Terms and Condtions

1. YOUR BOOKING WITH TREMENDOUS SAFARIS

A booking with Tremendous Safariswill exists as soon as we issue our ‘Confirmation Invoice & Itinerary’. We will issue this after receiving your deposit and confirming every element of your trip to Africa. Your booking is made on the terms of these booking conditions, and in agreeing to them you guarantee that you have the authority to accept and do accept on behalf of your party (named on the booking form) the terms of these booking conditions.

2. PAYING FOR YOUR TRIP TO AFRICA

When you make your booking you must pay a deposit of 30% of the booking cost, or full payment if your departure is within 12 weeks. Sometimes your booking may require other upfront payments on top of the usual 30% deposit – for example for international flights, gorilla permits or for some bookings over peak holiday periods. If an additional deposit is required you will be informed prior to booking your trip with us. Then the remaining balance of the booking cost must be paid at least 12 weeks before your departure date. If the deposit and/or balance is not paid in time, we have the right to cancel your travel arrangements and will retain your deposit. If your payment is late, we will send you a reminder and if it is not still not paid we will be forced to cancel your trip.

Any quote offered to you is valid for 7 days from that date after which we may have to vary the price due to changes in costings.

Our suppliers in Africa have rates in various currencies – GBP, Euro, Rand and US dollars are the most common that we deal with. We will gladly quote you a trip in GBP or USD, and any quote you receive from us will be valid for 7 days. After this, we reserve the right to recalculate the cost based on updated exchange rates. Once you have decided to go ahead with your trip the currency is fixed. This means that the cost of your trip to Africa will not change because of currency, regardless of what the markets are doing – we never currency surcharge but nor can we reduce the cost of any confirmed trip to Africa (please refer to clause 7 for other reasons the cost of your trip might change). You must pay your deposit and your balance in the same currency that was agreed on when you decided to go ahead with your trip to Africa.

If you add any services to your booking at a later stage, they will be costed using the exchange rate of the day. If for any reason we need to refund a part of your trip, it will be refunded using the exchange rate on the cost of your trip was originally based.

3. IF YOU CANCEL YOUR TRIP TO AFRICA

You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Written notification from the person who made the booking must be received by email. Please send it to info@trememndoussafari.com and ensure that the email is acknowledged by YZT. Since we incur costs in cancelling your travel arrangements, you will have to pay cancellation charges as follows (see also the exception below):

Note: Some camps have very high cancellation charges over peak booking periods such as Christmas. This may affect the above cancellation charges, making them higher than normal. If higher than normal cancellation charges affect your booking, we will inform you in writing at the quote stage and before you pay your deposit. Once your deposit is paid and we have issued you with a Confirmation Invoice, you are liable for these increased cancellation charges.

If at the deposit stage, you paid upfront for gorilla permits or international flights, these are non-refundable, and so the cost of these will be retained by us on top of the cancellation charges indicated above.

If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges and we can issue you with a cancellation invoice to support your claim.

4. IF YOU CHANGE YOUR BOOKING

If, after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example, your chosen departure date or accommodation, we will do our utmost to make these changes but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes to be made must be in writing from the person who made the booking. You will be asked to pay an administration charge of £100, and any further costs we incur in making this alteration.  You should be aware that the closer to your departure date changes is made, the higher these costs are likely to be, so you should contact us to make them as soon as possible. Note: Certain travel arrangements may not be changeable after a reservation has been made and any alteration could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements. In particular, any changes requested within 12 weeks of departure will be subject to the cancellation charges above.

You can transfer your booking to another person, who satisfies all the conditions that apply to this booking, by giving us notice in writing at least 7 days before departure. Both you and the new traveller are responsible for paying all costs we incur in making the transfer.

5. IF WE CANCEL YOUR BOOKING

We reserve the right to cancel all or part of your booking if unforeseeable circumstances force us to do so. We will not cancel less than 12 weeks before your departure date, except for unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, or failure by you to pay the final balance. Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances mean a situation beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. We observe advice provided by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office only.

In the event a refund is paid to you, we will pay compensation of £250 per person except where the cancellation is due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances (see definition above). This does not exclude you from claiming more if you are entitled to do so.

6. IF WE CHANGE YOUR BOOKING

(a) Changes to the price
We can change the price of your trip to Africa after you’ve booked, only in certain circumstances:

Changes in the price of the carriage of passengers resulting from changes to the cost of fuel, the level of taxes or fees imposed by third parties including tourist taxes, landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports mean that the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have booked. However, there will be no change within 20 days of your departure.

If this results in an increase equivalent to more than 8% of the total price of your travel arrangements, you will have the option of accepting or changing to another trip if we are able to offer one (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value), or cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid, except for any amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel you must do so within one week of being told of the change.

Should the price of your trip go down due to the cost changes mentioned above, then any refund due will be paid to you? We will deduct from this refund our administrative expenses incurred. Please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place.

(b) Changes other than the price
It is a term of your booking that we are able to make changes to any aspect of your booking. If the change is insignificant, we will ensure that you are notified about it. Examples of insignificant changes include alteration of your outward/return flights by less than 12 hours, changes to aircraft type, change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard, and changes of carriers.

7. OUR LIABILITY TO YOU

You must inform us without undue delay of any failure to perform or improper performance of the travel services included in this package. If any of the travel services included in your package are not performed in accordance with the contract or are improperly performed, by us or the travel service suppliers, and this has affected the enjoyment of your travel arrangements, you may be entitled to an appropriate price reduction or compensation or both. We will not be liable where any failure to perform or improper performance of the travel services is due to: you or another member of your party; or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel services in the package and is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, which means a situation beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to a maximum of three times the cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to

a) The contractual terms of the companies that provide the travel services that make up your package. These terms are incorporated into this booking; and

b) Any relevant international convention, for example, the Montreal Convention in respect of travel by air, the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail and the Paris Convention in respect of the provision of accommodation, which limit the amount of and conditions under which compensation can be claimed for death, injury, delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. We are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of the extent of or the conditions under which compensation is to be paid under these or any conventions.

You can ask for copies of the travel service contractual terms, or the international conventions, from our offices. Under EU law (Regulation 261/2004) you have rights in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline in cases of denied boarding, cancellation or delay to flights. Full details will be publicised at EU airports and available from airlines. However, reimbursement in such cases will not automatically entitle you to a refund of the cost of your trip from us. Your right to a refund and/or compensation from us is set out in these booking conditions. If any payments to you are due from us, any payment made to you by the airline or any other service provider will be deducted.

If it is impossible to ensure your return as scheduled due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, we will bear the cost of necessarily suitable accommodation, for a maximum of three nights. The limit doesn’t apply to persons with reduced mobility and any person accompanying them, pregnant women and unaccompanied minors, or persons in need of specific medical assistance, provided that you notified us of these needs at least 48 hours before the start of your trip to Africa.

NB this entire clause 8 does not apply to any separate contracts that you may enter into for excursions or activities whilst on your trip in Africa.

8. COMPLAINTS

If you have a complaint about any of the services included in your trip to Africa, you must inform the supplier or our representative in Africa. This may be a camp or hotel manager where you are staying, or via the contact telephone numbers, we will provide in advance of your departure.

If it is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to  info@trememndoussafari.com. Give your booking reference and all other relevant information, keeping your email as concise and to the point as possible. If you fail to report your complaint whilst on your trip, we will not have the opportunity to investigate and rectify it whilst you are travelling, affecting our ability to improve the situation for you and the possibility of claiming back any form of compensation.

9. ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE

If you’re in difficulty whilst in Africa and ask us to help we will provide necessary assistance, in particular by providing information on health services, local authorities and consular assistance, medical assistance; and helping you to find alternative arrangements and any necessary phone calls/emails. You must pay any costs we incur, or claim them back from your travel insurance company.

10. MEDICAL CONDITIONS, DISABILITIES AND OTHER SPECIAL REQUESTS

We welcome customers who may have special needs but it is essential you contact us before booking with specific details in order that we can advise on the suitability of your plans. Regrettably not every destination may be suitable and we must reserve the right to refuse a booking if we feel that your needs cannot be met. If you fail to advise us in advance, we must reserve the right to cancel the booking as soon as we become aware of the situation.

Should you have special requests such as food intolerances or meal requests for other reasons, we are happy to pass these to the relevant suppliers but these are requests and not guarantees.

11. EXCURSIONS

Excursions or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for whilst you are in Africa are not part of your trip provided by us. For any excursion or other tour that you book, your contract will be with the operator of the excursion or tour and not with us. We are not responsible for the provision of the excursion or tour or for anything that happens during the course of its provision by the operator.

12. DOCUMENTATION

Please check all the documentation you receive and notify us immediately if you notice any errors. If you do not do so, there may be additional costs if changes have to be made later, particularly to flight tickets.

13. INSURANCE

It is a part of our Terms & Conditions that all clients must purchase adequate travel insurance. We reserve the right to cancel your holiday at any time should such a policy not be taken out by you.

14. LAW AND JURISDICTION

This booking is governed by English Law and under the jurisdiction of the English Courts. You may however choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you live there and wish to do so.

15. COVID-19 PANDEMIC ADDENDUM TO OUR TERMS & CONDITIONS

A. Your own government state department (foreign office) for international travel might have travel warnings in place, for one or more of the destinations you are visiting. If you decide to travel in spite of these, you must check the advice carefully yourself.

B. You must have insurance covering you for any COVID-19-related issues. Specifically for any claim, loss, liability, cost or expense of whatever nature directly or indirectly arising out of, contributed to or resulting from coronavirus disease (COVID-19), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-cov-2), or any mutation or variation thereof. This exclusion also applies to any claim, loss, cost or expense of whatever nature directly or indirectly arising out of, contributed to or resulting from:

(1A). Any fear or threat (whether actual or perceived) of; or

(1B). Any action taken in controlling, preventing, suppressing or in any way relating to any outbreak of; Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus.

You undertake to indemnify the company if additional costs are incurred due to a lack of adequate insurance cover.

C. Tremendous Safaris has its standard liability in place for all clients – covering non-COVID-related issues. We will use our best endeavours to assist if an incident occurs during the holiday, however, we will have no additional liability and will not incur additional costs as a result of COVID-19 and your decision to travel during the pandemic. This includes any scenario that arises as a result of COVID-19, for example, safari cancellation, quarantine on arrival, medical or hospital bills or repatriation.

D. You are aware that the COVID-19 pandemic has made flight schedules prone to change. This might result in flight schedule changing with little notice, necessitating an earlier or later return home.

E. That if you were to contract COVID-19 while on holiday, Tremendous Safaris cannot guarantee the quality of the hospitals that you might be taken to, or the care you might receive. Usually, we are able to assist in these matters, but due to a likely national approach to treating the virus, you might be taken to a designated public hospital outside of Tremendous control.

F. You understand that COVID waves can occur in Africa with little warning, impacting hospital capacity and putting strain on their ability to care for any kind of accident or illness. As above, Tremendous will always try to assist in ensuring our clients get the best possible medical care if needed. But ultimately, the pandemic can make it difficult to access medical care if there is a wave putting pressure on the national system of the country you are visiting.

G. During travel, you must strictly follow your own country’s national advice on COVID-19. Take the same precautions that you would do when at home. This might include:

– Wearing a mask in public places and transport.
– Carrying hand sanitiser at all times and using it often.
– Washing hands regularly.
– Avoiding crowds.
– Social distancing where possible – 2m ideally.

H. You understand that countries in Africa each have very different government-led approaches to COVID-19 safety. As a result, local people often don’t wear masks, are not aware of social distancing and are not taking any of the precautions that have become our norm. Tremendous Safaris uses high-quality suppliers in Africa who will usually take a more cautious stance. However, these lodges are only obliged to follow their own national guidelines and these may be below what we are currently accustomed to as the norm.

I. You acknowledge that you might be required to take a PCR test to enter each country on your itinerary, and sometimes for departure also. The tests are usually between US$100 – $350pp, depending on how remote the location is for the test.

J. Although we may arrange the necessary PCR tests for you, we hold no added liability for doing so. For example, if the test results are delayed and you miss a connection or flight, any costs are for your own account. You realise that some testing sites will be below the usual standard you’d expect from a medical facility in your home country.

K. You recognise the possibility of compulsory quarantine on your (and your group’s) return.

L. If your itinerary takes you through Zanzibar Airport: we have advised you that this airport does not currently enforce any COVID safety practices. It can often be busy – with queues for check-in and security, and a congested waiting hall.