Day 1: Drive from Kampala to Kitgum, Stop over at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

You will be picked by our driver/guide at your hotel or residence in Kampala after you have had breakfast ready to start your tour to the most isolated national park in Uganda and we will drive you through the plain and remote vegetation to the northern part of the country.

Along the way, you visit and track White Rhinos at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. This sanctuary has now been established to breed black and white rhino and restore Rhino populations in Uganda's protected areas in a later stage.)

We then continue driving with stop over for lunch in Gulu, before arriving Kitgum for night overstay and dinner at Bomah hotel.

Day 2: Transfer to Kidepo Valley National Park, Game Drive

Be up for an early cup of tea/coffee and continue with the journey to Kidepo. Arrive in time for lunch, and after set out for the first game drive in Africa's most spectacular wilderness. Drive through the Narus valley for great wildlife sightings including herds of buffalos, elephants, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, and cheetahs. There are incredible picture moments and the drive is really slow so you can ask for a stop at whatever point you want.

Return to the lodge to relax and later have dinner and overnight.

Accommodation Options:

Luxury: Adere Safari Lodge or upgrade to Apoka Game Lodge

Medium: Kidepo Savannah Lodge (in ensuite safari tent)

Low Budget: Kidepo Valley Lodge (tents)

Day 3: Kidepo valley national park Game drive

Wake up to a marvelous breakfast, sipping from your cup of tea/coffee while you savor the panoramic views of the spectacular wilderness and wildlife around you. This is the dream vacation that all travelers imagine of an Africa safari vacation and see in photoshopped safari pictures but can only be experienced in Kidepo Valley National Park.

Set out for another exciting game drive across the open savannah, rocky outcrops, hills, forests, and rings of mountains. There are lots of unique features, animals and birds to observe and you won't stop wondering how certain plants survive in this highly dry region. Drive to the Kanangorok Hot Springs for incredible picture moments and lots of animals more so the lions resting on rocky outcrops.

Return to the lodge for lunch and relax.

Later set out for a cultural tour of the unique Karamajong people that live around the park. Similar to the park, the Karamojong ways of living are not only very unique but are also untouched, that is, they have not been externally influenced as is the case with most Uganda tribes. One can say they have totally and also shunned any form of civilization. They are cattle keepers and hold a belief that all cattle in this world belongs to them. They almost live solely to fight for their cattle, I mean even that which is not really theirs. They are an interesting bunch of people with such uniquess, their dancing, dressing, housing (Manyatta huts), feeding, cooking and day-to-day lifestyle is an incredible cultural experience you should look forward to on your safari to Kidepo Valley National Park

Return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Accommodation Options:

Luxury: Adere Safari Lodge or upgrade to Apoka Game Lodge

Medium: Kidepo Savannah Lodge (in ensuite safari tent)

Low Budget: Kidepo Valley Lodge (tents)

Day 4: Game Drive, Travel to Kitgum

Wake up to another incredible game drive. A game drive in this park is never the same, even with taking the same trail for another drive you sure shall always find something new and interesting. Expect to increase your game count.

Return and check out, transfer to Kitgum, and check-in at Boma Guest House for lunch, relaxation and overnight.

Day 5: Drive to Kampala

Depart in the morning after having breakfast to Kampala with stopover for lunch break on route at Kabalega dinners and drop off at your residence or Hotel and that will be end of the trip.

About Kidepo Valley National Park 

Kidepo Valley National Park is a 1,442 square kilometers (557 sq mi) national park in the Karamoja region in northeast Uganda. Kidepo is rugged savannah, dominated by the 2,750 metres (9,020 ft) Mount Morungole and transected by the Kidepo and Narus rivers.

The park is located approximately 520 kilometers (320 mi), by road, northeast of Kampala, Uganda’s capital and largest city. 

The northwestern boundary of the park runs along the international frontier with South Sudan

Gazetted as a national park in 1962, it has a profusion of big game and hosts over 77 mammal species as well as around 475 bird species.

Kidepo is Uganda’s most isolated national park and also the most magnificent, for Kidepo ranks among Africa’s finest wildernesses. From Apoka in the heart of the park, a savannah landscape extends far beyond the gazetted area, towards horizons outlined by distant mountain ranges.

The local communities around the park include pastoral Karamojong people, similar to the Maasai of Kenya, and the IK, a hunter-gatherer tribe.

The park contains one of the most exciting faunas of any Ugandan national park. Along with the neighboring Karamoja region, it houses many species found nowhere else in Uganda, including the greater and lesser kudu, eland and cheetah. Carnivores here include the lion, leopard, spotted hyena, and black-backed and side-striped jackals. Other large species regularly seen here are elephant, Burchell’s zebra, bushpig, warthog, Rothschild’s giraffe, Cape buffalo, bushbuck, bush duiker, Defassa waterbuck, Bohor reedbuck, Jackson’s hartebeest and Oribi.

The park boasts an extensive bird list of around 475 species, making it second only in Uganda to Queen Elizabeth National Park. A few species of note are the Ostrich, Kori Bustard, and Karamoja Apalis.

Kidepo is notable for its birds of prey. Of the 56 species recorded, 14 – including Verreaux’s Eagle, Egyptian Vulture, and Pygmy Falcon – are believed to be endemic to the Kidepo and Karamoja region. There has, however, been no comprehensive survey of birds in Kidepo and visitors stand a good chance of adding to the current list.

Access: Schedule Eagle Air flight once a week and charter flights, civil aviation manages an airstrip 3km away from the park headquarters.

Activities on Kidepo Valley NP Safaris

Game Drives in Kidepo

Discover the wonders of the wilderness in an open-top safari vehicle, Kidepo Valley National Park is truly a land of unspoiled beauty. Lions, cheetah, ostrich elephants, giraffes, zebra as well as many antelope species inhabit these grasslands.

Game Walk in Kidepo

Kidepo Valley National Park is one of the two parks in Uganda where you are able to get out of the vehicle and explore the savannah by foot. An armed guide will accompany you as you venture along the dry riverbeds, over rocky outcrops and through bush land to track the resident wildlife. Being able to reach out touch the environment and feel the African savannah beneath your feet is a truly understated experience.

Karamojong Village community visits

The Karamojong people have been settled in Northern Uganda since 1600 A.D. Originally from Ethiopia, the name Karamojong is derived from a phrase meaning ‘the old men can walk no further’. The main livelihood for the Karamojong is cattle herding and livestock have a significant importance in the day to day lives of a Karamojong community. Apoka Lodge has established a good relationship with a nearby Karamojong community and the opportunity is there to visit the village and learn about this history of this interesting community and its culture and traditions.