Booking Terms & Condition

Flexible Booking Terms & Conditions

These are booking terms and conditions govern the contract between the individual(s) purchasing tours, safaris and transport services (hereafter “the client(s)”) and Trek Africa Expeditions (hereafter “the Company”) to the exclusion of all other terms and conditions, save for those implied by law. No variation to these terms and conditions shall be valid unless prior notice is given in writing and signed by the client and the Company Director.

a) Booking / Reservations:

  1. Upon confirmation of your tour with us, you have to email us back a filled booking form, which confirms that you agree to our terms and conditions.
  2. In case of a group tour, the person (‘head of group’) who signifies his/her acceptance of a booking does so on behalf of persons under his/her authority/group, which means that all group members are equally bound by these terms and conditions.

b) Flexible Deposit & Payment Policy:

  1. Reservations are accepted after we have received 20% deposit on overland trip cost, plus 100% local flights/ticket and 100% payment gorilla permit and 100% chimp tracking permits for each trip participant. Permits can only be booked and secured by having them paid in advance.  You can choose to pay balance in instalments. The final instalment balance  of the overland trip/safari price has to be paid for, not later than 28 days to start of trip.
  2. A 20% deposit of total Overland trip cost is refundable when cancelling until 28 days before trip start.
  3. Bookings made within 28 days before start of trip, must be paid in full (100%) to have a confirmed trip.
  4. While some clients request to pay some balance on arrival, [the balance on arrival must not be more than 20% of tour cost and must be confirmed in writing by management] we need payments for Gorilla and Chimps permits well in advance. We can only guarantee your Gorilla and chimp permit after paying and having them secured. We can only purchase your Gorilla permit after you have made a down-payment to us. Gorilla permits are competitive on daily basis, advance booking is preferred. If the full amount is not paid in due time, the company will not be held responsible for price changes or over-bookings in the time between booking and receiving the deposit.

c) Flexible Overland Trip Cancellation & Refund Policy:

  1. Cancellation of a safari tour booking made after August 1st 2020 must be made in writing and is not effective until such written cancellation is received and acknowledged by Trek Africa Expeditions. The amount of the cancellation fee is calculated based on the date on which the company receives written email notice.
  • Before 28 days to trip departure – No cancellation fee is charged, we offer free date changes, your tour deposit paid (20%) will be transferred to another tour or refunded minus Bank charges).
  • 27-15 days to trip departure – 20% cancellation fee is charged (80% refunded)
  • 14 – 0 days to trip departure, no refund, 100% cancellation fee is charged. (The payment will be forfeited as it will have been used to make reservations to 3rd party suppliers for your trip.
  • Gorilla Permits & Chimpanzee permits are non-refundable!

Cancellation of clients in a group: If one or more clients of a larger private group cancel a trip, they will be charged their part of the shared costs for that group trip, so that the rest of the group will not face any price increase. This amount is in addition to the general cancellation fees (as listed in sections c).

d). Uganda Gorilla Permit & Chimpanzee Permit Cancellation Policy (separate from main overland trip cancellation policy): While we arrange Gorilla Permits for you, permits cannot be guaranteed until we receive a full deposit of USUSD800 per permit. Once we have paid gorilla permit funds to Uganda wildlife park authorities, there is no refund whatsoever.

Trek Africa Expeditions purchases gorilla permits and chimpanzee permits from a 3rd party – ‘Uganda Wildlife Authority’ (UWA) which is a separate government authority, with different cancellation policy. We have no control of when and how fast they respond to our cancellation request. However, on tracking day if the officer (warden-in-charge) establishes reasonable grounds for your failure to track, shall recommend to Uganda Wildlife Authority a 50% refund under the following conditions recommend to authority.

  1. A visitor who may develop or shows signs of illness before tracking shall not be allowed to visit the gorillas or chimpanzees. Please refers to our Safety and Health Protocol here. Such a client shall be referred to the nearest health facility to ascertain the extent of his illness and his inability to track.
  2. b) The illness shall be confirmed by a medical report. The cost of diagnosis shall be borne by the client.
  3. c) The Executive Director (UWA) shall authorize cancellation of the permit and processing of a refund of 50% of the permit value to a visitor declared unfit to track gorillas or chimpanzees due to illness.
  4. d) This permit cancellation policy (gorilla/chimpanzee) shall only apply to visitors already in the Park to track gorillas and chimpanzees but develop or show signs of illness before tracking.
  5. a) Where the client, upon tracking for a whole day, fails to see a gorilla(s) or chimpanzee(s), the Executive Director (UWA) may authorize rescheduling of the permit to the following day subject to availability of slots.
  6. b) Where there are no available slots for rescheduling the permit, the Executive Director shall authorize cancellation of the permit and a refund of 50% of the permit value upon certification/confirmation of the inability to access gorillas/chimpanzees by the respective Chief Warden/ Warden in Charge.
  7. e) The authority (UWA) advises against any form of refunds.
  8. i) “Except as provided hereunder, Uganda wildlife Authority (UWA) shall not make any refunds of money paid for gorilla permits and chimpanzee tracking permits or habituation experience permits”.
  9. ii) The Executive Director (UWA) may, upon receiving a written request, authorize cancellation of a fully paid permit on the following terms:

Failure to view Gorillas/Chimpanzees

  1. a) Where the client, upon tracking for a whole day, fails to see a gorilla(s) or chimpanzee(s), the Executive Director may authorise rescheduling of the permit to the following day subject to availability of slots.
  2. b) Where there are no available slots for rescheduling the permit, the Executive Director shall authorise cancellation of the permit and a refund of 50% of the permit value upon certification/confirmation of the inability to access gorillas/chimpanzees by the respective Chief Warden/ Warden in Charge.

Illness and accidents

  1. e) The Executive Director shall authorise cancellation of a permit and processing of a refund of 50% of the permit value to client who fails to track gorillas or chimpanzees due to an accident sustained in the Park before tracking.

UWA General cancellations

The Executive Director (UWA) may authorise cancellation of a permit for other reasons, other than those specified above on the following conditions;

Request made up to 8 days prior to the gorilla trekking date: no refund

Request made 9 – 45 days prior to the gorilla trekking date: 25% refund

Request made 46 – 90 days prior to the gorilla trekking date: 50% refund

Request made more than 90 days prior to the trekking date: 75% refund

Tip: Cancellation of permits must be made in writing and is effective when such written cancellation is received and acknowledged by Uganda Wildlife Authority reservation team.

Amendments made by Client(s)

  1. The company shall try to accommodate any reasonable changes the client wishes to make to the event. Change and amendment requests should be made with the company and not with end suppliers. And such requests should be made in writing to the company by the group head. These changes shall not be deemed accepted until confirmed in writing by the company.
  2. If the client wishes to increase or decrease the number of persons participating in the event, this may be done up to six weeks prior to the date upon which your event is due to start without additional charge. All amendments made after that date will incur an administration charge of US$ 30.00 per person. The company cannot guarantee that the change to the price will be pro-rata, but will instead depend upon the arrangements the company is able to make with its suppliers. Subject to the company’s written agreement, the client may transfer a booking to a person who satisfies all the conditions applicable to the event. 

Amendments by the Company:

Changes of itinerary and /or accommodations: Trek Africa Expeditions may be obliged to occasionally change routes and camps on safaris as dictated by changing conditions. Conditions may include; seasonal rainfall on bush tracks, airfields and in game areas, game migrations from one region to another or flight schedule changes, room unavailability at time of booking or other booking problems beyond our control. The company reserves the right to change and/or re-adjust the travel plan/itinerary, transportation, accommodation and services indicated in the itinerary in the event of unforeseen circumstances communicated to client.

Trek Africa Expeditions is not liable for a refund either in the whole or part, if any accommodation or excursion is unavailable and a reasonable alternative is found. If the guest is unable to use any service provided in the itinerary, then there are no refunds due. When requested accommodation is fully booked or otherwise unavailable, the company reserves the right to change the accommodation to an accommodation of the same standard in the same area. This change must be communicated to the client.

Communication / Email:

It sometimes happens that an e-mail does not reach us for situations beyond our control. If you do not receive a reply within 48 hours, we advise you to resend your e-mail.

Change of Guide:

If a private guide is unable to lead a pre-scheduled safari due to illness or any other unexpected circumstances, TREK AFRICA EXPEDITIONS and its partners reserve the right to substitute with another guide. Note the Company works with only professionally trained guides so this cannot affect the quality of the tour experience in any way. 

Tour protocol:

  1. Wildlife: Going on safari may take you into close contact with wild animals. Attacks by wild animals are rare, but no safari into the African wilderness can guarantee that this will not occur. Most of the safari camps are not fenced, so the wildlife does move freely in and around the camps. Always follow the safety guidelines, instructions from Rangers, camp’s staff with regards to getting close to wild animals, moving to and from your tent, lodge or banda and while on game activities throughout your safari. Trek Africa Expeditions cannot be held responsible for any injury or incident on the trip
  2. Whereas it is a privilege to see animals up-close in their natural habitats, the Company cannot guarantee wildlife or game viewing. In the same manner, whereas a gorilla or chimpanzee permit guarantees clients will be able to track the primates in question, the permit does not guarantee that the animals will be in plain sight.
  3. Accommodation is based on aa twin- or double-bedded room, tent or banda, with private bathroom where possible. Single rooms may be available with the payment of a supplement fee but availability cannot always be guaranteed.
  4. Client Conduct: Trek Africa Expeditions reserves the right to refuse any person from participating or continuing on a tour should, in the Company’s opinion or any other person of authority, the person behaves in such a manner that is likely to cause danger, hazard or inconvenience to him/her self, a third party, or damage to property or the environs. In such a case, no refund will be given whatsoever.
  5. The mode of transport used will be as per agreement on the client’s specifications and the number of people if it is a group tour. Client’s comfort is important to us, so the Company will ensure the vehicles are roadworthy. However, no liability can be accepted as a result of a puncture, breakdown or damage or delay due to poor road conditions.

Marketing:

  1. The Company reserves the right to use any videos and photographs taken during the tour for marketing or any other advertising material; and the client consents to such use.
  2. The client further agrees that the Company shall retain copyright over any such photographs and videos taken during the tour and/or used in its brochures and, to the extent where necessary, the client hereby assigns copyright of such videos and photographs to the Company.

Medical/travel/cancellation Insurance

  1. It is strongly recommended that clients also take out insurance to cover emergency evacuation expenses, medical expenses, repatriation expenses, damage, theft or loss of personal baggage, money, cancellation, emergency travel and accommodation, lost baggage and any other cover the clients deems fit. Other than compulsory insurance, the decision of which insurance cover he/she obtains is solely the responsibility of the client.
  2. Health: The client accepts that to participate in the tour requires a measure of physical fitness and health and it is the client’s obligation to ensure that he/she is medically fit to embark on the tour. 

Liability:

  1. Trek Africa Expeditions acts as an agent on behalf of client; purchases transportation, hotel accommodations, restaurant services and other services from various independent suppliers that are not subject to its control.  Trek Africa Expeditions cannot therefore be liable for any death, personal injury, personal illness, loss or damage to a person or property or other loss that may occur due to any act or omission of any such supplier, or by reason of any other event over which it has no control.
  2. Trek Africa Expeditions cannot be held liable for any delays or additional costs incurred as a result of airlines not running on schedule. Air schedule changes may necessitate additional nights being added to your tour. Any resulting additional costs must be borne by the client.
  3. It is the responsibility of the client / group leader to ensure that the necessary documentation like passports, visas, health certificates and other documentation is acquired on time and is up to date.
  4. TREK AFRICA EXPEDITIONS shall try to ensure that the company exceeds your expectations in every area of the tour arrangements. However, suggestions are very much appreciated in order to keep improving the quality of the service.
  5. Complaints must be reported immediately to the TREK AFRICA EXPEDITIONS representative and to the supplier of the service in question, who will do their best to resolve the matter. If the problem is not solved to the client’s satisfaction, the complaint should be reported in written form and not later than 30 days after completion of the tour.
  6. Liability for any complaints not notified in accordance with the above described procedures cannot be accepted.

Guest Representation and Consent.

The person making any booking with Trek Africa Expeditions does so on his behalf and other persons included warrants that he or she has authority to enter into a contract on behalf of all other persons included in such a booking. The payment of the deposit or any other partial payment for a reservation on a tour constitutes consent by all guests.

TREK AFRICA  is the marketing name of TREK AFRICA EXPEDITIONS, and organization or/company or /firm registered in Uganda

Thank you for taking time to read these terms & conditions. Do not hesitate to contact in case you have any other queries

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