These terms apply to bookings made with Adorable Safaris East Africa. By paying a deposit, you confirm you have read and accepted them for everyone in your booking party.
1. Booking and Deposit
A booking is confirmed once we receive a signed itinerary and a deposit of 30% of the total trip cost. Where the trip includes gorilla or chimp permits, the full permit cost is payable at the time of booking, in addition to the deposit, since permits must be paid in full to be issued. Until the deposit and any required permit payment are received, a quoted itinerary and its lodge availability are not guaranteed, and space can be taken by another traveller.
2. Balance Payment
The remaining balance is due 60 days before your arrival date. For bookings made within 60 days of travel, full payment is required at the time of booking. We will send a reminder ahead of the due date, but the responsibility for paying on time sits with the traveller. If the balance is not received by the due date, we reserve the right to treat the booking as cancelled under the cancellation terms below and release any lodge or permit space held on your behalf.
3. Permits
Gorilla and chimp permits, once purchased on your behalf, are non-refundable and non-transferable under Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and Rwanda Development Board (RDB) rules. This applies even if your trip is cancelled or you are unable to travel, and it applies regardless of the reason. We buy permits only once a deposit and the permit cost are received, and we will confirm the exact trekking date and location once the permit is issued in your name.
4. Cancellation by the Traveller
Cancellations must be made in writing, and take effect from the date we receive them, not the date you decide to cancel. Charges are calculated as a percentage of the total trip cost, excluding any permits already paid, which are non-refundable in full as set out above:
- 60 or more days before arrival: deposit forfeited
- 59 to 30 days before arrival: 50% of the trip cost
- 29 to 15 days before arrival: 75% of the trip cost
- 14 days or less before arrival: 100% of the trip cost
5. Payment Methods and Card Fees
We accept bank transfer and card payment. A card processing fee of up to 5% applies to payments made by credit or debit card, reflecting the cost our payment processor charges us for international card transactions. Any bank charges levied on a transfer, by either bank, are the responsibility of the traveller, and payments should arrive with us net of such charges. Where a payment arrives short due to bank fees, we will ask you to cover the shortfall before we confirm the affected booking.
6. Price Changes
Prices are based on rates, park fees and exchange rates current at the time of quoting. We reserve the right to adjust a quoted price before final payment if government fees, fuel costs or exchange rates move significantly. Where this happens, we will notify you before applying the change, and where a change is substantial, we will discuss reasonable alternatives with you rather than simply adding it to your invoice. Once your balance is paid in full, the price for your confirmed itinerary is fixed.
7. Travel Insurance
Comprehensive travel insurance, including cover for medical evacuation, is mandatory for every traveller on our trips. We recommend arranging this as soon as your booking is confirmed, and we may ask to see proof of cover before departure. Zanzibar also requires proof of inbound travel insurance to enter the country, separate from any trip cover you arrange, and we will flag this on your itinerary if it applies to you.
8. Passports and Visas
Obtaining a valid passport, with the validity and blank pages required by each country you visit, and the correct visas for your itinerary, is the traveller’s responsibility. Most operators and embassies advise at least 6 months of passport validity remaining and two or more blank pages; we are glad to advise on the process and point you to the correct official portal for each country, but we are not liable for a missed departure caused by incomplete travel documents.
9. Health
Travellers are responsible for their own health preparations, including any vaccinations, a yellow fever certificate where required, and malaria prophylaxis, in consultation with a travel clinic or doctor. Please tell us in advance of any medical condition that might affect your trip, particularly ahead of gorilla or chimp trekking or high-altitude activity, so we can plan a route and pace that suits you. Rangers may decline to allow a visibly unwell traveller to trek, in the interest of the gorillas’ health as much as your own.
10. Itinerary Changes
We plan each itinerary carefully, but road conditions, weather, wildlife movement and park or lodge availability can require changes once a trip is underway. Where possible, we will discuss any significant change with you or your driver-guide before it happens; where circumstances make that impractical, we will act in your best interest and explain the change afterwards. We do not treat a like-for-like substitution, such as an equivalent lodge when one is fully booked, as grounds for a refund.
11. Force Majeure
We are not liable for a failure to perform any part of a booking caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including natural disaster, civil unrest, government action, epidemic, or the closure of a park, airport or border.
12. Liability
We take reasonable care in selecting the lodges, driver-guides and suppliers we work with, but we are not liable for injury, loss or damage caused by third-party suppliers, by wildlife, or by circumstances outside our control. Our liability, where it does arise, is limited to the amount paid for the affected portion of your trip.
13. Complaints
If something goes wrong during your trip, please raise it with your driver-guide or with us directly while you are still travelling, so we have the chance to fix it on the ground, which is almost always the fastest way to resolve it. Any complaint not resolved during the trip should be put in writing within 30 days of your return, with as much detail as you can give us, and we will investigate with the relevant supplier and respond.
14. Governing Law
These terms are governed by the laws of Uganda, and any dispute arising from a booking with us is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of Uganda.
Questions about any of this before you book? Ask us and a planner will explain how it applies to your itinerary.