Kidepo Valley National park- Self Drive Safari

Looking for unique self drive safari in Uganda, Dont miss to include Kidepo Valley national park on your Uganda safari in 4×4 landcruiser jeep rented from Self drive East Africa.

A self drive to Kidepo Valley national Park requires a 4wd Car and among the available car rental options for self drive to Nairobi include the unique Landcruiser 78 series that fits 5 pax with working Ac, Radio and off road tyres.

Kidepo Valley National Park is a 1,442 square kilometers national park in the Karamoja region in northeast Uganda. Kidepo is rugged savannah, dominated by the 2,750 meters Mount Morungole and transected by the Kidepo and Narus rivers.

Kidepo Valley National Park lies in the rugged, semi-arid valleys between Uganda’s borders with Sudan and Kenya, some 700km from Kampala. Gazetted as a national park in 1962, it has a profusion of big game and Perennial water makes River Kidepo an oasis in the semi-desert which hosts over 86 mammal species including spotted hyena, lion, cheetah, leopard, wild dog, elephant, giraffe, zebra, African buffalo, bat-eared foxes, Rothschild’s giraffe as well as almost 500 bird species.

Attractions in kidepo valley national park

There are lots of things to do in Kidepo valley National Park ranging from hiking to bird watching, kidepo is such a place where you can engage in several adventure activities. Check out the full list of things to do in the park.

Hiking and Nature walks

Hiking may be conducted on Lamoj Mountains only a couple of kilometers from the Headquarters of the Park. Visitors may as well go to see the marvelous Kidepo River Valley covered with Borassus palm forest, its broad flatbed is dried out through the biggest part of the year. From the Kidepo Valley, also you can visit Kanangorok Hot Springs that are situated just 11 km from the Kidepo river valley.

The mountain as well as the Savannah landscape of this park is breathtaking. The Narus valley is found within the South West part of this park, the rocky Napore Nyagia mountain range actually forms the western boundary. Splitting it from Kidepo Valley in the north-east, are the stunning Natira plus Lokayot Hills. Then to the north in South Sudan are Lotukei Mountains as well as the Morungole range which represents the southern border of this park.

Game viewing

There are various species to see within the park that include the Hunting dog, Bat-eared Fox, Cheetah, Striped Hyena, Caracal, the aard Wolf, elephants, oribi, burchell’s zebras, Jackson’s hartebeests, bush pigs, bohor reed buck, warthogs, rothschild giraffes, defassa water bucks, cape buffaloes, elands, bush duskier, bush bucks, lions, side-striped jackals, leopards, black-backed jackals, various small cats as well as spotted hyenas.

Bird Watching

Birding can also be done on the fringes of the Narus and Namamukweny Valleys. The park is renowned for its exceptional variety of birds and out of the 58 recorded birds of prey, fourteen are thought to be specifically endemic to the Kidepo as well as the Karamoja region. Included in these are the pygmy Falcon, Varreaux’s Eagle plus the Egyptian Vulture, in addition to many other species.

Cultural Performance

The nearby local communities possess teams of cultural entertainers that are normally accessible to offer performances on request. These performers have a wide range of traditional dances as well as songs for example the Emuya of the Nyangia as well as the Naporre ethnic groups along with Larakaraka plus Apiti dances performed by the native Acholi people.