Zoe Daniel

Southern Sudan 2006

Broadcast: 30/05/2006

Reporter: Zoe Daniel

The so-called "ABC car" was piled so high with pelican cases, metal boxes and packs when we left Khartoum that I feared we would lose the lot if the driver had to brake hard in the city's crazy traffic.

We were embarking on what many would call a crazy journey, driving from Sudan's capital to the South, as far as we could go by road.

It's a trip that's just not done.

Southern Sudan and the Islamic North have been at war off and on for about five decades and once you pass the North-South boundary, there are few usable roads and almost no infrastructure.

Certainly we didn't find any!

I was traveling with Foreign Correspondent executive producer Greg Wilesmith and cameraman Peter Curtis, both veterans of a number of overseas postings, but even for them Southern Sudan presented lots of new challenges.

At the village of Renk, just past the North-South boundary we had our first taste of slightly rough travel. Staying in traditional huts, we washed under a solar shower imported by an American missionary. After dinner at about 9pm we walked across the village following the beam of my headlight to the only generator in the district. There, I set up my satellite phone to feed the last of our vision filmed in Darfur the previous week.

At the time, the facilities seemed pretty basic. But this was about as civilized as it would get for a while.

The next day we drove even further South, rattling along potholed roads in the 4 wheel drive, stopping to interview villagers who were being adversely affected by oil companies moving into the area. The heat was stifling at over forty degrees. At one stage Peter's camera simply overheated and stopped in the middle of an interview.

By the time dusk arrived we were ready for a shower and a comfortable bed, but they don't exist in most parts of Southern Sudan. Instead, we set up our tents in the middle of a traditional village, bucket washed behind a screen of bamboo (not to mention the pit toilet!) and ate a meal of dehydrated nasi goreng. The guys ate it, but I wouldn't recommend it!

After dinner a grass hut nearby exploded in fire. Housefires are common in African villages and townships where paraffin is the main cooking fuel. People came from all directions to put it out and to salvage property. Sparks and flames were the only light for miles around. When the fire died down we went to sleep on our mats in our tents listening to the sound of babies whimpering in the surrounding huts and people settling down for the night.

As the dawn light broke we packed our gear (all 18 bags of it) and walked to the local port.

There, Greg had hired a boat to take us down the White Nile.

This is the stuff of real adventures. The roads along the riverbanks are mined which is why we traveled by water but it's by the river that most war refugees are getting home and we also wanted to follow their journey. We traveled on a section of river that's seen few people - let alone Westerners - for decades.

On its banks, we saw traditional villages and camps made by men who drive their cattle along the waterways. The men and children were smeared with white mud, the naked boys waved to us in glee as we swept past.

Our two drivers spoke no English at all. They merely sat at the back and steered the boat, smoking cigarettes as they leant on the 44 gallon drum full of fuel that was supposed to get us to our destination. We did make it to the port of Malakal, where we were due to take a UN plane further South. As we pulled in to port hundreds of people were bathing in the river, which is bringing new life to Southern Sudan.

Not long ago the area along the river would have been deserted because of war. We were able to see people coming home. For us, it was an arduous journey via road, water and air. But for those going home, it was much tougher as they carried their children and their belongings back to their homelands.

We didn't have to carry our bags on our heads. At the port, we unloaded our gear from a boat - to a donkey cart - and continued our own journey.

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