Kidepo Valley National Park

Uganda’s secret northern wilderness

With sprawling savannah and soaring mountains, Kidepo Valley National Park might be the most picturesque park in all Africa. Sharing borders with South Sudan and Kenya’s Northern Frontier District, it is Uganda’s most remote and least-explored park.

A sizeable lion population include formidable prides that prey on the park’s abundant buffalo. I’ve visited the park twice, had lions in camp on both trips, and have seen incredible herds of more than 4,000 buffalo and hundreds of elephant. Apoka Lodge is one of Uganda’s finest accommodation options and you have a good chance of spectacular sightings without even stepping off your veranda.

Kidepo Valley was the traditional hunting territory of the mysterious Ik tribe, one of Africa’s most culturally-intact communities. The 3-hour trek up to the Ik villages high on the slopes of Morungole Mountain offers an unforgettable opportunity to make friends among the charming people who were (inexplicably) portrayed as the world’s nastiest people in the 1973 best-seller The Mountain People by Colin Turnbull.

I’ve worked on photographic assignments in Kidepo in both the dry and rainy season. Although accessibility to some parts of the Narus Valley (‘muddy valley’ in the Karamojong language) can be difficult during the rain, the spectacular play of light on the mountains and plains makes this an unbeatable time to visit for a photographer. This is when you truly get the feeling that you’re in one of Africa’s most unforgettably beautiful corners.

Kidepo is home to 470 bird and 86 mammal species. Lesser kudu, mountain reedbuck, caracal, Guenther’s dik-dik and cheetah are among 28 mammals found in no other national park in Uganda. Recent relocation efforts have boosted the population of eland and Rothschild’s giraffes, and established a growing herd of Ugandan kob.

Although flying into Kidepo is preferable if you have the budget, the road condition is ‘decent’ and security is no longer a problem. Many people split the 12-hour drive (a wonderful chance to see so much of the country) from Entebbe across two days, but I’d recommend making the drive in one bash and having more time in the park. Kidepo’s isolation is also part of its great charm: those who take the trouble to get here are rewarded with phenomenal wildlife sightings and a level of exclusivity that can rarely be had at any cost in neighbouring countries.