Memorable Tour in Karamoja with Kara-Tunga

Memorable Tour in Karamoja with Kara-Tunga, Karamoja Tours – We enjoyed five memorable days in the Karamoja region in early October and highly recommend the services of Kara-Tunga Arts and Tours in Moroto. Theo, of Kara-Tunga, helped us organize our diverse itinerary before we travelled to Uganda.

Unforgettable night with nomad  herders

We arrived at the Kara-Tunga guest house after an eventful taxi ride from Muyembe. The staff members offered us a chance to freshen up with hot showers before traveling to a Karamojong village and spending the night camping at a kraal with nomadic herders. Thomas, a native Karamojong, is a talented guide who lead our visit to the village and night at the kraal.

 

Mountain bike tour

The following day, we returned to the guest house for breakfast and soon thereafter departed with Thomas on a mountain bike tour of the area. Meeting and learning about the Karamojong people was the primary objective for our trip, and we felt fortunate to have Thomas’s excellent assistance and the support and organization of Kara-Tunga for our trip.

After cycling, we had a relaxing evening at the Kara-Tunga, Karamoja Safari Camp house and enjoyed an excellent meal prepared by Ivan and Vicky. Over dinner, we met our guide and driver Henry for our planned trip to Kidepo Valley National Park. After breakfast the next morning, we departed in a 4×4 with Henry and soon left the pavement behind for the gravel and dirt roads leading to Kidepo. The diversity of habitats, people, and languages impressed us at every step of the trip, and Henry’s conscientious driving and assistance in the markets and restaurants made the trip a great pleasure.

 

Kidepo Valley

Kidepo Valley National Park, the scenery, wildlife, and hospitality, exceeded our expectations. We camped in our own tent, which we often prefer to accommodations, and had access to a bathhouse. We had not planned our food preparation and cooking as well as we would have liked, so we were pleasantly surprised that there is a communal kitchen with staff at Kidepo. Daniel, the head chef, used and supplemented our food supplies to prepare plentiful, excellent meals for Henry and us. We could not have been better supported.

 

Visit the mysterious Ik-tribe

Our last planned event in the northern part of the Karamoja region was to hike to the Ik tribal village. We left Kidepo National Park at around 5 a.m. and drove 3 hours to start the hike. We were advised to do the shorter hike as the longer hike from Kidepo (4 hours up and 2 hours down) was too bushy. The path was steep and became narrower the higher we ascended, but we were rewarded by beautiful countryside and the hospitality of the people in the Ik village upon reaching the summit.

After the hike, we made the return drive to the Kara-Tunga Guest house where we rested, had laundry done, ate, and re-organized our packs for an over-night bus ride from Moroto to Kampala (another unforgettable experience). Theo, Florence, Thomas, Henry, Ivan, Vicky, Esther, and the rest of the staff at Kara-Tunga made this amazing trip possible for us, and we are very grateful for the experience and the hospitality. The accommodations are basic and clean (just what we needed after multiple nights of camping and a dusty road trip). We give our highest recommendation to Kara-Tunga and wish Theo and his team the greatest success in developing eco-tourism in this fascinating region of Uganda.

Read the original testimonial on Tripadvisor.