Blogs from Juba, South Sudan, Africa

Most people don’t associate Sudan with tourism, or would ever consider going there on holiday. In fact, few people have heard little about the divided nation except stories of tribal violence and the ongoing crisis in Darfur. But since the recent referendum that voted overwhelmingly in favour of secession, the world’s newest country will be created on July 9th, and with it, whole range of opportunities. Travel writer and photojournalist Levison Wood explains his reasons for visiting the soon-to-be Republic of South Sudan, prior to its independence and what it can offer the intrepid traveller. “We couldn’t even drink beer here until 2005” says Charles, a beaming Dinka tribesman from Juba, the dusty capital of this former rebel stronghold. “Sharia law, imposed by Khartoum, meant t... read more

JUBA the capital of southern Sudan is a good 728 km from Kampala, however the buzz around town makes you feel like you at home; with almost every consume-able commodity bearing the label “made in Uganda”. However the only disappointment is the exorbitant price charged by the traders - almost five times the rate of your average shop back home! Research carried out reveals that Southern Sudan is amongst the most expensive regions/countries to live in; (imagine paying 700 Ug shs to photocopy a paged document!, services that cost 100 shs back in Uganda) . Whilst in their defense they claim that S. Sudan being a landlocked region, procures all goods like foods, construction materials, office stationery, electronics etc from Uganda or Kenya, and future more traders have to incur high transportation cost and double taxations ... read more

All change, after the last river crossing, which was just a normal drive down (albeit with the Boss from the UK HQ in the cab) we got to KK and found the truck had spat the dummy about 100 meters before we got to camp it had decided a gearbox seal was no longer going to work and was merrily pumping oil all over the floor, not a good sign! Being as the truck has the only crane on it for the areas and is a vital support truck, that was me not going back to Juba, the only logical choice was that I was heading to Kampala in Uganda to try and find spares and workshop facilities, the long way round, past a place that a couple of the drivers knew about, that might have ... read more

So am at the end of the second month and it has been an adventure, it has been incredibly busy. OK, so a bit later than 2 months, but has been stupid busy again... After the trip to Malakal in the north it was time to start on the 2 machines in the south, so a quick day drive down the road to a town called Yei, south west of Juba, 160 kms, only takes 6 hours, the road isn't great, it was apparently better than last year when it took even longer. So myself and one of the mechanics from last year drove down on a Saturday, inspected the machiens and had a couple of meetings about some training for the operators that was due to start on the Monday (all the details like accommodation ... read more

South Sudan is a very friendly place, but as many of you know this is just a recent development. For many decades Sudan was committing genocide, and in the Darfur region today the genocide continues. We flew into Juba in South Sudan. Because there is so much UN money in Southern Sudan it is very expensive. We stayed in a hotel that costed 180 dollars for one room. It was extremely basic, and the place was not nice. It was located on the Nile which was very cool. We left early in the morning to do some shopping in the market for the village we would be visiting. We bought 15 bicycles, cookware, and lots of other stuff Craig brought along from Seattle. After shopping we took a 4 hour car ride to Bor. The road ... read more