Booking Terms and Conditions
SERRA DOS TUCANOS BIRDING TOURS LIMTED BOOKING TERMS AND CONDITIONS
YOUR BOOKING WITH US:
“we”, “us” and “our” are Serra dos Tucanos Birding Tours Limited, our registered office is at Kenton, Norman Road, Whitstable, Kent, CT54JY, UK. Our company registration number is: Companies House Reg.No.09509195
“you”, “your” and “tour participant/s” refer to each person named on the booking form. This includes individuals added or substituted at a later date.
Our contract with you begins once we receive your signed booking form together with your non- refundable deposit (as specified at the time of booking) for your specified tour. Once we have received your booking form, you will receive a receipt and confirmation from us of acceptance on the specified tour. Signing our booking form means that you accept our terms and conditions. All contracts and matters arising from them are subject to English law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts. We reserve the absolute right to decline any bookings for any legal reasons whatsoever, at our sole discretion.
Payments
Payment for the balance of the full tour cost is due 10 weeks before the departure date. No further reminder will be sent and if payment is not received by the due date, we reserve the right to treat the booking as cancelled and retain the deposit you have paid. You are therefore strongly recommended to take out travel insurance at an early stage to cover you in event of cancellation. Payments for late bookings less than 10 weeks prior to the tour must be paid in full at the time of booking.
Refunds
Deposits are non-refundable. Once the final payment for your tour has been paid in full there will be no refunds offered for cancellation of your trip with us. You are therefore strongly recommended to take out travel insurance at an early stage to cover you in event of cancellation.
Cancellation and alterations by us
We reserve the right to not operate a tour on which there are insufficient bookings 10 weeks prior to departure. Please do not book any flights until the tour has been confirmed by us with the minimum number of tour participants reached. We will refund any payments you have made to us in full should we have to cancel the tour for this reason.
We will do our very best to supply you with the holiday arrangements that we have confirmed with you. However, we must reserve the right to modify or cancel any tour if unforeseen circumstances cause us to do so, such as force majeure or a decision by a governmental authority. Such events are beyond our control. In such an event it is unlikely that we will be in a position to refund any payments that we have already paid to our suppliers in the country of the tour. In such cases, we will have no liability to you for any additional costs incurred by you and you will not be entitled to any compensation from us. Therefore, please ensure you have sufficient cover on your travel insurance for such incidents.
Cancellation and alterations by you
Your deposit is paid to us to reserve your place on the specified tour as per your completed booking form. Should you or any member of your booking cancel your reservation with us, you must do so in writing, this must be signed by the person who signed the original booking form. All cancellations are subject to a charge based on estimated loses. Any cancellations received more than 10 weeks before departure the deposit will be forfeited. Our tour prices are based on minimum group sizes, so for any cancellations (made after we have received your final payment), if replacement participants cannot be found we are unable to offer a refund. Please ensure that your travel insurance covers you for this.
Transfer of Bookings
Tour participants may request to transfer their booking to another person if they are prevented from proceeding with the tour due to sickness or accidents suffered by them or their close family or for other unavoidable reasons such as jury service. Any remaining balances or additional costs related to the transfer of your booking must be covered in full by the new tour participant/s.
Surcharges
Surcharges may occur unexpectedly. When calculating our tour prices in advance, we try to anticipate the rising costs of ground transportation and on the ground costs. Price changes may also occur because of fluctuating exchange rates. If unexpected cost rises do occur, we may have to increase the tour cost. If it is necessary to increase the tour cost, you will be notified not less than 10 weeks before the departure date with an explanation of the amount. Should it be necessary to increase the tour cost by more than 10%, participants may withdraw without penalty.
Included in the tour price
The tour price includes all transportation from the meeting point in the country of your chosen tour to the return departure point as specified in your itinerary. Accommodation and meals as specified in the itinerary of each individual tour and the services of the tour leader/s are also included.
Not included in the tour price
International or domestic flights, passport and visa costs, travel insurance, vaccinations and medication, excess baggage charges, laundry, telephone calls, drinks and food (unless specified in the tour details), tips and items of a purely personal nature.
Passport, Visa and Health Requirements
It is the sole responsibility of all participants to make sure they are in possession of a full passport, valid for at least six months beyond the end of the tour date. Participants must also obtain any necessary visas and vaccination certificates required for the tour. It is also the participant’s sole responsibility to seek medical advice regarding vaccinations and medication prior to departure of the tour. Any information that we may offer, written or verbally must be taken as a guide only as we are not medically qualified.
Our liability to you
Serra dos Tucanos Birding Tours will take all reasonable steps to ensure that all services provided are supplied as described in your itinerary. All of our tours by their nature involve an element of risk as they involve climbing in and out of vehicles and boats and walking on steep, muddy and uneven terrain. It is the participants responsibility to ensure that he/she is in a suitable physical condition to undertake the tour activities and we take no responsibility for any injuries sustained. Some tours visit remote places where you might be hours away from any medical facilities. Your booking is accepted on the understanding of this and that you come on the tour entirely at your own risk. We are not liable for any medical problems or physical difficulties, even if you have told us about them in advance.
We cannot be responsible for the actions or omissions of those involved in your holiday over whom we have no direct control, such as employees of hotels, transport providers, other members of your party or acts or omissions attributable to a third party not connected with the provision of your holiday and which were unforeseeable and unavoidable. We cannot assume responsibility for loss or expense due to war, riots, strikes, earthquakes, volcanic ash, terrorist activities, natural disasters or outbreaks of serious disease or any other such events that are beyond our control.
We are not liable to you for any event which happens prior to you boarding our transport at the meeting point or after you leave our transport at the end of the tour. This includes any problems you might experience reaching the meeting point on time, although we will of course do our best to assist you however possible in such a situation.
There is absolutely no guarantee that specific wildlife (birds, mammals etc) will be seen on any given tour. Certain uncontrolable events (fire, floods, landslides, storms etc) may prevent us from visiting specific areas, therefore we will accept no responsibility for this. Any species lists provided prior to the tour is purely an indication of what may be seen on the tour.
We reserve the right to change itineraries at short notice in the interests of safety and for the general wellbeing of clients, or more often to take advantage of local birding information. Where the holiday includes any pelagic trips, itineraries are subject to change due to weather and sea conditions and various other circumstances outside of our control. In these circumstances, the captain’s decision will be final and we cannot be held responsible for this.
Any changes in your itinerary will be kept to a minimum and applied to improve your holiday experience.
We cannot accept liability for physical injury, loss, damage or expense resulting from any event whatsoever beyond our control. Travel insurance is therefore absolutely essential.
Insurance
When booking a tour with us, you must take out appropriate travel insurance, proof of this must be supplied to us when paying the final balance of your tour. We are not responsible should the insurance you have purchased be inadequate. The insurance must provide for emergency medical expenses and must have a 24 hour emergency telephone number. Your insurance must provide cover against costs arising from cancellation by you, force majeure and repatriation from the country you are visiting, please note that some of these locations could be remote and in order to protect yourself against potentially costly overseas medical expenses, travel insurance is absolutely essential. Travel insurance rarely provides sufficient cover for expensive optical equipment, so, you should therefore add these items to your home insurance policy.
Please note that local passenger liability insurance in some of the countries we visit may be inadequate, so please ensure that your insurance policy covers you and your dependants in the event of a road accident in which you are a passenger.
Accommodation
Accommodation will be in good standard hotels/lodges/guesthouses with private facilities. Single rooms are usually available by paying a single person supplement, as specified on the tour itinerary. If you are travelling singly and wish to share a room, this can be possible on the understanding that if a same sex roommate cannot be matched, then you will be required to accept a single room and pay the specified supplement for this.
Please note that some accommodations in less developed countries may not have the level of facilities that you might expect and the food may not be quite as varied. On rare occasions the accommodation that has been reserved for the tour may not be available and in these circumstances the leader will endeavour to obtain alternative accommodation of a similar standard. We reserve the right to change accommodation to that stated on our itineraries, we will advise you of such changes as soon as we know.
Tour protocol
Whilst on our tours, we expect all participants to be considerate to other tour members, leaders and local staff. Any behaviour detrimental to the safety and welfare of the group of any kind will not be tolerated and the leader has the right to dismiss you from the holiday without any right to a refund. A person dismissed in this way will have no cause for complaint and will be responsible for any additional expenses of his/her return home. We operate a no smoking policy on all of our tour vehicles, in any shared accommodation or close to other group members. If you have any health issues or dietary restrictions, we expect to be advised of these at the time of booking. All baggage and personal belongings remain the responsibility of the tour participant at all times.
Due to the nature of our tours, we are required to spend long days out in the field and although most tours do not involve walking long distances, on some occasions this will be required, as highlighted in the itinerary.
We expect all tour participants to respect the birds and other wildlife we encounter and to follow instructions from your leader at all times.
Group Size
The minimum and maximum group sizes will be specified on each itinerary. If the tour does not reach the required minimum number to run, participants booked on the tour will be asked if they are willing to pay a small group supplement to enable the tour to go ahead. If you do not wish to do this, then a full refund will be given.
We reserve the right to exceed the maximum group size by one person in cases where there is only one place left on the tour and a couple wish to book.
A suitable maximum group size to enjoy the tour will depend upon the location. We reserve the right to change the leader or local guide from the advertised itinerary.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
All of our tours are operated following guidance from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. None of our tours will be operated against Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice and no refunds of deposits or final payments will be made if participants choose not travel when the Foreign and Commonwealth Office do not advise against travelling.
Data Protection Act
We keep your records on our computer database. We may need to share your personal data with trusted third parties overseas, this enables us and our ground agents to provide you with the goods and services required to operate the tour. By booking with us you are giving your consent for us to do this. If you would like us amend or delete your records, please advise us.
Complaints
In the unlikely event of a complaint during your tour, please speak to your tour leader immediately so that he/she can rectify the problem. Most problems can usually be resolved during the tour, so do please raise any issues with your tour leader at the time. If you are not completely satisfied or the problem cannot be resolved locally, please contact us in writing immediately upon your return home within 28 days. Failure to report any issues to your tour leader or us during your tour would have deprived us of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your problem, this may affect your rights under this booking.