subject: About Kidepo Valley National Park [print this page] About Kidepo Valley National Park About Kidepo Valley National Park
If you want a sanitized experience of the vibrant splendor of Uganda, vacation in a five star hotel. If you want the comforting scent of sodden, ochre-coloured earth permeating your nostrils, the ominous bellow of an alpha male lion rumbling through your intestines, and the territorial burring of a flappet lark echoing through your ears. Take a tented holiday at Kidepo Valley National Park.
Located in the far north east of Uganda, near the borders with Sudan and Kenya, KVNP is not everyone's first choice Uganda safari destination. Given its geographical location, the time needed to access it, and the misplaced negative perceptions of northern Uganda as a land of turmoil, parks like Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi Impenetrable and Murchison falls have become the norm for the majority of tourists. But KNVP represents something different, something only a minority of travelers can inform friends and family that they have experienced.
Of course there is no denying there is significant road travel entailed. I mean you take a 606km route that takes you to the north-western on the Masindi Murchison Gulu road. Not only do you need a sturdy 4WD car to ensure you arrive at the camp site within a reasonable time frame, but imbibing the sights and sounds that excite your senses travelling to KNVP is as important as the final destination. You can stop at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary which is on your way, to take a foot safari to see some of their six southern white adult Rhino and their calves.
To get to KVNP you pass through Gulu, then you gradually move from Acholi to Karamojong territory with the dramatic landscape transitioning from open tree savannah to Acacia Geradi forest, incredibly scenic landscapes, interspersed with impressive sausage trees (Kigelia Africana), and interrupted by increasing numbers of Karamojong manyattas (huts) before you reach the mountain pass that heralds KVNP.
The approximately 1400km2 KVNP was gazetted in 1962 with the word Kidep' used to give the name to the park, meaning to pick up' in the Karamojong language. From a wildlife watching perspective, the best time to visit KVNP is during the dry season from December to late March. Not only does this mean that the roads are more passable, but it is much easier to locate game around waterholes that would otherwise be obscured by overgrown vegetation.
The park has got over 80 mammalian species with about 28 of them not found in any other Ugandan National park. These include Carcal, Bat-eared Fox, Klipspringers, and Cheetahs. Other mammals include Elephants, Common Zebras, Buffaloes, Bohor Reedbucks, Waterbucks and Kongoni, Spotted Hyenas, Leopards and Lions, Oribis, Guenther's Dik Dik, Senegal Galagos, Side striped Jackals among others. 465 bird species have been recorded with birds of particular interest including the ostrich and the Kori bustard which are principally associated with arid regions.
Make a Uganda safari to the Kidepo Valley National Park and you will surely not regret your decision.
