African Lion

African Lion 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. You will likely hear them before you see them: a deep, low grunting that vibrates the air outside your vehicle at dawn. While most African safaris feature lions walking through dust, Uganda offers something bizarre: prides that spend their afternoons compressed into the low, thick branches of sycamore fig trees in Ishasha to escape ground heat and biting insects. For a completely different atmosphere, the remote north in Kidepo lets you watch prides using massive granite kopjes (rock boulders) as lookout points, completely undisturbed by other vehicles. If you want a closer look, skip the standard game drives and request an experimental tracking permit in Queen Elizabeth National Park. You'll head off-road with a researcher using radio-telemetry collars to find prides hidden deep in the thickets, well away from the tourist tracks. You can also see the lions in Murchison Falls National Park. 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.