Kidepo Valley National Park is an isolated park of Uganda situated in a semi-arid climate region of the country, it forms the far remote corner of the country between its borders and the southern Sudan, the park presents one of the finest wildernesses of Africa, it has been listed among the top must visit ecosystems, the park is sectioned into the Kidepo valley and the Narus valley, the only point with constant water supply during the year is the Narus and hence an incredible animal count can be spotted here example species include elephants, giraffes, elands, zebras, rock hyrax, lions, cheetahs , ostrich within the grassy lands. The Kidepo valley national park has an incredible bird list of more than 470 species recorded to date.
Bird watching in Kidepo Valley National Park is impressive, the park is an important birding site of Uganda, coming second after the Queen Elizabeth National Park, there are over 60 endemics of the park that have been recorded only here on not any other place of Uganda, migratory species are mostly received in the wet season in April and May notable birds of Kidepo include dark chanting goshawk, Kori bustard, Abyssinian roller, golden pipit, greater kestrels, Jacksons hornbill, Karamojong Apalis, purple grenadier, pygmy flacon, red throated bee eater, Rose-ringed parakeet, white billed go way bird, Abyssinian ground horn bill, pink backed pelicans, yellow billed shrike,, ostrich, verreaux eagles, black breasted barbet, crimsonto mention a few.
Bird watching in Kidepo valley national park is great all year round but best during the months of April –march, migratory birds are in the park from November to April, to enjoy a birding experience in the park it is important to carry long sleeved shirts and trousers, binoculars, light jackets, boots, insect repellants, bird guide book and any other items of personal nature, bird watching is done on walk guided by a Uganda wildlife ranger. Bird watching begins in the morning at 6:30am through the well distributed trails of the park, you will begin on the hunt of birds in the national park.
Besides birding in Kidepo valley national park, there are other activities to participate for example game drives, through the well distributed game tracks you will be guided in the park, these are done in sessions in the morning, afternoons, evening and night game drives in search of nocturnal species. Guided nature walks bring you up close to wildlife of the park, visit the Karamojong communities, these are natives of the park region, they are originally pastoralists who live in villages and home steads called manyattas, visiting them will have you understand culture of the few ethnic groups of Uganda, they will dance, perform to their traditional dances, travelers are free to join in the dancing.
Kidepo Valley National Park can be accessed from Kampala or Entebbe via the Kampala-Gulu highway, it is a long worth drive taking about 11 hours, and the faster route is by flying to the national park it takes only 2 hours flight to land at the Kidepo airstrip.