Terms and conditions

1. CONTRACT & DEFINITIONS & PARTIES

Your contract is made with African Trails (the Company). You are referred to as the Client. By signing the Booking Form you have indicated that you wish to join the specified tour (the Tour) subject to the following terms & conditions.
1. All written information supplied to the Client is provided in good faith and based on the knowledge and information available to the Company prior to publication. Any substantial changes as shall be known to the Company shall be communicated to the Client prior to the departure date.
2. The contract between the Company and the Client will be final and binding on both parties with effect from the date that notification of acceptance of the deposit has been sent by the Company to the Client, unless for specific reasons decided by the company that persons deposit is returned; a signed, or electronically signed/acknowledged copy, of the booking and the terms and conditions has been received; the client receives written confirmation from the company with full tour details.
3. The carrier may be African Trails or a similar partner company offering a similar service.

2. PAYMENTS               
3. The deposit is payable at the time of booking and is accepted by the Company in part payment of the fare. The deposit is not refundable save where clause 10 may apply. The deposit for trips ten weeks or less is 35%, or £200 (whichever the greater). For Trans trips over ten weeks the deposit is £1,000 (pounds sterling) and full and final balance 4 months beforehand (Trans Africa & Trans Asia). The pricing on this websites is the latest pricing and supersedes any pricing published in brochures, leaflets or any other advertised price.
4. The Company reserves the right for whatsoever reason to return the deposit to the Client and refuse acceptance of the Clients application. In addition’ the company reserves the right to terminate the tour for any passenger (without compensation) for abusive, bullying or anti-social behaviour towards staff, passengers or the public.
5. The balance of fare is payable to the Company not later than 90 days prior to departure; Trans Africa, Trans South America and Trans Asia trips are payable 120 days before departure. Local Payments and visa fees are thereafter payable at the request of the Company. The local payment is payable to the trip leader on day one and forms part of the overall trip fare.
6. If the balance of the fare and any other monies due from the Client to the Company is not paid in accordance with clause 5 hereof the Company may treat the contract as cancelled by the Client.

3. CANCELLATIONS
7.  Cancellation of the booking by the Client for any reason shall be in writing signed by the Client and be received at the Company’s trading address whereupon, subject to the provisions of clause 8. 8.   Hereof, the Company will refund all monies paid by the Client other than the deposit. Cancellation by email is not acceptable. (b) The Client acknowledges that payment for the Tour contributes to the overall provision of equipment, administration etc. specific to that Tour and that the Company will incur a large part of its costs in set-up before the actual date of departure. Therefore if the Client cancels the booking less than 90 days before departure, or in the case of Trans Africa, Trans South America & Trans Asia trips, 120 days before departure, the Company shall be entitled to retain all the monies paid by the Client. If a client transfers a tour to a later departure, the original departure date still applies for the purpose of refund if the client cancels off the later date they transferred to.
9. The Company reserves the right to cancel the Tour in the event that there are insufficient numbers to make it viable, by 42 days prior to departure. (b) If the Company cancels the Tour before the agreed date of departure for whatever cause other than the fault of the Client or by reason of Force Majeure, the Client shall be entitled to either be repaid all sums paid by the Client pursuant to the contract.

4. TRANSFERS AND AMENDMENTS TO TRIPS
10. The Company is under no obligation to accept an application by the Client to transfer the booking to another tour operated by the Company.
11. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary elsewhere in this contract should the Tour or part thereof not take place by reason of Force Majeure the Company shall be entitled to retain from the monies received from the Client any reasonable sums expended on the Client’s behalf in the arrangements or preparations for the Tour or part thereof. If part of the Tour does not take place by reason of Force Majeure no refund can be made.
12. No refund shall be made in respect of any unused portion or part of the Tour or services to be provided or given if the Client through sickness, ill health or any other reason departs from any portion or part of the Tour.
13. If a Client wishes to transfer to another trip then this is treated effectively as a cancellation/rebooking. If the cancellation rebooking is done less than 60 days before departure or in the case of Trans Africa, Trans South America & Trans Asia trips, 90 days before departure, a transfer charge of 35% will apply.
14. If a client wishes to transfer to another trip less than 60 days before or in the case of Trans Africa, Trans South America & Trans Asia trips, 90 days before departure, the transfer will be treated as a cancellation and so cancellation charges will apply.
Note: If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges but it is your sole responsibility to do so and we accept no liability for any acts or omissions of your insurance company.
15. Where the Company’s own vehicle is not used the Client agrees that the obligation of the Company to the Client is to select normally competent independent sub-contractors to provide transport and any other services related to the Tour and to exercise reasonable care in selecting such suppliers to provide these services.

7. TRIP PRICES
16.
(a) The Company reserves the right to change their rates at any time prior to the contract being entered into. In the event that these rates are altered, the Client will be advised at the time of booking.
b) The Company endeavours not to increase the cost of the trip once the contract has been entered into. However, the cost to run a trip is calculated up to 18 (eighteen) months in advance and increases in running the trip like, but not exclusively, transportation costs, accommodation costs and fluctuations in the exchange rates, may make an increase unavoidable.
c) Should a surcharge be payable, the Company will immediately notify the Client of such.
d) The Company will not add a surcharge to a trip less than 28 (twenty eight) days prior to a trip’s departure.
e) The Company will not impose a surcharge of more than 20% (twenty percent) of the original Trip Price.
f) Should a surcharge be payable, the Client must pay said surcharge prior to joining the trip. Any camping safari 10 days or longer departing from, or finishing in Nairobi, Kenya.
g) The Client may only join the Discounted Trip scheduled to run immediately before or after their trip on the days specified only.
h) The discounted trip must be booked together with the main trip of 10 days or longer.
i) The Client may not redeem this Trip Price discount in any other form.
j) The Client must pay the Local Payment contribution for the Discounted Trip.
k) Discounts offered are on the trip price of the trip only, and only one discount may be applied to each trip. This applies to promotions and specials offered by the Company or any of its representatives.
l) Different sales prices are calculated in various currencies in advance of printing the sales brochure. Due to fluctuations, prices in various currencies may vary as a result. The Company, and its representatives, will not be held liable to refund based on these variances, and the Client will be responsible for settling all outstanding amounts owed in the currency based on their booking origin, or that of their agent.

8. ITINERARIES
17. The Client acknowledges:
(a) That by the very nature of the Tour, a Client is exposed to an element of personal risk and exposure to potential hazard over and above those associated with conventional holidays. The Client therefore accepts and consents to the risks inherent in the implementation of this contract and accepts as reasonable the limitations of the Company’s responsibility as set out herein.
(b) That the UK Foreign Office from time to time publishes generalised commentaries on travel in countries and territories which are part of the Tour itinerary and the Company bases its travel decisions on a variety of sources and does not rely exclusively on such commentaries on the basis that such advice can be inapplicable to the area to be travelled.
(c) That prior to the contract the Client has been given general information on passport and visa requirements for the Tour and of the health formalities required for the Tour and knows of no reason why the Client be unable to comply with these requirements.
(d) The trip is of a participative nature meaning you will be camping and putting up/taking down tents, helping in meal preparation, vehicle security, washing up, shopping and cleaning.
(e) Whilst camping the accommodation is in two-person tents and you will need to provide your own mattress and sleeping bag. Lodge upgrades may be possible but not guaranteed.
(f) Meals are as the tour itinerary and mealtimes may differ due to the travelling time.
(g) Special meal requests will be accommodated where possible but, in Africa, produce is often difficult to acquire.
(h) A decent level of fitness is required for walking opportunities and climbing into and out of the vehicle.
(i) Medical access cannot be guaranteed every day of the tour.
(j) There will be some long driving days involved as African roads can be quite bad. k) the tours are mostly booked by younger travelers, so please be aware of the type of lifestyle that goes alongside k) all Terms &Conditions of the website and booking form apply.

9. CHANGES TO TRIPS
18. Force Majeure: Unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of the Company the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised and shall include, but not limited to, strike, lockout, civil disturbance, government intervention, events emanating from political disputes, border closures, riot, threat of war, disaster, terrorist acts or disturbance, inclement weather or Act of God.
19. Our Expedition trips (especially Trans Africa {and Variants}, Nile Expedition {and variants} and Trans Asia {and variants}) are different from our other departures and other holidays you may have taken – we go through areas where no tourists go, the roads can be bad, food can be limited to what we have stocked on the truck, campsites are few and basic, visas can be hard to get and communication to the outside world limited or unavailable at times. We guarantee; we’ll break down, that we will have to wait somewhere we don’t really want to be for visas spare parts or just for someone to open a closed road and we’ll have to dig the truck out of mud and sand.
The trip might overrun so finish late; the route can change due to rains, closed roads visa issues, breakdowns and politics. It’s best not to book your return flights home until you finish the trip.
To join this trip you need to be prepared to work as part of a team and to share with the others on the trip. Some of the things you’ll never forget are the satisfaction of getting a 16 ton truck unstuck, cooking over open fires after collecting the firewood, pitching a tent and getting it right even when it rains, going to sleep when its dark and waking at dawn and wanting to get out of your sleeping bag to start another day in which you have no idea of what will happen, washing in rivers, not washing and not caring that your dirty, living outside for months, seeing more than you have ever before, trying to learn French Arabic or Swahili and having people understand what you say, finding out just how far places are away from where you started and how different places can be and how unaffected out of the way places are from the world we normally live in. Most people who do an expedition find it a lot of fun though of course hard at times.

10. COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
20. With regard to any complaint or claim whether by the Company or its contracted suppliers the Client agrees that this will be communicated to the Company, and (b) to give written details of any unresolved serious complaint to the Tour Leader, and (c) in the event of a claim for compensation the Client agrees that this must be detailed in writing and be received by the Company at its UK address within 10 days of completion of the relevant section of the Tour.

11. COMPANY RESPONSIBILITY
21. The Company shall be liable to the Client for the proper performance of the obligations arising from the contract. However the Company will not be liable if such failure to perform is attributable neither to any fault of the Company nor to that of another supplier or services because : (a) such failure to perform is attributable to the Client, or (b) such failure is attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the services contracted for and is unforeseeable or unavoidable, or (c) such failure is due to Force Majeure, or (d) such failure is due to an event which the Company or the supplier of services even with due care could not have foreseen or forestalled.
22. The Company’s maximum aggregate liability under arising from or in connection with this contract shall be limited to a reasonable sum and in no circumstances shall be greater than the actual fare charged.
23. (a) Subject to clause 17, if any claim is made against the Company by the Client arising from the non-performance or improper performance of services by the Company, the Company’s maximum liability in respect of such claim shall be limited to the amount which the Client would be entitled to receive as damages from the Company or such other supplier of services under applicable law. (b) If any such claim is made the Company reserves the right to claim in place of the Client against the relevant supplier of services. In these circumstances the Client hereby agrees to assign to the Company all its rights against such suppliers in respect of the relevant claim and the Company will be subrogated to these rights. (c) The use of the Company of transport in connection with the tours is subject to the conditions of the operators or owners of such transport. These conditions may be subject to international conventions which may limit or exclude the carrier’s liability.

12. CLIENT RESPONSIBILITY
24. The Client undertakes:
(a) To comply at its expense with laws and regulations in respect of health, immigration exchange control or any other matter of all the countries and territories visited in the course of the Tour>
(b) To obtain a valid Passport or visas or endorsements appropriate for the countries and territories to be visited in the course of the Tour.
(c) To comply with all reasonable requests of the Tour Leader relating to the personal behaviour of the Client in so far as it affects other group members and to abide by the Tour Leader’s decisions concerning the progress and conduct of the Tour.
(d) To accept and abide by the terms & conditions of all carriers concerned of the Tour. Any breach of these undertakings shall entitle the Tour Leader to require the Client to leave the Tour immediately if in his/her reasonable opinion the safety or well-being of any other tour member or members or the satisfactory progress of the Tour is thereby prejudiced.
25. No persons save with the express permission in writing of a Director of the Company has the authority or is empowered to waive or vary any of the conditions herein.
26. No later than the date on which the balance of the fare is due the Client will effect and then maintain sufficient and appropriate cancellation curtailment medical expense and third party liability insurance in respect of the Client and dependent relatives. The Client shall be satisfied that such insurance fully covers all personal commitments including medical expenses and repatriation in the event of an accident and illness and in no circumstances is this insurance to cover less than the total time of the Tour + 2 weeks.
27. If the Company is obliged to utilise unplanned air or sea transport for its vehicle and/or the Client, the Client will accept such other means of transport so as to enable the Tour to continue. The Company reserves the right to request further payment from the Client in respect of irrecoverable expenditure incurred in relation to such unplanned transport (over and above the Tour costs) and may require the Client to make such payment direct at the point of need.
28. (a) The Company reserves the right at any time to require the Client to produce a Doctor’s Certificate certifying that the Client is fit to participate in the Tour (b) It is the Client’s responsibility to ensure that all necessary health precautions are taken in line with the Company’s advice.
29. The Company shall not be liable for any damage suffered by or caused to the personal property of the Client of loss thereof during the course of the Tour howsoever caused.
30. In the event of the Client of its own volition leaving the Tour before completion through sickness, ill health or any other reason whatsoever, all liability and responsibility that the Company may bear to the Client will immediately cease.
31. For the purposes hereof the Client is deemed to join the Tour on first boarding the Tour vehicle and quits the Tour on finally leaving the Tour vehicle upon completion of the Tour or at an earlier time.

I confirm that I abide by the aforementioned and agree to the Terms and Conditions therein contained. I record that I am joining a trip or making a booking at my own risk and waive any claims that I might have in regard to injury, loss or death which might occur due to any causes whatsoever. I refer in particular to any minor child or children who may be accompanying me and confirm specifically that this indemnity as signed applies to such child/children. I further bind my dependents, heirs, executors, administrators and assigns to the Terms and Conditions of this agreement, and indemnify and hold blameless African Trails Limited, its members, associates, employees, representatives, organisers, helpers and agents from all liability for any or all claims whatsoever and howsoever arising and without limitation (including consequential claims) arising from any delay, loss or damage to property or injury or illness or death arising from any cause related to or occurring during my booking or activities or trips with the Company.