Getting to Kidepo National Park
Taking a trip to Kidepo National Park was no easy task. Located in the northeast corner of Uganda, Kidepo is known for its abundance of wildlife and its isolation, making it a highly sought after attraction for tourists. The park is about 1,400 square kilometers (550 square miles) and over 700 km from Kampala on a very rough road. Luckily, Kitgum (where I am living) is relatively close to the park, though there is no straightforward way to reach it.
Being on a budget, I wanted the trip to be as cheap as possible. I initially wanted to take my motorcycle, but apparently it's dangerous and the park doesn't allow game views with motorcycles. Next I looked into renting a vehicle, but it turned out to be quite costly (UGX 500,000/$192 per day) and that would also include paying for accommodation and feeding for the driver. The first time I called the park they said they only had vehicles you could rent for $150/day. After a few weeks of constant calling and badgering, it seemed the park had a vehicle that was available for game rides and they charged UGX 5000/km. They were sketchy about the details but in the end it seemed to be my only option. I figured that I could get the 150 or so kilometers to the park on public transport, and then bite the bullet for the game ride and I'd end up spending a reasonable amount of money.
The nearest town to Kidepo National Park is Karanga, a small town about 24km outside the park. I was planning on going to the park with Ana and we were told there was a "bus" that leaves every day at 9AM. From Karanga we could arrange for a "bodaboda" (motorcycle) driver to take us to the park. Now, I have seen the "bus" on the small roads surrounding Kitgum and I knew it was little more than a large pick up truck. But little prepared me for the journey ahead.
The bus began loading at around 9AM. It was loaded with pretty much everything imaginable. The woman in the picture above is giving the driver two live chickens. These chickens were promptly tied to the side of the truck, upside down, directly over the containers of gas.
We didn't arrive early enough to get a seat in the cab, so we joined the passengers on top of the goods. I had a very comfortable seat in the front. I sat on a bag of rice, with my arms resting on a box of liquor and a crate of beer. I had some palm frond brooms acting as a backrest and some plastic mats to rest my feet on. I was confident that if our bus broke down in the middle of nowhere, we'd be able to start a small colony based on the variety of goods in the bus.
There was a rotating coast of passengers, somewhere between 5-10 at any given moment. The most memorable part of the trip came when a storm approached us. Being in the savannah, a storm is easily seen from miles away. I could see a huge storm moving our way and I soon felt a huge cold front. I began to get worried and the thought of getting soaking wet and riding for three hours on top of a truck made me anxious. We used to have to ride through the rain in Nigeria and I remember getting quite sick a few times. The other passengers observed the storm nonchalantly, though it was obvious the cold front was making everyone chilly. I wanted to ask the people what we were going to do if it rained but I figured the answer would be "get wet." It seemed crazy to me that we'd be allowed to get soaking wet but then again, we were paying to ride on top of a bunch of random goods in the bed of a over sized pick up truck.
As the storm approached I held my breath, bracing for the worst. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, the "conductor" of the bus came flying up from the back of the truck with a tarp. He gave me one end and held on to the other. Everyone ducked down and the tarp blew in the wind, like a parachute being deployed, it covered the entire truck. Everyone frantically grabbed the tarp and held it down to the side of the truck nearest to them. It all happened so fast I was shocked. The wind was blowing the tarp wildly, the rain was beating down and leaking through all the little holes in the tarp and everyone's head was down, simply holding onto the tarp and doing their best to survive the moment. I had the feeling that I was a refugee sneaking out of a war torn country mixed with being on a row boat in the middle of a storm in the ocean. Luckily, it was also one of the more hilarious things that I've experienced and I laughed for nearly the entire hour that it rained. Since I was so prepared to be absolutely soaked and miserable, the arrival of the tarp was a lifesaver and vastly improved my situation. It's all relative.
Being on a budget, I wanted the trip to be as cheap as possible. I initially wanted to take my motorcycle, but apparently it's dangerous and the park doesn't allow game views with motorcycles. Next I looked into renting a vehicle, but it turned out to be quite costly (UGX 500,000/$192 per day) and that would also include paying for accommodation and feeding for the driver. The first time I called the park they said they only had vehicles you could rent for $150/day. After a few weeks of constant calling and badgering, it seemed the park had a vehicle that was available for game rides and they charged UGX 5000/km. They were sketchy about the details but in the end it seemed to be my only option. I figured that I could get the 150 or so kilometers to the park on public transport, and then bite the bullet for the game ride and I'd end up spending a reasonable amount of money.
The nearest town to Kidepo National Park is Karanga, a small town about 24km outside the park. I was planning on going to the park with Ana and we were told there was a "bus" that leaves every day at 9AM. From Karanga we could arrange for a "bodaboda" (motorcycle) driver to take us to the park. Now, I have seen the "bus" on the small roads surrounding Kitgum and I knew it was little more than a large pick up truck. But little prepared me for the journey ahead.
As the storm approached I held my breath, bracing for the worst. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, the "conductor" of the bus came flying up from the back of the truck with a tarp. He gave me one end and held on to the other. Everyone ducked down and the tarp blew in the wind, like a parachute being deployed, it covered the entire truck. Everyone frantically grabbed the tarp and held it down to the side of the truck nearest to them. It all happened so fast I was shocked. The wind was blowing the tarp wildly, the rain was beating down and leaking through all the little holes in the tarp and everyone's head was down, simply holding onto the tarp and doing their best to survive the moment. I had the feeling that I was a refugee sneaking out of a war torn country mixed with being on a row boat in the middle of a storm in the ocean. Luckily, it was also one of the more hilarious things that I've experienced and I laughed for nearly the entire hour that it rained. Since I was so prepared to be absolutely soaked and miserable, the arrival of the tarp was a lifesaver and vastly improved my situation. It's all relative.
After the rain subsided, the remainder of the ride was beautiful. I enjoyed the change of landscape from a flat and arid area to a mountainous and green land. The road deteriorated as we neared Karanga, but I thought there were only a few points that were really treacherous. However, I was happy to take the trip now as a few more weeks of rain would certainly make the trip much more difficult. We passed through a few very small villages, usually unloading a crate of beer or soda or picking up a 50kg sack of millet or sorghum. The other passengers were extremely nice and at some point we shared a bag of roasted cassava. As I chewed on the roasted cassava with my legs hanging off the side, a vehicle approached us. It was a new model Land Cruiser full of white people, most likely coming from Kidepo. I waved at them with my piece of cassava and they hesitantly waved back with a, "what the f@$#?"-look on their face.
The picture taken above was taken coming over the last ridge and overlooks Kidepo Valley. We reached Karanga in a little under five hours and prepared ourselves for Kidepo National Park!
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