Game Drive Safaris in Kidepo Valley National Park

Game Drive Safaris in Kidepo Valley National Park : Kidepo valley national park is positioned in the north eastern part of Uganda and is situated on 1442 square kilometers. This national park in 1958 was first established as a game reserve by the government of the British colonialists. It was officially named a national park under the reign of Apollo Milton Obote in 1962.The park is found in the Karamoja region in kaabong district of Uganda. Kidepo valley national park is under the management of the Uganda wildlife Authority.

Kidepo valley national park is a home to over 76 mammal species and over 465 bird species. These wildlife stay in different sections of the park and can be seen during game drives, nature walks and some can also be seen roaming around the park. This park is among the 10 national park and it is the third largest amongst them making it a good location for tourists who visit Uganda with the aim of wildlife viewing and other activities in accordance to tourism. This park can be accessed by road or air regardless of the location that one is using to access it. It has six entry points  that is to say the southern gates and the northern gates. These gates include kichumbanyobo, tangi, mobuku and many more.

Kidepo valley national park has a lot of attractions and some of them include narus valley, mount morungule, lomej hills, lonyili mountain, kidepo valley, kanangorok hot springs, namamukweny valley, apoka tourism center, birds, animals and many more. These attractions are the major reason as to why visitors come to this park to have a glance at them with their bare eyes. These attractions can be seen at the park all year through. These attractions are located within the park which makes it easy for a visitor to reach each one of them while at their visit.

The activities done in kidepo valley national park include bird watching, community visits, game drives, wildlife viewing, hiking, game drives and many more. These activities are offered through out the year at this national park though they all have their best seasons in which one receives them at their best. Some of them are best done in the dry season while others are best done in the wet season. The park receives the largest number of visitors in the dry season and this is the park’s peak season and it is an added advantage because most of the activities are best done in the dry season.

Game drives is the major activity done in kidepo valley national park and almost all visitors who visit this park endeavor to participate in it. This activity exposes visitors to a number of wildlife that they spot during their travel through the park. This gives visitors the satisfaction and contentment when they visit the park for game viewing. This also gives them the opportunity to see the various landscapes in kidepo valley national park which include the waterbodies, vegetation and many more. Visitors also get the opportunity to see the wildlife in some of their habitats and at a close range.

The game drives in kidepo valley national park are either done using Uganda wildlife Authority vehicles or travelers vehicles but the prices charges differ according to the means used. It is advisable to move with an armed tour guide during these game drives for the purposes of safety and reference. These guides also brief the tourists about the do’s and don’ts of the game drives and this is done from the headquarters of the park before the visitors set off for their ride. Visitors are urged to follow the rules and the regulations that are given to them by the park guides to avoid unexpected occurrences.

Kidepo valley national park game drives are basically done in two places in the park that is to say Narus valley and Kidepo valley. This places are significant in the park fir game drives because its where most of the wildlife can be seen or spotted. In these areas of the park, visitors are able to spot a number of wildlife that include the buffaloes that move in big numbers, lions which can easily be spotted very early in the morning and at night, hyenas, warthogs, elephants, leopards, giraffes, cheetahs, bush pigs, rhinos and many other animals including some birds that can also be seen during the drive.

The park fees for foreign non residents for game drives is 40US dollars per person, 30US dollars for foreign residents and 20000 Ugandan shillings for East African citizens. These fees differ during to the type visitor that is visiting. The park fees expire after a duration of 24 hours and therefore beyond this time the visitors can no longer engage in the activity. This requires them to pay another fee in order to participate in it again but still this depends on the time that the visitors is staying at the park. The price of the game drives of the children differ from the prices of the adults therefore the prices also depend on your age bracket. And still students also have their own price that they have to pay.

The best time to visit kidepo valley national park is during the dry season in the months of June, July, August, September, December, January and February. This is because the trails in the park are dry and less slippery unlike the wet season when the trails are slippery. In the dry season, the routes in the park can easily be accessed by the visitors that lead to the places where the game drives are done.

Game drives in kidepo valley national park are done either in the morning, afternoon, evening and at night. The morning game drives start at 6:00am in the morning, the afternoon game drives begin at mid day that is around 12:00am, the evening game drives begin at 3:00pm and the night game drives begin at 6:00pm. These game drives last for about 3 to 4 hours.