Kidepo Valley

The area was home to the Ik and Ketebo peoples from the early 1800s until the British colonial administration declared a game reserve in 1958, evicting the residents and prompting a famine that later scholars cited as a cautionary example of neglecting community needs. After independence, the reserve became Kidepo Valley National Park in 1962, securing its status as a national conservation area. A luxury lodge began construction on Katurum kopje in 1967; the unfinished 56‑room project lay abandoned until a revival added 100 rooms in 2019, offering visitors a base amid the wilderness.

Open tree savanna dominates most of the park, supporting more than 77 mammal species and 476 bird species. Annual precipitation averages 89 cm (35 in) in the Narus valley and 64 cm (25 in) in the Kidepo valley, a difference that shapes distinct vegetation patterns and animal distributions within the same protected landscape. The park’s dual‑valley climate creates two ecosystems that can be explored in a single journey.