The Sudd Wetland

The Sudd, formed where the White Nile spreads across the flat heart of South Sudan, is one of the largest and most important freshwater wetlands in the world, an immense, ever-shifting maze of papyrus and reed swamps, open lagoons, channels and floating islands of vegetation. This vast watery wilderness, whose name comes from the Arabic for barrier, long blocked explorers seeking the Nile's source. It is a haven for extraordinary birdlife, most famously the prehistoric-looking shoebill stork, along with huge numbers of migratory birds, and it shelters antelope such as the Nile lechwe. Teeming with life and central to the land and its peoples, the Sudd is a place of wild, primordial beauty.

History

For many centuries the floating vegetation closed the Nile to boats. The ancient Egyptians never got through it, and in AD 61 a party of Roman soldiers sent by the Emperor Nero went up the White Nile but could not pass the Sudd, which marked the limit of Rome's reach into equatorial Africa; much later, the search for the source of the Nile went overland from the coast to avoid it. The swamp itself changes size with the water coming down from Lake Victoria: when the lake rose in 1961 to 1963, the permanent swamp and seasonal floodplains together grew to about 2.5 times their former area. The Sudd was listed as a Ramsar wetland of international importance in 2006 (Wikipedia, Sudd).

What you'll find

• The papyrus maze - the endless swamps, lagoons and channels.
• The shoebill - the extraordinary prehistoric-looking stork.
• The birdlife - the vast flocks of migratory and water birds.
• The floating islands - the drifting rafts of vegetation.

When to go

December to March, the drier season, is the most practical time to navigate the wetland by boat and for concentrated birdlife; the vast, shifting swamps make the Sudd a genuine expedition destination in any season. Specialist organisation is essential.

Good to know

The Sudd is a remote, roadless wilderness of shifting swamps navigable only by boat with local knowledge, so it is a true expedition destination with almost no tourism infrastructure, not a casual visit. As one of the world's greatest wetlands, a primordial haven for the shoebill and vast birdlife, though, the Sudd is a place of extraordinary wild beauty for the intrepid.

Nearby

The White Nile and the town of Bor lie along the wetland's edge.