SOUTH SUDAN enter and exit was difficult even worse. En Kampala, Uganda, we had to use our contacts to get the difficult Sudanese visa. A few days before and we had gotten other contacts, in Nairobi, Kenya, visa of GOSS (Government of Southern Sudan).
Two ATVs crossed and entered Kenya in Uganda, north of the country and closer to Sudan were slowly disappearing villages. As we opened our way in a narrow, dusty road signs warning of the presence of landmines began to appear. There was no doubt, we were near the border.
Once inside Sudan and Juba address (Capital GOSS) We started selling weapons frequently, crossed several tanks were destroyed and machinery raking the sides of the road in search of landmines.
Juba is a precarious city, has grown considerably in recent years and is extremely expensive. There hotels offer a square of plastic with air conditioning and shared by more than 100 dollars. In the hotel where I stayed, were staying NGO workers from ex-combatants to Iraq, that arms trafficking engaged.
We had to start negotiations with the Ministry of Wildlife and Tourism to get permits and Passes to get overland to a virtually unknown National Park. We were in search of the second largest migration of mammals of Africa and tribes which retain their traditional customs and costumes. The saw, as the could see for hundreds of years, as not being influenced by the customs of the white, are in a purer style.
Few whites had followed the route we were drawing. We did not know how many days it would take to get, not even arrive, as, we had no certainty of state routes, anyway, We were in 4×4. And we were convinced that the wisdom of a Swahili proverb: “where there is a desire, there is a path”.
We present in South Sudan is a temporary peace, anytime war could erupt again.
Sudan is a country that until recently 4 years was in civil war, Northerners,Arabs are, are provided by the government and try to oppress and exterminate the African tribes that lie south of the country. Through the United Nations has achieved a highly sought peace, this could only be achieved with the agreement to make a plebiscite to be held in the 2011 and decide whether the south will separate from the north.
The floor of Boma National Park and surrounding area is of Black Cotton (black cotton) call the sticky mud and impassable in the rainy season. The difficult access to this huge national park and the lack of towns in the vicinity were the main reasons for their animals would survive during the 30 years of civil war. Thanks to this, nowadays, is possible to see migrating antelopes 750mil seeking greener pastures with a sheet that has almost 2 times the size of Serengeti. These are barren and insecure land, Tourists do not come here.
We we were 8 Mzungus (whites) and 2 Tanzanian drivers, we were well equipped with 2 Land Cruiser con GPS, satellite phones and we were protected by 2 local SPLA soldiers (military force in the Liberation Army in southern Sudan) heavily armed, even up with hand grenades. We also had cigarettes, razors and soaps, to facilitate our right of way or to give as fungi armed men of different tribes,courtesy to be liked and so we avoid the demanded pointing their automatic weapons. The Ministry we were forced to carry two soldiers, that were useful, as, twice armed men signaled us to stop, but when he went to military custody changed its position, gave way and we walked to the side of the road.
Interwell, jumps and wobbles were crossed rivers and mountains in our 4×4, slowly we entered into a forgotten territory and little visited, We started to see tribes, but in the more authentic tribal sense that is without the Western influence. The more we were getting inside the Sudan savanna, saw them with their typical leather garments, blankets directly with the naked. Some wore furs, others wore feathers, several were wearing hats and many had their faces and torso with scarification, ie skin tags of different designs, were of the tribes Toposa, July, Murle y Nyangatom.
They crossed us roadside, carrying their cows or goats with a stick in one hand and an automatic weapon in the other. Those who did not go with an AK 47, carried bows and arrows, and even went with a few spears. Normally they will walk from one village to another and it is not uncommon to walk 150 kilometers 2 days. We saw them take water in the puddles of the road because the wells are far from each other.
The villages seemed taken out of a Disney movie, They were so beautiful and simple. Some huts were sobreelevadas and other, with the floor came to have two levels. They were built with sticks, reeds and straws. Each village was surrounded by a wall with thorny branches.
Unfortunately the only way to see the migration of antelopes, I was flying, and that despite being in the dry season, daily morning rain abnegó roads.
For this reason, We decided to go as soon as possible to visit the tribes in the area. We hired porters and made a trek to a village Kachipo, They are cousins of the Surma, plates used on the lips and ears. They commented that we were the first white men who came to the village. Lucky, since that night were partying, while the women finished preparing homemade beer, men chatting around the fire. When they began to nightfall came more from other villages Kachipos, began dancing and singing, sometimes they were accompanied by shots in the air. Slowly the party around a little more aggressive and after midnight when we perceive that some of them were not happy with our presence, irnos decided to sleep, from our tents, that were within the village, We continue to hear their songs and gunfire for several hours more.
The next morning we went in search of other tribes and spent a couple of nights with Toposas, scarification and stunning with a populated dream.
The scarification is made with a knife or sharp object. Different patterns on the skin are drawn, and while they heal completely, the back is open. So, repeat it over and over again. The more times the wound open, the profile will have the back scar. Another way to gain more attention, is put herbs on wounds. These scars are on the ground! Body ornaments, each conveys a lot of information: Tribe, el status social, the transition from childhood to adulthood, Carrier exploits ... etc. As an example, sometimes each line that is marked on the skin refers to the enemies that have killed.
Returning to Juba the rear differential broke one of the vehicles, the rain ceased, roads became more difficult and were isolated by water and mud for two days. Food and water became scarce, Dining villagers bought chickens and we had to send to Toposa to the next village to bring us water, because our stomach not resist taking water from the wells of the road.
A missionary priest drove us with a tractor 30 miles to a main road. From this path we could only move forward when, luckily,stop raining,but puddles and swamps of the road had multiplied and were rivers in unusual places. Several times it took over 2 hours to remove the vehicle from mud or rivers. So back to Juba with 3 day delay, some of my companions had lost their flights, but as back ground, I delay Aun mas days repairing them road to finally, return to Uganda.
Javier Remon