Where To Stay In Kidepo?
Knowing where to stay in Kidepo National Park is one of the most important decisions when planning your Uganda safari. Accommodation is limited here, with only a handful of Kidepo lodges and camps, so booking early is essential, especially in the dry season.
Kidepo Valley National Park is Uganda's most remote national park. Yet those who make the long journey northeast through the wild Karamoja region agree it is one of Africa's finest wilderness areas.
The park lies in rugged, semi-arid valleys near Uganda's borders with South Sudan and Kenya, about 10 to 12 hours' drive from Kampala. Gazetted as a national park in 1962, it is home to about 77 mammal species and around 475 bird species, including cheetahs, ostriches and other animals you won't find in any other Ugandan park.
5 Best Lodges: Where to Stay in Kidepo National Park
After a full day of game drives across the Narus Valley, there's nothing better than retiring to a lodge right inside the park. If you're wondering where to stay in Kidepo National Park, these are the best Kidepo lodges for every budget, from luxury cottages to simple bandas.
1. Apoka Safari Lodge
Apoka Safari Lodge is owned and run by Wild Places, the company behind luxury lodges in Bwindi and Semuliki National Park.
Apoka is the finest safari lodge in northeastern Uganda. It sits on a rocky ridge overlooking a busy waterhole, with a natural rock swimming pool and a shady thatched dining area facing the open plains.
Best of all, it makes the perfect base for exploring one of Africa's least-visited parks, where lions, elephants and large buffalo herds are often seen every day, sometimes right from the lodge.
Accommodation and Facilities at Apoka Safari Lodge
The main lodge at Apoka Safari Lodge sits on the highest point of the property, giving guests sweeping views across the plains of Kidepo Valley National Park.
Built from stone, timber and thatch, it blends naturally into the rugged landscape. Inside, the open-plan communal area brings together a lounge, dining area and bar, furnished with comfortable sofas and armchairs, coffee tables and colourful patterned rugs.
Meals are served at a long shared table where guests gather to swap stories from the day's game drives, giving evenings a warm, sociable feel that many visitors remember long after their safari.
A short walk from the main lodge, you'll find the swimming pool, carved into a large natural rock. Deep, cool and surrounded by wilderness, it's the perfect place to relax between your Kidepo National Park activities.
Guest accommodation is in 10 super-spacious cottages. All cottages are located a little lower on the kopje than the communal lodge yet offering fabulous vistas of the valley, the plains, or the surrounding mountains. 6 cottages feature a double bed and four have twin beds.
Extra beds can be added for children aged 5-12 years. Each cottage is constructed from timber, stone, and thatch, blending pleasantly into the landscape.
Interior features include bedside tables, mosquito nets and lighting, snug rugs, ample storage space. En-suite facilities comprise flush toilet, washbasins, and shower with hot and cold running water. Outside, there is a private veranda, and a bathtub hewn into the rocks! You can enjoy soaking in the tub while watching the local wildlife.
Dining
The lounge doubles as the dining area, where the lodge serves delicious meals cooked with care by the camp chef.
You will enjoy watching animals grazing on the abundant grasses outside as you tuck into local Uganda and international cuisine, vegetables, and barbecued fare. The lodge also takes orders for special dietary preferences and serves drinks from the bar.
House drinks are included in your rooming price except for premium brands. Bush breakfasts, private romantic dinners, and picnic lunches can be organized upon request.
2. Kidepo Savannah Lodge
2. Kidepo Savannah Lodge
Kidepo Savannah Lodge is owned by Nature Lodges, a company with a strong track record in running safari lodges in Uganda.
The lodge sits just 500 metres outside Kalokudo Gate, making it a popular choice for travellers deciding where to stay in Kidepo National Park on a mid-range or budget safari.
It has the charm of a classic old-school safari camp, with a few extra comforts. From the tents, you'll enjoy wide views over the plains and the distant mountain ranges along the border with South Sudan.
Accommodation at Kidepo Savannah Lodge
The lodge has twelve well-appointed safari tents set on raised wooden decks. Each spacious tent has a private veranda overlooking the open savannah plains of Kidepo Valley National Park.
Every tent is furnished with one double or two single beds and has an ensuite bathroom with 24-hour hot showers, running water and a flushing toilet.
For travellers on a tighter budget, there are also nine non-ensuite tents. These are comfortably furnished with one double or two single beds, a bedside table and a power outlet for charging your cameras and phones.
The budget tents share a clean communal ablution block with hot showers and flushing toilets, and all bedding and towels are provided. The views are just as magnificent, often with elephants or buffalo passing by in the distance.
Dining and Bar
The thatched dining and bar area offers one of the finest views over Kidepo Valley National Park, especially at sunset.
Lunch is a two-course meal, while dinner is a hearty four-course affair. Because the lodge runs entirely on solar power, including its fridges and freezers, meals follow a set menu. If you have any dietary needs, simply let the lodge know in advance and the kitchen will gladly cater for you.
3. Apoka Rest Camp
Apoka Rest Camp has a prime location in the wildlife-rich Narus Valley. Animals such as warthogs, zebras, waterbucks, elephants, and more visit the camp.
Accommodation, Dinning And Bar
Apoka Rest Camp offers 16 simple hut budget accommodations. They are self-contained with en suite bathrooms and toilets with running water.
Their roofs are thatched with grass so that keeps the temperatures inside moderate since this is a semi-arid region whose temperatures go high during the dry season. Apoka Rest Camp also has a budget restaurant/bar.
Campfire Area
And there is a campfire area where guests can gather for a memorable experience of sitting under the bright skies in the wilderness and sharing great stories and experiences of the tour.
Management
Apoka Rest Camp is managed and operated by the Uganda Wildlife Authority which also manages other campsites within Kidepo Valley National Park which you could as well choose to use. Those who wish to camp at their campsites are required to carry camping materials including a tent, bedding, food, drinking water, and other necessities that you may require.
You will get water for bathing at the campsite. Tourists who camp pay for the camping fee and the ranger guide who protects in the night.
4. Zebra Safari Lodge
Price Range from.
Zebra Safari Lodge-Kidepo is located just a stone’s throw away from Kalokudo Gate in Kidepo National Park. The lodge shares a boundary as well overlooks the magnificent and offers a breathtaking view of the savanna grasslands of Kidepo Valley.
Accommodation
Kidepo boasts five cottages, set out on raised ground. Each of the cottages has a private verandah offering superb views of the unending savannah vegetation, together with a cool breeze of unpolluted air.
Comfortably furnished with 1 King Size Bed, all cottages have an en suite bathroom with 24-hour hot showers, running water for hand basins, and a flushing toilet.
Dining And Bar
Zebra Safari Lodge has a spacious, grass-thatched dining and bar area that offers one of the best views of the Park. The dining and bar features grass thatched roofs overlooking rewarding views of the breathtaking endless savannah.
The bar is well-stocked with a variety of wines, spirits, and beers. The restaurant offers set menus of 2-course meals for lunch and 4-course meals for dinner. Special dietary requirements are catered for on request.
5. Karatunga Safari Camp
Kara-Tunga Safari Camp offers tented accommodation in Moroto in the beating heart of the Karamoja region at the slopes of Mount Moroto (3085m).
A central location that serves perfectly as a base for your adventure through northeast Uganda (5hrs drives from Kidepo National Park). The camp design is a blend of traditional customs and local materials with a modern touch.
Accommodation
Kara-Tunga Safari Camp has 6 ensuite safari tents located underneath the large indigenous trees. Each safari tent has a private verandah, solar-heated showers, and electricity to charge equipment, a flushing toilet, and a washing basin.
The cam also has an independent building that is divided into two apartments with each a private entrance and verandah. The apartments have the same setup with one open room and one bathroom with a solar-heated shower and flushing toilet.
Three standard rooms are self-contained single, twin, and doubles. All rooms have solar-heated showers, electricity to charge equipment, flushing toilets, and a washing basin.
Dining
The camp has an onsite restaurant offering a-la-cart menu as well as a full board and half board option.
Accommodation near Kidepo National Park
Kidepo Valley National Park is located more than 550 kilometers/340 miles northeast of the capital Kampala (or nearby Entebbe International Airport) by road.
And the drive can take more than 10 hours in either direction. Many travelers on Uganda wildlife safaris to Kidepo spend their first night on the safari accommodations en route in the towns of Gulu and Kitgum for those who take the western route.
Those who take the longer and more adventurous eastern route often spend their first day in Mbale town or the beautiful Sipi Falls area near Mount Elgon. The best safari accommodation in Gulu includes Churchill Courts Hotel and Boma Hotel.
Accommodation in Mbale includes Mbale Resort Hotel and Mount Elgon Hotel and Spa. And the best lodges in the Sipi area include Lacam Lodge, Home of Friends Guesthouse, Sipi Heritage Lodge, Rafiki Lodge Sipi, Mise Cave Lodge and Sipi Valley Resort
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