7-Day
Tribal Tour
This Mundari South Sudan trip will take you to Tarekeka, a unique tribe in South Sudan, to the north east of Juba. The Mundari are farmers, cattle herders, and agriculturalists who live in dispersed villages. They live a mostly traditional lifestyle. They have strong cultural beliefs in which young men and women are marked with a series of parallel “V-shaped scars on their forehead – this tradition is now officially discouraged by the government and is beginning to die out, but most men and women over the age of 25 will sport these markings.
Aside from the Mundari, this tour takes you to the Dinka tribe’s cattle camps. The Dinka are a Nilotic people who have no centralized political power and instead divide themselves into independently interconnected clans. The majority of the Dinka people live in Sudan’s Anglo-Egyptian historical province of Bahr el Jebel.
Juba, South Sudan’s capital, is the departure and return location.
Day 1
DRIVE TO MUNDARI TRIBAL LAND FROM JUBA
After receiving your visa, proceed to the Rainbow Hotel for lunch.
After lunch, drive to the Mundari village settlements. The Mundari are nomads who settle in Tarekeka and around Juba based on the availability of grazing lands. They settle around Tarekeka and Juba at different times. As a result, we drive towards their settlement.
Set up camp and socialize with the tribe when they return with their cattle, which is usually around 5:00 p.m.
Camping O/n
Day 2
MUNDARI-DINKA
Get up around 5:00 a.m. Prepare to visit and photograph the Mundari’s early morning activities. Depart from the Mundari tribal land around 10:00 a.m. and drive 6 hours and 260 kilometers south of Juba to visit the Dinka tribe.
We hung out with the Dinka in the late afternoon.
Camping overnight near the Dinka settlement
Day 3
ILLEU VILLAGE – DINKA TRIBE – TORIT – LOTUKU MOUNTAINS
Get up early and observe the Dinka people’s morning activities. The villagers leave their village with their cattle to graze, leaving their women and children behind. We set out on our journey to the Lotuku Mountains.
Hike up to the Lotuku mountain around 4:00 p.m. for a visit to the village of Illeu. Hike down to the nearby school compound and spend the night under the Lotuku mountains.
Camping for the night.
Day 4
LOTUKU MOUNTAINS – KAPOETA AM
Drive to Kapoeta, the capital city of Eastern Equatoria state, for a TOPOSSA tribe visit. We set up camp at Mango Camp in Kapoeta and then drive to a village to visit the Topposa tribe, which is located by the mountain stretch known as Koteen.
The Toposa are Turkana-speaking cattle ranchers who have so far resisted western influence. Toposa have traditionally made their living by herding cattle, sheep, and goats, and they were once involved in the ivory trade. They have a long history of constant warfare, usually in the form of cattle raids, against their neighbors. Return to Kapoeta and spend the night at Mango Camp.
Day 5
TRIBE OF KAPOETA-LARIM
Today we spend half the day with the Topossa and the other half with the Larim/ Boya tribe in the Imatong hills.
Breakfast followed by a drive to PARIYANG. We then drive back to Kapoeta town to see the daily market and visit the young Topposa girls who are traditionally mining gold from a river stream.
We leave Kapoeta after lunch and drive to Camp 15, a springboard of Larim tribal land.
Coffee, permit negotiations with local officials at Camp 15, and overnight in the Imatong Hills.
On the way, stop for a picnic lunch.
Meet the Larim returning from their surroundings around 5:00 PM, mingle with them, and spend the night camping by the villagers.
Day 6
IMATONG HILLS – CAMP 15 – KAPOETA
KAPOETA – IMATONG HILLS – CAMP 15
Wake up at 6:00 a.m. and continue your exploration of the Larim/Boya tribe’s villages. Morning village activities and drive to JUBA provide photo opportunities.
When you arrive in Juba, take a covid test and check into the Pyramid Hotel.
Day 7
Breakfast, collection of covid results, and transportation to the airport