Prior to the colonial times, this area was a communal land, entirely used for rearing cattle and a hunting ground by the IK people and Dodoth pastoralists. During this era, the chiefs were in full control of the grazing area and gave strict rules that were supposed to be followed by pastoralists like staying away from killing young animals and enable animals thrive.
In 1958, the park was gazetted as a game reserve by the British colonial government and this was done to protect animals from hunting and prevent the intense bush clearing that was done in a quest to control tsetse flies.
Therefore, indigenous settlers of the land were evicted which caused famine outbreak since they highly depended on animal meat for food. The game reserve was upgraded to a game park in 1962 under the government of Milton Obote and the first chief was a British and his handover to a Ugandan called Paul Ssali created news in Uganda and abroad to the extent that there was a documentary captured called The Wild and the Brave in the year 1974.
Uniqueness of Kidepo National Park.
Kidepo national park has two rivers that run through the park’s interior but they completely disappear during dry season. The park has Kipedo and Narus rivers that disappear during the dry season. These expose clay soils that tourists enjoy tampering in.
It is among the parks that offer night game drives in the country. Only five national parks are authorized by Uganda Wildlife Authority and Kipedo is among them. It offers tourists a rare chance to appreciate wilderness during the dark.
It has four of the big five mammals. Tourists who visit this park will just miss one of big five animals because they get to see lions, leopards, buffaloes and elephants in one place. Some cat species like leopard and lions might be hard to spot during the day but night game drives help solve this problem.
Activities engaged in while in Kidepo National Park.
Hiking expeditions.
Kidepo national park is located in the low lands of Northern Uganda but this doesn’t limit the spectacular hiking trails that are made on different mountains in the park. The famously hiked mountain is Lonyili whose slopes offer tourists with tranquil sights from the wowing montane forests that protect lives of a large population of primate species like red tailed monkeys, white and black colobus monkeys, kavirondo bush babies which excite tourists more while ascending the mountain.
This mountain is on the border of Uganda and South Sudan hence tourists get to have a sneak peek of how this neighboring country looks like. The homesteads of IK individuals leave tourists struck by the rare practices of culture of this tribe.
Nature walk.
Flat plains in Kipedo depict the true scenic landscape that is portrayed even in movies about the wilderness of Africa. This is all appreciated by the tourists when they choose to walk through the park to discover the untold features that the park holds on their own.
Tourists can take a walk through the Lamoj hills and appreciate its surroundings like the valleys that are adjacent, walk through Apoka and catch sight of the Kanangorok hot springs. The bright sun is a perfect weather for photographs and the wilderness of Kidepo adds value and beauty to the pictures taken while in the park.
Game drives.
Savannah plains of Kidepo national park offer spacious environment for undertaking game drives through the park. This park has over 80 mammal species and 28 of these are endemic to the regions of Karamoja only. Tourists can catch the earliest worm by driving through the park very early in the morning around 6am to watch animals that wake up early enough to prepare and start their day.
An evening game drive starts at 5:00pm as the animals are completing their day and planning on going back to their hideouts and a night drive is fantastic at showcasing nocturnal and shy animals like lions, leopards, cheetahs among others. Animals like zebras, duikers, reedbucks, jackals, antelopes, elands, are some of those that can be spotted while on a game drive and it’s advised that tourists undertake this activity with the guidance of a game ranger who can be obtained from Apoka tourism office.
Birding in Kidepo national park.
A total of 475 bird species are recorded in the park including savannah species, migratory and endemic birds. Birding can be done during a nature walk or on game drives where birds like an ostrich, pygmy falcon, Kori bustard, greater kestrel, long tailed nightjar, scarlet chested sunbird, red billed oxpecker, Jacksons hornbill, white billed buffalos among other birds can be viewed while in the park.
Attractions in Kidepo National Park.
The Narus Valley.
Northern Uganda is a semi-arid region but the Narus valley retains some waters after the rainy season during the long drought of the dry season which oases are a blessing to the Karamoja nomads to feed on their cattle.
The park is a good track system for animals as they collect over these oases to drink water especially during the dry season. Tourists spot a variety of bird species, buffaloes, zebras, cheetahs, leopards and other wild life in the park. Beautified by the Katurum track, rare and inspiring views are achieved foe tourists who choose to take this trail.
Game drives
The park has three schedules of game drives that provide tourists with an exquisite interaction with the wilderness. The morning session resumes at 6am, the evening makes rounds in the park from 2pm and the specular night drive that gets tourists meet night travelers and grazers like cheetahs, aardwolf, wild dogs, side stripped jackals, caracal and other wild animals that can be spotted include buffaloes, oribi, reedbucks, Jackson’s hartebeest, bat eared fox, Uganda kobs, elands among others.
Birds
Over 475 bird species can be viewed when a tourist focuses on appreciating the beauty these small creatures add to the environment. The chirping, aimless flying in the sky adds a lot of amazing scenes that tourists appreciate while they are watching the birds. Tourists get to sight birds like the four banded sand grouse, black breasted barbet, Karamoja apalis, yellow rumped seed eater, superb starling among others.
How to get to the park
The park is quite far from Kampala with about 670 km road distance. Getting to the park is either by air or road depending on the preference of the tourists.
By air.
Traveling by flight to the park starts off from Entebbe airport to Kidepo airstrip. There is a 45 minutes’ drive to enjoy the surrounding of Karamoja from this airstrip to finally the real deal of the safari which is Kidepo national park. Tourists use a total of two hours from Entebbe to the final landing site.
By road.
The saying no gain without pain is entirely that works in this situation because tourists get overwhelmed by the journey that is 10-12 hours but also rewarding with the amazing views that tourists get from various towns and landscapes that they go through depending on the route they take.
There are various routes that tourists can take like the Kampala- Karuma-Lira through Kabong to Kidepo, Kampala through Mbale and visitors who want to go through the north can enroute via Murchison falls and connect to the park via Kitgum – Gulu highway.
When to visit the park?
Kidepo is found in the northern region that has a semi-arid region therefore it is easy to spot animals during this period since they gather around the oases in the park to drink water. Tourists can visit the park in July and August as the rains are ending and the dry season is almost coming in but the best time are the dry months that pull from September to March.
Kidepo valley national park is an interesting national park considering the various towns and landscapes that visitors go through to reach the park. It offers a different landscape that is not provided by most of the other national parks because the area is largely flat with some scenic hills and mountains.
