Dirks fabulous adventures in Uganda: driving to Kidepo valley, game drive

It was a long way to drive so we took off early after breakfast and stopped in Kitgum for an early lunch as this was the only city on the way to Kidepo. The restaurant was not ready for preparing lunch yet, so it took quite a while before we got our food. Nelson had received a call from some fellow guide who asked him to help some other guide to find his way to Kidepo. As he had agreed we waited at that restaurant for him and his clients. It was Ralf and Lucia from Germany. Lucia had worked in Uganda for almost a year and Ralf, her father, came to visit her. He just arrived in Uganda a couple of days ago and was a bit overwhelmed of all the impressions he got. The joined us for lunch and we agreed on driving to Kidepo in a convoy. We were already late and we also had to wait for a friend of Lucia’s who would join her and her father on this trip. Nelson became a bit nervous as the weather was not that good. The upcoming rain might make us drive very slowly and even flood some of the roads in Kidepo Valley. Lucia had to call her friend a couple of times before he finally arrived and we could continue. Nelson drove quite fast and after a while the car broke down again. It was again the battery. After he cleaned the contacts the power was there again and we headed for Kidepo. It got darker and darker and we saw dark clouds in the direction we were heading for. It started to rain at some point but the roads were quite ok. They seemed to have fixed them since Nelson’s last drive to Kidepo. After a long drive we reached the Kidepo Valley which looked very nice with all the rocks, mountains and meadows. The first thing one sees after entering the valley is the former Idi Amin lodge, which is currently being renovated as someone had bought it a while ago. Then we had to stop our journey as the road was flooded because of the rain. That’s exactly what Nelson had feared at lunchtime as this seems very common in this valley. The good thing was that the flooding disappears within a few hours after the rain so we stayed there and waited for the water to go back. After 20 minutes or so one could see that there was a lot less water on the road so we were quite optimistic about our journey. In the meantime some ranger came along with his boda boda driver. They checked the water and told us that it was not safe to pass yet. So we waited for some more minutes. Then the boda boda driver took off his shoes and stepped into the water to see how deep it was and how strong the current was. When he could reach the other side safely he told us to try with the car. Nelson then asked the other guide to drive first as his car’s exhaust pipe hung a bit higher than his. So he drove and passed without problems. We then followed. There were some small buses on the other side. As they had no cross-country vehicles they still had to wait for a while. They would not have to wait for long; the water disappeared quickly. Nelson was still a bit concerned as there was some spot which is usually being flooded heavily. But there were no more surprises on the way and thus we reached the lodge soon. We checked in at the bandas and brought our food to the kitchen and explained the staff what they had to cook for us. Unfortunately there was a Dutch group that blocked the whole kitchen for several hours so we got our food very late. The staff lit the campfire when it got dark and we then sat there waiting for our food. After the meal we went to sleep as we wanted to go for an early game drive in the morning.

the former Idi Amin lodge