Brooding bush

A sobering start to the day when the Wildlife Service rangers offloaded their long list of issues, most of which we can't do anything about, simply because we were foreign people who would listen. No salaries for seven months, not enough food, separation from their families, poor quality raincoats and rucksacks, no areas for cultivation, broken bikes, no funds for their children's school fees.

There were few meaningful responses we could make other than to reaffirm that we will supply the ranger post with the equipment needed to operate it well and can help provide rations until a time when they can cultivate and feed themselves at their new location. As there is a crippling national delay on government salaries that also affects people in the national ministries, passing this complaint up the command chain seems futile but as an NGO with some presence in Juba, the least I can do is mention it when I meet senior people in the ministry next week. All government salaries are soaked up by the army and in the purchase of weapons. We can argue that so few protected areas are functioning that the government must prioritise the pay for rangers who are remaining engaged in safeguarding some of South Sudan's key biodiversity hotspots.

The return journey involved huge amounts of slippery mud and clattering over rocks but was less eventful overall. We were loaded up with huge sacks of cassava and maize, headed to market in Yambio. My knee became acquainted with a bound squawking chicken, hung upside down. In a muddy pool on the road a large snake (python I think) had been bludgeoned with a rock. Over most of Africa people fear snakes and will kill them given the opportunity.

In Yambio a cold shower washed away some of the grime and a heavy storm set in as we ate dinner of beef and chapatis. This must be one of the final big ones of the rainy season as people are now looking towards the dry season for fewer mosquitoes and easier road travel.