about_booking

Booking Terms & General Information

The following terms and conditions form the basis of your contract with us. We have also included some general information we feel is worth pointing out to give you an idea of what to expect.

How to make a booking

Travelling to Kenya or any other African country requires planning ahead. We suggest you start to consider such matters as visas, inoculations, and your safari holiday itself.
Your booking will be confirmed once you have accepted our offer and paid a deposit of 30% of total value of booking or full payment if made within 60 days of departure.

Late booking Fee

Out of courtesy we do not charge a late booking fee. However any booking request made within any relevant suppliers cancellation period cannot be processed until full payment has been received. If late booking fee is charged by our supplier we will need to pass this onto yourself.

Booking alterations

If you change your booking:
Once you have accepted our offer, paid a deposit and you wish to change your booking, we will do our very best to make the changes but there’s no guarantee the changes will be possible/confirmed. All requests for changes should be made to us in writing from the person who made the booking. We will ask you to pay any cost incurred in making the changes.

If we change your booking
Whilst everything will be done to provide services as confirmed to you, we may occasionally have to change your holiday arrangements or part of them. We reserve the right to do so. Most alterations will be minor and may not affect your overall holiday experience. In this case we will notify you immediately they occur before your departure.
Due to circumstances beyond our control, we might be forced to make major changes to your holiday.
In this case you will be notified as quickly as possible, you may then choose to accept the change and the contract will be varied to incorporate the change, take comparable holiday subject to availability or withdraw the booking completely.

Cancellation

If you cancel your booking
You or any member of your group/party may cancel your travel arrangements any time. A written notification from the person who made the booking must be sent to us via email.
Full deposit refund will be provided if cancellation occurs in writing 60 days prior to commencement of a safari. Refund on all pre-paid money will be based on cancellation fees levied by hotels and lodges. Generally there is a 50% charge on cancellation within 30 days, 75% charge within 7 days, and 100% charge within 48 hours. We reserve the right to deduct all expenses incurred from money paid. Some services are non-refundable.

If we cancel your booking
We reserve the right in its absolute discretion to cancel your holiday booking. We will do so only in case of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, or failure by you to pay the final balance.
If this occurs we will notify you and offer the option to take an alternative holiday of comparable standard (subject to availability) or a full refund of payment received.
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 shall inform you without any delay and before the start of your holiday.
Circumstances outside our control include but are not limited to war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, epidemic, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions or unavoidable technical problems with transport.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about any of the services included in your holiday, you must inform us without undue delay and we will endeavor to put things right. If you fail to to do so, we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you were on holiday.

Law and jurisdiction

These terms & conditions are governed by Kenyan Law, and the jurisdiction of the Kenyan Courts.

General Information

Your Visa/ETA

All travelers, including children, must apply for the Kenya eTA at a cost of US$ 30 prior to travel and will be required to show proof of this during the check-in and boarding process. The following documents are required for the eTA application: a valid passport; a recent passport picture or selfie taken during the application process; contact details; travel information/flight details; proof of hotel booking or letter of invitation if staying with friends; credit/debit card for payment. Yellow fever vaccination certificate will be required only if entering from an endemic country (please check the WHO website for the updated list of countries).

Applications can be submitted a minimum of 3 days prior to travel or up to 3 months in advance. We recommend applying as soon as you have made your final payment with us 45 days prior to travel. Please apply through the official website only: www.etakenya.go.ke where more information can be found.

Your Shots

It is recommended that you take comprehensive medical travel insurance, inclusive of air evacuation from remote areas. Some vaccinations are required when visiting Kenya. A Yellow Fever vaccination certificate is required ONLY if you are arriving from or have transited through a country with a yellow fever endemic.

Malaria is the biggest single medical threat to visitors to Kenya. There is no vaccine, but several different oral prophylactics are available, and it is advisable to visit a travel clinic or other suitably qualified medical professional for up-to-date advice about the option best suited to your requirements. No prophylactic is 100% effective, so take all reasonable precautions against being bitten by the nocturnal Anopheles mosquitoes that transmit the disease. These include donning a long-sleeved shirt, trousers and socks in the evening, and applying a DEET-based insect repellent

The Centre for Disease Control recommends that travelers to Kenya have up-to-date vaccines for tetanus, hepatitis B and polio, as well as considering a meningitis vaccine, but please check the latest advice in your own country.

Important information worth knowing

Please keep in mind that an African safari is not comparable to travel in Europe. Africa is not subjected to the same ‘health and safety’ regulations that exist in the UK, the USA and Europe. In many areas of hotels and camps, and during activities, rules are more relaxed than they would be in the above countries. In most cases this leads to a richer experience, but we feel that certain things are worth pointing out to give you an idea what to expect:

  • Pools are unlikely to be fenced off or to have depth markings.
  • Steps around camps often do not have handrails and may be uneven. Camp paths are sometimes uneven or slippery and may be unlit at night. In some places camps are fenced from larger animals but it is almost impossible to keep out smaller animals, insects and reptiles (this does not mean they will share your tent with you or even come particularly close to you).
  • Some mornings can be very chilly. Bring a few warm clothes for the early morning game drives.
  • Weather conditions, the state of the roads. potholes, mud, impassable slopes or driving technical difficulties may lead to short term changes or delays of the program.
  • Speak up on what you hope to see as well as what you don’t care to see. Inform your driver guide if on private tour or camp manager if on a shared camp vehicle tour. This information helps them when it comes to pairing guests to share a vehicle. Also let them know how interested you are in the very early morning game drives, because you don’t want to be paired up with people who aren’t and cause you to miss that gorgeous early morning light.
  • Plan to have a back system up and a recovery app for your pictures should you accidentally delete them. Always carry exrta SD cards to ensure that you are able to keep taking pictures without overwriting others. Bring an external battery pack that you can charge nightly.

Some Dos and Don’ts

  • Never walk unaccompanied after dark in the bush or an unfenced camp or lodge.
  • Don’t feed the wildlife – not only does it encourage a dependency on handouts to survive, but it may also foster problem animals.
  • Don’t leave cash or other valuables lying around in the room.
  • Do cover up in the evenings, spray exposed skin with repellent, and sleep under a net or fan to discourage mosquitoes and other biting insects.
  • Don’t freak out if you find lizards in your room or frogs in the basin – they are not vermin but rather harmless contributors towards insect control.
  • Don’t make any unnecessary noise when wild animals are in the vicinity, or you might scare them off.
  • Do take the opportunity to go on a guided bush walk if offered – it will be a wonderful opportunity to focus on plants, insects, birds and other creatures less glamorous than the Big Five.
  • Do carry sun block and a hat on all game drives.
  • Do not assume that any large animal that enters camp is wild – respect its space and give it a wide berth rather than walking up to it to be photographed with it and chasing it away or provoking attack.

Tipping

  • Your safari guide is usually US$15 – 20 per day handed directly to your guide at the end of your safari.
  • At hotels, it’s usually easier to sign drinks and meals to the room than to pay cash, but you could still leave a tip for an individual waiter or bartender, or add one to the bill before you sign it.
  • Upmarket lodges and camps that operate on a full-board basis generally have a tip box at reception. Tips will usually be distributed between all the staff, a system that seems fairest to backroom workers in a country where hotel staff is very poorly paid.
  • In game lodges that offer guided game drives, any guides, drivers and trackers should be tipped. Many such lodges have guideline in the rooms; failing that ask management for a directive.