. Nothing could be more true than this. I have had experiences here that ... read more

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Stellenbosch May 10th 2010

So, South African winter is in full force. Which basically means that it is COLD (about 60 F) and raining. All the time. Hot and Sunny Stellenbosch is no more. So, What do you do when the going gets tough and all it does is rains? You take off for sunnier, warmer places... like Mozambique. Tomorrow a groups of friends and I are taking off on a flight to Johannesburg, and from there we depart for Kruger National Park, Botswana, Zambia and then finally Mozambique. We will be gone in the bush and to the beach for 16 days: a nice end of the semester journey and escape from the rain with good people. We are all so excited. When we return back to Stellenbosch, I will have only 8 days left before returning back to ... read more
Bored wall paintings
Converted Col'Cacchio pizza box

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Stellenbosch April 23rd 2010

I know it has been a long time since I have updated this thing. I'm sorry for that y'all. Since my last update I have done the Garden Route, roadtripped to Durban, contemplated bungee jumping off of the highest bungee in the world (and then chickened out), and seen Nelson Mandela's jail cell at Robben Island. I will eventually fill you all in. There is something more important that I need to do at the moment. -To Dad and Shannon- Dad, Shannon, I have no doubt in my mind that I would not be where I am today without your loving guidance. You guys kicked me in the ass, pushed me to make this whole semester come together, even when I thought that there was no way it could all happen. You have been nothing but ... read more

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Stellenbosch February 27th 2010

Actually, it would be an understatement to say that it's hot outside. This isn't just tank top and shorts heat that I'm talking about, this is the stupidly hot heat that brings the entirety of Blok 4 to its knees. This is the kind of heat where any amount of energy that needs to be exerted is too much energy. This is the kind of heat where even walking to the pool isn't quite worth melting during the walk there. There is nothing you can do about it but hang out inside with bikini top and a cold drink and hope that maybe the hot African summer sun won't do too much damage today, and maybe if you're lucky, the sprinklers will turn on. As soon as the mercury hits 43 C, its all over from ... read more

Africa February 15th 2010

This past weekend was a very exciting, eventful weekend. Before, I thought that my hike of Cederberg Mountain was the coolest thing I have ever done. However, this past Saturday, I topped that by skydiving over Cape Town. I am no adrenaline junkie, but I would skydive again in a heartbeat. The only truly terrifying part of it was the three seconds before the jump: attached to the parachuter, legs outside the open door of the aircraft, looking down at the landscape you could potentially smash into... but that fear only lasted for a few seconds. It was a beautiful sensation; during the 5,000 or so feet of freefall I felt like I was floating, not falling. It was serene, in a way. Once the parachute opened, I was able to enjoy the view of Cape ... read more
The back of our vests
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Africa » South Africa » Western Cape January 31st 2010

I have just returned from an amazing weekend in the Cederberg mountains. Our trip started with a 4 hour car ride from Stellenbosch to the Cederberg campsite, which is situated between a vineyard and the mountain range. The ride consisted of listening to Miriam Makeba and Goldfish and driving on a sketchy, winding dirt road, the shoulder of which was the edge of a cliff. When we got there the festivities began. Festivities included a big braai and drinks. Braais, by the way, are the South African version of our barbeque, only better because there are more varieties of food, like lamb and such. Its real traditional South African, and really full of meat, and real good. The next morning we hiked a mountain. It was a long hike and it was very hot outside, but ... read more
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Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Stellenbosch January 27th 2010

So, I have been in Stellenbosch for a little over a week now. The University of Stellenbosch is interesting to me, mostly because it is so vastly different from the University of Vermont. First of all, it is bigger, about 20,000 undergrads. Second of all, I'm not sure if I've seen school spirit to quite this level at UVM before. Maybe it's just because its only been first years here until about 3 days ago. I don't know. Some of the activities that I have witnessed include a shopping cart race (unlike any shopping cart race I have ever seen before) and Windows, an event that involved the different residential areas putting on a 5 minute musical production and performing it to the school. Last weekend, a few of us hopped on the metro to Strand ... read more
Windows
Strand Beach
The view from my room

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Stellenbosch January 26th 2010

People have been asking me for my address a lot lately, so here it is: Lydia Shepard PO Box 3271 Matieland Stellenbosch 7602 South Africa ... read more

Africa » South Africa January 26th 2010

So here are some photos... I just figured out how to put them on:/Users/lydiashepard/Desktop/P1030536.jpg... read more
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Africa » Botswana » North-West » Okavango Delta January 14th 2010

Vumbura Plains. There are not words for how amazing of an experience we had at Vumbura Plains. In Kalahari, it was about the hunt. However, in the Delta, its about how close you can get to the animals. How close can I get until I can count every spot on a cheetah? We got off of our bush plain and met ST, our guide. He immediately told us we would be getting up close and personal with the animals. And we did. We got so close to elephants that I could have reached out and touched them. After that, we were in persuit of a leopard, whom we eventually found and followed for a while. it was the closest I thought that we could ever get to a leopard. To any animal, in fact. And then, ... read more




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