Kidepo Valley National Park is found in northeast Uganda in the Karamoja region, covering 1442 square kilometers. Kidepo Valley National Park was established in 1974, lying in the semi-arid valleys, and has an open tree savannah. It is 571km from Kampala. The park hosts over 77 mammals and 475 bird species and contains two rivers, Kidepo and Narus, which disappear in the dry season, leaving just pools for the wildlife.
ANIMALS
Cheetahs, leopards, waterbuck, zebras, hartebeest, giraffes, lions, rhinos, spotted hyenas, elephants, buffalo, bohor reedbuck, wild dogs, bat-eared foxes, black-backed jackals, caracals, hyenas, elands, or oribi.
Birds
Black-headed plover, fan-tailed raven, red-billed oxpecker, eastern violet-backed, pygmy and beautiful sunbird, white-brown and white-billed buffalo weavers, grey-capped social and speckle-fronted weavers, long-tailed and standard-winged nightjars, eastern long-tailed and standard-winged nightjars, eastern yellow and Jackson’s hornbills.
ACTIVITIES
Game drive: This is mostly done with the help of guides that help in spotting the different animals and explaining them, like lions, leopards, giraffes, buffalos, reedbucks, Jackson’s hartebeest, and many others. The game drives are done in different groups and times at the park; for example, the morning drive (6:00 am), evening drive (2:00 pm), and night games.
Nature walks. This takes place in the Narus Valley areas extending to the Apoka Tourism Center, the Namumkweny Valley, and the Lemosj Mountains, exploring the savannah vegetation and the nature on foot.
Hiking. The tourists hike the Lomej Mountains in the park and the Morungole Mountains found outside the park that have the IK people.
Birding. This is done in the different areas of the park, such as the Namamukweny and Narus Valley areas, where various species are viewed, like the silver sunbird, brown-backed woodpecker, white-bellied bustard, and black-headed plover, among others.
Cultural encounters. The park is surrounded by local communities that perform different activities like dances for the tourists and crafts. The Karamojong people, who are fierce warrior pastoralists, and the IK people that migrated from the Morugole Mountains.
SECTORS IN THE PARK
Apoka Tourism Center: Ranger guides are stationed at the center that escorts tourists on game drives and nature walks. There are craft shops, park trucks are hired from there, and souvenirs, among other things. The Kidepo Valley National Park offices are located at the center.
Matheniko Wildlife Reserve is 1520 square kilometers in Moroto District, located in the southeast of the park, with a savannah where trees like acacia, dates, and butterfly peas are found and are used as shade and a hiding place for the carnivorous animals like leopards, cheetahs, and lions, among others, to hunt for prey, and the trees can survive in the dry season.
Kidepo Valley: The valley is seasonal, 50m wide with white sands between the banks during the dry season, and in the rainy season it is a river.
Mount Morungule. This is 2750m and crossed by the Kidepo and Narus Rivers, situated in the southern part of the park. This is a home to the IK people, the smallest ethnic group in Uganda, with their unique culture that offers hiking activities and community tours.
Kanangorok hot spring; this lies 11km away from the Kidepo River in the south near the Sudan border and is a beautiful place to view the mountains of the park, which boils at a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius.
Bokora Wild Reserve: This is in the southwest of the park, found in the Moroto district, covering 2056 square kilometers. In this reserve we find unique bird species like ostriches, Jackson’s hornbill, grey cuckoo-shrike, black-throated wattle-eye, and African hill babbler, among others.
Narus Valley. This stretches through the south and the western region, gifted with permanent waters and grassland plains, and different animals are viewed near the riverbanks, like cheetahs, leopards, buffalos, lions, giraffes, Jackson’s hartebeest, and oribis that come to feed. The valley has different game tracks that are used in game viewing, for example, the Katurum loop and Katurum Kopje, among others.
Namamukweny Valley. This is a Napore word meaning a place with no birds or a lonely pale with few people, which is the opposite because this place has the most bird species and is located in the northwest of the park. The valley has the largest number of bird species in the park, like the white-crested turaco, common bulbul, Abyssinian roller, and green wood hoopoe.
ACCOMMODATION
Apoka Safari Lodge. This is a luxury lodge found within the center of the park, and the facility has everything built by hand, such as 10 luxury rooms and 4 twin rooms. They have a restaurant that serves all three meals, a well-stocked bar with different kinds of beer and wines for the guests, and a spa, among others.
Kidepo Savannah Lodge. This is a mid-range lodge 33 km at the edge of the park on Kawalokol Hill, 500m away from Kalokudo Gate. They have 12 safari tents, 1 double room with two single beds, and 9 non-self-contained tents for budget travelers have a restaurant that serves two-course meals during lunch and four-course meals during dinner and a stocked bar.
Adere Safari Lodge. This is a luxury lodge found within the park, having 17 cottages and single and double rooms. The lodge can be accessed by road from Kampala to the park for 9 hours and 24 minutes over about 604 km, and by air from Entebbe to the park in 2 hours and 15 minutes. They have facilities like a restaurant that serves different meals like lunch, dinner, and breakfast, and a bar with different beverages.
Apoka rest camp. This is a budget lodge found within the park offering 16 self-contained cabins and a hostel, 14 bandas each with 2 beds, and a camping ground. Mostly this is a good place for the people hiking.
Nga’moru Wilderness Camp. This is a mid-range lodge found on the southern border of the park, 4km away from Katarum Gate and 320km from Kampala. They have 3 cabana rooms, 3 safari tents, a bar, and a restaurant.