Please read the following carefully before booking
All activities, safaris, tours and extensions will hereafter be referred to as tours. All our sub-contractors, agents or suppliers or their servants and/or agents will hereafter be referred to as suppliers. All bookings are made with Nature Travels Limited (registered number 5636754), which is a special-interest travel venture (hereafter called the company or we).
All the information provided on the website is, to the best of our knowledge or belief, correct at the time of publication. We will advise you of any changes that are fundamental to the contract or which we believe will affect the enjoyment of the holiday.
Updated: 22/09/2020
- 1. BOOKING
- You must complete and sign a booking form and send this to us with a deposit of 10% or £100*, whichever is greater, towards the basic cost of the holiday. Once the booking has been confirmed, the deposit will not be refunded under any circumstances, unless we have to cancel the holiday due to low numbers of clients or other unforeseen circumstances.
- *If the price of your experience is less than £100, full payment is required when booking.
- In the case of booking made less than 60 days before the holiday begins we require payment in full. You must be at least 18 years old to make a booking. A contract is made when we accept your booking and send you a written confirmation and invoice. If we cannot accept the booking, any money will be promptly refunded. We reserve the right to decline any booking.
- 2. PAYMENT
- We hold your deposit towards the full cost of the holiday. The balance must be received by us no later than 60 days prior to the start of the holiday. Late bookings can sometimes be accepted within this time and your invoice will state when the balance is payable. Should the balance fail to reach us by the date specified on your invoice, we reserve the right to cancel your booking without refund.
- Prices are published in British Pounds. Payment in other currencies may be possible on request. Currency for all payments related to a booking is fixed at time of booking and any subsequent payments must be made in the same currency.
- 3. SURCHARGES
- Prices published on this website are based on current exchange rates and costs. These prices may, however, be subject to changes and surcharges as a result of increased costs caused by government action, changes in currency and exchange rates.
- We reserve the right to notify you of any increase in the website or advertised price before accepting your booking, once you have booked, but not less than 60 days before the beginning of the tour. If surcharges become necessary before that, we will absorb an amount up to the first 2% of any surcharges that apply.
- 4. ALTERATIONS BY YOU
- If you wish to make any alterations to your holiday, we will make every effort to accommodate these, but cannot guarantee this is possible. If alterations you request are possible, these will of course be subject to any amendment or other charges imposed by any relevant supplier, and a discretionary sum of £50 to cover our administrative costs. Requests for amendments must be made in writing by the booking contact person.
- 5. CANCELLATION BY YOU
- Any cancellation by you must be made in writing (letter or email). The date on the letter/email received by us will determine the cancellation charges applicable. The cancellation charges are expressed as a percentage of the total tour price. These charges are as follows:
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- More than 60 days before commencement of the tour: loss of deposit (10% of the total cost or £100, whichever is the greater).
- Between 60 and 36 days before commencement of the tour: 50% of total cost.
- Less than 36 days before commencement of the tour: 100% of total cost.
- Partial Cancellation: A partial cancellation of certain services or in regards to individuals is possible. In these cases, cancellation charges are due on the cancelled part of the total tour price (minimum charge £10). Cancellation charges are determined on the basis of the cancelled portion of the booking and time of cancellation as specified above.
- Card surcharges and optional donations are not refundable. If your cancellation falls within the provision of your travel insurance policy, you may be able to make a claim. When a cancellation is made, a letter will be issued confirming the cancellation and detailing payment received to date and cancellation penalty applicable. If your cancellation falls within the provision of your travel insurance policy, you may be able to make a claim.
- See here for information on our policy regarding cancellation or delays due to volcanic ash cloud.
- 6. OWN ARRANGEMENT
- We cannot be held liable or responsible for any elements of your holiday which are considered "own arrangement" and that are not included in our package. We recommend that sufficient insurance is therefore obtained.
- All information and advice given by us on travel arrangements, tourist attractions etc. is given in good faith. We do our best to ensure that information provided is accurate, but you must check independently that the suggestions provided are appropriate for your needs before booking any travel arrangements.
- 7. ALTERATIONS BY US
- It is unlikely we will have to make changes to your holiday, but we do plan the arrangements many months in advance. Occasionally changes may be made, which we reserve the right to do at any time. Most of these changes are minor and we will advise you at the earliest possible date, but we are not obliged to do so or to pay you compensation. A minor change is any change apart from a major change as defined below.
- 8. CANCELLATION BY US
- When a change is a major change, we will advise you as soon as possible. You will then have the choice of accepting the change, taking an alternative holiday (and where this is of a lower price we will refund the difference), or withdrawing from the contract and accepting a full refund of all monies paid. Major changes are cancellation due to underbooking or force majeure.
- Underbooking is the situation in which the minimum number of bookings required to run tours is not met, and if we have to cancel a tour for this reason, we will do so not less than 30 days prior to the tour beginning.
- Force majeure is unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequence of which neither we nor our suppliers could avoid, even with the exercise of all due care, examples of which are war or threat of war, riots, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions, level of water in rivers or similar events beyond our control.
- In the unlikely event that we become unable to provide a significant proportion of the services you have booked, we will, if possible, make alternative arrangement for you at no extra charge.
- 9. HEALTH, PASSPORTS, (VISA) AND DOCUMENTS
- All clients must be fit to travel at the time of booking and expect to still be so at the time of travel.
- Many, but not all, of our holidays may not be suitable for people with certain disabilities and medical conditions. Please ask us if in any doubt. In any case, if any client suffers from any disability or medical condition which may affect the running of or their participation in the holiday, they must provide us with full details before payment is made. We reserve the right to cancel a booking and impose the appropriate cancellation charges if such details are not provided. We further reserve the right to decline any booking whenever we feel unable to accommodate the particular needs of a particular client on that trip.
- It is the responsibility of each passenger to ensure that they have a valid passport and any applicable visas and vaccinations at the time of travel. Nature Travels accepts no responsibility if customers are unable to travel due to inappropriate documentation. Advice for UK passport holders* can be found at https://travelaware.campaign.gov.uk. *NB: Following Britain's exit from the EU, there are changes regarding entry requirements for UK citizens, particularly with respect to required passport validity period and possible visa requirements. UK travellers must have at least three months of passport validity left to travel to most countries in Europe. For UK travellers, see https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice for your chosen destination country under "Entry Requirements" for details. Please obtain latest information before travelling and make appropriate preparations well in advance.
- You and all members of your party may be required by your carrier to provide information by authorities, border control and security agencies. This is known as Advanced Passenger Information or APIS. You must ensure that you and your party comply with APIS or you may not be able to travel.
- You must be in possession of valid medical certificates required for the whole of the journey and the client accepts responsibility for obtaining the same.
- All information and advice given by us on visas, vaccinations, climate, clothing baggage, special equipment etc. is given in good faith.
- 10. HOLIDAY PARTICIPATION
- It is a condition of participating in one of our holidays that you agree to accept the authority of any decisions of our employees, local guides and tour leaders whilst on holiday with us. If in the opinion of such person your health or conduct at any time, before or after departure, appears likely to endanger the safe, comfortable or happy progress of a holiday, you may be excluded from all or part of the tour, and any additional costs incurred by you as a result of such exclusion will be your responsibility. Any person excluded from a tour shall have no cause for complaint or refund. In the case of ill health we may make such arrangement as we see fit and recover any resulting cost from you.
- You acknowledge that the nature of travel is adventurous and that as such tours may involve a significant amount of personal risk. These include, injury, disease, loss or damage to property, inconvenience and discomfort.
- You must at all times strictly comply with the laws, customs, foreign exchange and drug regulations of the country visited. Should you fail to do so then you may be ordered to leave the tour without recourse to any refund and without any legal claims against the company.
- 11. TOURS, GUIDES AND WILDLIFE
- Nature Travels is not an ordinary travel operator. The types of travel we offer requires flexibility and must allow for alternatives. The outline itinerary as given for each tour must therefore be taken as an indication of what each trip may accomplish, not as a contractual obligation on the part of the company. The final decision on the itinerary and conduct of any tour will be taken by the local guide in the interest of the group and/or clients as a whole. It is understood that the route schedules, itineraries, amenities and mode of transport may be subject to alteration without prior notice due to local circumstances or events.
- It is not possible for us to guarantee sightings of wildlife.
- We strongly condemn the collecting of any specimen from the natural world. Our holidays provide the opportunity to photograph wildlife only; not to disturb it! All our local hosts and guides have the right to dismiss any member of a group who insists on collecting plant, insect or other living material.
- 12. OUR RESPONSIBILITY
- We accept liability for the proper performance of the holiday sold to you. We have taken reasonable care to ensure that our suppliers are reputable, safe and efficient businesses. We will monitor and control the performance of our suppliers and judge their performance against the standards and customs of the country in which the experience takes place. If our suppliers are able to exclude or limit liability by virtue of any international convention we claim the benefit of that exclusion or limitation.
- We cannot accept liability in the following circumstances:
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- if the failure or improper performance is your fault or the fault of any member of your party.
- if the failure is the fault of someone else connected with the provision of events, travel or itinerary which you or third parties unconnected with us have arranged.
- liability arising out of use of our services for special projects or research whether in connection with study, employment or otherwise.
- liability for any loss or damage that has special financial consequences.
- any unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
- Please note that in any event that any compensation is payable by us to you such compensation will not exceed twice the cost of your booking.
- Nothing in this agreement shall exclude or limit in any way our liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents, contractors or suppliers.
- It is a condition of our acceptance of liability as described in section 12 above that you follow the procedures for the notification of complaints set out in section 16 below.
- 13. CONSUMER PROTECTION
- We carry full liability insurance and consumer protection provided through The Travel and General Group.
- The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT) provides financial protection under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 for Nature Travels Limited, membership number 5289, and in the event of their insolvency, protection is provided for the following:
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- non-flight packages
- ABTOT cover provides for a refund in the event you have not yet travelled or repatriation if transportation was included in your package. Please note that bookings made outside the UK are only protected by ABTOT when purchased directly with Nature Travels Ltd.
- In the unlikely event that you require assistance whilst abroad due to our financial failure, please call our 24/7 helpline on +44(0)1702 811397 and advise you are a customer of an ABTOT protected travel company.
- You can access the The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 here.
- 14. INSURANCE
- Good travel insurance is essential before departing on any overseas trip. In common with most other operators, it is a condition of booking with us that you obtain adequate and valid travel insurance. The cost of medical and other treatment overseas can be high and we will not be able to assist in meeting those costs. When obtaining travel insurance, you must ensure that the insurer is aware of the type of travel to be undertaken and that your cover is appropriate for the experience(s)/activity(ies) you are booking. We do not check insurance policies and cannot be liable for any expenses incurred as a result of your not having adequate, appropriate or valid insurance cover. It is the responsibility of the person(s) travelling to ensure that adequate personal travel insurance is in place with protection for the full duration of the trip in respect of at least medical expenses, injury, death and repatriation, including medical emergency repatriation, evacuation and rescue. We also strongly recommend that you carry cancellation/curtailment insurance. Cover must be in place at the latest by the start date of your experience. We strongly recommend that you arrange cover at time of booking. All personal belongings are at all times at your own risk.
- 15. DATA PROTECTION
- We store and use the personal data supplied by you as part of your booking form for the purposes of fulfilling the contract between us. By completing the booking form you agree that the company pass your contact details and numbers to any third party connected with the operation of the specific holiday on which you have booked. This information will not be used for any other purpose, nor will be passed to any other parties.
- Please see our Privacy Policy for more information.
- 16. DEALING WITH COMPLAINTS
- If you have any problem during your holiday, please inform your local host immediately, who will endeavour to put things right quickly. If your complaint cannot be resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home in writing to our tours manager at Nature Travels Ltd, 11 Normanday Way, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 2PP, United Kingdom giving your original booking reference and all relevant information. It is unlikely that you will have a complaint that cannot be settled amicably.
- If, despite our best efforts and having followed the above procedure for reporting and resolving your complaint, you feel that it has not been satisfactorily settled, we recommend that it is referred for arbitration under the ABTOT Travel Industry Arbitration Service. An Independent Arbitrator will review the documents relating to any complaint and deliver a binding decision to bring the matter to a close.
- Details of this scheme are available from The Travel Industry Arbitration Service, administered by Dispute Settlement Services Ltd, 9 Savill Road, Lindfield, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 2NY
- or from
- ABTOT, 117 Houndsditch, London EC3A 7BT.
- This scheme cannot however decide in cases where the sums claimed exceed £1,500 per person or £7,500 per booking form, or for claims which are solely or mainly in respect of physical injury or illness or the consequence thereof.
- 17. DISPUTE
- We will do our best to deal with the matter to your satisfaction, but in the unlikely event that you are still not satisfied, you may refer the matter to arbitration to bring it to a speedy and acceptable conclusion.
- 18. PHOTOGRAPHS, VIDEO & OTHER VISUAL MATERIAL
- We are always delighted to receive photos and videos from our guests from their experiences. By sending us your photos/videos or sharing these with us (for example using a file sharing service such as Dropbox or link to online photo album or video site such as Flickr or Youtube), you give Nature Travels an irrevocable licence to use the images/videos ourselves in digital, print or other media, including but not limited to our website and social media, for marketing/advertising purposes and when providing visual material to press wishing to feature our experiences. Images/videos may be edited, cropped or otherwise altered. When used by ourselves, we will always endeavour to credit the image or video with your name (unless you have requested otherwise). When providing images/videos to third parties such as press, we will include information on how these should be credited and request that this information is used when the images/videos are published.
- 19. FORCE MAJEURE
- Except where otherwise expressly stated in these Booking Conditions we will not be liable or pay you compensation if our contractual obligations to you are affected by "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, lock closure, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, chemical or biological disaster, unavoidable technical problems with transport and all similar events outside our or the supplier(s) concerned's control.
- Brexit Implications: please note that certain travel arrangements may be affected as a result of the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union. This could include an unavailability of certain flight routes, access to certain ports and airports and changes to the visa requirements of British citizens travelling to, within or through the EU. Please rest assured that this is something we will continue to monitor and will advise our customers as soon as possible if we become aware of any confirmed bookings that will be affected. However, since this is something which is completely unprecedented and outside our control, we would treat any such changes as Force Majeure, and whilst we will endeavour to provide suitable alternative arrangements or refunds where possible, we will not be liable to pay you any compensation.
- 20. COVID-19: LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
- We both acknowledge the ongoing COVID-19 global crisis and accept our obligations to comply with any official guidance from governments or local authorities, both in the UK and whilst on holiday.
- Please note that we will have no liability for any refunds, compensation, costs, expenses or other losses of any kind incurred by you (including, where applicable, the cost of medical treatment), in the following circumstances:
- - If you, or anyone in your booking party, test positive for COVID-19 and have to quarantine for a period of time, or are notified or otherwise become aware that you have, or suspect you may have, come into close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 (or where they otherwise suspect they may have COVID-19) and have to self-isolate for a period of time.
- If this happens within 14 days of your departure date, you must contact us as you may no longer be able to travel. We will offer you the following options where possible and subject to availability:
- - Postponing your holiday to a later date. We will notify you of any impact on the price the postponement may have (please note that you may have to pay full cancellation charges on some elements of your holiday, as well any increase in cost imposed by other suppliers);
- - If not everyone on the booking is affected, you will have the right to transfer your place on the holiday to another person nominated by you, subject always to the requirements of Section 5;
- - Cancelling your holiday, in which case we will impose our standard cancellation charges as at the date of cancellation by you. You may be able to claim these costs back from your travel insurance.
- If this happens whilst you are on your holiday, please notify us without delay and we will provide such reasonable assistance as we can in the circumstances. However, we will not be responsible for covering the cost of any curtailment of your holiday, missed transport arrangements, additional accommodation required, or other associated costs incurred by you. You must ensure you have travel insurance which covers these costs for you.
- - You fail any tests, checks or other measures imposed by a supplier, airline, port or airport, border control authority or other government body or local authority or fail to submit for testing or assessment when requested to do so, and as such you are denied entry to board the flight, entry to the destination, access to the services or you are otherwise unable to proceed with the holiday, or that portion of the holiday.
- You also acknowledge that the suppliers providing your holiday, including accommodation and excursion providers, will need to comply with national and/or local guidance and requirements relating to COVID-19, and have implemented certain measures as a result. This will likely include specific requirements regarding personal protective equipment, such as use of face-masks by staff (and you may be required to wear a face-mask as well), social distancing, maximum number restrictions on the use of certain facilities, designated alternative entrance and exit routes, mandatory hand sanitisation, limited entertainment options and limited food/drink availability. We do not expect these measures to have a significant impact on your enjoyment of the holiday and all measures will be taken with the purpose of securing your safety and those around you.
- 21. ADVICE FROM FOREIGN, COMMONWEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE (FCDO)
- You are responsible for making yourself aware of Foreign Office advice in regard to the safety of the countries and areas in which you will be travelling and to make your decisions accordingly. Advice from the Foreign Office to avoid or leave a particular country may constitute Force Majeure (see Section 19).
- 22. CHANGES TO THE BOOKING CONDITIONS
- No variation of these conditions may be made unless this is done in writing by a director of the company.
- 23. GOVERNING LAW
- By accepting the Terms & Conditions, the client enters into agreement with Nature Travels Ltd, registered number 5636754, address: 11 Normandy Way, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 2PP, phone number: 01929 503080. The company remains fully liable for the operation of the website, payments and complaints. This contract will be subject to the laws of England and Wales.