Kidepo Valley National Park covering 442 square kilometres is located in the extreme north eastern corner of Uganda. It is the remotest of Uganda’s national parks, located over 600km from Kampala. To reach Kidepo Valley National Park by road takes no less than 12 hours of drive which is why it is one of the least visited parks in the country leaving it isolated from the popular Uganda safaris and tours circuit.
Kidepo Valley National Park is located in the semi-arid region of Karamoja. It is one of the most pristine and least disturbed of Africa’s wildernesses, and according to CNN Travel, Kidepo is one of Africa’s best parks with the most beautiful landscape.
Kidepo National Park has two main biomes; savanna/acacia grassland in the Narus Valley which lies in the southern area of the park, and semi-arid short grass area in the northern Kidepo Valley. The park is generally dry, experiencing only one rainy season of April – September. It has two rivers, Kidepo and Narus both of which are seasonal only flowing during the rainy season. During the long dry spells water can only be found in wetlands and remnant pools in the Narus Valley.
While the other wildlife parks in Uganda can support a far greater biomass of animals, Kidepo Valley National Park supports a wider diversity. Of the 80 mammal species in the park 28 cannot be found in any other park in Uganda including Caracal, Stripped Hyena, Aardwolf, Cheetah, Bat-eared Fox and Hunting dog are carnivore species unique to Karamoja region and protected within Kidepo. Kidepo also harbors 5 species of primate including the Kavirondo Bush Baby which is also unique to the area. The park also has a number of rare ungulates including the Greater and Lesser Kudu, Chandlers Mountain Reedbuck, Klipspringer, Dikdik, Bright Gazelle, Beisa Oryx, and Roan Antelope. Kidepo has unusually small crocodiles with maximum length of 2.5m compared to the Nile crocodiles which regularly exceed 4m. The small size is apparently a result of the limited food availability.
The common animals include Elephants, Zebra, Bush Pigs, Rothschild Giraffes, Eland, Jackson’s Hartebeest, Buffalo, Oribi, Lion, Leopard, Spotted Hyena, Black-backed and Side-backed Jackal. Kidepo is the best park in Africa for great buffalo herds!!
Birdlife in Kidepo is remarkable too with 475 species, second to Queen Elizabeth National Park which has 625. It is a park to go to for arid associated species such as the Ostrich and Kori Bustard which are unique to this region. Kidepo is also outstanding for its birds of prey with 58 species so far recorded including Verreaux’s Eagle, Egyptian Vulture, and Pygmy Falcon.
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