Kidepo National Park

In the company of a ranger guide, embark on a morning nature walk in Kidepo Valley National Park where you will have the chance to venture along dry river beds, over rocky outcrops, and through bushland to track the resident wildlife.

Set out for an afternoon game drive,  Kidepo Valley National Park is rich with wildlife including cheetahs, lions, leopards, hyenas, giraffes, ostriches and elephants, and hundreds of other mammal and bird species. This difficult-to-reach park, located in the far northeast part of Uganda, is best known for its abundance of predators, making it a spectacular place to find animals hard to spot elsewhere in the country. The vast panoramic views of Kidepo are truly spectacular and will give you a true sense of being in the wild, open savannah.

This is a cultural visit to the IK people and it involves an all-day hike up the scenic Morungole mountains that are near to the Kidepo Valley Park. The Ik People are a small lineage between 10,000 to 11,000 in number. It’s said that they migrated from Ethiopia and first settled in Kenya and migrated to what’s now Kidepo Valley Park.

As you reach the townlets you’ll be welcomed warmly with traditional dancing. The Ik people are benefiting from tourism as it’s adding a bit of income for the community and actually may sustain the continuity of the Tribe as it has for the Batwa People in southwest Uganda. As you’re guided around the village, ask questions about the life of the Ik people, the caregiving of children is different there as it is communal, polygamy is part of family life and there isn’t relevance of a formal education besides learning to forfend for yourself.

Getting to the Ik village is no easy feat but thanks to a trail marked by the US Forest Service it has become easier. There’s indeed a path if you take hours to lift my vehicle. Nonetheless, it’s an every- day adventure over and down the steep mountains with interpreters who speak the Ik Language. You have to be physically fit to climb the mountains – the peak of Mount Murongole is 2,749 measures above and hiking above may be torture for those who aren’t fit. The trail is 8 kilometers long (16-kilometer round trip) and quite a tough walk to the village.

Kidepo valley national park is home to over 450 species and the fact that Kidepo is located between different borders creates a great chance to see different birds from different geographical regions of Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda. Kidepo has over 50 bird species endemic and can only be seen in Kidepo Valley.

The bird sightings include green bee-eater, northern carmine bee-eater, ostrich, secretary bird, Verreaux’s eagle, Yellow-billed hornbill, Egyptian Vulture, Karamojong Apalis, Jackson’s hornbill, etc.