Service Terms and Conditions

These Booking Conditions, together with our privacy policy and where your tour is booked via our website, our Website Terms and Conditions, together with any other written information we brought to your attention before we confirmed your booking, form the basis of your contract with Wild Routes Africa (Pty) Ltd trading as Wild Routes Africa a company registered in the Republic of South Africa with company registration number: 2016/258107/07 and registered office address of 47 Seatide Drive, Seatides, Tongaat, KwaZulu Natal, 4399, South Africa (“we”, “us”, “our”).

Please read them carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations. In these Booking Conditions references to “you” and “your” include the first named person on the booking and all persons on whose behalf a booking is made or any other person to whom a booking is added or transferred.

By making a booking, the first named person on the booking agrees on behalf of all persons detailed on the booking that:

(a) he/she has read these Booking Conditions (and general information pages (including the sections headed “Information About Our Tours”, “Tour Prices and “How to Book”), contained in our brochure and/or on our website) and has the authority to and does agree to be bound by them;

(b) he/she appreciates and accept the risks involved in adventure travel;

(c) he/she consents to our use of personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and is authorised on behalf of all persons named on the booking to disclose their personal details to us, including where applicable special categories of data (such as information on health conditions or disabilities and dietary requirements);

(d) he/she is over 18 years of age and where placing an order for services with age restrictions declares that he/she and all members of the party are of the appropriate age to purchase those services;

(e) he/she does not suffer from any pre-existing medical condition or disability which may prevent them from actively participating in the tour – if any person suffers from any medical condition or disability which will or may affect their tour arrangements, please contact us before making your booking as referred to in clause 17 below so that we can advise as to the suitability of your chosen arrangements;

(f) he/she accepts financial responsibility for payment of the booking on behalf of all persons detailed on the booking.

YOUR TOUR CONTRACT

The contract is between you and us. We both agree that South African law (and no other) will apply to your contract and to any dispute, claim or other matter of any description which arises between us (except as set out below). We both also agree that any dispute, claim or other matter of any description (and whether or not involving any personal injury) which arises between us must be dealt with by the Courts of the Republic of South Africa only. None of our employees have the authority to vary or omit any of these terms. No promise of a discount or refund will be binding on us unless confirmed by us in writing.

TO SECURE YOUR BOOKING

(Please refer to Clause 3 “Late Bookings”)

To secure a booking, you must make payment to us, or our authorised travel agent, in full payment if the booking is made within 7 days of the start of your tour or at such earlier stage as is advised to you at the time of booking). When a booking is make more than 7 days prior to the start of your tour a deposit of 50% of the total cost of the tour is require to secure the booking.

When you submit your booking request, we will treat this as a ‘not-guaranteed’ booking, at this point the booking is only provisional and is not confirmed. Your booking is accepted and becomes definite only from the date when we send you an e-mail to confirm that your ‘on request’ booking has been confirmed. It is at this point that a contract between you and us comes into existence.

For bookings made via our website, any acknowledgement of your booking request we send to you in the meantime is not a confirmation of your booking.

Before your booking is confirmed and a contract comes into force, we reserve the right to increase or decrease tour prices. Please see “Tour Prices” section.

We (and our agents) reserve the right to decline any booking at our absolute discretion.

If you book via our website, we will communicate with you by e-mail. You must accordingly check your e-mails on a regular basis. We may also contact you by telephone if we cannot, for whatever reason, contact you by e-mail. You should contact us by e-mail if you need to do so for any of the reasons mentioned in these booking conditions (for example, to request an amendment). All e-mails should be sent to bookings@wildroutes.org

PAYMENT FOR YOUR TOUR

The balance of all monies due, including any surcharges applicable at that time, must be received by us (or our authorised travel agent) no later than 7 days before the start of your tour. For certain tours, full payment must be received at an earlier stage before the start of your tour. You will be advised at the time of booking when this is the case.

If we do not receive this balance in full and on time, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled by you in which case the cancellation charges set out in clause 9 below will become payable.

You can pay the deposit and full amount by credit or debit card. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Maestro/Solo Amex. Other payment methods may be available on our booking page. There is a 3.5% transaction fee for all credit card payments.

ACCURACY

We endeavour to ensure that all the information and prices both on our website and in any advertising material that we publish are accurate, however occasionally changes and errors occur and we reserve the right to correct prices and other details in such circumstances. You must check the current price and all other details relating to the arrangements that you wish to book before you make your booking.

PRICING

We reserve the right to amend the price of tours at any time and correct errors in the prices of confirmed tours. Should the price of your tour go down due to the changes mentioned above, then any refund due will be paid to you less an administrative fee of 250 ZAR. There will be no change made to the price of your confirmed holiday within 7 days of your departure nor will refunds be paid during this period.

CUTTING YOUR HOLIDAY SHORT

If you are forced to return home early, we cannot refund the cost of any travel arrangements you have not used. If you cut short your tour and return home early in circumstances where you have no reasonable cause for complaint about the standard of accommodation and services provided, we will not offer you any refund for that part of your tour not completed, or be liable for any associated costs you may incur. Depending on the circumstances, your travel insurance may offer cover for curtailment and we suggest that any claim is made directly with them.

IF YOU CANCEL YOUR BOOKING BEFORE DEPARTURE

If you or any other member of your party decides to cancel your confirmed booking you must notify us in writing. Your notice of cancellation will only take effect when it is received in writing by us at our offices and will be effective from the date on which we receive it.

Since we incur costs in cancelling your arrangements, you will have to pay the cancellation charges as follows. The cancellation charges are calculated from the day written notification is received by us and as a percentage of the total tour price per person cancelling, excluding any amendment charges and insurance premiums. The cancellation charges shown below are those which will apply to most tours. However, some suppliers have conditions which require the payment of higher or different charges (including the imposition of 100% cancellation charges well in advance of the normal balance due date) which you will have to pay in the event of cancellation. You will be advised at the time of booking if this is the case for your tour.

a) 7+ days before tour start date – 0% of the tour cost

b) 2 to 7 days before tour start date – 50% of tour cost

c) 0 to 2 days before tour start date – 100% of tour cost

Please note that the above does not apply to bookings that are transferred to a future departure date, in which case the original tour start date (before transfer) will be used to calculate any incurred charges.

Cancellation by You due to Unavoidable & Extraordinary Circumstances:

You have the right to cancel your confirmed tour before departure without paying a cancellation charge in the event of “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” occurring at your tour destination or its immediate vicinity and significantly affecting the performance of the tour or significantly affecting the transport arrangements to the destination. In these circumstances, we shall provide you with a full refund of the monies you have paid but we will not be liable to pay you any additional compensation. Please note that your right to cancel in these circumstances will only apply where either the South African Government or your country of residence advises against travel to your destination or its immediate vicinity.

For the purposes of this clause, “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” means warfare, acts of terrorism, significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease at the travel destination or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or weather conditions which make it impossible to travel safely to the travel destination.

IF WE CHANGE OR CANCEL YOUR TOUR

Changes: If we make an insignificant change to your tour, we will make reasonable efforts to inform you or your travel agent as soon as reasonably possible if there is time before your departure but we will have no liability to you.

Occasionally we may have to make a significant change to your confirmed arrangements. Examples of “significant changes” include the following, when made before departure:

(a) A change of accommodation area for the whole or a significant part of your tour.

(b) A change of accommodation to that of a lower standard or classification for the whole or a significant part of your time away.

(d) A significant change to your itinerary, missing out one or more activities.

Cancellation: We will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 7 days before your departure date, except for reasons of force majeure or failure by you to pay the final balance. We may cancel your tour before this date if, e.g., the minimum number of travellers required for a tour is not reached.

If we have to make a significant change or cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible and if there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of:

(i) (for significant changes) accepting the changed arrangements; or

(ii) having a refund of all monies paid; or

(iii) accepting an offer of alternative travel arrangements of a comparable or higher standard from us, if available (at no extra cost); or

(IV) if available, accepting an offer of alternative arrangements of a lower standard, with a refund of the price difference between the original arrangements and the alternative arrangements.

You must notify us of your choice within 2 days of our offer. If we do not hear from you within 2 days, we will contact you again to request notification of your choice. If you fail to respond again, we will assume that you have chosen to accept the change or alternative booking arrangements.

CANCELLATION FEES

7+ days + = 0%
2 to 7 days = 50%
Less than 2 days = 100%

*IMPORTANT NOTE: We will not pay you compensation in the following circumstances:

(a) where we make an insignificant change;

(b) where we make a significant change and you accept those changed arrangements or you accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements;

(c) where we have to cancel your arrangements as a result of your failure to make full payment on time;

(d) where the change or cancellation by us arises out of alterations to the confirmed booking requested by you;

(e) where we are forced to cancel or change your arrangements due to Force Majeure (see clause 11).

FORCE MAJEURE

Except where otherwise expressly stated in these conditions, we regret we cannot accept liability, refund or pay compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our obligations under our contract with you is prevented or affected by or you otherwise suffer any injury, damage, loss or expense of any nature as a result of “Force Majeure”. For the purposes of these Booking Conditions, Force Majeure means any event beyond our or our supplier’s control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Examples include warfare and acts of terrorism (and threat thereof), civil strife, significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease at the travel destination or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or weather conditions which make it impossible to travel safely to the travel destination or remain at the travel destination,, the act of any government or other national or local authority including port or river authorities, industrial dispute, labour strikes, natural or nuclear disaster, disease, fire, unavoidable technical problems with transport and all similar events outside our or the supplier(s) concerned’s control.

IF YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT

We make every effort to ensure that your tour arrangements run smoothly but if you do have a problem during your tour, please inform our Tour Guide immediately who will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please contact us via email info@wildroutesafrica.com or by telephone +27 (0)66 488 1161.

If the problem cannot be resolved and you wish to complain further, you must send formal written notice of your complaint to us at our office within 28 days of the end of your tour, giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. Please keep your letter concise and to the point. This will assist us to quickly identify your concerns and speed up our response to you.

Please note: Failure to follow the procedure set out in this clause may affect ours and the applicable supplier’s ability to investigate your complaint, and will affect your rights under this contract.

PASSPORTS, VISAS AND VACCINATIONS

It is your responsibility to check and fulfil the passport, visa, health and immigration requirements applicable to your tour. We can only provide general information about this. You must check requirements for your own specific circumstances with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates and your own doctor as applicable. Requirements do change and you must check the up to date position in good time before departure.

Most countries now require passports to be valid for at least 6 months after your return date. If your passport is in its final year, you should check with the Embassy of the country you are visiting.

We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel, or incur any other loss because you have not complied with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities. You agree to reimburse us in relation to any fines or other losses which we incur as a result of your failure to comply with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities.

INSOLVENCY PROTECTION

Non-Flight Packages:

Wild Routes Africa (Pty) Ltd is a company committed to customer satisfaction and consumer financial protection. We are therefore pleased to announce that, all travellers booking with Wild Routes Africa are fully protected through “SATSA Bonding” for the initial deposit. If you book arrangements other than a tour from us, your monies will not be financially protected. Please ask us for further details.

TOUR PARTICIPATION AND CLIENT RESPONSIBILITY

You must provide any information we ask for in good time and are responsible for providing accurate information to us. It is important that you complete all information we request accurately and on time as we cannot be held responsible for any problems or additional costs that may arise from any inaccurate or incomplete information that you may provide.

You agree to accept the authority and decisions of our employees, tour leaders, agents and guides whilst taking part in your tour. If in the opinion of any such person(s) or any other person in a position of authority (such as, for example, the tour leader, customer happiness hero, an airline pilot or hotel manager), your health, level of fitness or conduct at any time before or during a tour is endangering or appears likely to endanger the health or wellbeing of yourself or any third party (including any other clients of ours) or the safe, comfortable or happy progress of the tour, you may be excluded from all or part of the tour without refund or recompense, this will also be the case where it is discovered that you have committed a criminal act (such as causing damage).

If you are excluded, we will have no further responsibility towards you (including any return travel arrangements) and we will not meet any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the exclusion nor refund you for any unused services.

When you book with us, you accept responsibility for any damage or loss caused by you or any member of your party. Full payment for any such damage or loss (reasonably estimated if not precisely known) must be made direct to the accommodation owner or manager or other supplier or to us as soon as possible. You should ensure you have appropriate travel insurance to protect you if this situation arises.

Any clients who have taken part in racist / offensive / abusive or any other form of discriminatory behaviour to any of our clients or to any third party will be excluded from the tour and will receive no refund for any missed services or accommodation.

HEALTH, DISABILITIES AND MEDICAL CONDITION

We are not a specialist disabled tour company, but we will do our utmost to cater for any special requirements you may have. If you have any medical condition or disability which may affect your active participation in your tour or the tour arrangements of any other person or have any special requirements as a result of any medical condition or disability (including any which affect the booking process), please tell us before you confirm your booking so that we can assist you in considering the suitability of the proposed tour and/or making the booking. In any event, you must give us full details at the time of booking and also update us if/when any change in your condition or disability occurs.

You must also promptly advise us if any medical condition or disability which may affect your active participation in your tour or the tour arrangements of any other person develops after your booking has been confirmed.

We may require you to produce a doctor’s certificate certifying that you are fit to participate in your chosen tour. Acting reasonably, if we are unable to properly accommodate the needs of the person(s) concerned, we will not confirm your booking or if you did not give us full details at the time of booking, we will cancel it and impose applicable cancellation charges when we become aware of these details.

OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR TOUR

Please Note: Bookings are accepted on the understanding that clients appreciate and accept the possible risks inherent in adventure travel and that they undertake the activities featured in our tour at their own volition.

Notwithstanding the above, we will accept responsibility for the arrangements we agree to provide or arrange for you as an “organiser”, we are responsible for the proper provision of all travel services included in your package, as set out in your confirmation invoice. Subject to these Booking Conditions, if we or our suppliers negligently perform or arrange those services and we don’t remedy or resolve your complaint within a reasonable period of time, and this has affected the enjoyment of your tour you may be entitled to an appropriate price reduction or compensation or both. You must inform us without undue delay of any failure to perform or improper performance of the travel services included in this package. The level of any such price reduction or compensation will be calculated taking into consideration all relevant factors such as but not limited to: following the complaints procedure as described in these Booking Conditions and the extent to which ours or our employees’ or suppliers’ negligence affected the overall enjoyment of your holiday. Please note that it is your responsibility to show that we or our supplier(s) have been negligent if you wish to make a claim against us.

We will not be responsible or pay you compensation for any injury, illness, death, loss, damage, expense, cost or other claim of any description if it results from:

(a) the acts and/or omissions of the person affected; or

(b) the acts and/or omissions of a third party unconnected with the provision of the services contracted for and which were unavoidable and extraordinary; or

(c) Force Majeure (as defined in clause 11).

PROMPT ASSISTANCE

If, whilst you are taking part in your tour, you find yourself in difficulty for any reason, we will offer you such prompt assistance as is appropriate in the circumstances. In particular, we will provide you with appropriate information on health services, local authorities and consular assistance, and assistance with distance communications and finding alternative travel arrangements.

Where you require assistance which is not owing to any failure by us, our employees or sub-contractors we will not be liable for the costs of any alternative travel arrangements or other such assistance you require. Any supplier, airline or other transport supplier may however pay for or provide refreshments and/or appropriate accommodation and you should make a claim directly to them.

Subject to the other terms of these Booking Conditions, we will not be liable for any costs, fees or charges you incur in the above circumstances, if you fail to obtain our prior authorisation before making your own travel arrangements. Furthermore, we reserve the right to charge you a fee for our assistance in the event that the difficulty is caused intentionally by you or a member of your party, or otherwise through your or your party’s negligence.