Aardwolf

Aardwolf in Kidepo Valley National Park

Kidepo Valley National Park is Uganda’s most remote and ruggedly beautiful savanna wilderness, spanning 1,442 square kilometers in the extreme northeastern Karamoja region. Bordering South Sudan and Kenya, the park features a dramatic landscape dominated by the Narus and Kidepo valleys, flanked by the soaring Mount Morungole and rugged mountain ranges. Because it is isolated, it receives a fraction of the tourists found in western Uganda, providing an exclusive, untamed safari atmosphere reminiscent of Africa fifty years ago. The park protects a diverse ecosystem of montane forests and semi-arid savanna grasslands. It is home to 86 mammal species and over 460 bird species, including many found nowhere else in the country. Kidepo Valley National Park is known for Kidepo is renowned for its spectacular, crowd-free landscapes and harboring Uganda's unique wilderness predators, including the largest single herds of African Cape buffalo on the continent. Catching sight of this elusive, insect-eating specialist is a rare prize reserved for the patient night tracker. Looking like a delicate, striped hyena with a slender muzzle, the aardwolf avoids the bloody kills of its larger cousins, spending its nights methodically licking thousands of termites from the soil with a broad, sticky tongue. To see one under a spotlight at dusk or during a night drive is to witness a creature of absolute caution; its large, sensitive ears twitch at the slightest rustle, and it will instantly flare its long, dark mane to look twice its size if startled. It is a strange, gentle encounter that offers a fascinating look into the savannah's hidden nocturnal micro-world. Best time to visit for this: September to March, with the prime window of the dry season from December to February, when wildlife congregates heavily around the permanent water sources of the Narus Valley.