Africa’s Final Frontier – South Sudan Expedition 2012
In February 2012 a team of nine adventurers will set off into the wilderness of South Sudan to retrace the footsteps of the first British Explorers and be the first expedition into the world’s newest country!
It is literally the land that time forgot, a place virtually unknown to the outside world up until the 20th century, and for the past 50 years it has been off limits because of a ferocious civil war that left its people amongst the poorest on earth. Only now, after the historic battle for independence has South Sudan finally opened its doors to the first intrepid travellers.
The expedition, taking place 3 – 16 February, will be the first of its kind; aiming to summit Mount Kinyeti (3187m), Sudan’s highest peak, only ever climbed by a handful of explorers- before setting off on foot through the Nimule National park- a former battleground and hideout of the Sudanese Liberation Army. The Team will then pick up inflatable rafts and do battle with rapids, hungry crocs and hippos on a 170km journey down the least explored stretch of the river Nile flanked by thick jungle and only occasional sightings of local villagers; tribes untouched by any kind of modernity.
Pete Meredith, a famous explorer of African waterways will guide the expedition down the river. “It will certainly be an adventure. The river is only just being charted and keeps changing its course. We will just have to set up camp wherever we find a decent spot, and of course, keep an eye out for the Crocodiles.” He said with a wicked grin.
But the team will be in safe hands. Pete was the first to explore the river in 2004 when he completed his now legendary descent of the Nile and has returned on ‘recce’ trips a few times since. But this will be the first time anyone has ever attempted to combine a river trip with the mountain: In fact there is little information about the remote Imatong hills at all.
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