Anybody traveled up to Kidepo by road recently?

Very few references to Kidepo turn up in search of this forum, anybody headed up there recently?

I'm considering going by road from the Mbale area, and was wondering if anybody had logistical advice for me.

The LP guide contradicts itself, at one point saying the hostel in the park provides "full board" and then later saying you should come with your "own food"., anybody know which is correct? If I do need to bring my own food where is the last place I can expect to pick it up if I'm taking the eastern route up from Mbale? Kotido?

It seems like things have settled down as of late, but does anybody have any recent updates on the security situation along that route?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Nobody? Really?

Has anybody considered heading up there, but decided not to because of logistical or security concerns? If so, what do you know that I need to know?

I did it in 2002, so things might have changed a bit since then.
great experience, but I didn't prepare well enough.
the rest camp over there is called apoka.
Faboulous spot, had the whole park for myself, but after one night i had to leave because at that time there was no food, no fuel, nothing.
The rangers sold me 20 litres of their own fuel to get back to Kotido.

About safety: you're in karamajong area, which means never 100% sure. these guys all carry AK47 while garding their cattle.

Later i got to meet some people from kotido, i could check if they're still around.

I suppose kotido is now the only place in uganda without tourists, would love to go back myself!

vincent

the place i want to go back to is kidepo off course,
kotido a dusty " end of the world" little town were you only spend the night if you really have to!

but also an experience....

Thanks for the reply. One of the books mentions that Kotido can be interesting on Wednesdays when they have the cattle market. Looks like I might end up there next Wednesday, so we'll see.

I take it you were in your own vehicle. I'll be on public transport. Reading my original post again, I can see how I wasn't particularly clear on that point. At this point I'm planning on giving it a try, unless I'm wildly advised against it when I'm in Mbale.

the advice you will get in mbale will depend on who you re asking.
everybody in uganda fears the karamajong tribe and people in mbale will likely advise you not to go.
taking the bus has a big advantage and safety. they are only used by locals and rarely attacked by thieves. you will probably meet people who live in kotido willing to help and give advise. ( consider a stopover in moroto )
if you have time, just go for it but go slow. it's a remote, "off the beaten track"place and a fine experience.
the problem without a car is reaching kidepo NP from kotido. as i recall, there s no public transport and you will need cash to rent a car to take you there. reaching kidepo, again you will need to rent a 4WD to explore the park, and unless things have changed, there s little chanse to meet other tourists to share expenses.
i don't think it s a good idea to walk the park. rangers joke: "kidepo is the only park in uganda where you don't have to look for the game, the game will be looking for you!"
wish i was there to come along

Hi there,
It is possible to get up to Kidepo by road. We travelled up there in February 2009 from Pader.

Logistics:
Roads: The Mbale-Soroti- Abim-Kotido-Kidepo route is sign posted and the road is graded and is sign posted.

Secruity: It is advisable to stop by one of the army barracks to inquire about the security situation.

Accommodation:
The UWA banda's are not a bad deal at all, its basic and clean and the staff are friendly.
It is a good idea to bring along some food and provisions for your stay, though they do sell cold beer, water and sodas at the banda.
There is also a WWII clunker of a truck that can be hired from UWA to take you round the park on a game drive.

Happy Travels

I can answer the question myself now.

The biggest news is that you can count on the park having food in their basic restaurant, so it's not required to bring your own (wish I had know this myself before I got there). You can confirm this by phoning the park director's wife Josephine, who runs the restaurant: 0782146535. Or calling Patrick, the UWA staff in charge of tourism at the hostel: 0779086239

I ended up doing a big loop though the north, approaching Kidepo from Gulu, then heading south from there to Mbale. Doing things in that direction ensured that i wouldn't need to be traveling at night, which seemed prudent. From Gulu to Kitgum i easily caught a three hour share taxi in the morning, arriving at about 11Am. There is indeed a new UWA office in Kitgum (sorry, I forgot to get the phone number) staffed by Joffrey, who was very helpful. From him I learned that there was a UWA vehicle coming through later in the day that could give me a lift straight to the hostel in the park. That leg took about four hours, which is probably shorter than you should expect, because we were really moving (the park director was in the cab of the truck). You should also give yourself time if you're going to have to switch vehicles at the park entrance. Joffrey can arrange a park vehicle to meet you there, or you can take your chances that you can find transport in Karenga, which could be cheaper (the park vehicle would cost 3000 SH for the 22 kilometers in the park itself, at least that's what the charged me for the ride out).

There was one truck going from Karenga to Kabaang the day I was leaving, so that worked out easily for me. It wasn't clear if there was lodging in Karenga if I needed it, I didn't see it, but I was told very basic rooms were available. THere were no trucks leaving from kaabang that day or the next, but I eneded up not minding, they were two of the most enjoyable days of my whole trip. People were extremely friendly, and the lodging (in the blue building at the southern edge of town, forgot the name) was basic, but comfortable. There is one restaurant in town that didn't scare me, the Riverview (?) up past the junction. Very friendly and clean. I had a great time just sipping beers with locals at some of the tiny roadside pubs.

The next day I was able to hitch a ride in dilapidated truck to Kotido, another freindly beer drinking town, and from there it's easy to catch a early morning bus to any point south. I stayed in a basic hotel listed int the LP (again, can't remember the name, and I gave my book away), but the locals recommended "the Cave" which they said was the same price, and better.

Hope that helps anybody heading up to Kidepo, which i recommend, as much for the journey itself as the park, both are great.

Hello BooBoo, thank you for your info, i'm going to Kidepo on late september so i'm glad to know that the food issues are resolved. Just a question, how much did you pay for the "full board" service at the Hostel?
Cheers
Federico

The "full board" description in the LP isn't exactly accurate. It's just a small, very basic, restaurant that serves simple food (or prepares yours if you bring it). The prices are probably about double what you would expect to pay for similar fare in other parts of Uganda (and reasonably so, considering that everything has to be fetched from Gulu), but still pretty cheap.

thanks for all the Info in this thread.

@fedrico: I will be in Uganda in October probably. Would be great if you could post (or PM) up to date info about the road to Kidepo. Havent booked flight yet, so chances are I'm going in late September too.

@ BooBoo: thanks for all the Info. how many days for the northern loop you did would be a reasonbale timeframe to plan with? Traveling without own car. andincluding some time at the park. I got 3 weeks in Uganda (with maybe a little side trip to Rwanda. Haven't made up my mind yet if its better to see the Gorillas over there or in Uganda)
From your Info here it seems the loop you did is pretty "straighforward" for that kind of area to travel in? Haven't been to Africa yet so its hard to compare for me.
With 3 Weeks in Uganda do you think including Kidepo would be a good Idea? Or is it too much?

cheers.

I i my loop in 8-9 days. Even with the elays i had, I' say that was pretty quick. Things could have taken much longer on several of the legs, so I would give myself 10 days to be certain.

On your first time to Africa it might be a bit much. The southern and central parts of Uganda struck me for how incredibly easy they were to travel in. The north/northeast is like a different country in the regard, much more challenging, with no real traveler's infrastructure.

hi booboo,

thanks!
"with no real traveler's infrastructure" rather gives me shining eyes than putting me off :-) you posts here give a pretty good idea what to expect and it sounds like my very idea of travelling and kidepo and the way up there gets more tempting everyday. but then your right as a first timer in africa its hard to predict.
i'm afraid time will be tje limiting factor here. so i decided to try to see the gorillas at the beginning of the trip and ask a bit around and see if i geth good feeling about the kidepo trip.
just had a look in the latest edition of Bradt guide uganda, who advices against the kidepo mblae leg of the journey because of banditry. had you ever a felling things could go seriously wrong on that section of your trip?

Edited by: dr_fergusson

(Using a keyboard where the "d" key is working this time)

I felt completely safe on that whole eastern leg of the trip, but it could be one of those things where I just got lucky; you always feel safe until something goes wrong.

If you decide to do it, I'd say getting your travel legs under you in the southwest, and then heading up north would be a good plan.

back from Kidepo and it was the best part of my trip!!!! (BooBoo thanks for the info and inspiration! here's my experience:

Went there via Gulu and Kitgum. From Kitgum to Karenga by truck (15000UsH / 4 + hrs) got stuck for an hour in Karenga (from the kids reactions I reckon there are extremely seldom any outsiders) before somebody there found me a working motorbike and drove me to the local UWA baracks outside the Park. No UWA jeeps there, another hour waiting, luckily a big truck left for Apoka. All in all started 9:00 in Kitgum and arrived at around 5:00 pm in Apoka. Was the only tourist at the Apoka Camp at that day.

The Bradt Guide says you can make it in one day from Gulu with an early start there, probaly optimistic, wouldn't count on it especially if you haven't organised onward transport from Karenga; and trucks from Kitgum seem to leave usually only in the morning. when I was in Kitgum somebody offered me to take me all the way on a bike, but I would definitely go for the trucks.
Think it's not a bad idea to allow for things to go wrong. we got stopped just 4 km outside Karenga by a cop with (of course) an AK47. Either the guys on the truck where smuggling something into Sudan or hadn't paid duty on their cargo. they were a bit vague about it. The cop wanted us to drive back to Kitgum which really dampened my spirits. I wasn't allowed to just walk the 4km to Karenga either.... all in all it took us almost an hour to negotiate a bribe to carry on.

Kidepo was unbelieveable beautiful. They got food (chapati and rice and something). really basic. take something with you if you ned more choice. everybody nice and very helpful.

on the way out a ranger drove me to Karenga and there was a truck to Kitgum. Was running out of time so I couldn't make the eastern leg through Karamajong which I still regret so much!
Had only around 3,5 days left to reach my flight out of Entebbe and there was no truck to Kaboong that day and would have been pretty optimistic with that timeframe to try it.
I asked the rangers for the roads in the east anyway. they said no problems, ambushs whatsoever in 2010 and the last incident they heard of was an NGO car being shot at in 2009. So with a few more days left I would have felt safe and comfortable enough to take this route.

the second day I was in Apoka a spanish tourgroup flew in, staying at the UWA camp continuing by bus. Probably nothing to count on, but I reckon if you're lucky you could "hitch a lift" with a charter plane that flies back empty to Kampala. probably one every other week.

p.s. next to the Acholi Pride guesthouse in Kitgum there's a UWA office. they hadn't any cars going the day I showed up but seemed nice and helpful.

Edited by: dr_fergusson

Edited by: dr_fergusson

I have some pics and descriptions of Kidepo on my blog:

[http://obtuseworks.blogspot.com/]

Edited by: HeyHeyBooBoo

thanks! great pics and stories.