Kidepo Valley National Park wildlife

Jackson’s Hartebeest is very relaxed on the savannah

Ungulates and Birds

Kidepo Valley is the first National Park I visited in Uganda. It was over New Year’s 2025. There I met tourists from EU countries like Greece and England, Ugandan families from Kampala, but no-one from the U.S.
I understand why. Kidepo doesn’t support the wildlife diversity that tourists will find in the national parks of Southern Africa or other East African countries. Historically lions and cheetahs used to be sighted in Kidepo, but not in 2025.
Situations can change in national parks if the national wildlife authority renews its interest in a particular region and if non-profit conservation groups begin to work with the federal and local governments. Perhaps positive changes have already occurred since white rhinos were introduced to the park in 2026.

Flock of Mousebirds

My favourite sightings

I enjoyed my stay at Kidepo, despite the absence of predators. The ecosystem there is an extension of South Sudan and Western Kenya environment which includes vast savannahs, mountains, and open vistas.

elephants


The small herd of elephants have probably suffered from poaching. The herd was nervous and avoided our truck all morning.

Giraffe


I enjoyed spending a few minutes with a small herd of Nubian Giraffe. As I was watching these critically endangered giraffe a minibus of tourists drove up. They disembarked to take selfies and the giraffe herd quickly ran away. It was a one-off giraffe sighting during my stay at Kidepo.

Ungulates


I saw many Ugandan Kob, buffalo, and other ungulates, so there is plenty of food for predators. I hope lions return to this rugged and remote park.

birds

Daybreak


I stayed at Kidepo Savannah Lodge, part of a larger chain of lodges located around all of Uganda’s national parks. The staff were lovely, and my private room looked out across the plains. Beautiful.

Nightfall

travel notes
A drive into the Karamoja Region
travel africa, Karamojong, Pastoralists, Karamoja
travel africa, Karamojong, Pastoralists, Karamoja
A drive into the Karamoja Region
travel africa, Karamojong, Pastoralists, Karamoja
travel africa, Karamojong, Pastoralists, Karamoja
Read more →
travel africa, Karamojong, Pastoralists, Karamoja
travel africa, Karamojong, Pastoralists, Karamoja
Holiday in Karamoja, Northeastern Uganda
Karamojong, Karamoja, travel africa, Pastoralists, African Agriculture, Uganda Birds, Twitchers
Karamojong, Karamoja, travel africa, Pastoralists, African Agriculture, Uganda Birds, Twitchers
Holiday in Karamoja, Northeastern Uganda
Karamojong, Karamoja, travel africa, Pastoralists, African Agriculture, Uganda Birds, Twitchers
Karamojong, Karamoja, travel africa, Pastoralists, African Agriculture, Uganda Birds, Twitchers
Read more →
Karamojong, Karamoja, travel africa, Pastoralists, African Agriculture, Uganda Birds, Twitchers
Karamojong, Karamoja, travel africa, Pastoralists, African Agriculture, Uganda Birds, Twitchers

A drive into the Karamoja Region

road trip through the Karamoja Region, Uganda 2025

FEAR

Fear is part of life
We grow comfortable with it.
On any given day I fear that

I may be hit as I ride my bicycle (2009)
Rabid raccoons will come into my garden,(they are destructive)
My husband will leave me

When I lived in Uganda, my fears expanded to include more immediate situations such as
A man may try to break into my house to attempt sexual assault (2025)
A young man is brutally murdered outside my bedroom window (2025)
I will fall into a cistern of sewage (2025)
All of these events happened to me. Accidents occur, and I can’t stop the urges of those that surround me. Fortunately, I have a healthy amount of fear and prepare myself for the scenarios that I can imagine. Most importantly, I have learned that when I am thrown off-course, the best coping mechanism is to control the landing.

“Not to have felt pain is not to have been human.”
— The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel SE5

The Karamojong

My Ugandan counterparts warned against visiting Northeastern Uganda. I was told, that the Karamojong men steal cattle and they are armed. After experiencing significant health and safety incidents in three different regions of Uganda, fearing cattle rustlers wasn’t pertinent.
Instead, I was intrigued by the idea of visiting a region that is missed by most tourists, Uganda’s most rugged and least-populated sectors. I hired Kanzira, a guide, to drive me through Northeastern Uganda to Kidepo Valley National Park both for safety concerns and for efficiency’s sake. I only had a week’s holiday from work.
It’s a multi-day drive through the Karamoja Region to reach Kidepo NP. Karamoja pre-dates modern political boundaries. It encompasses the southeastern section of South Sudan, a bit of Southern Ethiopia, a large swath of Northwestern Kenya, and the Northeast corner of Uganda. Karamoja is a semi-arid, sparsely populated land that has supported pastoralists for 100s of years. Because of their remoteness and their unique cultural and political structures, the Karamojong people are generally misunderstood and disrespected by other ethnic groups. In actuality, the Karamojong pathways have sustained their regional resources up until the 21st century. Now, climate change, the discovery of minerals, and pressures from neighboring farmers that want their land rights will test Karamojong’s resolve to remain independent.

unmarried women dance late afternoon when the men return with their livestock

unmarried women dance, a chance to bond and have fun

Children helping the women cook

morning view

bicycle

Village visit organized by Kara-Tunga

My brief time in Karamoja has stayed with me and I plan to return to this beautiful, misrepresented region soon.

travel notes
A drive into the Karamoja Region
travel africa, Karamojong, Pastoralists, Karamoja
A drive into the Karamoja Region
travel africa, Karamojong, Pastoralists, Karamoja
Read more →
travel africa, Karamojong, Pastoralists, Karamoja
Holiday in Karamoja, Northeastern Uganda
Karamojong, Karamoja, travel africa, Pastoralists, African Agriculture, Uganda Birds, Twitchers
Holiday in Karamoja, Northeastern Uganda
Karamojong, Karamoja, travel africa, Pastoralists, African Agriculture, Uganda Birds, Twitchers
Read more →
Karamojong, Karamoja, travel africa, Pastoralists, African Agriculture, Uganda Birds, Twitchers

Lugogo Swamp

African Green Pigeon

I’ve been chasing African Green Pigeons for years and finally got a shot!

These were long shots for my 400 lens, but chasing birds is still loads of fun.

Black Lored Barber

An early morning boat ride through the Lugogo Swamp is what I was sold. Instead we walked on a brand new tarred road that has efficiently dissected the Lugogo Swamp into two. All signs of shoebill storks have evaporated.

I did see new bird species on the walk but was greatly disappointed since I was expecting an in-tact swamp ecosystem, so very rare.

Black Crakes walking on water as they do

White Crested Turaco, a notable species that is known to frequent Lugogo Swamp

Cinnamon Breasted Bee-eater

Saturday Morning in Antsirabe

Diners line up at local hotely for breakfast

The stringy little boy nestles next to his granny under the tarp. Last night they set up behind a non-descript hotely on the side street around the corner from the Alliance Francaise complex. They were begging on the corner last night, well into the dark morning hours, as hundreds of bar-hopping revelers streamed past them without a glance. Popular neighborhood karaoke bars competed with the thumping speakers of the all-city block party held on the central boulevard, just past the Carrefour supermarket. The promise of an almighty hangover only seemed to extend the party until, finally, the generators run out of electricity.

A hotely on the way to the market

When Joslyn arrives to open her hotely for breakfast, the revelers had just left a few hours ago. She recognizes the tiny, huddled frames under the tarp in the back. Her hotely is supported by a few odd boards with pieces of tin nailed together as a roof. As customers stream in and out of Joslyn’s place, she will set a bowl of white rice and weak coffee on the ground for the woman and child.

I walked by this scene every day, unprepared for their consistent schedule. Impossible to guess their ages, the boy underdeveloped due to his diet of rice and coffee, and the woman is prematurely aged for the same reason. I feel the intensity of their stares when I walk by.

There is little to be said.

Everything has Changed

Sossusvlei, Namibia

1975, my ninth year, was one of those critical life-assessment years. I was faced with the reality that my classmates and I would soon be experiencing puberty together. The indignities of adulthood would absolutely bear down on the sweet weightlessness of our childhood, everything would change.

 

Ms. Kurtz’s science class also had a big impact. She was a woman of the 70’s. Her square-toed wedges and poly blouses with geometric patterns reflected her upbeat and quirky attitude. That year she explained environmental degradation to us. Industrial outputs and individual consumption were changing the planet so quickly that our class would witness ecosystems collapsing, certainties emphasized by colorful forecasting charts. Many of my life decisions have been based on Ms. Kurtz’s 1975 lesson plans.

 

We see that the environmentalists and scientists of the 1970s were right to be alarmed. Open wild spaces are mortally threatened today, yet those are the areas that are critical to our psyche and our physical well-being. Conservationists work to protect planet Earth and her biodiversity; we make personal and professional choices with the future of the natural world in mind. Conservationists are generally optimistic but truthful too.

 

Spending the day outdoors, riding my bicycle, these activities allowed my passage through adolescence. As a 21rst century adult, the joy I experience in nature is still my steadying force. I am always thrilled to share my enthusiasm for wild spaces with friends or am happy to go it alone. Taking the opportunity to be outdoors for a day or maybe a fortnight, allowing yourself to be lost in nature, these experiences provide the balance our bodies crave. Try it you’ll like it. *

*Copy of 1970’s Alka Seltzer TV advertisement.

Namib Desert, Nambia

 

Silliness has no Bounds

Ostrich on pan in Estosha, Namibia

Are you a clever one

with just the right response?

You probably didn’t blurt out 

“It’s just like ostrich sauce,”

Or tell your neighbor

“Have a gooey gooey day”

not one for sharp retorts

my native silliness

abounds.