Bald white chick in South Sudan (March 2023)

Going straight from Afghanistan to South Sudan was going to be a culture shock. The minute I boarded the flight in Kabul to Dubai, the hijab was off! Nearly two weeks (Somaliland and Afghanistan) of the hijab and I had new found respect for my Muslim colleagues. They looked so glamorous and natural in theirs. I looked like a child unable to get the right style. I flew from Kabul to Dubai to Nairobi to Juba, a little long winded but apparently the quickest way to get there that day! My evisa had been issued in advance and I’d diligently prevented any immigration officer in any country, stamping on my last six consecutive pages in my passport to avoid having to pay a bribe to immigration. I got on the fairly small plane in Nairobi, which was fairly empty and was seated next to a very well travelled gentleman from the WHO. He asked what I did for a living, I told him. He asked where I lived so I told him and then he asked “who do you work for in Juba?” I replied “I’m going on vacation”. He looked at me quizzically before responding “vacation?! Are you for real!”. Laughing we both agreed it wasn’t the typical holiday spot. He asked me where else I’d been in Africa. I told him “a better question would be, where haven’t you been?”. We starting talking about the various countries in Africa I had left on my travel bucket list (about eleven), to which he’d been to virtually all of them and gave me some tips on when to go, where to go and wished me luck.

On arriving in Juba, I had been pre-warned by a number of travel buddies how difficult immigration was. I was a little nervous (down to being very tired, a little over the African bribery system, and having just spent 10 days in Afghanistan) and my guard was up! I handed my passport to the immigration guy with a smile and a “hello, how are you?” He passed it to a lady, who took a look and before I knew it my passport was being stamped on half a page, (with other stamps on) much to my annoyance! I was through, just the bag check (super nervous about this) with my T-ban souvenir flag and “I love Afghanistan” key ring hidden with my underwear! No need to stress, I unzipped the bag, they gave it a cursory glance and waved me through. The local guide having seen my photo in advance, quickly summoned me over to wait for the others to come through.

We got to the hotel that was very close to the airport and were told to chill out until the briefing meeting at 6pm. Being with a few of my buddies, we quickly got a beer and headed to the swimming pool. It was warm and the water was the perfect temperature (albeit a little dirty - but sparkly clean compared to the Angolan swimming pool we last swam in!) and the beer was ice cold. The perfect was to start my next adventure, especially after the dry conditions in Afghanistan.

We whizzed through the briefing with the main highlights being, don't take photos in Juba and make sure you buy gifts for the Mundari tribe! I could definitely do the second, not so sure about the first! I love taking photos so I can share my adventures with family and friends afterwards so not being allowed to take photos was disappointing, but.I needn't have worried. Despite a lot of African women being bald/shaving their heads, or having very short hair (and looking stunning!) it is very rare to see a bald white women and especially in Africa. Even from one of my first trips to Africa in 2004 to Namibia, I can remember people coming up and touching me on the head in total fascination. In the DRC in 2019, I was treated like royalty, with people running up to the car to wave at me. It is such a surreal and humbling experience.

Dinner was at a beautiful restaurant on the river Juba, eating steak (as we wouldn't be eating it the next night!). I already know four people on the trip from my recent adventures in Angola and I ended up sitting with my buddy Marko (sweet gay guy) and his eye candy for the evening (a very camp guy) called Mark. Mark was a pilot and lived in Abu Dhabi. We quickly started chatting about living in the Middle East and when Mark got up to get more food from the buffet I raised my eyebrows at Marko who replied “he’s just my type!” I responded with “good luck!”. The next day at breakfast I was surprised to find out Mark was straight! Marko and I laughed about how both our gaydars were off! 😂😂😂

The next morning, we changed money and headed to the market. The market was predominantly the social area where local people met to do their groceries, buy clothes and catch up with each other. It was very busy and full of different stalls and crafts with beautiful fabrics, fruit and veg, seamstresses (I'm not sure what the term for a male seamstress is!) and the moment I took my baseball cap off (because it was super hot and we were in the shade) people were coming over to the guide asking if they could have a photo with me. I responded, "only if I can get one too!" and that was how it started, getting photos in secretive Juba, which many a travel buddy before had told me was impossible to do! It was such an awesome feeling to be interacting with local people who typically shied away from the tourist camera, but were openly asking for a picture.

The market was very different to the luxury supermarkets I had seen in Khartoum, Sudan, which I had visited earlier in 2023. South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan on 9th July 2011 and is currently the worlds newest country. The independence marked the end of Africa’s longest running civil war. A referendum after six years of the end of the civil war (2005) was granted to the southern states where the people of now South Sudan voted overwhelming to secede from Sudan after feeling marginalised by the Sudanese government in the North that was predominantly Arab and Muslim. The South Sudanese people are predominantly Christian and Animist.

After the market, we went to a local church, the university and then for a late lunch. The university was an interesting place and you got a real reality check for how fortunate we are to study at top universities with an abundance of resources, including online journals, massive libraries and reliable wifi. The university in Juba, still had desktop computers, limited internet and a very small library, yet still, the medical students we talked to were determined to succeed. It was so great to see students that were keen to learn and better themselves and build a brighter future, rather than students been forced to study to help their futures, or even being paid to study.

Food in a lot of places can be tricky for me so I tend to stick to meat or fish and veggies due to my nut and chickpea allergy. I listened to all the options and decided the safe bet was the “meat kombo”. What could go wrong with a plate of meat?! After Juba - nothing would surprise me. My lunch turned up as a plate of green goo. Didn’t look like a meat combo to me! “Does this have nuts in?” I asked. “No was the response I got from the waitress. Looks weird, smells weird, been assured of no nuts. I gave it a try. Immediately my lips and tongue are tingling. “Most definitely nuts” I say. “So much for an easy lunch!” 😂😂😂. In the end I had the goat soup. Not bad - more meat, then the meat combo!!

After lunch it was time to drive to the Mundari tribe, which we were relieved to hear were only about an hour and a half drive away from Juba. This was a result, as they move around, so technically could be anywhere along the Nile. The Mundari tribe are a small ethnic group of people (c. 75-100k) living around 75km north of Juba - they have the White Nile to the East which is an important water source for their cattle. They are mainly cattle herders and agriculturalists and they are indigenous to the Nile valley (Nilotic). They set up camps that they migrate between in search of fresh, green grass for their cows. I had seen many photos of the Mandyri tribe and I must admit, I was super excited to be heading out to meet them and camp overnight.

We arrived late afternoon, having been stopped at security checks many times along the road, In Afghanistan, we had travelled bribe free for 10 days, now I remembered the perils of African travel and why I'd taken a break from it!!

The Mundari's were super friendly from the moment we arrived, showing us around their camp, the river they sourced water from and allowed us to take pictures to our hearts content! The river was looked magical at sunset and we saw many women heading to swim just before dusk, as we were heading back into the camp.

They also had an abundance of AK47's that they used to deter any potential predators to their precious cattle. After my trips from the past 12 months, I have near constantly been surround by security and guns, or seen the devastating effects of the wars that have raged in many countries, even in recent years. I am still always shocked by how heavy the guns are and how strong those that carry them all day as well as use them must be, to bear that weight. But it's such a shame that these weapons are abundantly used and in some cases need to be used for protection in 2023.

I was standing there, next to a very sweet, but very tall Mundari tribesman, posing for a photo with my new AK47, when one of the group said "please don't point the gun at me!! My finger wasn't on the trigger (quite a relief) but apparently the gun's safety wasn't on and it WAS loaded- the Mundari, are on alert constantly it would seem. I quickly gave the gun back before I caused injury to an innocent victim! At any rate, the sun was starting to set and I really wanted to focus on getting photos of the cows with the sun in certain positions, hoping to get some great snaps, whilst still feeling part of the atmospheric experience of the camp.

At night, the fires burn constantly and the cows tend to form a loose circle around that fire (they are tied up) but I assume they are not trying to keep warm! We stayed in tents, at the side of the camp and had a few beers whilst our food was cooked (no beef tonight!) and we got our bedding ready to sleep. I really love camping in Africa and a lot of my early travelling was camping in Southern Africa for weeks at a time. I always sleep so well. However, I have to keep this quiet, as when you are travelling with a group and there is a camping night, most of the group get up advising they "didn't sleep for a minute" or "what a long night." I on the other had wake up fresh and ready for the day having had eight glorious hours of peaceful sleep, totally unaware that the one other person who slept through the night was snoring like a chainsaw and had kept everyone else awake! I didn't hear a thing! Oops.

The Mundari tribe have some interesting traditions that I must admit, I am NEVER going to understand! They like to wash themselves and their hair in the cow's urine. I guess this is useful they have such a large herd, as there is an abundance of washing facilities available, although you have to be ready at a moments notice!! The men especially take pride in showcasing their bright orange hair which demonstrates they have been peed on, multiple times, almost using it as a status symbol.

The Mundari make fires with the cow dung that the kids collect from around the camp, in order to ward away the mosquitos, but also to keep the camp clean. The smoke that rises, makes the cows look mysterious and very photogenic at certain times of day. The best times are around sunrise and sunset where the smoke from the smouldering cow poop as well as the beautiful light of the low placed sun, gives the "cow breaking free of the smoke look" that South Sudan is famous for.

The mornings are a very busy time for the tribes, rising just before the sun, to focus on their chores. The children that are old enough help clean the cows, as they did the night before, by rubbing the ash from the fires on them, the younger ones collect the new source material for the fires for that day that was produced overnight by the cows that are all collected together in the camp. The women look after the children as well as preparing food and milking the cows before the cows go out to graze for the day with the men.

Before heading out that morning, the men were showing us how they keep fit and test their strength against the other men within the tribe, although it was kept friendly, you could tell that there was a real machoism each time they wrestled and there was quite some prestige in staying in "the ring" for the new opponent to attempt to beat the winner of the previous fight.

Although each family has their own set of cows that they own and look after, they all go out together as a tribe despite the families having their own separate (although very close together) areas within the camp for their cows to be kept overnight.

After the men and the cows had vacated the camp in the morning, we spent some time hanging out with the women and children, gave them gifts of sugar, coffee and some spices, before saying our thank you's and good byes.

I wish I had known to take some kids clothes out to the camp. We were told to bring the coffee and sugar, but could quite easily have bought some clothes in the market in Juba before heading out. For anyone else visiting the tribes after me, please take some basic clothes for the kids. they do need them and it would really help them out.

We headed back to Juba and took photos of the street art, before a final dinner to say goodbye to my new friends. Another awesome trip, but what a crazy, random, culturally diverse two weeks it had been! Thank you South Sudan for such an incredible experience, far too short, but very memorable!