Karamoja Far Country

Kidepo receives a few thousand visitors in a year. You fly in over country with no roads worth the name, and the Narus Valley opens gold and empty under the Morungole range, South Sudan on one horizon and Kenya five kilometres off the other. Buffalo herds move in the hundreds. Nobody else is watching. Afterwards the Nile compresses into a seven-metre gap at Murchison and you stand in the spray, then walk on foot after rhino at Ziwa.

Best months

September to early March. Kidepo sits in semi-arid Karamoja and runs drier than the rest of Uganda, so its wildlife concentrates hard on the Narus Valley water from December through March. April to August brings the Narus rains and taller grass, which scatters game.

3.8833, 33.7500

Kidepo Valley National Park

Day by day.

• Day 1 Kampala

  Arrive and settle in town

  Met at Entebbe International, forty-five minutes to Latitude 0 Degrees in Kololo, Kampala. Rooftop dinner, route and permit briefing, kit check for the Karamoja leg before an early transfer tomorrow.

• Day 2 Kidepo Valley NP

  Fly to the far northeast

  Aerolink or Bar Aviation Caravan from Entebbe to Apoka, roughly two hours fifteen minutes. Apoka Safari Lodge, rooms cut into a rock kopje. Late afternoon drive on the Narus Valley circuit.

• Day 3 Kidepo Valley NP

  Narus Valley in full light

  Long dawn game drive for lion on the rocks, elephant, Rothschild's giraffe, and buffalo herds several hundred strong. Afternoon at the Kanangorok hot springs near the South Sudan border, ostrich country.

• Day 4 Kidepo Valley NP

  Manyatta, walking, night sky

  Morning walking safari with an armed UWA ranger on the valley floor. Afternoon visit to a Karamojong manyatta at Karenga, cattle culture and beadwork. Dinner in the open, no light pollution.

• Day 5 Murchison Falls NP

  South to the Nile

  Charter flight from Apoka to Pakuba, about one hour. Nile Safari Lodge on the river's south bank. Sundowner launch downstream, crocodile banks, Goliath heron and elephant crossing points.

• Day 6 Murchison Falls NP

  Where the Nile narrows

  Dawn drive on the Buligi peninsula for lion, oribi and Jackson's hartebeest. Afternoon launch upstream to the base of the falls, then the short climb to the top of the gorge.

• Day 7 Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

  On foot after rhino

  Two and a half hours south to Ziwa. Ranger-led tracking on foot among Uganda's reintroduced southern white rhino, then continuing to Amuka Safari Lodge or on toward Kampala depending on timing.

• Day 8 Entebbe

  Last morning, then departure

  Roughly three and a half hours to Entebbe with a stop at the Uganda Equator marker. Day room at Protea Hotel Entebbe, lunch, and evening international connection.

What the price actually covers.

From USD 14,720 per person sharing. Permits, park fees and charter legs are inside that number, not added at the end. International flights and visas are not.

• Scheduled Caravan flights Entebbe to Apoka and private charter Apoka to Pakuba

• Kidepo park entry USD 40 and Murchison Falls park entry USD 45 per person per day

• Ziwa rhino tracking fees and armed UWA ranger walking safaris

• Three nights Apoka Safari Lodge, full board with house drinks

• Private Land Cruiser, senior guide, and Karamojong manyatta community fees