The Sudd, South Sudan’s White Nile Expedition
The Sudd (Bahr al Jabal) of South Sudan, a vast and remote region on the map still somewhat unknown. Before we set off we had no news (at least online) that any group of travellers had made this great journey in its entirety before, at least in the last few decades.
With very little prior information and expectations in the air, in late January 2025 in Kumakonda we organised a prospective expedition with a group of 11 international travellers to enter the White Nile in the Great Sudd.
What to expect from Sudd or a trip like this?
What to expect? We don’t know yet. Knowing how to manage expectations, how to deal with the uncertainty and improvisation of a real adventure, is not a dish within everyone’s reach. Many of us have in mind the few images that exist of the Sudd: aerial photos of small islands inhabited by fishing families. Others have livestock camps in mind? What might be there, what might we find, that’s what drives us to explore.
The Sudd, the great barrier
The Sudd (from Arabic ‘barrier’) in South Sudan is the largest wetland in Africa. It is called a ‘barrier’ because of the thick layer of vegetation that covers the area. This vegetation makes navigation difficult and can absorb or dissipate more than half of the water it receives from the equatorial lakes via the White Nile.
320 km wide by 400 km long, it is a vast natural labyrinth of swampy lowlands, lagoons and meandering canals flanked by endless monotonous walls of reed beds and papyrus.
A vast region ranging from 40,000 km2 in the dry season, to over 130,000 km2 during the wet season (the size of England), it is still, to this day, unknown and rarely explored by international travellers.
The Sudd ecosystem
The Sudd in South Sudan comprises various ecosystems, from open water and submerged vegetation, to floating vegetation, seasonally flooded forests, dry grasslands fed by the White Nile and floodplain scrub.
Preparing for the Sudd expedition
Once we arrived in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, three motorboats and a local team of three boat drivers, a local leader, a cook and some helpers were waiting for us. We were joined by 11 travellers of different nationalities.
Our plan was to sail up the White Nile from Juba to Malakal in 12 days, crossing the Sudd. A river journey of about 1,000 kilometres of which we knew almost nothing. What’s more, it would also be the first time that our partner in South Sudan would be doing the route. Adventure was guaranteed.
It was to be expected that during our trip we would not have access to the purchase of basic commodities, so we had to carry all our supplies in Juba.
Mineral water, camping equipment, luggage, food and above all 1500 litres of petrol in large 250-litre jerry cans made it clear that we were overloaded.
Leaving the port of Juba took a whole day of waiting with different formalities.
An expedition is not a standard journey: logistical mistakes
The first night I realised several logistical errors. In recent years South Sudan has come into the tourist spotlight for many travellers. The few local agencies that offer tribal tours in the south of the country try to offer some comfort and some good services to their clients. So far, so good.
Our local partner, with good will but little experience in this type of ‘expedition’ travel, wanted to surprise us with large individual South African tents, porcelain tableware, thick mattresses, fridges, generators and many extras that are totally dispensable on a trip like this. As a result, we were overloaded and slower than planned.
After long explanations, I was finally able to convince him that we didn’t need all that comfort, and that we had to leave a lot of material behind to move lighter. It was not easy.
We begin our journey…
Tribes of the Sudd, exploring the wetland
This vast aquatic labyrinth known as the Sudd is home to approximately one million people whose cultures and societies are closely linked to these wetlands, as we witnessed during our journey.
The dominant cultures in the Sudd are the Nuer, Dinka, Shilluk, and Anyuak tribes, all Nilotic peoples and pastoralists indigenous to the Nile Valley. The Mundaris are also found in the vicinity of Bor.
These groups have developed traditions that have allowed them to adapt to the flooded and seasonally variable conditions of the Sudd, living through a combination of nomadic agro-pastoralism, collection of non-timber forest products and above all fishing.
Fishing in the Sudd as an economic engine
From Bor to Adok, the economy is based on fishing and the subsequent salting of fish. On this stretch of the Sudd we sail through the Dinka and Nuer territories. Both are dedicated to fishing, which is extremely abundant in these wetlands.
Hidden among reed beds and papyrus, there are small fishing camps inhabited by families and military men who control the river. These literally floating camps are mainly located on the islands of the Sudd.
Every inch of ground supporting the houses has been won from the water by the placement of a fragile and unstable structure made of reeds and papyrus shavings. Absolutely everything moves in this confined space.
Fishing and salting of fish for export in Sudd
It is difficult to imagine the amount of fish in the Sudd. To give you an idea, with a small rod, a simple fishing line and a baited hook, I managed to catch four fish in half an hour, one of them of considerable size. The communities in the region depend almost exclusively on fishing for their food and livelihood.
The Dinka and Nuer populations living in Sudd dry the fish by stacking them in blocks of several hundred kilograms. Once a week a large barge collects them camp by camp and transports them to Bor, from where they are transported by road to southern South Sudan and mainly to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In this incredible marshy landscape formed by the White Nile, the Dinka and Nuer men fish with nets in small, unsteady-looking canoes. Once caught, the fish are cleaned in the camps and hung to dry, creating sometimes shocking images.
Fishing in the Sudd in numbers
South Sudan has over 100 species of fish, most of which are found in the Sudd. Most of the catch is Nile tilapia, Nile perch and different types of African catfish.
Although most fishing in South Sudan is still for subsistence consumption and sold on local markets, exports to neighbouring countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda have increased considerably in recent years. According to Info Nile and Pulitzer (see report), fish production is expected to increase by 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes of fish per year by 2025 in South Sudan.
The fauna and biodiversity of the Sudd
The Sudd wetlands contain a rich biodiversity with unique wildlife and habitats. On our trip we were able to observe a large number of birds, as well as huge crocodiles and some hippos.
It is not easy to spot wildlife from the river as the thick vegetation impedes vision, but the different habitats of the Sudd marshes are diverse and comprise a unique diversity of species, comprising all the major classes of aquatic organisms, reptiles, birds and mammal species.
These include some 350 species of plants (belonging to different genera), 470 species of birds, more than 100 species of fish, 100 species of mammals and more than 120 species of insects, as well as an unknown number of reptile and amphibian species. Insects were also well represented during our trip, especially mosquitoes.
Cattle camps in Sudd South Sudan
I think that all of us travellers on this South Sudan expedition had in mind that it would be possible to find numerous cattle camps such as the famous Mundari camps. The truth is that, as we have seen on our trip to South Sudan, the Sudd is one of the African regions most affected by climate change.
Climate change, floods, displacement and other challenges in Sudd
Increasingly frequent flooding in the Sudd due to climate change is affecting communities in the region. The destruction of villages and fishing camps is causing thousands of people to be displaced. Also, with much more land flooded, livestock camps are increasingly moving out of the Sudd in search of pasture. Consequently, we managed to see almost no cattle camps during our trip beyond the Mundari.
Other threats to Sudd include oil exploration (Sudd contains South Sudan’s largest oil reserves) and the Jonglei Canal project.
We continue with the chronicles of our trip to South Sudan through South Sudan.
What we initially thought would be 5 or 6 hours of sailing per day turned into full 10-hour days, due to the overloading of the boats and the increasing number of military checkpoints.
The further into the Sudd we went, the more military checkpoints there were. At each checkpoint, travel documents had to be presented and ‘payments’ had to be negotiated.
Arriving in the large towns of the region such as Bor, Shambe or Adok was not easy either. Everyone wanted to know, everyone wanted their share of the cake. Spending a night in each of them meant hours of bureaucratic red tape. As expected, photography was not allowed in many cases.
In Shambe we were warmly welcomed by all the local authorities, civilian and military, with a staging that made us fantasise that we were presidents of the government or some important authority.
The hours and hours of sailing were too long. Every morning before embarking, one had to make sure to pass the toilet, because once on the river, there was literally nowhere to stop. It was impossible to stop or get out of the waterways flanked by a wall of papyrus and reeds.
Every few hours, a small camp with a military checkpoint or a checkpoint with a camp. It was never clear to us who was doing what. At each of these stops our movements were very limited. There was nowhere to walk, nor was it easy to go to the toilet. Moving 5 metres away meant a risk of falling into the water, as the platform on the ground was totally unstable.
Setting up camp at a check point or floating fishing camp
Most of the nights were spent on the islands of Sudd. Sometimes at checkpoints, sometimes in small floating fishing villages. Quite an odyssey. There was no space to pitch tents or set up a kitchen. Nor in many cases were there any toilets, so we sometimes had to relieve ourselves with a lot of spectators around, both locals and visitors.
As evening fell, you had to hurry to put on long trousers and cover yourself with mosquito repellent. Thousands of mosquitoes did not hesitate to bite through your clothes. If a light came on, it was the signal to welcome a crowd of curious insects.
The monotony of the landscape was broken at times by some barges that we came across, and by the encounter with fishermen walking along the banks with their nets. In the mornings and afternoons, dozens of birds accompanied us on our navigation.
As expected, an engine broke down.
It was clear that with a tremendous overload and a long journey ahead some engine would fail. And so it did. Halfway through the trip, one of the engines of the three boats we were travelling with gave up, so much for that. And we had to reorganise and we also had to finally get rid of more equipment that was not necessary for this kind of trip. And there, in a random island camp in the middle of the Sudd, we left one of the boats…
Although the speed was the same as with three boats, about 13 kilometres per hour, I began to wonder if we would be able to make it to Malakal in time to catch our flight back to Juba at that pace. The Nile River becomes meandering in sections and the mathematics were starting to work against us, even though the local team assured us otherwise. Maps are sometimes deceiving, mathematics is not.
From Shambe Nuer territory
In the village of Shambe, Dinka territory ended and Nuer territory began. We had begun to see on the men’s faces those huge horizontal scars on their foreheads. From Shambe onwards, the number of military checkpoints also increased considerably, forcing us to stop continuously.
From Adok onwards the economy changes
We arrived in Adok at night. We had been told on the river that the town of Adok was better stocked than the previous ones and that we could find some provisions for the journey, and that there were even some local restaurants. The truth is that we were low on supplies. From the luxury we had been ‘promised’ at the beginning of the trip with totally unnecessary food, things and products, to a total shortage of food. We had gone from one extreme to the other. We had literally run out of food….
Without any expectations we arrived at the port of Adok well after dark. Luck was on our side and we found some fried fish in the local restaurants to fill our stomachs before going to bed.
From Adok onwards, the local economy changed radically. We stopped seeing dried and salted fish in the island camps and began to see trade based on reed and papyrus. Bor was too far away to take fish by river and the local people traded in other products.
To complicate matters further, another engine broke down.
What now? You may be wondering why we don’t hire another boat or repair the engine. The answer is simple: there is nothing available on the Sudd. There are no boats, no engines, hardly any mechanics. There is nothing. If you go into the Sudd you have to be prepared for anything, and you were.
We were at best three full sailing days away from Malakal, just the days we had before our flight date, but we had run out of another boat and, although this time it was repairable, the risk of another breakdown was very high.
We began to see options on the map of how to leave the river. Although the South Sudan team kept telling us that we would make it to Malakal in time, it was clear that it would be impossible. It was time to leave the river and continue on the motorbike.
We leave the river and continue by moto to Bintiu.
There was a weekly flight we could catch in Bintiu and that was our goal. We waited by the river for a few hours until the 15 motorbikes needed to continue the journey on the mainland arrived.
Again, the negotiations were endless. Every person we met along the way was trying to get as much as possible. To give you an idea, after a couple of hours of negotiation, it was agreed to pay 50 USD per bike for a 25-kilometre stretch, plus petrol. That’s a lot of money.
Discovering the Sudd from the mainland
It was an exciting change of scenery. We left behind the monotonous Nile River and the barrier of papyrus and reeds, and along a muddy road a different and very beautiful landscape opened up before us. Lots of different birds, open spaces, cattle camps and traditional villages showed themselves as we passed.
The adventure continued on our trip to South Sudan.
The motorbikes took us to the premises of an oil company because our local guide hoped to find help there. Of course, it was not easy. Without water and without having eaten, it seemed difficult to get to Bintou that day. I really thought it was a long way off.
Despite all the difficulties, the behaviour of the group as a whole was formidable. The laughter and jokes about ourselves were continuous, and neither tiredness nor sometimes frustration created any kind of bad atmosphere on the trip.
A stroke of luck and a large sum of money meant that we managed to get two 4×4 cars so that we could get to Bentiu that day. We dreamed of hotels and restaurant dinners but I was under no illusions. As it was, we arrived and the decent hotels were fully booked by Médecins Sans Frontières and WFP, organisations working with the refugees in Sudan. The city looked like a battlefield.
After enquiring about all the accommodation, we only found a few rooms in a dirty local brothel. There were no more. Nor did we have the tents we had left on the river, the famous South African tents weighing 20 kilograms each…. Crazy. Some of us decided to take our mattresses out to the bar, at least there was cold beer. Meanwhile, in the dirty rooms local men were fucking prostitutes.
Not without complications and having spent the night as best we could, the next day we managed to catch our flight to Juba and leave Sudd behind. A good room and a few hours of rest awaited us in Juba.
Reflections and expectations from our trip to South Sudan
In this day and age where almost everything is written down, where almost every place has been travelled a billion times, where adventure is virtually non-existent and everything is exquisitely planned, to propose and make a trip to South Sudan like this one, and to explore a vast region about which there is hardly any information and where very few foreign people have travelled, I personally believe it has been a privilege of which I am proud.
Maybe this trip has not been as we had in mind, that in a way is the beautiful part of the exploration. We had no photos, we had no texts, there was practically nothing to give us an idea of what we would find during the trip.
We can now say that we have travelled through the Sudd, that we know it, that we know how the people there live, what they do, what their day-to-day lives are like and the difficulties they face. We know what the landscapes of this marshy region are like, and the ecological and geopolitical challenges this region faces.
I think this is travelling, this is exploring. Travelling is not visiting a country for two or three days and taking a selfie. That’s why at Kumakonda we will continue to bet on and offer these crazy things that allow us to get closer to other worlds outside our own. See you in Africa or in the bars of Madrid.
