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 Gorillas and Wildlife Safaris (Owned by Fabulous Africa Holidays and Adventures Ltd)
Booking Terms and Conditions
GENERAL
These terms and conditions, herewith referred to, are consistent with the laws and standards of the above mentioned countries in which we operate our tour services.
The information, descriptions, narrations, accommodation details and security details have been given in good faith. We have taken reasonable care to ensure accuracy. We are not held liable for any errors or omissions resulting from circumstances beyond our control.
RESERVATIONS/ PAYMENTS (Please note that we are quite flexible on most of these if you let us know of your concern)
To confirm your reservation, we need to secure your gorilla permits and chimpanzee permits. And we are required to make full payment for these permits to fully confirm them and so we also request you to make this payment at the time of booking.
If the tour you are booking is at least 60 days (or more) away, any deposit that should at minimum be able to cover the cost of the gorillas and chimps permits is fine. Each gorilla permit is US$600 in Uganda, $750 in Rwanda. A Chimpanzee permit is $150 in Uganda and $100 in Rwanda.
Because most hotels/ lodges and camps will need payment to confirm bookings, we kindly request you to pay in full before the commencement of your tour/ safari.
If you have already paid for the permits, you can pay the balance any time to within 14 days before your tour begins. This is is not so strict but of course if we lost your preferred hotel/lodge reservation because of failure to pay in time, because of your failure to remit payment, we won't be held responsible.
The standard is we should have your full pay before you start the tour. So you can even pay on the tour start day. Besides, we need money to run your tour. Last minute payments may lead to late starts for the tour especially if you have to withdraw money from an ATM.
We advise you not to rely so much on ATMs for payment. Most often the networks fail, cards get rejected, and a search for a working ATM may take hours and this delays your tour so that you could miss out some of the tour activities.
That said, most of our clients choose to make one single full payment to reduce on the bank charges and stress of paying installments.
PAYMENT METHODS
Our most preferred payment mode would be by electronic bank transfer (wire) to the bank details we give you when you ask. It takes 3-5 days to receive the funds.
However you can can also pay us by credit card or cash.
If by credit card, you can either pay online via pesapal.com (an East Africa equivalent of PayPal) and this will charge 3.5% for processing the transaction. We must raise an invoice for you to use this method. When paying with pesapal, please ensure the following to avoid your transaction from keeping pending forever:
- Scan or take a photo of the front of your card. Be sure to hide the first 12 digits.
- Scan or take a photo of the back of your card. Be sure to hide the first 12 digits and the CCV. (CCV is the three digit number on the back of the card.)
- Please send us a copy of your drivers’ license or passport or ID. Names should match with the card.
They need the above information to ensure your protection and protect us as the merchant from charge-backs.
If you are in Kampala/ Entebbe, you can swipe your card with our machine (at our offices or anywhere in Uganda) and this will charge you 5% extra to BarclayCard to process this transaction.
It usually takes 5 days for us to receive payment.
Please note that we will not take responsibility for any issues resulting from your payment taking longer than planned. If we receive payment late and miss out on gorilla permits, we will be forced to either request you reschedule your travel program or we send your money back to you.
You should take the responsibility to ensure we receive payment in good time to pay for your permits, we take the responsibility to pay for your permits in good time only when we have received the funds, not before.
ACCOMMODATIONS
We offer a range of accommodations including luxury, mid-range, budget and camping. The accommodations indicated in the itineraries are not conclusive; it is just a proposal subject to your decision. We reserve the right to substitute with the equivalent or a superior one.
While you are booking your holiday with us, kindly quote the tour planned date time for arrival and departure, number of people travelling and sleeping arrangements. For your own feeding comfort, please specify your interests like Vegetarian or any feeding allergic cases to make our arrangements with the hotels or lodges your contentment. Children below 12 are not allowed to track chimpanzee and children under 15 are not allowed to trek the gorillas.
GORILLA PERMITS
We guarantee availability of gorilla permits after receiving payment or an initial deposit from you. However we do not guarantee 100% chances of seeing the gorillas. The local conditions determine the presence and availability of the mountain gorillas. We are not liable in case of abrupt closure of the national border for security purposes or closure of the national park in question. In case of a refund of the gorilla permits money, it is subject to a refund by the relevant authority that sale these permits. As soon as we get a refund we are bound to pass it to you.
There are 98% chances of viewing the gorillas in the wild in both Rwanda and Uganda. We have not had an experience where a client has failed to track gorillas in either Rwanda or Uganda.
TRANSPORTATION.
Every effort is made to ensure that vehicles are provided in a roadworthy condition but no liability can be accepted for breakdown, or any damage or delay. Our guides are instructed to follow our code of conduct for Guides (available on request), which you must not ask them to break in any way. In the event that a Guide does not follow the code, please inform the Safari Manager. Company vehicles must only be driven by the company’s Guide whose decision on all matters, such as the route taken, is final. You will be liable for any damage caused to a vehicle by any interference by you with the vehicle, including legal and other expenses.
CANCELLATIONS
By Gorillas and Wildlife Safaris
We seldom cancel bookings by our clients. However we reserve the right to do so. Any confirmation less than 2 months shall not be cancelled unless unexpected / unusual circumstances (such as war within the country you intend to visit) beyond our control. Where cancellation of your holiday, in case of your failure to pay up or as a result of force majeure, we shall offer you’re an alternative vacation with a similar standard with the one you had booked before provided there is one available at the time. In case you have chosen one that is more expensive than your original holiday, you will be asked to pay the difference. However if it is cheaper, we shall refund you the difference.
You are entitled to a full refund except money paid for gorilla permits, which we can later pass to you in case the Uganda Wildlife Authority/ Rwanda Tourism board refunds it. We can not whatsoever bear expenses, costs or losses resulting from your cancellation.
A cancellation of a vacation in respect of any person in your party is likely, if, in our opinion or the opinion of any other person in authority, the behavior of the person(s) concerned is believed or suspected to cause trouble, annoyance, or distress to the third party. In such a situation we shall uncompromisingly evict such a visitor from any accommodation and require him/her to quit immediately thus forfeiting any of our services. Such a termination of our services does not warrant any refund or any other remedy on our part.
Cancellations by You
In case you intend to cancel your holiday with us, you shall have to write to us. Unless we receive a copy of your communication in writing, we can not confirm your cancellation. To avoid losses caused by your cancellation since reselling your holiday may be impossible, cancellation fees, excluding insurance, will be levied per person as follows: Cancellation charge shall be a % age of the total price where applicable.
CANCELLATION POLICY
Cancellations here below shall be treated against the total cost of the safari booked as follows:
61-100 days 10% of the safari cost
08-60 days 50% of safari cost
0-7 days 100% of safari cost
Note: Cancellation fees are effective from the date your written notification is received at Gorillas and Wildlife Safaris.
Gorilla Permits Cancellation Policy
UWA/ Rwanda Tourism Board will retain the following percentages on a gorilla permit upon cancellation.
0 – 30 days to tracking date - no refund,
31 – 60 days to tracking date – 75% (25% refund to client),
61– 90 days to tracking date – 50%,
91 days and above to tracking date – 25% (75% refund to client).
Note: The cost of transferring money to you is entirely yours when you cancel your tour and the funds your receive will be less by the bank charges (usually about 20$)
COMPLAINTS
We shall attend to all complaints of any nature either directly from you or indirectly from our tour representative or service supplier. Our motto is: “The Client is the king”. We shall be in position to respond appropriately to any of your complaint or dissatisfaction as long as we can receive your report not later than 21 days after completion of your holiday. This gives us enough time to investigate your case and respond appropriately. Failure to lodge in your complaint within such a time limit, we shall not be held liable.
FORCE MAJEURE
It is regrettable that we cannot bear liability or compensate where the performance or proper performance of our obligations is hampered or affected by any event which we or our supplier of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Events such as war or threat of war, civil strife riots, unexpected government actions including legislations, ordinances and decrees; terrorism, industrial disputes, extreme weather conditions, natural or nuclear disaster, epidemics fire, road closures, pilferage, quarantines, dangers incident to sea, land and air travel, and other similar incidents beyond our control.
Some of the services we offer are acquired from independent suppliers who may not be within our control. Services such as hotel accommodations, restaurant services, transportation, medical evacuation services etc. are supplied by other service providers. Thus we are not liable for any death, property damage, loss or personal injury resulting from acts or omissions accruing from such independent suppliers who are not within our control.
We reserve the right to make changes in pricing of an itinerary or service in response to economic changes (depreciation or appreciation of the local currency against the Dollar) as the case may be at any time. We also reserve the right to refuse or fail to retain any member or person in a tour team if his / her presence may jeopardize the security or proper enjoyment of a holiday in question and to pass on to the tour members any loss or expenditure resulting from delays or events beyond our control.
Some of the activities we offer in addition to the agreed upon itinerary are optional. Some activities carry with them an inherent risk of personal injury. In such circumstances we don’t guarantee your personal safety. If you choose to engage in optional activities, you do it at your own risk. We merely Endeavour to minimize the risks involved.
Optional activities, we offer include but not limited to:
Kayaking, bungee-jumping and white water rafting
Mountain climbing adventure
Chimpanzee trekking
Gorilla trekking
Balloon safaris
Nature walk
INSURANCE
Before undertaking a holiday with us ensure that you have an appropriate insurance for the type of holiday of your choice. Such insurance should comprehensively cover death, medical expenses, personal injury, evacuation in the event of accident or illness or death, and holiday cancellation among others. Adventure safari activities that are highly risky such as gorilla trekking, mountain hiking, chimp trekking, white rafting and bungee jumping should be taken care of.
JURISDICTION
We are incorporated in Uganda and therefore operates under the Uganda Laws.
LIABILITY
We shall be liable to compensate you for the loss or damage to luggage or personal possessions (including money) to a maximum of US$30 on condition that the client is fully covered by insurance in respect of such losses at the time of booking and is as a result of any failure to perform or improper performance of the contract by any of our employees, agents, suppliers or sub-contractors (provided they were at the time of executing work with our authority).
We will take all due care to prevent your death, injury or illness being caused by the fauna of safari destinations. It is your responsibility to take proper medical precautions. We accept liability in case you or any of your party suffer personal injury, illness, or death, as a result of any failure to perform or improper performance of the contract by any of our employees, agents, suppliers or sub-contractors (provided they were at the time of executing work with our authority) except in the following circumstances:-
§ We shall not be liable where any failure to perform or improper performance was caused by:
§ The unforeseeable acts or omissions of a third party not connected with the provision of the holiday in the contract;
§ an event which we or the supplier of the contracted services could not have anticipated or avoided even with all due care. Any claim must be notified to us in accordance with the complaints procedure set out above. Any person to whom any payment is made must assign to us and /our insurers any rights they may have to follow up any third party in connection with the claim and provide all necessary assistance to us and/ our insurers that be reasonably necessary.
VOLUNTARY EXECUTION
I/we accept to be duly bound by terms and conditions above. My advancement of a deposit to Fabulous Africa Holidays and Adventures Ltd demonstrates this acceptance. I certify that I have carefully read and fully understood the contents of the Terms and Conditions, including cancellation and refund policies, limitation of liability, and responsibility borne by tour participants. On the advance of a deposit to Fabulous Africa Holidays and Adventures Ltd, the depositor, his or her family and/representative agree to be bound by the above Terms and Conditions herein specified.
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