South Sudan

James writes this entry and note that there are no photos......... a 'photo permit' was required and we were not going anywhere near that bit of bureaucracy, as you will see below!

Juba, South Sudan, how did we end up here?  Despite being one of the newest countries in the world, I doubt that South Sudan is near the top of many people’s wish list as a destination..and with good reason from my perspective.  The best moment of our week in South Sudan was wheels up on departure.  Obviously a very subjective opinion, but somewhat unsurprisingly South Sudan definitely seems to have an edge to it, mostly as a result of the apparent autonomy and power crazed corruption of most  branches of the police and armed forces.  Of course this is based on very limited experience and clearly unfair to the countless fabulous people that I have no doubt live and come from South Sudan.  Indeed the South Sudanese people that I knew in Cairo were some of the most gentle and kind people I have met.

So we cleared Uganda immigration and customs without delay but with the big smiles and jovial welcomes that we had become used to in Uganda.  Indeed the immigration post into South Sudan was very friendly, although they seemed to struggle a bit with the idea of a tourist visa.  Over the next few days I had to explain that I was not attached to any company or NGO many times.  Then to customs and the fun begins.  After 5 hours of coming and going, appealing to all and sundry and general wringing of hands, the difficult customs man told us we would have to sleep in our car at the border and we could talk to the boss in the morning.  Now most border towns have a certain dodgy feeling to them, but this place was just a bit more wild than I fancied.  After much further discussion it was agreed that a customs officer could accompany us to Juba, where the car would be placed in the customs compound over night to sort out issues in the morning.  During all this time many many Kenyan and Ugandan cars were passing the border.  For only the second time in years of African driving, we had a significant drive to do, in the dark, in an unknown African country.  The first time was in Nigeria, and another considerable miscalculation.

As the sun set, the road was great and the scenery stunning.  At one of the numerous police checks, as we neared Juba, a different plain clothes policeman jumps in the car and tells us to drive on.  Once I’d got over the shock and annoyance of strangers jumping in the car we discovered that he had been sent by our friend in Juba to help us into town.  As he was off duty he didn’t have his gun, which seemed to worry him as we approached the hills before Juba.  It started to worry me a little as he told us not to stop for anyone, even if they had a uniform and a gun.  So that night we arrive in Juba and settle in to the absolute luxury of our contacts place.  All is well. HA. Actually the somewhat upset original customs guy is a little confused by the fact that we haven’t gone to the customs compound as agreed, but he is quite easily appeased for 12 hours and we agree to see him in the morning.

Of course on the way to customs the next morning we are stopped by the police and have absolutely no papers.  The Kenyan guy assisting me with the process puts his head in his hands and assures me we’re going to waste a lot of time and spend a lot of money.  However with much apologies and appealing to the traffic cops better nature, we’re allowed to continue…. to the next junction, where we repeat the process.  I’m told by my helper that I must pray a lot to have such luck, now that did make me chuckle.  Juba customs is the expected madhouse of petty officialdom with one or two people going out of their way to help us.  After one guy sternly telling me to drive the car inside to be impounded, he has a shouting match with another official trying to explain that we are tourists, and I’m told to drive outside again.  At which point they close for lunch, obviously.  However after lunch I’m actually issued with a 6 month driving permit and they let me off the deposit normally required for the Temporary Import.  All is well and my legal advisor is once more astounded by our luck.  As he tells his boss, it only cost us “lunch”, having to explain that he actually means our lunch, rather than the “lunch money” that is often the cost of getting anything done in bureaucratic Africa.

Relieved we return to the sanity and safety of the 5 star compound that we are lucky enough to be staying in.  Great food, beer and the swimming pool were waiting.  Unfortunately, also waiting were a pair of plain clothes CID police from the local station who had been sent to fetch me and the car to the station to explain “running a road block” last night.  After bluffs, threats and counter threats I had agreed to go with them before being rescued by friends with contacts.  After much discussion these guys were also appeased, but for how long we really weren’t sure.

The rest of our time in Juba was spent nervously waiting to be arrested, while at the same time registering as aliens and generally keeping our heads down.  Our compound was full of interesting people doing great deeds to help this fledgling country get on it’s feet.  But I lost count of the number of times the excuse that “we are just a baby” was used by officials to explain an absurd system designed to extract the most out of members of the public through exposure to corruption.  It seems that all members of government and officialdom are competing against each other to get their piece of the pie and it mostly depends on who knows the bigger boss.  Thankfully for us we seemed to be rescued on each occasion by people with the right contacts.  I really do hope for the best for the country after it’s tough times in formation and over the first few years…. but I’m not coming back in a hurry.