Reviews of Lagoon Camp

"I had a private in Lagoon. Because of my specific desire to see the wild dogs. And what a pleasant surprise it was that - after 10 year - Spencer again was my guide. He is a very experienced and knowledgable guide. He (almost) thinks like a predator. So I had my wild dog sightings. And it was great to be with him again.

At the same time this says a lot. Because at Lagoon they seem to focus very much on the predators: lions, leopards, cheetah, wild dogs. And it seems that all other animals are quite squitisch and run form the car. A car which is driving quickly (in order to keep up with the dogs or find lions). And they go very far in order to pursuit their goals. Maybe sometimes a little bit too far I would say. Especially ellies react very strongly to the cars. Completely different behavior then eg in Selinda.

We were able to see a herd of Eland from fairly close. And - first sighting for me ever - an aardwolf at night.

The rooms maybe could use some repair, refurbishment and fresh paint." See all these reviews: 20n in Botswana; 1n in South Africa

"We were made to feel extremely welcome by the managers and staff at the camp. The standard of the chalets was excellent and the service obtained from everyone was great. The meals were excellent and they catered very well for the requirements of one of our group.

Our guide, KB and tracker, Vincent deserve particular mention for their knowledge and their skill in helping us to find the location of this year's Wild Dog den in the area." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe

"A good variety of wild animals including leopard, buffalo, elephant, ardwolf ,honey badger, owlet, water monitor lizzard, bat eared foxes and cievet cat.

The highlight at this camp was locating a pack of 8 wild dogs and followed some of them to their kill where they were feeding on a Kudu. From there we followed the alpha dog through dense vegetation to their ground level den where the alpha female dog was looking after her newly born pups. They were not on view.

Later that day we saw the dogs chasing wildebeest unsuccessfully." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe

"Lovely large suite overlooking the lagoon and situated close to the lodge. Hippos were rather noisy at night, and recent droppings by my balcony indicated elephant were passing close by while I slept.

Breakfast was held around the campfire before we headed out on the morning drives, and as Lagoon was on a private reserve vehicles were able to return later in the afternoon enabling potential nocturnal sightings.

Guiding by GI, and Tracker, John, was excellent. I experienced two great leopard encounters and saw a tremendous variety of birds. The young, energetic, and service-oriented management team - Victor, Beano and Kay made every effort to ensure one's stay was a memorable one.

The only disappointment at Lagoon Camp was the lack of wild dog sightings. When I booked this trip back in 2019, I was assured wild dogs would definitely be evident at this camp." See all these reviews: 14n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe

"We found Lagoon Camp the most disappointing (and we had visited the Camp in 2013). Unlike the write-up in Brandt's edition 5 of Botswana Safari Guide, we thought the facilities were dated and in need of maintenance and upgrading and the food average at best. The feel of the camp was very much a corporate managed operation with accountants having a significant influence. The staff, although very friendly, it was a friendliness required by the rules and less genuine than experienced at the other camps. Our sense was the staff performed to the corporate rules rather than to the guests interests.

The design of the spacious chalets was very good, but the lighting inside was totally inadequate (there was adequate lighting to read by except in bed), there wasn't any mosquito netting around the bed and the building settling had made the doors hard to open. Fencing around the propane tank was falling down. Lagoon Camp was the only one that did not have WiFi. In essence, only two and a half means a day were served. Before the early morning game drive, coffee/tea and porridge (actually a soupy maize one notch above gruel) was offered around a fire, then a lunch buffet of one item plus eggs to order and an evening meal with only one main and a vegetarian dish on offer. All the dishes were of inexpensive ingredients and the choices were very limited and it was all buffet style not requiring any service.

In contrast to the Camp, the wildlife was abundant and quite varied. For example we saw a Pangolin that we had never seen at any camp on any trip. The guiding was excellent and the only limitation to finding animals was the tall grass. It would be have excellent game viewing in the dry season as it was when we visited at that time in 2013. It is just a shame the camp's operating philosophy is to cut costs as much as possible even though its pricing remains high." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 6n in Zambia

"We travelled in the middle of March post-COVID and for half the time we had the Camp to ourselves.

We had fabulous leopard and cub, lion and wild dog sightings and even a couple of springhares fighting in the daytime.

Food and room were excellent." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana

"I am not sure we can comment on Lagoon camp as we were only there for 12 hours and that was all in the dark and we slept most of the time" See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana; 1n in South Africa

"I loved the camp, and particularly like the older style accommodation with the high ceilings.

The staff were delightful, friendly and obliging.

Because of the on-going problems of Covid we had the place to ourselves so we had great treatment although it was clear that the staff are well trained and motivated." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana

"All the staff - from the Camp manager, our guide (thank you, Ike), our tracker to the catering and domestic staff - were very welcoming and professional.

The food was very good and the accommodation was airy and comfortable. Lodges have interesting views over the river.

There are ample opportunities to see a good range of wildlife - animals, birds and plants - and Ike and our tracker James had a very broad range of in-depth knowledge from which we benefited.

As well as game drives we enjoyed our river boat cruise and our short walking safari. Ike and James were able to respond well to our game viewing requests." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana

"Lagoon is amazing.

There were more elephants seen on the first game drive, than on my entire first trip to Botswana.

The camp feels like.......comfortable elegance. Love the indoor and outdoor showers. Communal spaces were welcoming.

Hippos were always out front, and quite often munching on grass next to your tent at night. (Caution light sleepers).

The concession is amazingly beautiful, and was very green with recent rains.

My guide and tracker, Matt and Vincent, were great." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana