Know Uganda: Mystic Kidepo National park

When it comes to adventure, Kidepo Valley National Game Park stands out, this invaluable natural resource has been visited and revisited and the extra-ordinary features on it shape its outstanding beauty, which remain a myth to those who have not visited it and a secret to those who have visited it.
The Kidepo Valley National Park was established in the 1960s under the first rule of President Milton Obote (1962 - 1971). The forcible eviction of the Ik; a local Karimojong minority ethinic group, out of the fertile Kidepo Valley contributed to the famine they faced. In contemporary protected area management, this case is often used as an example of the unacceptable consequences of not taking community needs into account when designating reserves.

Location
Kidepo Valley National Park is a 1,442-square-kilometre (557 square miles) national park in the Karamoja sub-region of northeast Uganda, Kaabong to be exact. It is located approximately 220 kilometres (140 miles), by road northwest of Moroto, the largest town in the sub-region.

Kidepo has rugged savannah, dominated by the 2,750 metres (9,020 feet) Mt Morungole and transected by the Kidepo and Narus rivers. Tucked in Uganda’s most remote north-eastern corner, some 700km from Kampala and tucked between borders with Sudan and Kenya, Kidepo valley is an isolated park.

However, those few who make the journey north through the wild frontier region of Karamoja to visit it, would agree that it is among the most magnificent in Africa’s finest wilderness.

From Apoka, in the heart of the national park, a savanna landscape extends in all directions, far beyond the gazette area of 1442 square kilometres towards horizons outlined by distant ranges.

The National park; planted on rocks, over looks expansive grassy plains dotted with big rocky outcrops and flanked by steep jagged mountains with the summit ridges of Napore range, Taan hills and Natera hills, part of Nyangea, Morongole and Zuulia forest reserves are located within the park.

It experiences semi-arid climate with just one rainy season per year (April – September) and the rainfall is light, with the Valley of Narus River in the south of the park, receiving some 890mm of rain a year, while just 635mm of rain a year falls in Kidepo valley to the north.

The only two rivers in the national park; Narus and Kidepo, are seasonal rivers, which dwindle and disappear in the dry season; the only permanent water in the park is found in wetlands and remnant pools along the southern Narus valley near Apoka, and as a result wildlife is concentrated in this area.

The area conservation manager Johnson Masereka, says this consideration combined the valley’s open, savanna habitat, makes it the park’s prime game viewing location.

“And indeed it is possible to sight a good variety of wildlife simply by scanning the valley with binoculars from the comfort of either Uganda Wildlife Authority offices or Apoka lodge,” adds Masereka.

Features at the park
Kidepo’s expansive visitors, largely uninhibited by woodland and forest, are a result of the open tree savannah habitat that dominates the park. Hills have been colonised by the dry mountain forest while some water courses support acacia forests.

According to the UWA guide Bernard Lotu, who took us on a tour, the park contains one of the most exciting fauna of any Ugandan national park with 77 species of mammal, several of which are (in Uganda) restricted to Kidepo and Karamoja sub-region.

“Just look at those localised carnivores; the bat-eared fox, the stripped hyena, Aardwolf, Caraca and Cheeta, lion, leopard, spotted hyena and black-backed and side stripped jackal, these are not in any other park,” Lotu points at the animals as he explains.

He revealed that the less common ungulates include the greater and lesser Kudu, Chandlers, Mountain Reedbuck, klipspringer and Guenther’s dikdik.

Just as we were about to disembark on our guided tour of the national park, “Bull Bull” strolls in. Everybody is excited, although filled up with fear we all wanted to get a close glimpse of “Bull Bull”.

Weighing about 6,000kg, he is huge, he has a lot of destructive power, but he is gentle and friendly despite his love for alcohol because he keeps around the people’s houses all the time.

“Even when he is drunk, he remains the darling of Apoka, he is a true gentleman, a star.” That is how Masereka and other the managers at Kidepo valley national park describe him.

Masereka says that if it was not because of Bull Bull’s love for alcohol, especially kwete, he would be living in the bush with his kin adding that popular as he might be. Bull Bull is an elephant, a huge, male elephant.

Lotu says besides Bull bull, the elephant, there are other large ungulates animals that make up the main tourist attraction at Kidepo and they include; elephants, zebras, bush pigs, warthogs, giraffes, water bucks, lions, reedbucks, oribi, buffaloes, crockdiles, elands, Jackson’s hartebeest, and five species of primates are also found in the park including the endemic Kavirondo bush baby.

The park also boasts an extensive birdlist of 463 species confirmed and 26 unconfirmed, second only in Uganda to Queen Elizabeth National park.

“A few species of note at least in a Uganda, are the Ostrich, Kori bustard, secretary bird, Carmine, little green and red-throated beef eaters, Abyssinian ground hornbill, Abssinian roller and Abyssinian Scimitarbill, yellow-billed and Jacksons hornbills,” said Mr. Lotu.

Mountain climbing
Mountain climbing is the major activity here for those interested in trekking and mountaineering – a growing tourist attraction in Uganda. Here mostly Europeans and Americans usually experience the beautiful scenery of this mountain.

Climbing Mt Morongole, Summit ridges of Napore range, Taan hills and Natera hills through the national park is a roadless wilderness. The hills can only be explored on foot, on routes that range from day walks to extended hikes over several days to reach them.

A trained ranger guide is required on all treks even when the local porters will make your hike easier.

According to Masereka the best times for climbing hills are during the dry seasons of August, September, October, November and December through March and that no technical climbing equipment or skills are required to reach the main peaks.

“Hill tops are the main destinations, while along the way, you will see interesting and unique flora and fauna, caves, gorges and animals of all kinds that don’t need to be disturbed,” said Mr. Masereka.

He reveals that rain gear and both cool and warm clothing are required as the area is subject to sudden weather changes. You could also carry a camera, binoculars, hat, torch, wildlife guidebooks and insect repellant.

Kidepo main attraction
Perennial water makes River Kidepo an oasis in the semi-desert which hosts over 86 mammal species including lions, cheetah, leopards, bat-eared fox, girrafes, spotted hyena and black-backed and side stripped jackal, these are not in any other park in Uganda, as well as almost 500 bird species.

The 68-year old elephant “Bull bull”, which weighs about 6,000kg, and has destructive power though he is known to be gentle, could be one of the best tourist attractions at the Kidepo National park.

[email protected]