Terms and Conditions

Terms and conditions

All trips are operated by Abakombe Tours Besides this, we do have the below terms and conditions.

Clients of Abakombe Tours receive a detailed itinerary describing the different places they will go and things they will see, so they know what to expect. The safari services agreed upon with the client will be provided, except in the event of unforeseen circumstances, such as road closures, bad weather, problems or security considerations. In such cases the itinerary may be changed, at the discretion of the company, client Abakombe Tours is informed and alternative arrangements for Abakombe Tours are made as circumstances permit. Abakombe Tours will make every reasonable effort to ensure the same quality and character of the itinerary.

The client of Abakombe Tours must accept that conditions in Tanzania are not the same as those in developed countries. In Tanzania, we are exposed to unannounced and sudden changes in government-regulated fees and taxes, such as national park fees and taxes. Abakombe Tours has the right to pass these local taxes/fees on to their customers.

Payment terms

After clients of Abakombe Tours confirmed their booking they receive an invoice with all details. In order to confirm our client Abakombe Tours’ reservation, we require a 30% deposit payment for the itinerary cost and a 100% upfront payment for an airline ticket. The balance of payment of 70% is due 65 days prior to the commencement date of your itinerary. Bookings made within 65 days prior to departure are subject to full prepayment at the time of confirming the reservation.

Methods of Payment

Payment Abakombe Tours can be made by bank wire/transfer and or credit card.

Cancellation policy

CANCELLATIONS AND REFUNDS

Cancellations must be sent in writing or by email to the office that confirmed the reservation. Cancellations shall only be effective from the date of receipt of cancellation by the booking office.

If a booking is cancelled the client is subject to a cancellation fee as follows:

For Kilimanjaro Treks

• 50 days and above before departure - No cancellation fees
• 8 to 14 days before departure - 10% of the total tour price will be charged as cancellation fees
• 0 to 7 days before departure - 50% of the total tour price will be charged as cancellation fees

For Safaris in Tanzania and/or Kenya

• 150 days and above before departure - No cancellation fees
• 100 to 149 days before departure - 10% of the total tour price will be charged as cancellation fees
• 50 to 90 days before departure - 20% of the total tour price will be charged as cancellation fees
• 0 to 44 days before departure - 30% of the total tour price will be charged as cancellation fees

For Safaris in Uganda

• 150 days and above before departure - Cancellation fees will be equal to the cost of Gorilla and Chimp Permits
• 90 to 149 days before departure - 10% of the total tour price will be charged as cancellation fees plus the cost for Gorilla and Chimp Permits
• 45 to 89 days before departure - 20% of the total tour price will be charged as cancellation fees plus the cost for Gorilla and Chimp Permits
• 0 to 44 days before departure - 30% of the total tour price will be charged as cancellation fees plus the cost for Gorilla and Chimp Permits
• In all cases, there is no refund for Gorilla Permits or Chimp Permits

Partial Cancellations

In case of partial cancellations, per person price for remaining clients may go up depending on the change in group size and other factors.

Website pricing

All prices published on AbakombeTours.com are per person, based on two/three persons (unless otherwise stated) and quoted in US dollars (US). The cost of obtaining a passport or visa, border taxes (if applicable), tips for guide, driver and hotel staff, insurance, additional excursions or personal expenses are not included in the itinerary cost. Discount rates for children or peak rates during the high/festive season are not included. All prices on the website should be used as a guideline only. Abakombe Tours cannot be held responsible for any changes or pricing errors. Abakombe Tours will specify all costs in their invoices. The quotations are valid for 2 weeks.

Travel document

You receive all travel documents (vouchers, e-ticket, luggage labels and flyers) two weeks before departure.

Insurances

It is a condition of booking, that the sole responsibility lies with the guest to ensure that they carry the correct comprehensive travel and medical insurance to cover themselves, as well as any dependent /travelling companions for the duration of their trip to Tanzania/East Africa. This insurance should include medical expenses and repatriation expenses. Optional insurances are cancellation or curtailment of the safari, emergency evacuation expenses (flying doctors), and damage/theft/loss of personal baggage, money and goods.

Passport and visas

It is upon the guest to ensure that passports and visas are valid for the countries visited. Most nationalities can get a tourist visa on arrival in Tanzania at the border/airport ($50 per person, US Citizens $100 per person). This tourist visa is valid for a period of three months. You can also get your visa in advance at the embassy in your home country. Check the visa rules before you go. Passports should have at least six months of validity after the final day of travel. Abakombe Tours cannot be held liable for any visas, etc. not held by the guest of Abakombe Tours, nor the cost of visas.

Check names 

Please check the names on the invoice carefully when you receive our invoice. In case we need to change a name, 3 or more days after you received our invoice, we are obligated to charge a fee of €90,-

Making a booking with Abakombe Tours is taken as acceptance by the customer of the above Terms and Conditions.

 

1. Contract:

Your contract is with Abakombe Tours (hereinafter called “Abakombe Tours”, “we” or “us”). We draw your attention to the following terms and conditions, which cover all brochures and correspondence and all bookings made with us. Any contract with Abakombe Tours is subject to these terms and conditions from which no person, other than a director of Abakombe Tours, has the authority to depart. Before making a booking with us you must ensure that you have read and understood these booking conditions (raising any queries you may have with us). By asking us to confirm your booking you are liable to be regarded as having had the opportunity to do so and to have actually done so before the contract between us comes into existence.

2. Booking Procedures

ABAKOMBE TOURS do not offer package holidays but will create a tailor-made holiday to suit your personal needs. A binding contract comes into existence between us when:

(a) we receive a deposit of 30% of the quoted price, or (b) when we receive full payment of the holiday when the booking is made less than 12 weeks before your departure date.

No contract will exist between the parties until such money has been received. We require full payment to be made for your holiday at least 12 weeks prior to the departure date. If full payment is not received 8 weeks prior to the departure date, we reserve the right to cancel your holiday and apply the cancellation charges set out in paragraph 5. Cancellation will be without penalty to us and we will have no further liability to you. If however, you have already provided us with your credit or debit card details whether this was to make a payment on account or not, and you do not specifically notify us in writing to the contrary prior to the date upon which any balance becomes payable by you, you agree that we may use such credit or debit card details to obtain payment of any balance due by you under this agreement. The lead booking name is liable for making full payment for all persons in the booking party and all those in the booking party agree to be bound by conditions (including anyone added or substituted at a later stage). It is the responsibility of the lead booking name responsible for making the booking to ensure all in their party are aware of and have read these terms and conditions. If you accept our quote in respect of your holiday you must make a payment of 30% of the total price of the quote within 14 days. A delay in acceptance of the quote may result in a variation of the holiday price. Where the proposed departure date is within 12 weeks of the quote being given we require full payment at the time of your written acceptance of the quote.

3. Medical conditions and disabilities

If you or any member of your party have any medical problem or disability which may affect your holiday, please tell us before you confirm your booking so that we can advise as to the suitability of the chosen arrangement. In any event, you must give us full details in writing at the time of booking. If we reasonably feel unable to accommodate the particular needs of the person concerned properly, we must reserve the right to decline the booking or, if full details are not given at the time of booking, cancel when we become aware of these details.

4. Documentation

Please carefully read your confirmation invoice, ticket and all other documentation we send you as soon as you receive them. Contact us immediately if any information appears to be incorrect as it may not be possible to make changes later. We regret we cannot accept any liability if we are not notified of any inaccuracy in any documentation within 14 days of our sending it out. You will be responsible for any cost and expenses involved in rectifying any inaccuracies except where we made the mistake.

5. Cancellation by you

Cancellation of a holiday must be made in writing and is effective from the date we receive the written notification. In all cases of cancellation, the deposit and any amendment charges will be forfeited. Please note that any cost of an international flight is 100% non-refundable. Cancellation charges are expressed at a percentage of your quoted price (excluding international flights as follows:-

Matters influencing a surcharge would include but are not limited to, increases in transportation costs e.g. fuel, scheduled airfares and any other airline surcharges, taxes or fees payable for services such as landing taxes, or embarkation or disembarkation fees at port or airport, or increases in park fees, reserve fees or concession fees. The price of your itinerary will be based on known cost at the date of issue of the itinerary. At any time before a full payment of your holiday has been made Abakombe Tours reserves the right to levy a surcharge where the cost of Abakombe Tours has changed since the date of issue of the itinerary. Abakombe Tours will absorb amounts up to 2% of the total holiday price and surcharge any amount greater than 2%. Should the surcharge exceed 10% of the total holiday price you are entitled to cancel the holiday and receive a full refund of all money paid. We reserve the right to make changes to and correct errors in advertised prices at any time before your holiday is confirmed. We will advise you of any errors of which we are aware and of the then applicable price at the time of booking.

7. Amendment by you

If you wish to change your itinerary after a deposit has been made we will do our utmost to make the changes required, provided that notification is received in writing. The change fee may be applied if obligatory depending on the plan you are looking for! We cannot make alterations to your itinerary within 12 weeks of departure and any such request will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and will be subject to the cancellation charges set out in paragraph 5.

8. Cancellation by Abakombe Tours

We reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your holiday for any reason at any time before full payment has been received. Whilst we always endeavour to avoid changes and flight cancellations, we must reserve the right to do so. In these circumstances, we will return to you all the money paid or offer an alternative holiday of a comparable standard under the agreement. In this event, we will pay compensation of $75 per person. We may cancel your confirmed holiday if you fail to comply with any requirement of these booking conditions entitling us to cancel.

We cannot accept liability or pay compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our contractual obligations is prevented or affected by, or you suffer any damage or loss as a result of force majeure. In these booking conditions force majeure means any event that we or the supplier of services in question could not even with all due care foresee or avoid. Such events are likely to include, but are not limited to, war, threat of war, civil strife, riot, civil disorder/unrest, industrial dispute, actual or threat of terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, breakout of an epidemic or pandemic disease, technical problems with transport, cancellation or amendment to any scheduled flight, closure or congestion of airport or port, adverse weather conditions and all similar event out our control. In circumstances amounting to force majeure, we will not refund any money to you although if we can recover any monies from our suppliers we will refund these to you.

9. Amendment by Abakombe Tours

It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to your holiday although we reserve the right to make changes at any time. Most of these changes are minor and we will advise you of these in writing at the earliest possible date. When a significant change is necessary such as the alteration of your outward or return flight by more than 12 hours or a significant change in the standard of accommodation, provided it does not arise from conditions amounting to force majeure or as a result of an amendment to a scheduled airline timetable, you will have the choice of accepting the new arrangement, taking another holiday with us or cancelling your holiday and receiving a full refund of all the money paid. Compensation will not be payable and no liability beyond offering the above-mentioned choices can be accepted where we are forced to make a change or cancel as a result of unusual or unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which we could not have avoided even with all due care. No compensation will be payable and the above-mentioned options will not be available if we cancel as a result of your failure to comply with any requirement of these booking conditions entitling us to cancel, or if the change is a minor one. A minor change is a change which, taking into account the information you give us at the time of booking or which we can reasonably be expected to know as a tour operator, we would not reasonably expect to have a significant effect on your confirmed holiday. No compensation is payable to children aged 2 and under. Please note we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss, expense or other sums of any description, which:

(a) on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you, or (b) did not result from any breach of contract or any other fault by ourselves or our employees, or where we are responsible for them our suppliers. Additionally, we cannot accept liability for any sums which relate to any business losses.

10. Our responsibilities

Abakombe Tours' is responsible for ensuring your holiday is supplied as described prior to your departure and that services provided will reach a reasonable local standard, however, we draw your attention to paragraph 12. Please note we cannot accept responsibility for any services which do not form part of our contract. This includes for example any additional services or facilities, which your hotel or other supplier agrees to provide for you where the services or facilities are not advertised in our brochure and we have not agreed to arrange them.

The information contained in our brochure and website is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time.

Our brochure descriptions and other information provided or made available in a resort often refers to “other activities and excursions”, which are available in the resort. These activities and excursions are not run nor controlled in any way by Abakombe Tours. They do not form any part of your contract with Abakombe Tours, even where we suggest or recommend particular operators/centres/trips and assist you in booking such activities or excursions in any way. Accordingly, we regret that Abakombe Tours cannot accept any liability in relation to these outside activities and excursions. Where we make or take any bookings for or from you in respect of any activity or excursion available, we do solely as a booking agent. This is the case regardless of whether the activity is advertised or mentioned in our brochure, resort, on our website or elsewhere. Your contract for any such activity or excursion will be with the supplier or operator of that activity or excursion. Abakombe Tours has no liability for any such activity or excursion or for any act or omissions of the supplier or operator or for of it/their employees or agent or any other persons connected with the activity or excursion. If we are found liable in any respect for any such activity or excursion for example in our capacity as booking agent, that liability is limited to the cost of the particular activity or excursion concerned. We do not alter or exclude our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence.

We would remind customers that the infrastructure in developing countries may not be up to the same standard as the UK. Some resorts may experience the occasional power cut or water shortage. Please note that we will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss (for example loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost or other sum or claim of any description whatsoever that results from any of the following: a) The fault of the persons affected or any members of their party, or b) The fault of a third party not connected with the provision of your holiday, which we could not have predicted or avoided, or c) An event or circumstances which we or the supplier of the services in question could not have predicted or avoided, even after taking all reasonable care (see force majeure), or d) The fault of anyone who is not carrying out work for us (generally or in particular) at the time.

In addition, we will not be responsible where you do not enjoy your holiday or suffer problems because of a reason you did not tell us about when you booked your holiday, or where any problems you suffered did not arise from any breach of our contract, or other fault of ourselves or where we were responsible for them, our suppliers or agent or where any losses, expenses, cost or other sum you have suffered relate to any business. We accept responsibility for the negligent acAbakombe Tours of our employees, agent and direct suppliers, which result in death, injury or illness. Our liability shall be limited to 200% of the holiday price for any claim other than those involving injury or death arising from our negligence. Our suppliers, such as accommodation or transport suppliers, have their own booking conditions or conditions of carriage, and these conditions are binding between you and the supplier. Some of these conditions may limit or remove the relevant transport providers' or other suppliers' liability to you. You can get copies of such conditions from any offices of the relevant suppliers. If you or any member of your party is killed, injured or becomes ill as a result of transport by aircraft, ship, train or coach, the amount of compensation we will pay is limited in line with the Warsaw Convention, the Athens Convention, the Berne Convention, and the Geneva Convention. You should also note that these conditions may limit or remove the carrier’s liability to you and the amount the carrier has to pay you. You should also note the carrier will rely upon it conditions of carriage, which may limit or remove the carrier’s liability to you and limit compensation under international conventions. Abakombe Tours accept liability as above only if a claim is notified to us in writing no later than one month after your return.

11. Carriers

Carriage by air and sea is subject to the terms and conditions of the carriers with whom you are travelling and to international conventions. Abakombe Tours accepts no liability whatsoever for cancellations, strikes, timetable changes, diversions, technical issues unrelated to Abakombe Tours, lost or mislaid luggage, rescheduling cost Abakombe Tours, missed accommodation, or delays which result from any operational decision of the carrier concerned. Abakombe Tours accepts no liability for death, injury or illness that derives from carriage by air or sea.

12. Insurance

Abakombe Tours requires clients to purchase travel insurance. We reserve the right to cancel your holiday at any time should such a policy not be taken out by you.

13. The law

The above booking terms and conditions together with all correspondence form part of your contract with Abakombe Tours. This contract and any matters arising from it shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with Tanzania law and the court of Tanzania shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear any and all proceedings between us either relating to our contract or arising out of it.

14. Waiver of Claim against Introducer

If you have been referred to us by another party (for example a travel agent) you agree to hold them blameless and waive any and all claims against such party. Any issues you may have must be directed to us and dealt with under the terms of our contract.