Overview
South Sudan’s epic glory is often overshadowed by political conflicts. However, on these 9 days, care to explore the country’s safari potential from the cultural angle. South Sudan possesses some of the few still virgin cultures that have not been wiped out by civilization. A tale of the traditions and cultures will take you on a trip back in time way before modernization.
DAY 1: ARRIVAL AT JUBA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
You will arrive at Juba International Airport to meet our city tour guide, who will happily receive and welcome you to the world’s youngest nation, South Sudan. Your first impression is meeting the tallest people on earth. The rest of the day is to explore, relax, and prepare for the next programs.
Accommodation – Royal Palace Hotel
Meals – Dinner served
DAY 2: JUBA – EXPLORE LOTUKO KINGDOM (4 HOURS DRIVE).
After your nice breakfast, you will embark on your journey to the eastern region of the country along the highway to Kenya, arrive and stop in Torit town for your lunch at Hotel Torit. Thereafter, continue to your destination of Ileuo village. On arrival, you will meet the village guide who will team up with the tour guide leader to brief you on the day program and explain about the Lotuko lifestyle. You will take a nature walk to trek through the rocky pavements of the kingdom, meet the village elders at the parliament, visit the village traditional healer, visit the rainmaker, and then slope back to the camp for your dinner.
Accommodation – Luxury tents with mattresses and pillows provided
Meals – Dinner
DAY 3: MORNING EXPERIENCE WITH LOTUKO KINGDOM – TO EXPLORE LOPIT HILLS – IMEHEJEK VILLAGE (3 HOURS DRIVE).
You will wake up for coffee/tea and snacks, then take a walk to the village to experience Lotuko morning activities and enjoy the amazing sexy traditional dance of Lotuko people. After sloping back for your nice breakfast at the camp, pack and drive for 3 hours to Lopit Hills, arrive and relax with fresh fruits, tea/coffee, and after meet the local guide and village chief for a briefing of the day program. You will take a walk to explore the village, meet the village’s traditional healer, and meet and interact with elders. The Lopit also called the Donge practice transfer of power to the next generation after 22 years of a ruling. This ceremony is considered the most respected of all other ceremonies. They also speak a similar Nilotic language to the Lotuko people. However, Lopit people practice cattle keeping and subsistence farming growing mainly sorghum and groundnuts.
Accommodation – Luxury tents with mattresses and pillows provided
Meals – Lunch and Dinner are served
DAY 4: MORNING EXPERIENCE WITH LOPIT TRADITIONAL DANCERS – EN ROUTE TO BUYA/LARIM HILLS (5 HOURS DRIVE). TRIBE WITH AMAZING BODY SCARIFICTIONS.
After your morning experience with Lopit traditional dancers, have breakfast, you will then pack and drive to the Buya Hills. Arrive and stop and call the 15 center for clearance with county authorities and then proceed to the destination of Kimatong villages. You will arrive and take a nature walk to the most unique and beautiful villages of the Larim people. Explore and experience the evening’s daily activities, and mingle with villagers to learn about their daily lifestyle. The name Buya is a nickname given by the Toposa people, meaning people living in the mountains, but the real ethnic name is Larim. They also pierce their nose, and lips and scarify their bodies as a way of beauty and are considered to own the most sophisticated scarification in the whole of Africa. The ladies with more scars get married very fast, whereas widowed women, wrap coconut leaves around their necks, heads, neck, and hands for 1-2 years till they get remarried by a relative to the diseased husband. However, the Larim people, practice cattle keeping and substance farming, growing mainly sorghum, corn, and simsim.
Accommodation – Luxury tents with mattresses and pillows provided
Meals – Lunch and Dinner are served
DAY 5: MORNING EXPERIENCE WITH BUYA TRADITIONAL DANCERS – EN ROUTE TO TOPOSA REGION (4 HOURS DRIVE). EXPLORE TOPOSA LIFESTYLE.
You will wake up at 5.30 am local time to have coffee and snacks, then walk to the village for the sunrise experience to enjoy the Larim traditional dance. Have breakfast and then pack and drive to Kapoeta town for your lunch. Thereafter proceed to Kotein village for an evening experience of Toposa evening activities. The Toposa are Nilotic-speaking people related to Turkana and Karamojong of Uganda. They keep cattle, camels, sheep, goats, and donkeys. Boys are first given to care for goats and sheep before graduating to look after cattle, which is considered precious wealth.
Accommodation – luxury tents with mattresses and pillows provided
Meals – Lunch and Dinner are served
DAY 6: MORNING EXPERIENCE WITH TOPOSA – DRIVE TO JUBA (7 HOURS DRIVE).
After your sunrise experience with Toposa traditional dancers, have breakfast, pack and drive for 7 hours to Juba. This day will be a long driving day. You will stop at the Torit Hotel to relax and have lunch. Arrive in Juba to check in your rooms. The rest of the day is to relax and walk to the River Nile restaurant for your dinner with a breathtaking view of the mighty Nile.
Accommodation – Royal Palace Hotel
Meals – Dinner in the hotel
DAY 7: VISIT THE BIGGEST MARKET – EN ROUTE TO MUNDARI CATTLE CAMP (1-2 HOURS DRIVE). MUNDARI EVENING EXPERIENCE.
After your nice breakfast, the city tour guide will meet you and take a walk to explore one of the largest markets in the country – Konyokonyo. Visit the biggest churches and mosques in the city, and visit the Garang mausoleum. Thereafter get back to the hotel to have lunch, pack, and drive for 1-2 hours to the Mundari cattle camp. The Mundari traditional lands are located roughly 20-100 kilometers north of Juba, Mundari with their neighbors Dinka keep long-horned Tusti cows, they grow mainly sorghum and groundnuts as their staple food crop with groundnuts as the main cash crop in supplement of cows. You will arrive to witness the daily Mundari evening activities of milking, burning of cow dung, beating of drums to welcome cows back from grazing fields, massaging of bulls etc.
Accommodation – Luxury tents with mattresses and pillows provided
Meals – Dinner with fresh fruits
DAY 8: DEEP EXPERIENCE WITH MUNDARI CATTLE HERDERS – TO VISIT MUNDARI VILLAGES.
You will spend a whole day to see all aspects of the Mundari lifestyle. In the morning, you will experience Mundari young boys and girls wake up by 5.00 am to start collecting cows’ dung and spreading them on open ground to dry for later burn. In the evening, see how they collect cows’ urine to wash cooking utensils, wash their hair directly with cow urine, cow blowing as a way to stimulate milk production. Since cows leave for grazing fields earlier by 9 am and come back at 4-5 pm, you will witness the untying of cows with the beautiful sound of mowing calves and cows. Thereafter have your breakfast, then drive to the Mundari villages of Nyingkabur, one of the largest villages of Mundari along the banks of the Nile. This is to give you full coverage to experience and learn deeply about the lovely Mundari lifestyle. Drive back to the camp for lunch and energy for another amazing Mundari evening activity. This is the most interesting time for photography with smoky arena at sunset and sunrise.
This evening you will have a farewell party with the team together with Mundari warriors, and enjoy the night of Mundari traditional dance and disco dance.
Accommodation – Luxury tents with mattresses and pillows provided
Meals – Breakfast, Lunch, And Dinner
DAY 9: LAST PHOTOS WITH MUNDARI IN THE MORNING – HOTEL FOR DAY USE – LUNCH AND TRANSFER TO JUBA AIRPOT – FLIGHT BACK HOME (END OF TRIP).
After your morning’s last photos with Mundari, have breakfast and drive to Juba for hotel day use to take shower, have lunch and transfer to juba airport for your flight back home.
The program has the following included.
- All government permits
- Transport for the whole trip.
- Food and drinking water with fresh fruits.
- 2 nights accommodation in a hotel.
- Camping gears
- Alien registration for 72 hours
- Guiding fees
- Tribes visiting charges
- Pick up and transfer to the airport
- Security checkpoints
- Invitation letters for Evisa approval
- Chef/cook pay
- Supportive staff, drivers, and camp managers.
Excludes the following.
- E visa processing
- Flights both local and international
- Medicine and life insurance
- Personal expenses and donations to communities
- All liquors and soft drinks
- Tips for the team
- All that’s not mentioned in the program