white clouds punctuate an otherwise light blue sky, lazily floating by in the hot African afternoon. sitting in the Mal#kal airport waiting room, battling the hot stuffy interior, gazing outside at the empty airstrip. earlier that morning we had tried to board our flight to a village from which we were going to start the boat trip, but due to heavy rains the night before, the pilot didn't want to go there. so once again, plans had to change. earlier this week i attempted to go to Awie#l and heavy rains had closed airstrips there as well.
after a quick assessment of our options, we were limited. going from Mal#kal by boat to the village would take a full 8 hours and then we found out there was no fuel (or limited fuel supply in town) and the rate was astronomical - basically would clean us out of our money. the next flight to the village would be Monday (pending any more rain which was highly likely). so with all the possible options and associated risks we were not left with any good alternatives on continuing the trip in the near future. fortunately there was an Ethiopian airlines flight that was going to Jub#a so we quickly booked a seat. we will attempt the river trip the following week with a slightly different itinerary.
mal#akal is built in a swamp, along the Nile River, just north of the vast swampy Sudd area were a large portion of the Nile water is lost due to evaporation. in the rainy season the entire town is one giant mud pit and getting around becomes quite treacherous (in terms of slipping and landing on your rear end in the mud) or getting stuck in the mud with your vehicle or getting splashed by a passing vehicle. despite the mud, people adapt and continue life as normal.
after a quick assessment of our options, we were limited. going from Mal#kal by boat to the village would take a full 8 hours and then we found out there was no fuel (or limited fuel supply in town) and the rate was astronomical - basically would clean us out of our money. the next flight to the village would be Monday (pending any more rain which was highly likely). so with all the possible options and associated risks we were not left with any good alternatives on continuing the trip in the near future. fortunately there was an Ethiopian airlines flight that was going to Jub#a so we quickly booked a seat. we will attempt the river trip the following week with a slightly different itinerary.
mal#akal is built in a swamp, along the Nile River, just north of the vast swampy Sudd area were a large portion of the Nile water is lost due to evaporation. in the rainy season the entire town is one giant mud pit and getting around becomes quite treacherous (in terms of slipping and landing on your rear end in the mud) or getting stuck in the mud with your vehicle or getting splashed by a passing vehicle. despite the mud, people adapt and continue life as normal. 
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