Juba

Photo © acanuckabroad

Introduction

Mosque

Juba is the capital of South Sudan, which became independent on the 9th of July 2011. It's also the capital of the smallest of the ten states in the country: Central Equatoria, and has about 250,000 inhabitants.

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Sights and Activities

Plan to entertain yourself. There's not much going on in town. That said the town is experiencing expat overload and the sheer numbers of Kenyans, Ugandans and the hundreds of westerners in Juba are supporting numerous bars, restaurants and nightspots. There is something going on most weekends. You can also take a boat trip on the Nile, go fishing, go jogging, and there's a Hash House Harriers in Juba.

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Weather

Juba has a tropical climate with hot and humid conditions year round and very marginal difference in temperatures between the warmest and the coolest months. Typically, June to September sees average highs of around 26-27 °C, with nights around 23-24 °C, while days from October to May are in the 28-31 °C range and lows in the 25-28 °C range. Humidity is mostly in the 80% or higher area, though December to March is somewhat better and also is the driest time of the year. July to September sees most showers and the annual amount of precipitation is around 1,000mm.

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Getting There

By Plane

Juba Airport (JUB) near the capital is the main gateway to South Sudan, with flights to/from Nairobi, Khartoum, Entebbe, Cairo and Addis Ababa.

By Bus

There are daily buses between Kampala, Uganda, and Juba, taking about 12 hours at least. Buses usually leave late at night or early morning and arrive during the afternoon.

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Getting Around

Juba is a small town with big plans. You can walk through most of it in a few hours - however, the town is quite spread out in to 3 distinct areas - Juba Town, Government ministries, and the Nile camps - and it's a long, hot, dusty walk between the three. If you are coming here to live and work, a car is essential to get around - although there are a lot of boda bodas (motorbike taxis) running during the day.

The roads are mostly unsealed, but you can get by in a saloon - although after a heavy rain it's 4x4 only. However, the roads are improving rapidly with much grading and tarring going on.

A really great map of Juba town is available in Jit Supermarket.

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Eat

The Village and Da Vinci camp are battling over who cooks the best pizza in town. Home and Away has some average food at western prices in western-ish surroundings. Numerous tent camps line the Nile, and all look the same, buffets tend to be the norm. Prices vary widely. Worth seeking out Rock City for the views over Juba.

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Drink

A cold beer is easy to find in Juba, in strong contrast to the North, but the best stocked bar in Juba is Fresh Freddies - everything from a 20yr old malt whisky to sambuca shots to vodka slush puppies.

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Sleep

accommodation boom is finally impacting on prices - tents are becoming less popular with air conditioned prefabs now the norm (many 'hotels' are simply a collection of prefabs). Prefabs with a/c are around $150 per night, safari-type tents around $80 to $100 - however, demand and hence prices rise when a big conference is in town. Most accommodation is full-board, with buffet breakfasts, buffet lunches, and, you guessed it, buffet dinners 7 days a week. In Juba, hotel-land hot showers are now the luxury to seek out, rather than air conditioning, which is easy to find. the booking site Javago has places to stay in Juba from $20 a night.