Juba – the capital of South Sudan – sprawls from the left bank of the Nile towards Jebel Kujor – a craggy ridge of hills that makes a good weekend hike. Since the end of the civil war in 2005, the city has absorbed huge numbers of NGO workers and tens of thousands of rural Sudanese: all across the city the grass-thatched huts of the Dinka, Nuer and Bari compete for space with the old Greek trading houses and the container and prefab hotels and guarded compounds of foreigners. Juba is evolving away from Khartoum every month, its markets bursting with energy. There’s even a new brewery with a new beer – White Bull. . .
Remote Boma National Park lies northeast of Bor, 150km from Ethiopia’s Gambela National Park. It’s part of the vast, seasonally flooded Sudd ecosystem, and shelters hundreds of thousands of animals, including plains antelope, large predators and elephants. . .
(continued on p. 373)
The January 2011 referendum was peaceful and more than 98% of voters said “Yes” to independence. Barring unforeseen hurdles, the government of South Sudan (GoSS) will declare independence from Khartoum on 9 July 2011. Transport links with Kenya and Uganda improve almost weekly but the new country’s visa rules have still to be announced.
Links we like
South Sudan Nation Secession and Independence movement.
This page last edited 9 June 2011 © Richard Trillo and Emma Gregg
First-Time Africa: know before you go 