:: Gurtong Peace Project ::

Southern Sudan is like a large spherical trough with a long panel pointing north. Shaped by highlands, mountains and hills at its eastern, southern and western borders the region lies roughly between latitudes 4 and 10 degrees north.

It is bordered in the north by Northern Sudan and directly south by Uganda, in the southeast by Kenya and in the southwest by the Democratic Republic of Congo. It shares its eastern border with Ethiopia and in the west with the Central African Republic. The area is just over 330,000 sq. miles (over 660,000 sq. km), or about one third the size of Western Europe.

Numerous streams, seasonal and all-season rivers flow into the central trough from the bordering mountains, hills and from the forests of the Congo-water divide and disappear under a canopy of green and the expansive vegetation of the Sudd, the largest grass swamp in the world.

Like mother to all living things that depend on her, the Sudd breaths in and out once a year, acknowledging both the dry and the wet seasons. Breathing in, it dries up seasonal streams, contracts in rivers and her own size and leaves behind large expands of dry savannah and scattered pools far and wide.

Breathing out, she swells her own chest, assisting rivers and streams to overflow their banks and flood large expands of the savannah, thus swallowing up the scattered lakes. This way it regulates and controls the livelihood of cattle herders, fishermen and wildlife alike.

The most notable river is the mighty White Nile, which enters South Sudan with a roar at the border town of Nimule and thunders its way through forested hillsides, rocks and cataracts before slowing down as it approaches to the South’s main city of Juba, from where it flows on more smoothly and majestically towards the town of Bor.

From there it branches out and practically disappears under the Sudd. It then re-emerges just before flowing past the provincial city of Malakal and out into the open grassland and scattered woodland and then across the border into Northern Sudan, where it joins the Blue Nile at Khartoum to form the River Nile that flows on to Egypt and into the Mediterranean.

In spite of the Sudd and floating vegetation, the White Nile is navigable throughout the year from Juba to Khartoum. However, commercial and tourism trips on the river have been reduced to almost nil in the last 21 years of the civil war. In peace time, tourism and commercial travel on the White Nile could be an area of hot investment.

There are two main seasons: wet and dry. Take or give one month, the wet season begins roughly about the end of April and ends about the end of November, followed by dry season. The closer to the Equator, the longer the wet season; the further north from the Equator the shorter the wet season and the longer the dry season. So the climate varies from very hot and humid in the wet season and very hot and dry in the dry season. There are variations of course, depending on the altitude and the season.

With extensive forests, grassland, lakes, rivers and the Sudd, Southern Sudan has had extensive wildlife to rival that of East Africa. However, the civil war has scattered or has diminished the population of the wildlife particularly big game that was easily accessible to tourists close to the cities.

Although the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, SPLM, has in later years made brave attempts at preservation of threatened species like the elephant and the rhino, a lot more remains to be done in peace time to bring their numbers up to an appreciable level. The tourism industry itself will have to be restarted from scratch when peace becomes a reality.

To date (Sept 2004), the main towns of Juba, Wau and Malakal, plus a few other towns like Torit and Bor, are occupied by Government of Sudan’s (GoS) troops and they are regarded as “garrison towns” or “occupied towns” by most Southerners. But many smaller towns and much of the countryside are occupied by the SPLM/A while some areas are occupied by GoS-backed militia rivals of the SPLM/A.

Peace negotiations between the GoS and the SPLM/A, which have been going on in Kenya for the last two years, are nearing an end, with the possible signing of a final peace agreement expected before the end of this year. If peace is signed as expected, many of the current reasons for going to Southern Sudan and the ways and means of getting there may change altogether for the better.

Warning: The war is not yet over, so security is still a priority and one should check onward travel at every stage. Some roads are still land-mined and there are still many guns in the hands of tribal groups or individuals.

Since 1987, the UN-lead humanitarian intervention known as Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) has carried out most of its operations by air from a base in the North Western Kenyan town of Lokichokio. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also established a surgical hospital there to take care of the wounded from the Sudan’s civil war.

Because of lack of a proper road-network, the OLS and the ICRC have relied heavily on the air operation, both for humanitarian supplies to Southern Sudan and the evacuation of the war-wounded. Due to these humanitarian operations, southern Sudan today is dotted with small airfields.

Two years ago, a number of private companies emerged and are flying to some locations inside south Sudan from Kenya, Uganda, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The main access route into the South Sudan is through northwestern Kenya via Turkana District and through the small boarder town of Lokichokio. Lokichokio is 45 km from South Sudan and is the main logistic centre for many humanitarian organisations working in the Sudan under the OLS’ umbrella. From Lokichokio, there are public minibuses to the Sudanese border village of Narus in Kapoeta County.

This route gives access to most of Eastern Equatoria (Torit, Budi, Kapoeta, Lafon and Magwi) and to some parts of South East Upper Nile or Jonglie (Boma, Pochalla, Pibor, Bor north and Duke Counties). Those with four-wheel-drive vehicles can travel to these locations in the dry season.

The access from Uganda is much easier than from Kenya by road. There are daily domestic flights from Entebbe International Airport to the Ugandan border town of Arua. There are also public buses from Kampala to Arua, the journey takes 12 hrs.

From Arua there are local buses to the Ugandan border town of Koboko and the journey there takes 2 hrs; then a further 45minutes by bus to the Sudanese border town of Kaya. It then takes 3hrs by bus from Kaya to Yei, the (SPLM/A’s?) regional headquarter of Equatoria region.

Note: There are commercial vehicles to almost the whole of western Equatoria. Also, large relief convoys travel regularly to many parts of the region. One can also hire a 4wd in Uganda.

The only road that is still not fully operational is the Kitgum (in Uganda) to Ikotos in Eastern Equatoria.

For areas of Southern Sudan occupied by the GoS, enquiries should be made at your nearest Sudanese Embassy.

For those travelling to the SPLM/A controlled areas, the movement’s offices in Kenya and Uganda will issue a foreigner with a travel permit usually at a fee, which varies according to profession. Journalists and researchers are usually charged higher amounts, while aide workers are on the lower scale at about $30 per permit.

The permit is given free to Sudanese Nationals either at the border or at the SPLM Chapter offices at the location of the resident.

Anti-malarial drugs and water purification equipments are highly recommended. But bottled water can also be purchase locally as many small shops in most locations are well stocked with basic items. A mosquito net is also necessity.

Although light clothes are recommended, in dry season, December and January in particular, the temperature drops at night and can be pretty cold in some locations. A sleeping bag or a blanket may come in handy.

Because of many humanitarian operations and the war, the use of radio high frequencies (RHF) is common. It is the main method of communication. For each location there is an SRRC radio which the public has access to depending on the type of call one want to make. Recently, the introduction of portable satellite phone, the “Thuraya”, the size of an ordinary GSM mobile phone, is rapidly coming to wider use.

There are few locations where a private phone for a fee is available. These include Rumbek, Yambio, Yei, Maridi, Thiet, Warawar and Malualkon.

Calls can be place anywhere in the world and the charges are per a minute either at $2 or $3 respectively. Individuals with private satellite have to get a licences from the SPLM directorate of communication.

And the good news is that the SPLM is about to install a full telephone system in few locations: Rumbek, Narus, New Site, Yei and Yambio.

One can also access Internet services at a fee in Yei, Yambio and Rumbek. Through the humanitarian organisations, there are sometimes portable satellite internet connections through the use of the new device known as “Regional Bgan” or “MagicBox” as they are often called.