Road travel north of Murchison was quite challenging until a short time ago. The path to Kidepo (Ka-DAY-poe) National Park through the towns of Gulu and Kitgum were once dominated by the vile Lord’s Resistance Army. Despite its religious-sounding name, the LRA was just another bunch of terrorists too lazy to do anything but rob, rape and murder in the name of who knows what. The tribespeople who fought them weren’t much better and after years of  brutality and horror (and gobs of money spent) the government made deals with both groups, offering jobs and amnesty to those who gave up their weapons. Aid has since poured into the province, roads are new and well-built and towns are thriving. So what was the warring about? The government of Uganda came out ahead, with an unmatched military arsenal now at its disposal. The president, who claimed he would submit to general elections 14 years ago, has held onto to the throne and recently flew his air force jets over a town just as the (completely meaningless) primary elections were taking place. Guess we know who is in charge here.

But I digress. Kidepo Park is well worth the visit. The two campsites there are spaced nicely along the Narus River Valley, the wetter side of the park. Further east in the Kidepo Valley it is drier and there, we are told, the tsetse fly rule. Tsetse flies have ruled many an acre in Africa, making land uninhabitable for cattle and causing governments to declare the lands a park since little else could be done in the flies’ presence. Maybe the tsetse aren’t so pointless after all.

We arrived at the park in late afternoon with time for a swift recon drive and camp setup before the rain started. A French couple we’d met at Murchison were camped near us and they asked us to tag along with them for a morning drive. Good for them we did, as their rental Toyota Rav4 high-centered on the  muddy track right away. Jim opened his bag of tricks (the recovery gear) and  quickly had them out of the mud. Presently we drove right up to this handsome lion – a young male who had been mating all night and was exhausted. Or was that the reason he was so tired? No, he is limping terribly. His left front paw is swollen and misshapen, it is a wonder he can walk. Hard to see this creature in his prime so sorely injured. At the ranger post we are told he broke his leg two weeks ago, maybe a zebra or buffalo kick, and he has been recovering slowly. Two other male lion and a lioness are apparently seeing that he has food and a vet has come out twice to tend to him. Yes, odd as it sounds, the lion are taking care of each other.  No one wants to see him suffer or die, his presence and his genes are needed in the park.

Kidepo boasts four of the Big Five and by 9:45am Jim and I have seen all four – lion, buffalo, elephant and fantastically, a leopard. Movement in a tree caught our eye and the leopard looked at us and jumped down, disappearing in the long grass. To spot one is a real prize. Spotting an elephant sounds easy but yesterday there were none in the Narus Valley. Today there are over 100. Where did they come from? Out of nowhere there is a huge herd in front of us and they are not particularly relaxed. This bull is called Bulbul and he is notorious for claiming the road for himself. He thrust his tusk into the mud and stood on three legs with his one hind leg extended, just to show off, I think – quite a sight. We tried sneaking by him after waiting half an hour for him to move off and he charged – I jammed it in reverse and we turned around to find a different route. That’s what reverse is for.

Our Kidepo adventure continued; we became mired in the mud and were helped out by another Land Cruiser. The kids in the Cruiser took a video; hope that doesn’t go viral on YouTube, haha. Jim and the Beagle have never been so filthy dirty. In comparison these exceedingly handsome Abyssinian Hornbill graced the road, posing for photos. Look at those eyelashes! This zebra is a tough guy, missing the top of both ears from fighting with other males and with deep fresh scars on his hind quarters from a lion attack. Finally, we even missed our gate exit time, and they waved us through – very obliging of them – and we headed south through the tribal lands toward the Kenyan border, the intermittent rains pouring down and creating dramatic skies.