No, South Sudan is one of the hardest countries in Africa to backpack alone, and most visitors use a local fixer for at least part of the trip.
Beyond the visa (around US$100), you need a travel permit and a photography permit from offices in
Juba, and police checkpoints will ask for both. Budget guesthouses barely exist; expect US$40 to 150 a night in the capital. Solo travel works on the Juba to
Nimule highway, but the cattle camps at
Terekeka and the eastern towns need a fixer and 4x4, usually US$150 to 300 a day including driver.
Plan 5 days for South Sudan if you only want Juba and the cattle camps, and 10 to 15 days to see more than one region.
Five days covers 2 nights in
Juba plus 2 nights at the Mundari camps near
Terekeka, 2 hours away. Ten days lets you add
Nimule National Park (3 to 4 hours south) and the
Imatong Mountains and
Kapoeta in the east. Fifteen days adds flights to
Wau and
Yambio. Leave one spare day for permits in the capital, since offices close early and processing can take 24 to 48 hours.
Partly: in South Sudan you can reach Nimule and the main cities without a car, but the cattle camps, mountains and eastern towns need a hired 4x4.
Shared minibuses run the paved road from
Juba to
Nimule in 3 to 4 hours for roughly US$10 to 20. Inside Juba, boda-boda motorbikes cost US$1 to 3 a ride. For
Wau and
Yambio, small domestic flights take 1 to 1.5 hours and cost around US$150 to 300 one way. A 4x4 with driver for
Terekeka,
Torit or
Kapoeta runs about US$150 to 250 a day plus fuel.
The Mundari cattle camps near Terekeka are the one place in South Sudan nearly every visitor should see, followed by Juba’s national landmarks and Nimule National Park.
In
Juba, visit the
John Garang Mausoleum and the
Nyakuron Cultural Centre over 1 to 2 days.
Terekeka is a 2-hour drive north, and 2 nights there let you catch both sunset and dawn in the camps.
Nimule National Park, 3 to 4 hours south, has elephants and hippos along the Nile. With 10 days or more, add the
Imatong Mountains and
Mount Kinyeti (3,187 meters) and the Toposa market in
Kapoeta.
If time is short in South Sudan, skip the far north and the remote parks, and keep everything within a day’s drive of Juba.
Malakal,
Boma National Park and the towns of Jonglei such as
Akobo and
Pibor need charter flights or multi-day road trips, and access changes with security. Juba’s stadiums can also go.
Wau and
Yambio are rewarding but cost US$150 to 300 per flight leg, so drop them on a trip under 10 days. Five days around
Juba and
Terekeka give you more than rushing between airstrips.
Yes, our itinerary-planner does exactly that. Set your trip length in days, give your interests and travel style, optionally give start- and end location and/or some mandatory stops you would like to include and the itinerary planner creates your personalized routes for South Sudan in seconds. Try it out!
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