Read 14 traveller reviews of Lagoon Camp

North of Selinda, Kwando Reserve is another huge private reserve covering 2,300km². Most of its western side is dense mopane forest, but along the Kwando River is a band of lush riverine forest, interspersed with open plains. Kwando is a wild reserve. It attracts superb big game, especially during Botswana's dry season when elephants may seem to be everywhere.

Lagoon Camp stands beside the river, to the north of the reserve, in thick riverine forest. It's an excellent camp with a nice laid-back feel to it and has eight large, comfortable tents nestling under the riparian forest on the riverbank. Each has an en-suite open shower, toilet and double-washbasin, and a veranda overlooking the beautiful river at the front. Lagoon Camp is run by an enthusiastic team, and has a tangible feel of adventure about it.

Lagoon has a plunge pool and offers short walks, fishing and a double-decker boat for bird-watching cruises. We particularly loved the boat trips on our latest visit to this camp – the light was good and from the top deck we were able to watch hippo walking along under the crystal clear water.

Both camps ensure that an able tracker, as well as a driver/guide, accompanies all of their 4WD game drives (day and night) - which affords an extra pair of experienced eyes searching for predators and more elusive game.

Lagoon and Lebala combine particularly well with their sister camp in the Okavango, Kwara, which has a similarly enthusiastic ethos.

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Tented Chalet at Lagoon Camp

Lodge overview

Lodge type: Safari

No. of bedrooms: 8

Season: Open Year Round

Ideal length of stay: 3 nights.

Central facilities: The main lodge at Kwando is large and very relaxed. The lounge area houses a small library which offers a selection of natural history books - there's also a chess set if you feel like a game. A lovely large shady deck is dotted with chairs and tables and this overlooks the water channel abutting the camp; the double-decker boat is usually moored up here. Early morning breakfast is served around the fire in the boma area, and this makes an equally nice spot for swapping the day's stories and enjoying a few drinks after dinner. There is a sizeable open thatched restaurant, a well-stocked circular bar, and by most camps' standards, a large curio shop. You can also cool off in the camp's plunge pool in the hotter months, or relax on the sun-beds which are laid out around it.

Geographics

Location: Kwando-Linyanti area, Botswana

Directions: Flying into the Kwando airstrip, it usually takes 20-30 minutes to reach Kwando Lagoon, depending on what you see on the way.

Accessible by: Fly-and-Transfer

Key personnel

Owner: Kwando Safaris.

Food & drink

Usual board basis: Full Board

Food quality: Overall, the food served during our latest stay at Lagoon Camp was of a very good standard. A light early morning breakfast will be served before your first game drive and usually includes porridge and freshly baked cookies. Tea, coffee and juice are also served. Brunch is served buffet style at around 11 o'clock, and will include a varied selection of dishes – when we were last at Lagoon we were offered pancakes, donuts, fruit, yoghurt and cereal and also a full cooked breakfast with choice of eggs. Lunch is served at 4 o'clock and again is served buffet-style. This is usually a hot meal - for example, on our most recent trip, we were served up some very nice fish cakes, along with vegetables and a selection of salads. Dinner is a three-course meal and will usually be something quite substantial (for example, roast beef, mash and veg). Vegetarians and any particular requirements can be catered for on request. A choice of red and white wines is also served with the meal.

Dining style: Group Meals

Dining locations: Indoor and Outdoor Dining

Room service: No room service - this is a safari camp in the bush!

Cost of meal e.g. lunch: Included

Drinks included: Bottled water, soft drinks, local beers and spirits and a limited selection of (usually) South African red and white wines are included. Champagne and imported wines and spirits will cost extra and may need to be requested in advance.

Special interests

Birdwatching: The camp abuts a deep waterway and you will spot a good variety of water-birds from the camp itself. In season (Oct-Nov), there is a colony of carmine bee-eaters which nests in the bank of the river, and there can be some interesting interaction with opportunistic monitor lizards which lurk here. Swamp boubou, sacred and hadeda ibis, pied and malachite king-fisher, wattled plover, wattled crane, African darter, lourie bird and many other species are also present in this area. - See more of our suggestions of the best places for Birdwatching

Photographic: The game vehicles used by Lagoon Camp are open-roofed as well as open-sided which makes them particularly suited to wildlife photography. - See more of our suggestions of the best places for Photographic

Wildlife: As well as the excellent birding to be enjoyed in the Kwando area, there is a wide variety of game here including lion, large herds of buffalo, red lechwe, spotted hyena, and wild dog. There are also crocodile and large pods of hippo. One particularly enjoyable activity which can be carried out from camp is a cruise on the double-decker boat, from which on a bright day you can observe hippo walking along under the crystal clear water. - See more of our suggestions of the best places for Wildlife

Children

Attitude towards children: Generally children are welcome but please take into account the restrictions below.

Age restrictions: No children under 8 years of age are allowed at camp unless the whole camp has been booked out. For children aged 8-12, a private vehicle must be booked.

Activities: No.

Equipment: No special equipment is available.

Generally recommended for children: Yes, but only really those who are 12 or over.

Notes: Kwando Lagoon is a very open camp with dangerous wildlife in the area. It also abuts a deep water channel. There is one family unit at Lagoon, which is essentially two tents joined by a private low-level walkway.

Central communications

Power supply: Generator

Communications: For all intents and purposes you should consider yourself out of contact. There is no direct phone or fax and no email – this is the bush! Contact in an emergency is made via radio. Some mobile phones with roaming may pick up reception here, as Lagoon is very near the Namibian border.

TV & radio: No television or radio in your room either - this is the bush!

Health & safety

Malarial area: Yes

Medical care: All camp managers are first-aid trained and a comprehensive first-aid kit is kept at camp. In an emergency, camps can arrange for clients to be flown out.

Dangerous animals: High Risk

Security measures: Because of the Okavango's large population of dangerous game, and the fact that Lagoon Camp is unfenced, guests are escorted to their rooms after dark. Alarms, sirens or whistles are provided in the rooms in case of an emergency.

Fire safety: There are extinguishers kept in the common areas of the camp in case of fire.

Extras

Disabled access: On Request

Laundry facilities: A full laundry service is included, save for the washing of underwear. Washing powder is provided in the rooms for this purpose.

Money: No exchange facilities are offered.

Accepted payment: Mastercard and Visa credit cards are accepted. Diners and Amex are not. No commission is charged on credit card transactions. Rand, £, $, Euros and Botswana Pula are accepted. Traveller's cheques are not accepted.

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