Hiking

I had a neat opportunity to head up “Jebel Mountain” which is obviously a poor attempt at description by outsiders since I’m told Jebel means mountain in Arabic. At the lower levels of the hike, a lot of folks were setting fires against the rocks, breaking them with sledge hammers and rolling them down the hill to be broken into gravel by the women at the bottom. This gravel would later be used at construction sites around the city. Shockingly, around the other side of the mountain was a quarry. I am impressed the people are able to undercut the price of the equipment and was pleased to know that the story of John Henry had its own version which is alive and well in Juba. There were no clear trails up to the top of the mountain, so a lot of bush-wacking was required. I went with a friend from Texas who would disappear in the 7 ft. tall grasses whenever he moved more than a few strides ahead of me. We were rewarded at the top with a great view. Hawks were flying all around the “summit” and it was neat to see the layout of the town from a different vantage point and to look out over the Nile. A nice orientation to a new home.