About Kidepo National Park
Kidepo National Park is a 1442square kilometers National park in the Karamoja region in northeast Uganda. Kidepo is a rugged savannah dominated by the 2750 meters (9020ft) of Mountain Morungole and transected by the Kidepo and Narus rivers. The Ketebo are the original inhabitants of the area, who have been living there since 1800. It was gazette as a game reserve by the British Colonial Government in 1958, and the people were excited. The purpose was both to protect the animals from hunting and prevent further clearing of the bushes from tsetse fly control. The eviction of the resident people and the resultant famine, especially the Ketebo people who were forcefully relocated to other areas within Bira such as Napotpot, Kalo kudo, Namosingo, lowiro and Naukori in South Sudan, was cited by park management as an example of the unacceptable consequences of not taking community needs into account when designating reserves. The park consists of two major valley systems of Kidepo and Narus river. The valley lies between 3000feet (910m) and 4000 (1200cm). Kanangorok is a hot spring in the extreme north of the park. The spring is the most permanent source of the water in the park. Most of the park is open tree Savannah, because of differences in rainfall with annual averages of 89cm in Narus and 64cm in the Kidepo valleys, vegetation and animal populations vary between the two valleys. Kidepo National Park is 64km from Kampala the capital city of Uganda and it is a 9hour drive from Kampala.
