When you are ready to book, please read the following conditions, which will form part of your contract of agreement with Hello Africa Travel.

Contract and agreement with you
If we book only one component of a holiday (e.g. accommodation but not car hire), then Hello Africa Travel acts only as a booking agent for the supplier concerned and accepts no liability for the provision of the service involved. In all other cases your contract will be with Hello Africa Travel Ltd. Your booking is made on the terms of these booking conditions and is subject to English Law and the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.

Booking Information
Once your holiday has been planned and you wish to book, you may follow the how to book information below.

One – Booking request: Confirm with your consultant which itinerary you would like to book and the details thereof. Your consultant will answer any questions you may have before proceeding.

Two – Deposit and booking form: When an itinerary has been agreed, we will send you a booking form to complete and return with a deposit of 20% per person, you will be notified of the precise amount. For certain holidays and services a higher deposit is required and you will be notified at the time of booking. If the booking is made within 8 weeks of departure, full payment is required. The deposit can be paid by bank transfer, cheque (although please note we usually require 10 days for your cheque to clear) or credit card. If your holiday is booked within 8 weeks, full payment is required at the time of booking Once you have confirmed your booking and paid the deposit, we will immediately proceed with securing accommodation and travel arrangements. We do not begin to book until we receive the deposit because of the time and expense involved in making these arrangements in Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. Should accommodation or services no longer be available due to demand, we will do our best to find a suitable alternative and advise you of any savings or additional costs that will be incurred before proceeding. Please read the booking conditions on this website or your booking form carefully, as they constitute the conditions on which your booking is accepted.

We accept payment by electronic bank transfer, cheque (allow 10 days to clear) and credit card. We accept Mastercard, Visa and American Express, these payments will incur a 2.5% surcharge. (Because of the fees imposed on us by the card companies, and in order for us to maintain our highly competitive prices, we have had no option but to try and recover part of the extra costs incurred when accepting payments in this way.)

Three – Finalisation of itinerary: Once your consultant has confirmed all of the accommodation and travel services regarding your itinerary, a confirmed copy of your invoice and itinerary will be emailed to you.

Four – Balance of payment: The balance of your holiday payment is required 8 weeks prior to departure, in exceptional circumstances an interim payment becomes necessary to protect a particular reservation (e.g. flights). This can be paid by electronic transfer, cheque made out to 'Hello Africa Travel Ltd' (allow 10 days to clear) or credit card, we accept Mastercard, Visa and American Express, payment incur a 2.5% surcharge. (Because of the fees imposed on us by the card companies, and in order for us to maintain our highly competitive prices, we have had no option but to try and recover part of the extra costs incurred when accepting payments in this way.) If you are paying by card, a credit card authorisation form will be sent to you to be completed, signed and returned to Hello Africa Travel. If payment is not made by the due date, we are entitled to treat this as a cancellation and retain the deposit. We will of course endeavour to contact you first.   All quotes are subject to alteration until paid for in full, this can be due to currency fluctuations, unexpected government taxes and increases to park fees, airline increases and changes, fuel surcharges, war, etc.

Five – Travel pack: Two to three weeks prior to departure, you will receive a comprehensive travel pack.

Hello Africa Travel offers specialist advice at no more than the cost of booking direct. We provide a comprehensive service to all of our valued clients. We ensure the prices quoted here are no more than if you chose to book directly with any of the lodges or suppliers themselves. Our consultants have exceptional knowledge and first hand experience travelling throughout Africa. This allows you the opportunity to gain impartial advice for your holiday. We will match a like for like quote (if contractually possible).

Should you choose to book with us, your financial security is assured through our Air Travel Organisers License, (ATOL 6744). This license is issued by the Civil Aviation Authority. www.caa.co.uk

Booking conditions
When you make a booking and pay a deposit, subject to availability, we will issue our confirmation invoice. A contract will come into existence at this point. Check the confirmation invoice carefully and let us know immediately if there are any errors or discrepancies as it may not be possible to make changes later. When you make your booking you undertake that you have the authority to accept these booking conditions on behalf of yourself and everyone travelling with you.

When you make a booking you must pay a deposit of 20% or the full amount if the booking is made within 8 weeks of departure. For certain holidays and services a higher deposit is required and you will be notified at the time of booking. Please note that your accommodation, tours, transfers, car hire, etc. will be requested once your deposit has been received. Your confirmation invoice will indicate the cost of your requested package. All quotes are subject to alteration due to availability at the time of booking, currency fluctuations, rate increases, government action, war, etc. Should accommodation or services no longer be available due to demand, we will do our best to find a suitable alternative and advise you of any savings or additional costs that will be incurred before proceeding. If we cannot book the itinerary you want, or a substitute that you find acceptable, then we will refund your deposit in full. Please read the booking conditions on this website carefully, as they constitute the conditions on which your booking is accepted.

Your completed booking form including the names of all travellers must be accompanied by the deposit shown on the booking form or advised to you at the time of quotation. This your only commitment until 8 weeks before departure unless, in exceptional circumstances, an interim payment becomes necessary to protect a particular reservation. The balance of the price must be paid at least 8 weeks before your departure unless an earlier date is quoted at the time of confirmation. If a booking is made within 8 weeks of departure the full payment is due on confirmation and should accompany the booking form. If the deposit and or balance are not paid on time we shall cancel your travel arrangements. If the balance is not paid on time we shall retain your deposit. The contract shall be deemed to have been made at the time of posting the confirmation. Due to unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances, it might be necessary for us to add a surcharge to your trip when the balance of the payment becomes due.  Surcharges can be due to, for example, airline increases and exchange rate fluctuations – unforeseeable and unavoidable costs forced upon us.  Should you wish to pay the full amount at the time of booking, this risk can be avoided.

Payment is accepted by:
Electronic bank transfer, cheque (allow 10 days from posting for clearing) and credit cards (Visa, Mastercard and American Express). Please note all card payments incur a charge of 2%. Because of the fees imposed on us by the card companies, and in order for us to maintain our highly competitive prices, we have had no option but to try and recover part of the extra costs incurred when accepting payments in this way.

Amendments and cancellations by you
Once your booking has been confirmed, changes (where permitted and possible) will incur a £50 amendment fee per alteration to cover administrative costs. Any additional charges passed on to us by suppliers will also be added. Changes within 8 weeks of departure will be deemed a cancellation and re-booking and will incur the cancellation charges set out below. If you or any of your party is forced to cancel your holiday once it has been accepted, a valid cancellation can only be made if you give written instructions direct to Hello Africa Travel. The person who signed the original booking form must sign the instruction. The effective date for cancellation will be the date we receive the written instruction. A cancellation charge (being agreed damages to cover our estimated loss) calculated on the scale set out below becomes payable by you, the signatory of the booking form.

When written notification of cancellation is received by the company more that 56 days before departure, the deposit will be forfeited; between 56-42 days the cancellation charge will be 50%; 41 - 15 days, 90%, 14 - 0 days, 100%. These charges are a percentage of the total holiday cost. Special conditions apply for some operators, you will be made aware of these on your confirmed itinerary. (Please check that your travel insurance policy does cover these special conditions, and that cancellation insurance is covered.)

We regret that no refund is possible for unused services provided in the cost of the holiday. If you decide to alter your travel arrangements whilst abroad, this is your own responsibility and we are not responsible for any extra costs that may arise.

Air tickets
The name(s) listed on the confirmation invoice will appear on the airline tickets and must match the name(s) on passports. 

Amendments and cancellations by the Company
We plan these arrangements many months in advance and, occasionally, circumstances oblige us to make minor changes to your tour itinerary. The company reserves the right to modify or cancel any accommodation or part of the itinerary at our discretion. Any change we make to your holiday will be either major or minor. A major change includes a change to a lower category of accommodation. Any other change is a minor change. If there is a minor change, we will do our best to notify you of this, but we are not under any obligation to do so or to pay you compensation. If there is a major change, we will advise you as soon as is reasonably possible. Every effort will be made to operate all tours as advertised, but we reserve the right to cancel your holiday. In this event, we will offer you the choice of either a refund of the monies you have paid us or an alternative available holiday of at least comparable standard, (and where this is of a lower price, we will refund the difference, but where it is of a higher price, you must pay the difference), excluding any amendment charges. In addition, in appropriate cases, (on the assumption that the full balance has been paid) we will pay you compensation on the scale shown below. Compensation will not be considered appropriate, for example, in cases where a major change has to be made as a result of force majeure (as defined below). In addition, on the assumption that the full balance has been paid) and where such cancellation is not due to force majeure (as defined below), we will pay compensation on the following scale, per booking:
Period before departure date within which major change/cancellation is notified to you: More than 57 days Nil; 56-29 days £10; 28 - 15 days £20; 14 - 0 days £30.

We accept no liability for consequential financial loss or incidental expenditure beyond the holiday price stated on the confirmation invoice.

Force majeure is unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which neither we nor our suppliers could avoid, examples of which are war or threat of war, riots, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial disputes, natural or nuclear disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions, level of water in rivers or other similar events beyond our control.

In the unlikely event that we become unable to provide a significant proportion of the services you have booked after you depart, we will endure to make alternative arrangements for you to continue your holiday, or, if this is impossible, or you do not accept these alternative arrangements for a good reason, we will provide you with transport back to your point of departure. In addition, if appropriate, we will pay you compensation of an amount as mentioned above. Compensation will not be considered appropriate, for example, in cases where a major change has to be made as a result of force majeure.

Our responsibility
Our obligations, and those of our suppliers providing any service or facility included in your holiday, are to take reasonable skill and care to arrange for the provision of such services and facilities and, where we or our supplier is actually providing the service or facility, to provide them and to do so with reasonable skill and care. You must show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make any claim. Standards of, for example, safety, hygiene and quality vary throughout the transport and destinations that your holiday may involve. Sometimes these standards will be lower than those which would be expected to be found in the UK. The services and facilities included in your holiday will be deemed to be provided with reasonable skill and care if they comply with any local regulations which apply or, if there are no applicable local regulations, if they are reasonable when compared to the local standards and customs.

Our Liability
We will pay no compensation if there has been no fault on our part or our suppliers and the reason for failure in the holiday arrangements was your fault, the actions of someone unconnected with the holiday arrangements or could not have been foreseen or avoided by us or our suppliers even if all due care had been exercised. Where you suffer death or personal injury as a result of an activity forming part of the holiday arrangements booked with us, we accept responsibility unless there has been no fault on our part or our suppliers and the cause was your fault, the actions of someone unconnected with the holiday arrangements or one which neither we nor our suppliers could have anticipated or avoided even with the exercise of all due care. If you suffer death, illness or injury whilst overseas arising out of an activity which does not form part of the foreign inclusive holiday arrangements arranged through us, we cannot accept responsibility for this and you will have to deal directly with the party concerned.

If you choose to issue court proceedings in respect of a claim against us, you must do so within 2 years of your return from holiday or within 2 years of first discovering the matters giving rise to the claim, if this is later. If you do not, then our liability to you will be limited in all cases to a sum of £100.

Your responsibilities
We reserve the right in our absolute discretion to terminate your holiday if your behaviour is likely, in our opinion or that of our employees or suppliers, to cause distress, damage, annoyance or danger to our employees or to any third party, or their property. If you are prevented from travelling on an aeroplane because in the opinion of any person in authority at the airport, you appear for whatever reason unfit to travel, we have no further responsibility for your journey or your holiday. We will impose full cancellation charges and will not give any refunds. Furthermore, we will be under no obligation whatsoever to pay you compensation or cover any costs you may incur as a result of having to make alternative arrangements.

Travel Documents
It is the responsibility of all passengers to ensure they have a valid 10 year passport, valid for at least 6 months after the expected date of return from travel. You may need a visa for certain destinations and you should check with the relevant Consulate as you will not be allowed to travel without correct documentation. Although we might give advise and assist as best as possible with information, all passport, visas and health requirements are entirely your responsibility. If you do not obtain a visa, where this is required, or your passport or any other travel documentation is not in order and you are unable to travel as a result, you will be liable to pay the cancellation charges. Furthermore, we will not accept any responsibility or refund any money in cases where you are unable to travel because of an invalid or mislaid visa or passport.

Health and Safety
We take all reasonable precautions to ensure that your travel arrangements are performed as safely as possible but standards of health and safety vary overseas and you should naturally take precautions as you would at home. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office may have issued advice about your destination and you are advised to check this information at www.fco.gov.uk/travel or telephone 020 7008 0232.

Total Flexibility
Unlike most of our competitors we do not charge you administration fees for booking accommodation or car hire separately. Your holiday arrangements have complete flexibility in that you may book any number of nights of accommodation or car hire and tours. Day tours and add-ons can only be booked with accommodation and car hire, unless this is a group booking.

Insurance
We consider adequate travel insurance to be an essential and compulsory aspect of booking a holiday with Hello Africa Travel. We strongly recommend that you purchase travel insurance that properly covers your participation in whatever activities you may undertake at the time that you make your booking, full cancellation insurance and 24-hour emergency medical cover, flying doctor and repatriation insurance.

All travel insurance is for your own arrangement, please make sure you inform us of the full details of your policy at the time of booking.

Force Majeure
Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions, we regret we cannot accept liability or pay any 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 damage or loss (as more fully described above under ‘Our Liability’) as a result of ‘force majeure’. ‘Force Majeure’ means any event which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events may include war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, actual or threatened terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside our control. 

Flights
All of our holidays can be booked with or without international flights from the UK.

Routings and timings
The flight timings given on booking and detailed on your confirmation invoice are for general guidance only and are subject to change. The latest timings will be shown on your tickets. You must accordingly check your tickets very carefully immediately on receipt. It is possible that flight times may be changed even after tickets have been despatched – we will contact you as soon as possible if this occurs.

We are not always in a position to confirm the airline, aircraft type and airport of destination which will be used in connection with any flight included in your holiday. When this information is provided at the time of booking or subsequently, it is subject to change. Any such change will not entitle you to cancel or change to other arrangements without paying our normal charges. We are not in a position to assist in the event of a delay. The airline will be responsible for making any necessary arrangements. 

Air fares
Air fares are constantly changing. In particular fuel surcharges are still operative and are currently nearly £200 on most return flights to Africa. In fact, air taxes and fuel surcharges add between £250 – £400 per person to the cost of the average African tour. When air fares are part of your package, taxes and surcharges are included in the price. Quotes are based on the lowest fares available, which sell out fast in high season. You should book as early as possible, to avoid a higher fare.

In addition, some host countries charge departure and other taxes, ranging from US$5 to US$30, which have to be paid locally. We will advise you of these where possible, before you travel.

Aircraft seating
Please note that, although we will assist with the pre-booking of seats where possible, pre-assigned aircraft seating cannot be guaranteed. Only a certain number of seats in the economy class cabin are available for pre-booking; once taken, seats will only be allocated at check-in. Emergency exit rows can only be allocated at check-in. British Airways no longer allows tour operators to pre-seat passengers, this can only be done online 24 hours prior to departure.

Website Information
We have compiled information on the website as accurately as possible. However, content is subject to change from time to time, often due to the actions of our suppliers (eg. hotels, tour companies, car hire companies). We reserve the right to change any of the prices, services or other particulars contained in this website at any time. A facility may be altered or withdrawn for reasons outside our control during your own particular holiday. For example, the operation of certain facilities and amenities may be subject to changes in local licensing laws or religious holidays. We will endeavour to notify you of any change known to us affecting your holiday prior to issuing you with our booking confirmation. Our suggested itineraries are prepared many months before the start of your holiday and the prices quoted in them are for your guidance only. If at the time of booking the price has changed from that shown in our suggested itineraries, you will be told of the revised price applicable to the travel arrangements before you commit yourself.

Special Requests
Although we will make every endeavour to meet special requests made in writing and shown on your booking form, no guarantees can be given.

If you have a problem
In the unlikely event that there is something not to your liking whilst you are on holiday that is in our direct control you must immediately report this to our local agent/ representative. This gives us the opportunity to correct the matter so that it does not spoil your holiday. Unless there is a valid reason why you fail to report your complaint we will not consider ourselves liable for complaints that were not registered at the time. If the matter cannot be put right on the spot, details of your complaint should be sent to us, in writing, within 28 days of the completion of your holiday. We will not accept liability in respect to claims received outside this period.

For Your Financial Protection
Hello Africa Travel holds an Air Travel Organiser's License (ATOL 6744) issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, with which the company is fully bonded. In the unlikely event of the company becoming insolvent, you are financially protected and would be repatriated if abroad, or receive an appropriate refund.

Data Protection
We will not use any personal data relating to you, which we hold at any time for any purpose other than in connection with your booking. We will not pass on such data to third parties save where this is necessary in connection with the performance by us of our contract with you or as otherwise authorised by you. We may use such data to notify you of our services, offers and promotions from time to time. If you do not wish us to so notify you please tick the appropriate box on our booking form.

Modifications of these terms and conditions
We reserve the right to change the terms, conditions and notices under which this Web site is offered without prior notice.