Kidepo Valley National Park is situated in the northern remote corner of Uganda, the conservation area is a perfect destination to take a tour in fewer crowds, it is endowed with endemics that can only be found here and nowhere else in Uganda, it lies in the semi-arid region of the country blessed with its own set of nature, the underlined golden grassy savannah that disappears into the deep mountains of Morungule is a magical moment of the conservation area it is bordered by South Sudan, the surrounding villages of the Karamojong community present unique cultural experiences to travelers that visit the Kidepo valley national park, the protected conservation area covers an area space of approximately 1442 square kilometers, placed at an altitude between 914m and 2,750 meters above sea level.
The park contains 2 sections the Kidepo Valley and the Narus Valley with 2 seasonal rivers flowing along the base of the national park, these tend to dry up in the dry seasons and only the Narus river remains with some little water hence more of the animal concentration in the Narus Valley, the Kidepo Valley National Park was gazette in the 1962 popular for its big game, it is the most isolated national park of Uganda and less visited and yet very rewarding with animal sights through the Kopjes there are popular sites of big cats like Lions, leopards and cheetahs, Kidepo is boasts a high population of african buffaloes that lay lazily along the base of the river bed, more to wildlife species to spot in the national park include Zebras, elands, water bucks, bushbucks, Jackson hartebeests, Rothchild’s giraffes, rock hyrax, bat eared fox, hyenas to mention few, there are over 426 bird species present in the national park some of which are endemics to the destination for example the common ostrich and the Karamojong Apalis.
The Kidepo valley on the other hand gets drier in this season, it is known for the natural findings of hot springs to the north of the park, these are visited on all-day drives to the mountains more so to the mountain Morungule, activities of the national park include game drives, which are sparked in the early morning with the Uganda wildlife game ranger through the well-distributed game tracks of the park you will be able to get close to wildlife, the park is one of the few places to do night game drives in Uganda, Visiting the Karamojong local communities is an ideal thing to do while in the park, expect to meet the authentic cultural people of the Karamoja region, some communities live in small villages in homes called Manyattas most visited is the IK tribe living in the Morungule community, the Lorukul community and Kawalakal community.
Kidepo Valley National Park is distant from any conservation area of Uganda, it is about 11 hour’s drive from Kampala with a stopover in Gulu town for something to eat, we will proceed to the park arriving in the late evening, Charter flights can be arranged to the destination from Kampala or Entebbe these last for 2 hours to arrive at the destination. There is available accommodation in the park ranging from the best budget to Luxury Examples of facilities include Apoka Safari Lodge and Kidepo Savanah Lodge.