The world's youngest country, born in 2011: the White Nile, the Sudd wetland and one of the largest mammal migrations on the planet sit alongside an active conflict that makes travel inadvisable today. This is an informational guide, not an invitation to go.
South Sudan is the youngest country on the planet. It was born on 9 July 2011 when it gained independence from Sudan after one of Africa's longest civil wars, and since then it has lived through its own internal conflict, with armed and intercommunal violence that has still not stopped. Everything that follows should be read with that reality front and centre: today it is not a tourist destination, and practically every foreign ministry advises against all travel to the country.
Its geography, however, is extraordinary. The White Nile runs through the heart of the country and spreads out into the Sudd, one of the largest wetlands on Earth. In the east, between Boma and Bandingilo national parks, more than a million antelopes migrate every year, a spectacle comparable to the Serengeti yet almost unknown. And its plains are home to peoples such as the Mundari, Dinka, Nuer and Toposa, whose cattle-herding cultures fascinate photographers and anthropologists.
This guide exists to inform honestly: it explains what is there, what its places mean and why they attract so much interest, but also why reaching them is currently unfeasible and risky for the ordinary traveller. If the situation changes one day, South Sudan could become one of the continent's great destinations for wild nature and living culture. For now, we treat it as what it is: a young, wounded and fascinating country, to be known from afar and with respect.
The currency is the South Sudanese pound (SSP), one of the most unstable currencies in the world: the country is dealing with hyperinflation (over 60% a year in 2025) and a steep devaluation. By late 2025 the official dollar rate was already around 4.500 SSP and still climbing fast; by mid-2026 it was trading several thousand pounds higher, and the parallel (informal) market always quotes even more. Check the day's rate before doing any sums. In practice the economy runs on US dollars: you pay in cash, with new, undamaged notes, and it's worth carrying a mix of denominations. Cards and ATMs are practically useless for travellers; there is no reliable network. Change money at exchange bureaus or through trusted contacts (never on the street with strangers). Tips for hotel staff, drivers and local guides are appreciated in small dollar notes.
Full converter for SSP →There are no direct flights from Latin America: you reach Juba International Airport (JUB) with at least two connections, typically via Europe or the Gulf (Istanbul, Cairo, Doha, Addis Ababa, Nairobi or Entebbe are usually the last legs, flown by Ethiopian, Kenya Airways, EgyptAir or Turkish). The visa is arranged before travelling through the official e-visa system or at a South Sudanese embassy; for tourism they ask for a passport valid for 6 months, an itinerary, a hotel booking and a letter explaining the trip, and the international yellow fever vaccination certificate is mandatory on entry. Inside the country, travelling overland between cities is dangerous and impractical (roads in poor condition, unofficial checkpoints, risk of ambush), so the few specialist operators move on domestic flights with local airlines or UN/NGO flights, with permits and guides. Many areas require internal travel permits on top of the visa.
The window for getting around is the dry season, from December to March, when the rains ease, roads and tracks are more passable and wildlife gathers near water. The antelope migration between Bandingilo and Boma broadly takes place in the first half of the year, when the animals move east and towards Ethiopia, reversing direction towards the end of the year.
The rainy season (April to November, heaviest between June and September) floods much of the country, especially the Sudd basin and Jonglei, and cuts many areas off by land. It is hot almost all year round. Important: choosing dates is secondary to security; what really decides whether you can travel is not the weather but the state of the conflict at any given time and in each region.
The South Sudanese table is simple and hearty: kisra (a thin sorghum or millet flatbread/crepe) and asida or aiysh (a thick porridge) served with meat stews, Nile fish, okra, peanut (dura) and vegetables. Fresh and dried fish are key in riverside areas, and beef carries enormous cultural value given the weight of cattle in local life. Arab-Sudanese influence shows in ful (fava bean stew), sweet teas and spiced flavours.
Juba has a few restaurants serving Ethiopian, Ugandan, Kenyan, Indian and Middle Eastern food, aimed mainly at staff of international organisations, with prices in dollars and well above what you'd expect in the country: eating out can cost a good deal more than in neighbouring countries. Outside the capital there is very little on offer, so it's best to arrange meals and water with your operator. Be careful with water: drink only bottled or treated water.
Safety: this is the most important section of this guide. As of July 2026, practically every foreign ministry (the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, among others) keeps South Sudan at its highest level, 'Do not travel' / 'Avoid all travel', for the whole country, including the capital. The reasons are active armed conflict between political and ethnic factions, intercommunal violence, violent crime, kidnappings, widespread weapons among the population, landmines in some areas and unofficial checkpoints on the roads. Consular assistance is very limited and evacuation may be impossible. At viajacongus we'll say it plainly: we do not recommend travelling to South Sudan today; this guide is for information only. Anyone who must go for humanitarian or professional work goes with conflict-zone insurance, security protocols, solid local contacts, internal permits and expert operators, never independently.
Health: the international yellow fever vaccination certificate is mandatory for entry. It is a malaria zone all year round, so antimalarial prophylaxis and protection against mosquitoes (repellent, long sleeves, mosquito net) are recommended. Make sure you are up to date on hepatitis A and B, typhoid, tetanus, polio and meningitis, and consider rabies and cholera depending on your itinerary; see a travel medicine clinic well in advance. The health system is very fragile and there are few facilities with real capacity, especially outside Juba. Drink only bottled or treated water, be extra careful with food hygiene and take out medical insurance with international evacuation (repatriation) cover, essential given how limited local care is. There is no reliable nationwide emergency number: in practice, your points of contact are your operator, your own organisation and the nearest embassy (many cover South Sudan from Nairobi).
Paradoxically, South Sudan is one of the most expensive countries in Africa for visitors, not because of luxury but because of its aid-driven economy: scarce supply, complex logistics and a large international workforce push dollar prices sky-high. An acceptable basic hotel in Juba can cost between 80 and 150 USD a night, and more secure accommodation easily exceeds that. A meal at a restaurant aimed at foreigners runs around 15–35 USD. Almost everything is paid in cash in dollars.
The bulk of the cost, however, is logistics: the few trips that do happen are put together by specialist operators that include domestic flights, permits, guides, escorts or security coordination and community visits. An organised one-week circuit (for example, Mundari camps, the Nile and some area in the east) usually starts at several thousand dollars per person and can approach or exceed 5.000–8.000 USD depending on group size and logistics. This is not a low-cost backpacker destination: it is expensive, complicated and, today, advised against. These figures are approximate and verified as of July 2026; confirm them with operators when planning.
The official language is English, adopted at independence and used in government, on signs and in much of business; alongside it you'll find Juba Arabic (a local variety widely used as a lingua franca) and dozens of indigenous languages such as Dinka, Nuer, Bari, Zande and Toposa. With English you'll get by in Juba and with staff of international organisations; in the interior you'll need a guide and translation. Spanish is not spoken.
It is a society deeply shaped by cattle, especially among the Dinka, Nuer, Mundari and Toposa: cows mean wealth, dowry, prestige and identity. You need to move with great sensitivity, especially when photographing people (always ask permission, never assume you can take a portrait) and when talking about politics, ethnicity or the conflict. Dress modestly and respect local and religious customs (there are Christian, Muslim and traditional-belief communities). Connectivity is limited and patchy: there is some mobile coverage and data in cities through local operators, but outside them there may be no signal; many professionals use satellite phones. Electricity is unreliable and there's heavy reliance on generators; sockets are usually British-style (three flat pins, type G), so bring an adapter and a power bank.
For centuries, a swamp decided the fate of this country. The Sudd —from the Arabic sadd, "barrier"— is a maze of papyrus, channels and floating islands that the White Nile spills across a plain with no slope: between 30.000 and more than 130.000 km² depending on the season, close to a fifth of the national territory. In the year 61, an expedition of Roman soldiers sent by Nero reached its edges and could not get through; that is where Roman knowledge of equatorial Africa ended. Seventeen centuries later it was still holding back the European explorers searching for the sources of the Nile. Behind that barrier lived, and still live, some of the world's great cattle-herding peoples: Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Mundari, Toposa, Azande, Bari, Didinga, Ma'di.
This is the story of South Sudan: the story of the Shilluk kingdom and its reths, of the Azande kingdoms of the southwest, of the 19th-century ivory and slave zaribas, of a British "Southern Policy" that ran the south as if it were another country and then handed it over to Khartoum without asking it anything, of two civil wars that lasted almost five decades, of the 2011 referendum that made it the youngest country in the world and of the war that broke out barely two years later. It is a hard history and it has to be told with figures and with names, without embellishment. But it is also the story of a land that in 2026 received its first World Heritage site for hosting the largest land mammal migration on the planet: some six million antelope crossing the Nile plains.
Read the full history of South Sudan →Pick a region and open each destination to see what to do, prices and how to get there.
These are the sources we cite most across this country's guides, with how many times each appears. Hard data —tickets, opening hours, requirements, transport— comes from the official source and carries the date we checked it. Restaurant and hotel picks come from guides and reviews, and we say so on each page.
