It is just after three on a sunny Saturday afternoon in the South Sudanese capital Juba. Men and women, many wearing bright orange life jackets over their African attire, head for the pier of the Queen Juba 001 for the first ever Oky African Boat Cruise Party.
Passengers pile aboard the double-decker white boat and twin 320-horse-power engines roar to general excitement. High-fives clash in the air and people embrace as the boat’s Assistant Captain Aaron Kitonyi gently steers the Queen Juba 001 away from the platform.
The deck is abuzz with expectations of seeing the indigenous people of the River Nile banks and the famous Gondokoro Island, a historic site that once served as an Egyptian garrison and the base of British explorer Sir Samuel Baker during his 1870s expedition.
The Nile, which at some 6,853 kilometres is the world’s longest river, snakes through South Sudan on its way through Sudan and Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, offers spectacular views of unspoiled nature.
In South Sudan, an area which is roughly the size of France and Germany combined, the river is used for transport, fishing and its water is taken by many households and for agriculture. However, until now, it has remained an untapped resource for leisure activities.
This contrasts with neighbouring Uganda, where in areas like Jinja, Murchison Falls National park and Panyimur, offer rafting, kayaking, fishing competitions and camping sites among other leisure pursuits.
A forest of mango trees hug the east and west banks of the river and local ethnic groups appear from their Tukuls (mud and bamboo houses) and wave to the passengers. Fishing and transport canoes make way for the large cruise boat. An onboard disc jockey plays loud African beats and the sounds of Emmanuel Kembe’s Let us celebrate and Bob Marley’s One Love echo across the water.
“We are heading to Malakal,” one passenger jokes to a group of onlookers, referring to the capital of Upper-Nile State, which lies more than 500 kilometres away.
Wine, spirits and bottles of beer are served alongside local food, including home-made samosas and chicken thighs. Guests dig their spoons into small ceramic bowls of Githeri, a traditional Kenyan dish made of boiled maize grains and beans.
A couple of water-ski boats circle in the distance, prompting a group of passengers to shout “Al-Shabaab, Al-Shabaab”, in reference to the notorious Somali pirates on the Indian Ocean. Smart phones click and flash as revellers snap selfies in various poses.