Sunrise over Juba Town

Driving in Tanzania and Botswana has been good training for the roads in Juba following the rains, as potholes have multiplied. In some areas its tough to find a stretch of road that isn’t potholed, with some of them already over a meter deep. It does slow the traffic down, and the motorcycle drivers think they are all Evil Knievel clones.

At the office, wire baskets are being filled with sand. The noise staggering. Wonder if there is a direct link between the volume of voices and productivity?

Sitting out, with a glass of wine, watching the storm over Juba 3, after another sweltering day. The car said 36, and this is the cool season! At least the evenings are cooler, and the aircon is working. Of course, it also means that every mossie in the world is hovering to sample my blood and I’m hoping the window screens and repellent will keep them at bay. Particularly after a day sorting staff with typhoid and malaria.

Music from the community that has built around the camp drifts in waves on the wind, together with the hammering of generators.

An amazing, if surreal time. Particularly as the paintings on my easel are from our time in France. No wonder settling down this week has been a tad crazy.

Summer flowers
Oil on Canvas 50cmx40cm Available

Managed my jog, with a flying Rwanda bunch leaving me trailing in the dust, while I did my best to focus on the horizon (good posture exercise, according to the gospel of Men’s Health) and not watch my shoes stumble over the stones.

My more adventurous self has been sampling local dishes, cooked for our lunches in the office. “Basico” is a mix of fresh pounded simsim (sesame) with cow peace leaves (black-eyed peas) which in local Arabic is called “Nyete”, eaten with “asida”, maize flower. I also had a fiery hot, lentil and beef mix, called ‘kudurah’ in Arabic. Traditionally served with “kisrah”, a flat bread from maize flower which is cooked in goat fat. Traditional cooking oil isn’t suitable, which makes the dish too expensive, and hence chapati is substituted.