Kidepo Valley National Park

Exploring Kidepo Valley National Park with Jumanji Africa Safaris allows you to experience a variety of different safari activities to make your trip even more memorable. Below are the various activities that you can take part in when you visit Kidepo Valley National Park.

Kidepo Valley National Park has a recorded 77 species of mammals of which predators such as Lions, cheetahs and others are well represented and common around the Narus valley. Also present are leopard and spotted hyena while black-backed jackal, bat-eared fox, aardwolf and caracal are not found in any other Ugandan national park. 5 primates have been recorded in KVNP, one being the patas monkey.

KVNP’s elephant population has increased from only 200 in the 90’s to about 800 individuals while the buffalo is now estimated at 10,000 – 15,000 individuals. These buffalo are preyed on by the parks more than 100 lions with some 2 prides having 20 members which makes the best coalition to take down big buffalo. Also, present is a growing population of 50 Rothschild’s giraffes from only a 90’s population of 3 and 3 more which were translocated from Kenya, but one male was eaten by lions shortly after being released. Other ungulates include Burchell’s zebra, warthog, Jackson’s hartebeest, oribi, Bohor reedbuck, eland and more. Greater kudu, lesser kudu, Guenther’s dik-dik and mountain reedbuck are only found in KVNP, and they are still not very common.

KNVP has a recorded 470 species only second to Queen Elizabeth National Park of which 60 birds have not been recorded in any other national park in Uganda. East Africa’s only known populations of Clapperton’s francolin and the spectacular rose-ringed parakeet are found here. Others include Ostrich, Abyssinian roller, Abyssinian scimitarbill, black-breasted barbet, northern red-billed hornbill, red-and-yellow barbet, secretary bird, Karamoja apalis and many more.

Wildlife here is permanent throughout the year but the numbers increase in the dry seasons (Jan – March) when the Narus river is the only water source. This combined with the open savannah terrain, make the Narus Valley the park’s prime game viewing location. The Narus river joins the larger Kidepo river further north in Southern Sudan where it joins the White Nile.

Wildlife here is scarce in the Kidepo valley, partly because its drier than the Narus valley and attracts much less wildlife. The Kidepo river is worth a visit on its own because its beautifully lines by lovely Borassus palm forest whose fruits are loved by elephants. The Kidepo river is mostly dry throughout the year with its 50-meter-wide riverbed course is a swathe of beautiful white sand.

Game drives in Kidepo are particularly conducted in the Narus valley with two excellent road loops around 15 – 20km running south from Apoka. These are the Kakine Circuit whose centerpiece Kakine Rocks also known as “Lion Rock” are often frequented by lions and the Katurum Circuit. A landmark along the road connecting these 2 circuits is a pair of lily covered crocodile ponds which often attract large herds of buffalo. Look out for herds of 20 or 30 herds of elephant that come to drink from the river in midmorning. These are quite relaxed around vehicles except for a few returnees from South Sudan that are sometimes aggressive when approached too closely.

The Karamojong are Nilotic speaking, semi-nomadic pastoralists whose traditional lifestyle still revolves around their precious cows. The Karamojong people (various factions) are all 16^th – 17^th century migrants from Ethiopia and all speak dialects of a common language “Akarimojong” and most are obsessively keen cattle keepers. This means keeping a neighbor’s cattle after obtaining them by force is central to Karamojong ideology, maybe not culture!

The Karamojong people came from a southernly migration by the Jie, an Abyssinian pastoralist tribe, between 1600 – 1700 century. When they reached the Kenyan Ugandan-Sudanese border region, the Jie split to create the Toposa of Southern Susan, the Turkana of Kenya and the Dodoth of Northern Karamoja. Others continued further until they were literally tired of walking, hence the word “Karamojong” which means “the old men sat down” Some Jie groups reached southern Karamoja where they gave rise to the Matheniko who settled around Mt Moroto, the Bokora (on the plain to the west) and the Pian (on the plains below Mt Kadam) while others continued southwest to become the Iteso (around Soroti) The “old men …” line is infact attributed to a group of hardcore walkers who continued even further west before finally “sitting down” as the Langi of Lira District.

More recently, the Karamojong have been said to be an embarrassment to westernized Ugandans and the common view was that they were a backward lot who ran around half naked which certainly was true. The male attire consisted solely of an elaborated styled hairdo, an ostrich feathered headdress, and small undercarriage attire while the women’s attire was a heavy roll of neck beads and a bit of a skirt. However, these attires were driven underground when in the 1970s Idi Amin sent soldiers to force western clothing on the Karimojong at gun point.

The most rural Karamojong remain true to their traditional way of life and still live in “manyattas” traditional homesteads in which defensive rings of thorny brushwood surround a central compound containing huts, granaries and cattle pens.

In 1979, Amin’s army fled north, leaving a well-stocked arsenal in Soroti barracks unattended which the Karamojong who had suffered too much oppression at the hands of the soldiers armed themselves. These guns hence forth formed part of their survival kit and this development transformed the nature of cattle raiding. When the Pokot and Turkana were outgunned by the Karamojong, they decided to find guns of their own in neighboring conflicted South Sudan.  Cattle rustling then took from minor theft hooliganism to intentionally murderous assaults.

The Ugandan government between 2006 and 2011 managed to effectively disarm the Karamojong a process that was sometimes more violent than the violence it sought to suppress but has effectively restored peace and security to the region.

The land of the Karamojong is now secure and easily accessible to all travelling groups.

The Karamojong Cultural visits mostly revolve around a trip to the traditional “manyatta” homestead which incorporates performances of traditional dances, tug-of-war, and culminating in jumping dance like that of the Masai and Samburu in Kenya. More interesting is an overnight stay at a traditional kraal (cattle and goat pen) in the company of a dozen or more local herdsmen drinking beer around the campfire sharing stories.