7 Days Kidepo Valley & Karamojong Culture

You arrive at Entebbe International Airport, located on a peninsula that juts out into Lake Victoria, the largest fresh water lake in Africa, where a representative from Uzuri Uganda Safaris will welcome you and transfer you to Eureka Place Hotel Kampala

Meal Plan: No meals inclusive

This morning, after your breakfast, you are picked up by your driver/guide and you commence your transfer to Gulu town, the commercial heartland of northern Uganda for an overnight stay with lunch en route. You will make two stops along the way – one for a rest and the other for lunch. On arrival in Gulu, you will check-in at Gulu Churchill Courts Hotel. You will have the rest of the day to yourself.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast you will head to Kidepo Valley National park via Kitgum town. You travel over a dirt road  for much of the journey after Gulu – the reason a 4X4 Land-cruiser is recommended for this safari. On arrival you will check-in at Kidepo Savannah Lodge. After checking into your lodge, you will have lunch and rest. At about 5pm, you will head out on an evening game drive along the Narus River Valley. The valley is a rolling grassland plain enclosed by distant mountains. The valley has permanent water, and for much of the year the park’s wildlife drinks here. On this drive, you will view Elephants, herds of Buffaloes, Jackals, and Jackson’s Hartebeest, Klipspringer and Lions plus many other mammals.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

You will wake up to nature’s sounds and given the remoteness of the park, count on hearing the sounds of an authentic African morning. You will take a sunrise game-drive in and around Apoka Valley. You will then return to the lodge for breakfast after which you will embark on a mid-morning game-adventure that will take you to the Kanangorok hot spring.  Here, the so-called Big Five can be seen wandering around including Ostrich. The semi-arid section of the park is home to hot springs and the majestic Ostriches. This section also commands amazing scenery with savannah grassland and mountains from across the South Sudan border in the distance. Return to your lodge for lunch. After lunch, you can relax and wait for the sun to go down. In the evening, you can opt for a walk with an armed ranger guide near your accommodation. Dinner and overnight at Kidepo Savannah Lodge.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, with your packed lunch, you will visit the Lorokul Cultural Group and explore the fascinating, ancient culture of the Karamojong. You will also visit the traditional homesteads (Manyata) of the Karamojong to sample local dishes and hear stories of this remote tribe that has just started accepting traits of modernism. After interacting with the locals and learning a few things about this cattle-keeper people, you will drive to Gulu for dinner and overnight stay at Gulu Churchill Courts Hotel.  

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Also known as explorer Sir Samuel Baker’s fort, Fort Patiko is located about 40 kilometres north of Gulu town. Patiko is a beauty – mountains and hills grace the place that was born out of slave trade in the 1800s by Arab slave traders. Take a tour of the place and listen to the Fort’s gruesome past. The fort advantageously sits near Nimule, South Sudan and onwards to eastern Egypt, where the Arabs sold their merchandise including ivory. Slaves were a key trading item for the Arabs too and were captured from northern Uganda, Gondokoro in Sudan and other areas. Ocecu Hill, where the fort is located became a sorting ground for slaves. Healthy-looking ones were forced to trek from Patiko, through Sudan across the Red Sea and sold in Egypt. Later, return to your accommodation for dinner and overnight.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Up early and through with breakfast by 6.00am. After, you will drive to the Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary to complete your search for the Big Five. Rhinos were wiped out in the Ugandan wild and currently, visitors can only see them at the Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary where three babies have been added to the rhino numbers within the sanctuary. Here, rhinos are being bred before re-introduction back in the national parks. When you arrive at the Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary, a guide and armed rangers will take you on either a walking/by vehicle safari to look for the rhinos. Once you have spotted the rhinos, you will stay in their presence for a while before enjoying a bush picnic lunch in the sanctuary’s grounds. After your picnic lunch, you will continue onto Kampala, headed to Entebbe International Airport where your driver/guide will drop you off at the airport for your departure flight home.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch 

Package Includes:

• Accommodation in standard rooms as described above (or similar) according to the option chosen
• Transport and game-drives in 4×4 safari land-cruiser with pop-up roofs for game viewing
• Game-drives, excursions and sight-seeing activities (if any) as described above
• Activities (if any) as outlined in detailed itinerary
• Transfers as indicated in the itinerary
• Meals as indicated in the itinerary
• Services of an English speaking driver guide
• Relevant park entrance fees
• Bottled water whilst on safari (One-litre per person per day)

Not included:

• Personal expenses such travel and medical insurance, excess baggage fee, communication charges that include, emails, faxes and phone calls beverages including water, soft drinks luxury champagne, spirits or meals not included in the itinerary
• Gratuity for Porterage / waiters at hotels, camps and airports
• Gratuity for your professional driver guide
• Cost of obtaining passport and visas
• Any optional tours or excursions not mentioned in the itinerary
• Travel Insurance
• International or domestic airfare unless specified above