Kidepo Valley National Park

About this tour

Kidepo Valley National Park is a compact gem, located conveniently close to the highway that connects Kampala to the parks of western Uganda. It is the smallest of Uganda’s savannah national parks and underlain by ancient Precambrian metamorphic rocks which date back more than 500 million years. It is home to 350 bird species as well as zebra, impala, eland, buffalo, oribi, Defassa waterbuck, leopard, hippo, hyena, topi and reedbuck.

Together with 13 other lakes in the area, Lake Mburo forms part of a 50km-long wetland system linked by a swamp. Five of these lakes lie within the park’s borders. Once covered by open savanna, Kidepo Valley National Park now contains much woodland as there are no elephants to tame the vegetation. In the western part of the park, the savanna is interspersed with rocky ridges and forested gorges while patches of papyrus swamp and narrow bands of lush riparian woodland line many lakes.

Kidepo Valley National Park is a semi arid region with average annual temperatures of 290C. In extreme cases, day temperatures get to 400C. Kidepo Valley National Park receives one season of rains per year April-September. The rain season may seem long in time, but is erratic and the volume low on average 700mm per annum. The soils in large parts of Karamoja region are sandy with low plant nutrients and cannot hold the rainwater for long periods. The combination of climate and types of soils influence the vegetation patterns in the entire Kidepo Valley National Park. During the rainy season, vegetation is all green, grasslands, shrubs sprout and the wilderness is agog with a visible vibrant wildlife presence. Vegetation stunts and withers at times to sand and bare ground during long periods of drought. The open vegetation cover for the large part of Kidepo Valley National Park is ideal for spotting a wide range of game on safari into Uganda.