Kidepo Valley National Park – True African Wilderness

Kidepo Valley National Park Uganda – True African Wilderness. Our complete guide on Kidepo National Park is all you need to know about this beautiful park. here we Give you the Latest Information on the Attractions, Activities, Best Time, Location, and Accommodation Facilities around the Park. Kidepo Valley National Park is the true African wilderness with its beauty that has mostly gone unnoticed as stated by CNN Travel. Kidepo National Park Uganda is a perfect wilderness to visit on any safari in Uganda.

Wildlife in Kidepo National Park

The park is about 1,442 sq. km, hosting about 77 mammal species, 475 bird species several reptiles, and flora. The Dik-Dik (smallest antelope), cheetahs, ostriches, and Karamoja Apalis are endemic to Kidepo Valley National Park. Kidepo National Park is 1,442 square kilometers (557 sq. mi) Kidepo Valley National Park is in the Karamoja region in northeast Uganda. Kidepo is rugged savannah, dominated by the 2,750 meters (9,020 ft) Mount Morungole and transected by the Kidepo and Narus rivers.

Kidepo Valley National Park is located near Karenga in Kaabong District, in the northeastern corner of Uganda. The park is approximately 220 kilometers (140 mi), by road northwest of Moroto, the largest town in the sub-region. It is approximately 520 kilometers (320 mi), by road, northeast of Kampala, Uganda’s capital and largest city. The northwestern boundary of the park runs along the international frontier with Bira, South Sudan, and abuts its Kidepo Game Reserve

The Ketebo or Mining is the Inhabitant’s farmers and hunters who lived in the area since 1800 before it was gazetted as a game reserve by the British colonial government in 1958. The purpose was both to protect the animals from hunting and to prevent further clearing of bush for tsetse fly control. The eviction of the resident people and the resultant famine, especially the Ketebo people who were forcefully relocated to other areas within Bira such as Napotpot, Kalo Kudo, Namosingo, Loriwo, and Naurkori in South Sudan, is cited in contemporary protected area management as an example of the unacceptable consequences of not taking community needs into account when designating reserves. The newly independent government of Uganda under Milton Obote converted the reserve into the Kidepo Valley National Park in 1962. The first chief warden of the park was Ian Ross, a Briton. In 1972, Paul Ssali, a Ugandan, replaced him. Their handover and training were the subjects of the 1974 American documentary film, “The Wild and the Brave”

Activities & Attractions in Kidepo Valley National Park

Narus Valley Game Drive;

The southerly Narus Valley contains the park’s only permanent water points and wildlife congregates in this area for much of the year. Look for buffalo and elephants in the swamps along the valley floor, giraffe, and eland on the drier slopes above, and scan the rock outcrops for lions.

Kidepo Valley Drive;

The dry Kidepo Valley is short on the big game but massive on scenery 30km north of the park’s tourism hub at Apoka, the road crosses the dry, sandy bed of the Kidepo River to enter an expansive plain lined to the east by the Morungule mountain range and to the north by the looming, 2975m – high Jebel Lotuke in South Sudan. Mammals are rare in this area but ostriches and secretary birds are often seen.

Nature Walks;

Opportunities for guided walks range from short nature walks around Apoka Rest Camp to longer walks through the open grasslands of East Kakine, and a hike along part or all of the 15km Rionomoe Trail which follows the southern side of the Narus Valley. The Morungule range, which rises from the plains to the northeast of Apoka, can be explored on foot with a ranger guide escort.

Bird Watching;

Experienced ranger guides are available at Apoka to help locate and identify birdlife in the park’s various habitats.

Community Walks;

community walks outside the park provide the opportunity t learn about life in the local Karamojong manyattas (homesteads) at Kawalakol, Lorukul, and Karenga.

Kidepo Valley National Park Map

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