We came to Saguni after having spent a few days in a luxury lodge with spa in a private game reserve near Kruger, with a few days break in Cape Town. We wanted a different experience, and boy did we get it in a great way! Saguni is glamping in the most comfortable, warm friendly way as you can imagine.

Where to begin.. unreal location, genuine staff, wonderful accommodations, delicious food and excellent service!

The camp is situated in the middle of nowhere on the banks of a river intertwined with shocking amount of wildlife. There’s an entire family of hippos that resides right by the camp and make for a wonderful show as they leave the river for the night. If you’ve never seen hippos go about their nightly rounds of coming on land, this is a real treat! One by one they all walk down river and come on land, right between tents in the camp. They are quite vocal and sound like a cartoon laugh almost. I could not get enough of this! I just wish I hadn’t been so distracted by them that I’d recorded it.

The staff here is so welcoming and genuine. Baruti was our guide and by the end of our 4 days here, we felt as though he’s been one of our closest friends for years. Steve and I miss you Baruti! We were paired with 2 different groups during our stay and not once did he allow us to get bored or feel we’re doing the same things, while at the same time not allowing either groups to miss out on anything. He thought through the game plan extremely well. He was paired with us from wake up to bedtime and we had the easiest and best conversations about everything from childhoods, cultures, religion, to life in general! The rest of the staff, from bartenders, Moses, the chefs, etc were all so very accommodating and friendly. We felt as though we were staying with friends the entire time. I’m pretty sure they had to search far for the tequila that we’d put on our preference sheet, but to our surprise they were fully stocked! We had a very hard time finding tequila during our stay in Southern Africa and so I mention this as a point to demonstrate how hard they aim to please.

The accommodation were beyond fantastic. We had a river tent and it was so comfortable. Great bed, wonderful shower, deck overlooking the river and wildlife all around. The hippos and elephants, among other creatures, walked right past our deck and tent! At night we’d Velcro up the tent side panels just so we could watch whatever was going by. It does get cold at night and there is no heat. But they supply each person with a “bush baby”. Bush babies are the best thing ever! We bought some on our return in fact to cut down on our heating bills! Bush babies are old fashioned hot water bottles and they keep you toasty all night. The water was nice and warm and the tents were constantly cleaned. No mosquitos or spiders around.

I honestly could write another 2 pages on how absolutely wonderful Saguni was. If you’re looking for very pleasant stay in the heart of the bush, with wildlife all around you with a group of people that will make you feel incredibly welcome and that you’ll grow very attached to, come to Saguni.

Wow. Saguni Lodge sits on an idyllic curve in a small hippo-filled river on the Moremi reserve in Botswana. Guests sleep in very comfortable canvas chalets, raised up and with a wooden veranda at the front, with mosquito netting where you might expect glass. You are comfortable but part of the environment, which is thrilling at night as the hippos snort and belly-laugh, the hyenas yelp, elephants feed on mopani trees and in the distance, lionesses announce a successful kill. It is magical.
Food and drink are good and plentiful, the camp staff most hospitable, and it was special to tell stories around the fire on the boma, drink in hand, at the end of a day’s game-watching.

Moremi offers unbelievable game viewing which our guide from Saguni, Ness, ensured we saw in safety and comfort from his open-sided vehicle. We stayed two days with our three teenage kids, during which he brought us out in the morning and afternoons, and on one evening for a night-drive too. He was a mine of information, personable and brilliant at putting us exactly where the wild dogs or other animals were about to amble by. In one day we saw dogs and a group of lions first thing, drove around a huge herd of buffalo, had sundowners in a beautiful riverside spot surrounded by elephant and hippos, to where a leopard also skunk down to drink on the opposite bank, and concluded by spotting a rare rhino on our night drive - dogs, plus the “big 5”, impala, waterbuck, kudu and many splendid birds, all in one day.

Saguni Lodge and it’s staff and guides are not cheap, but the experience is intense and the memories extraordinary. We are already planning our return.

The property is at a great location to see animals -- right at your room! or near the main lodge common area. We saw elephants, hippos, and many birds. We heard lots of other animals.

The staff tried to be accommodating. There were a few problems with the way they handle keys -- such as requiring guests to leave keys for the cleaning staff. But the keys were not available to guests when they returned from an animal drive -- so they couldn't get into their rooms/ tents.

The mokoro boat rides were peaceful and give a different view of animals and birds.

The main problem we had was with the 16-passenger vehicle used for game drives. Other guests had the more traditional open-top "jeep" type vehicles with carried about 8 passengers. We were forced to use the "truck" vehicle which bounced people out of the seats and had branches coming in the sides so that people were touched by the branches even if they "ducked."

The manager tried to accommodate our group and listened to our concerns about the "truck" vehicle.

With a few improvements to procedures this could achieve a better rating.