Kidepo Valley National Park is situated in Karenga district, North Karamoja in Uganda, is bordered by Kenya in the east and South Sudan in the north.
Covering 1,442 square kilometers, Kidepo Valley National Park is an oasis of the semi-desert wild, which is eye-catching to tourists, and it is the only National Park in the whole world that will still be visited by tourists, even if all the animals died because of its beautiful scenery and terrain.
Sargent Andrew Opeto, a 58-year-old Senior Ranger Guide who has worked for 27 years in wildlife with experience as a birder, botanical, and medicinal, took a group of 16 local tourists, including the Deputy Director General of the Internal Security Organization, Col Emmy Katabazi, around the National Park on September 5, 2024, who had also gone to attend the Karamoja Cultural Festival in Karenga district.
As Opeto took the tourists around the park, one of the places they also visited was the cemetery of the nine fallen wildlife conservation commanders, where the Office of the President, which also visited the place, pledged to make renovations of the cemetery. This will not only boost tourism but also be a sign of paying respect to the heroes of nature that died between 1954 and 1962 and who asked to be buried in Kidepo Valley National Park in respect of their slogan that stated, When We Die, Bury Us Here so as to Conserve Nature Forever!
Sgt Opeto explained that Kidepo Valley National Park, spanning 1,442 square kilometers, is the third largest park in Uganda. It follows Murchison Falls National Park, which covers 3,840 square kilometers, and Queen Elizabeth National Park, with an area of 1,978 square kilometers.
He said that the park is home to 78 different species of mammals, like buffalo, zebras, warthogs, waterbacks, and brown monkeys, with 20 species of predators, including lions, leopards, and spotted hyaenas, among others, adding that hunting dogs and cheetahs are only found in Kidepo in Uganda. The Senior Ranger Guide also revealed that the National Park harbors 484 different species of birds, including Rossring perakits, Karamoja apalis, ostriches, BBB-Black Breasted Bubets, White-crested turacles, and Sectors typing, among others.
According to Opeto, the hosting of the Karamoja Cultural Festival at Karenga Catholic Church Grounds in Karenga district has increased the number of tourists visiting the park.
The Karamoja Cultural Festival has gathered all people from nine districts of the Karamoja region, including Karenga, Kotido, Kabong, Amudat, Nakapiripirit, Moroto, Nabilatuk, Abim, and Napak, to celebrate the event on Saturday, September 7, 2024, and President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is expected to preside over the function as the chief guest. The festival, which was officially opened by the Minister of State for Gender and Culture, Peace Mutuzo, on September 4, 2024, rotates around the eight yearly.
During the cultural week, running under the theme Celebrating Cultural Diversity, Peace, Coexistence, and Embracing Tourism for Sustainable Development, different clans come together to showcase their cultural heritage with the aim of diversifying culture in the Karamonja region. However, one may not understand the natural beauty of the land until they take some time off to visit the region.