Kwando Lagoon Camp sits on an oxbow lagoon of the Kwando River, in the northern Botswana concession that shares its name, looking across the water into Namibia’s Mudumu National Park. Wild dogs have denned close to camp since 1997, and the resident pack is the reason most people come. Few places in Africa offer this kind of access to a hunt, or to a den full of pups.
Wild dogs have denned close to camp since 1997
Every game vehicle carries two people. A professional guide takes the wheel, and a dedicated tracker rides a front-mounted seat, reading the ground as it unfolds. It is an older way of finding animals. In a private concession where off-road driving is permitted, it turns a scatter of prints in the sand into a leopard or a lion pride before the morning is out.
Kevin Leo-Smith co-founded the camps’ parent operation in 1997 and built its first camps, before leaving in 2006 for conservation forestry work elsewhere. The camp belongs to John and Janie Mynhardt, its daily running handled by appointed camp management. Sue Smart leads the company as chief executive, while their son Tobias is managing director of New African Properties.
In the dry months elephant and buffalo gather at the river to drink
Ebony, leadwood and marula trees shade the tents, which stand well apart along the water’s edge. Hippos surface and grunt through the night. In the dry months elephant and buffalo gather at the river to drink, and through the day baboons and vervet monkeys work the canopy above the decks while the lagoon glasses over below.
The Kwando River gives Lagoon Camp a card the drier parts of the concession cannot play, which is water. A custom double-decker boat drifts the channels through the afternoon, carrying guests over reed beds and floodplains for a raised view of hippos, crocodiles and elephants wading across. Later in the dry season the carmine bee-eaters colonise the exposed sandbanks in noisy red clouds, and among the resident birds along the wooded banks is the elusive Pel’s fishing owl, one of the great prizes for anyone travelling with a field guide.
The dry winter, roughly May to October, pulls the region’s wildlife toward the river. Elephant herds several hundred strong come down to drink and bathe within sight of the main deck, and the pressure of so much concentrated prey keeps lion, leopard, cheetah and spotted hyena working the floodplains around them. Because this is a private concession rather than a national park, the days do not end at dusk. Drives continue after dark with a spotlight, and follow the animals off the tracks and into the bush.
Because this is a private concession rather than a national park, the days do not end at dusk
The design stays deliberately traditional. Canvas walls, thatch and local timber sit on raised platforms, and inside are polished wood floors, Persian rugs, ball-and-claw bathtubs facing the water, and showers both indoors and out. There is no air conditioning and no cell signal, and Wi-Fi stays limited, which suits a camp built for tracking rather than screens. The central pavilion rises to two storeys, with a small library and, below it, a sandy firepit for the evenings under the stars.
Dining is communal, in the Kwando way. Guests, guides and trackers share one long table in the open-sided thatch dining room, or gather around the fire, swapping the day’s sightings over hearty, unfussy food. Access is by light aircraft into a nearby airstrip, then a short transfer to camp. This is a place for travellers who put the game viewing first, and who like their days led by tracks and river rather than a fixed schedule.
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accommodation
Tented accommodation on raised timber decks along the lagoon, including a family suite. Each tent has polished wood floors, Persian rugs, a lounge with leather armchairs, mosquito-netted beds and a private viewing deck. En-suite bathrooms feature ball-and-claw tubs facing the river, plus indoor and outdoor showers. No air conditioning or cell signal, and only limited Wi-Fi.
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activities
Twice-daily game drives in open 4x4s use a guide-and-tracker team; the private concession permits off-road driving and after-dark spotlighting. Afternoon cruises run on a custom double-decker boat along the Kwando River. Guided bush walks with an armed guide and seasonal catch-and-release fishing are also offered.
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conservation
Kwando staffs its camps largely with Batswana citizens. The company sponsors Mummy's Angels in Maun, partners with the Lady Khama Charitable Trust, and runs the Bucket Project distributing groceries and essentials to rural families, alongside early-childhood support through its Learn to Play programme.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
By light aircraft to the Lagoon airstrip, about fifty minutes from either Maun or Kasane, then a fifteen minute drive to the tents along the river. We can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, so the timings bend to your international flights rather than the other way round.
The aircraft hold everyone to twenty kilograms in soft bags, hand luggage included. If Lebala is also on your route, the transfer between the two camps goes by road through the concession at no charge, three hours of game-rich country instead of another flight.
Yes. A camp on a permanent river deserves the unvarnished answer: the Kwando corridor lies in northern Botswana's malaria zone, antimalarial tablets are recommended by both the UK's official travel health advice and the CDC, and the months from October to May carry the highest risk as the rains feed the waterways. The dry season lowers the odds without cancelling them.
Confirm the current advice with a travel clinic or your doctor, then cover up once the light drops over the lagoon and use the nets, because the same water that draws the elephants breeds the mosquitoes.
Yes, from six, with a private vehicle required for families whose children are between six and eleven. That vehicle comes with a dedicated guide and tracker, so the camp's way of finding animals is yours alone and the drive times flex around young attention spans. Guided walks and mokoro outings wait until twelve, anyone under eighteen shares with an adult, and the family tent stands with the others along the water's edge.
Under six, the camps open only for exclusive takeovers. Tell us the ages early and we will build the days around them.
All of the core: your tent, every meal, local drinks both alcoholic and soft, laundry, the full activity list from the tracking drives to the double-decker boat, and emergency medical evacuation cover as standard. Outside the rate sit tips, the premium drinks and cigars list, helicopter outings and a modest nightly conservation and community levy.
Nothing on that second list needs to surprise you. We price the levy and any extras into the quote before you commit.
Three nights sits right. One afternoon belongs to the boat on the river, the mornings belong to the tracking team, and a third day leaves room for the unplanned, a herd swimming the channel or dogs moving at dawn. With the floodplain sister camp Lebala a road transfer away, six nights across the pair cover two distinct landscapes without an extra flight.
We usually place Lagoon within a wider northern route, and with Kasane fifty flying minutes away, Chobe and Victoria Falls slot naturally at either end.
Twenty kilograms in a soft bag covers it, and what goes inside should respect the seasons at both ends. From May to September pack a serious jacket, a hat and gloves for the open vehicle after dark, when the river cold bites harder than the thermometer suggests. From November to March go light and breathable, with a rain shell for the storms, and remember the tents cool by mesh and breeze rather than machinery.
Year round: neutral colours, a brimmed hat and high-factor sun cream for the boat, closed shoes for the bush walks, and binoculars for a riverbank where the birding rewards anyone who looks twice.
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