Apoka Lodge

a real trophy location amongst safari aficionados

Apoka Safari Lodge is located in the Kidepo Valley area of northern Uganda.

Set on a prominent rock kopje in the heart of this remote and elusive reserve, the lodge is centred on a large main building, leading out to a swimming pool area. There is also an elevated tower deck, with broad views.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Apoka Safari Lodge is in ten large rooms, each with a private indoor bathroom.

Activities

Apoka Safari Lodge provides access to the following activities …

• Vehicle safari
• Walking safari
• Cultural interaction with the Karamajong people
• Night vehicle safari

In an ideal world, Kidepo Valley would feature in every trip to Uganda, but the high price, the unusual seasonality and the fact that virtually no one has heard of the place, means that it is a very rare inclusion.

The usual stay duration is 3-4 nights.

Seasonality

Kidepo Valley is usually best visited during the Nov-Feb dry season.

It is important to note that this area has a rather contrary climate to the remainder of the country and, for that matter, to the vast majority of the safari areas in Africa.

This is because conditions here are more influenced by the Sahara weather systems than the usual Indian Ocean monsoon.

Getting around

Up to around 2015 getting around Uganda was something of a mission. The only real option was to travel by guided overland safari, which might sound great, but the reality was that most of the hard miles were on relatively uninteresting main roads rather than interesting safari areas. It was both tiresome, time consuming and, for smaller groups, surprisingly expensive.

Fortunately, there is now a reliable schedule of light aircraft flights connecting the main safari areas, operating out of the hub airport at Entebbe and visiting Bwindi Forest, QENP, Kibale Forest, Murchison Falls and Kidepo Valley.

This has been a particular boon for the Kidepo Valley area, since the drive up here used to be particularly long, arduous and tedious. Flying up is so much better.

The area usually fits in at the end of a trip, after having undertaken a clockwise loop, starting in Entebbe and visiting any or all of Bwindi Forest, QE, Kibale Forest and Murchison Falls, then returning back to Entebbe.

Sometimes the flight connections between Murchison Falls and Kidepo Valley are direct, other times they are routed back through Entebbe, which is a bit of a pain and certainly aesthetically disadvantageous.

beware of the extremely unusual seasonality