Kidepo Valley National Park

On Friday evening, Kevin & I along with my coworker/friend Judith & two IRC expats visiting Kitgum headed up to Kidepo Valley NP in the far northeast of Uganda, bordering Sudan & Kenya.  We went in an IRC vehicle with a very good driver (Jacob), who has driven up there three times before, so he knew the roads and what to expect.  Though it rained at some point and there were definitely parts of the road that were terribly muddy, the drive there was uneventful, took about 3 hours, and we didn't get stuck anywhere.  We arrived just in time for dinner and to watch the moon rise.  As we were driving into the park on our way to our hostel, we saw buffalo & giraffes in the distance.  We enjoyed an evening by a large campfire, a nice dinner, and good (though controversial) conversation with our UWA guide and some other rangers/visitors.  We also ran into another IRC employee, who was up for the night with a group of her friends, which was kind of ironic, considering we were about 3 hours away from Kitgum, and national staff don't usually tend to go to the park.  Saturday morning we left at 6:30 for a game drive, which was awesome.  The UWA truck was broken, so we did our game drive sitting on top of the IRC LandCruiser, the 5 of us and our guide.  Jacob once again did a great job as our driver, being especially careful with us on top, which was definitely much appreciated.  Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of all of us piled up there, but it's okay, because we saw many wonderful things, including lions, lionesses, baboons, giraffes, antelope, many many many buffalo, waterbuck, jackals, elephants, zebras, an old abandoned hotel that Idi Amin built, and so much beautiful scenery as Kidepo is surrounded by mountains.  We returned from our morning game drive around 10am, enjoyed some tea and Rolexes (chapattis with eggs inside rolled not unlike a burrito), and went out again to see some more animals, visit some natural hotsprings, and see the Sudanese border.  While out the second time, we also passed through the area where the rhinos will be eventually; years ago there were rhinos native to Kidepo, but during the 60s & 70s they were all killed during some chaotic times.  Overall, the park was wonderful, I'm very glad we got to go at least for one night (planning was quite difficult), and I definitely hope that I can visit again before I leave Uganda.

Just a few photos of what we saw.  There are many, many more, but these are some of my faves.

this is the view from the top floor of the old Katurum Lodge, built by Amin.