Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd Terms and Conditions Applied to all our Experiences.
Below are Terms and Conditions acting as the agreement of booking tours with Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd. We urge you to read carefully before doing any booking so you can be aware of the operating modalities.
1: Who we are.
Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd is a company limited by shares registered and incorporated in the United Republic of Tanzania.
Certificate of Incorporation: 153-269-815
Tax Identification Number: 153-269-815
VRN: 40050552-S
Registered address: P.O. Box 16340, Sombetini, Arusha, and The United Republic of Tanzania.
2: When the terms and conditions apply.
These Terms and Conditions shall govern the relationship between Client and Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd (Tour Operator: Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd; further- “the Company”) and apply in the following situations:
- When you book a trip directly with us;
- When you book a trip through our partners acting as our sales representatives;
When booking a trip with us directly or through one of our partners, which include various travel agencies and marketplaces, both sides automatically agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
Please note that these Terms and Conditions stipulate the rights and responsibilities that you have while booking and taking part in our tours in Tanzania.
3: Our warranties and representations.
We warrant and represent that:
- We have all the necessary licenses and permits to organize and run Kilimanjaro climbing expeditions, wildlife safaris, and Gorilla trekking in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and, Rwanda.
- We possess relevant expertise and experience and have taken care of the travel arrangements for over 10,000 visitors of East African destinations so far.
- All our Kilimanjaro guides, wildlife safari driver-guides and consultants have professional training in their respective fields.
- All information that we use in marketing and advertising is true and correct. We do not exaggerate or misrepresent anything in the description of our products;
- We are a tour operator, not a travel agency. No part of our adventures is handled by third parties with the exception of accommodation in certain hotels, which do not belong to our company, and domestic and international air travel services;
- We also warrant and represent that your trip with Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd will positively impact the developing communities of Tanzania;
We are environmentally friendly and have strict “leave-no-trace” protocols to cultivate sustainable tourism in all national park and preserve its natural heritage for future generations.
4: Treatment of your personal information.
We shall require certain personal information to take care of your expedition arrangements. Such information includes your full name, age, nationality, passport information, diet, and medical particulars.
Parts of this information will be made available to the administration of the attractions areas for the processing of entry permits and to the accommodation providers to make your stay comfortable.
5: Communications and correspondence.
To avoid travel scams, ensure that all and any communications with us are carried out through the following channels:
Email: all emails in @maasaiguides.com domain zone
Phone and WhatsApp: all phone numbers published on Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd website
Other means of communication: online-chat on our website
As a result of our proactive policies in regards to safeguarding all of our communications, we have not had any cases of our company being impersonated or misrepresented by malevolent third parties for their own gain. However, caution is always advised.
If you believe that someone you are in touch with is not a legitimate representative of Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd, please contact our founder Charles Ole at info@maasaiguides.com
6: Booking and payment process.
The booking process begins with your email or phone call to our offices. A personal travel consultant, whose responsibilities encompass all communications with you as well as planning and arranging all of the details of your tour, will be designated. Once all of the details have been agreed upon, an invoice will be issued enabling you to make a deposit confirming your booking.
- Group Tour: A deposit of $500 per person is required to secure your reservation. To secure reservations on a trip departing within 90 days, a full payment is required at the time of booking.
- Private Tour: A deposit of 30% is required to secure your reservation. To secure reservations on a trip departing within 65 days, a full payment is required at the time of booking.
- Your adventure will be deemed confirmed once a deposit payment reaches our account, of which our designated travel consultant will inform you immediately. Depending on the type of your tour, the deadline for the deposit payment will be set by our consultant.
- Full payment for your tour must be made 14 days before the scheduled commencement date, unless otherwise agreed with our consultant in writing. In any case, all of our travel packages should be fully prepaid.
- Timely payments are essential, as these funds will be used to cover hotel reservations and other tour-related expenses, which – in turn – tend to be fully prepaid in Tanzania. Failure to make timely payments without prior notification of – or arrangements with – our Company may result in our cancelling your booking. Any deposit made may be forfeited according to our cancellation policies.
Please Note: All transaction-related charges applicable to your payments must be covered by you. All banking commissions for both sender and receiver must be covered by you when using wire transfers. A 3.9% surcharge shall be applicable to all credit card payments.
If the deposit and final payments made to our accounts are for any reason incomplete, we shall charge you for the missing amount upon your arrival.
Participation of minors
- One must be of legal age (18 years or older) to book a wildlife adventure with Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd. Bookings for minors (those who have not attained that age) can only be made by their parents, guardians or legal custodians. Those making the bookings for minors accept these Terms and Conditions on their behalf, including the assumption of risk and limitations of our liability;
- Minors must be accompanied and supervised by an adult Client at all times. The Client shall be responsible for the Minor’s conduct and carry the liability for any damage that may result from said conduct. Though extra attention is always paid to children travelling with us, the Company provides neither child care nor chaperoning services;
- All bookings made on behalf of a minor are subject to our approval. The accompanying adult will be solely responsible for securing the permits, approvals and meeting other legal requirements that may be needed for a minor to travel to Tanzania. We shall not be liable for the failure to comply with any requirements that may prevent the minor’s entry into Tanzania;
Third-party bookings (tour leaders, travel agencies and other travel professionals)
If you are a tour leader/travel agent/etc., making a booking on behalf of others, you will be deemed the contact person for every tour participant. In such a case, you will be responsible for:
- Informing the other tour participants of these Terms and Conditions. If you consent to them, we will assume that you have secured express consent of all tour participants to these Terms and Conditions and to the inclusions and exclusions of the tour package;
- Completing the payments timely and accurately;
- Passing all relevant information to the tour participants in a comprehensive and timely manner. If there are any agreed changes with regard to the dates or itinerary, you will be responsible for informing the tour participants and securing their consent;
- Providing correct and accurate information about the tour participants in a comprehensive and timely manner. It is your responsibility to collect such information and ensure its correctness and accuracy. Under no circumstances will we be liable for any errors and omissions in such information;
If you can not accept responsibility for the above-said, then every member of the group should communicate and book with us individually.
7: Prices.
Once we confirm your booking, the price will not be changed, except for the unlikely case of the government of Tanzania increasing park fees, taxes or other tourism-related payments. In such a case, a copy of the relevant public notice shall be made available to you immediately. Two options shall be available to you in case of price increase:
- To cancel your tour and receive a refund in accordance with our cancellation policies;
- To agree to the change of price and pay the difference to us;
7: Changes to the itinerary.
Changes by the Client.
- Any changes you make to your itinerary will be made free of charge if they do not result in extra costs for us. Any such costs must be covered by the Client;
- If you decide to discontinue our tour after it stated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, you will be liable to cover any extra costs caused by your decision to leave the trip. Such costs may include but are not limited to covering transportation and accommodation expenses;
- If you miss any tour service, sightseeing or meal, or fail to use any other service acting on your own account, no refund will be provided;
Changes by the Company.
- While we do our best to ensure that your tour goes as planned, situations may arise (e.g. parts of the planned route becoming inaccessible due to poor weather conditions) requiring us to change your itinerary. Though rare, such cases are not to be ruled out and we shall endeavor to inform you of them promptly;
Changes because of third parties.
- The Company shall not be liable for any delay, disruption, damage or loss outside of our reasonable control. These may include – but are not limited to – third-party actions, flight delays and any events of a force majeure nature;
- You or your insurance company will be liable to cover any expenses, such as extra accommodation and transportation expenses, caused by such change or disruption;
8: Changes to travel dates.
If, after making the payments, you decide to change your travel dates, you must inform us of these changes no later than 60 days before the original starting date of your tour. Please bear in mind that any new proposed dates must fall within one year of your original travel dates.
Also note that Tanzanian domestic carriers do not reschedule flights. Hotels and Lodges often apply penalties to booking date changes and may set higher prices on accommodation according to season and availability. In such cases, you will be required to cover the extra costs.
9: Booking Terms and Conditions
1 Deposit:
30% Deposit to be paid before arrival and balance on arrival prior departure for the adventure trip.
2 Alteration of adventure trip:
Should be informed in advance in writing before arrival and confirmed with us
3 If you decide to cancel your trip with us, the following cancellation fees shall apply.
• Cancelation before 90 days of arrival 0% charge value of the booking
• Cancelation between 90 Days and 45 days 25% charge of the total.
• Cancelation between 45 days 100% charge apply.
All cancellation penalties are based on the total tour price.
In all cases of cancellations you will also need to cover our non-refundable and/or partially refundable expenses, such as hotel reservations or domestic air tickets. Before issuing a refund, we will deduct those expenses and the costs of fund transfer (banking commissions and credit card surcharges) from the payments that you made to us.
No refunds will be made for any cancellations made in 7 or less days prior to the scheduled travel dates.
Gorilla permits and air tickets are 100% non-refundable.
There will be no refund for any unused services, late arrival or no-show of any of the members of the tour.
- There is no refund of any unused portion of your safari once inaugurated.
- Importantly to note is; Gorilla Permits in Uganda, Congo and Rwanda are not refundable when already booked, as this is the policy of the respective Gorilla permit issuing bodies of those countries.
VOLUNTARY EXECUTION
By advancing of a deposit to Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd to confirm your safari, you will have declared that you have fully read and understood the contents of the Terms and Conditions, especially those regarding cancellation and refund policies, the responsibility borne by trip participants and limitation of liability. On the advance of a deposit to Gorilla Trek Africa, the depositor / his or her family and beneficiary agree to be bound by the above Terms and Conditions.
- The liability to reimburse the Company for the cancellation fees, non-refundable booking fees, no show fees, administration fee and the like shall in no way limit or restrict the general rights of the Company to collect damages for breach of Contract.
Your options if you need to cancel a trip.
If you book your Kilimanjaro adventure with Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd, and for some reason are unable to travel, the following options are available:
You may freely change the dates of your Kilimanjaro adventure. Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd offers flexibility for our clients – if you have an unfortunate hold-up to your travel plans, you may reschedule your climbing dates for another time. The exception here is if you decide to reschedule your climb in less than 24 hours before the scheduled departure time. With such short notice we would have organized supplies for the trip and paid park entry fees.
Lifetime deposits.
Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd allows indefinite holds on your deposit; and you will be able to use it for any trip with us in the future. This rule applies without reservation for all our tour packages in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.
Please note that if you are planning a safari trip with us, this option will subject to the cancellation penalties of the safari hotels and lodges. All our partnered hotels and lodges understand the global uncertainty brought by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, and try to be flexible as well. Usually, we will be able to place your full deposit on hold if informed in 30 days before the start of your safari trip.
Getting a refund. We have never frozen any payment ever paid to us, and if you decide to cancel your adventure, we will be able to provide you with a refund. During the peak of the pandemic in the summer of 2020 Maasai African Guides & DMC Ltd was proud to have made all refunds to every client who had to cancel their trip.
Some of our clients told us that they got sick with coronavirus and asked for a refund, which we readily provided. Please note: being sick or having other valid reasons for cancellation is not necessary – we will return your deposit under any circumstances. After all it is your money. The only thing required is an email to confirm cancellation.
Please note: Our deposit for reserving a place in the Kilimanjaro expeditions is USD 100 only, and this deposit is not refundable, but it is fully transferable if you decided to change the dates of your adventure.
But we would like to reconfirm that if you decided to pay the price for your Kilimanjaro adventure in full before arriving in Tanzania for security or other reasons, all other amounts, except the USD 100, is fully refundable.
Cancellation by us
In the unlikely event of us cancelling your tour for any reason, a 100% refund of any payments already made by you to us shall follow.
11: Non-payment by the date for commencement of services.
In the event that the Company has not received payment in full by the Date for Commencement of Services then the Company reserves the right in its absolute discretion to withhold all or any part of the Services and the Company shall be entitled to collect the outstanding payment from the Client direct and to recover from the Client all cancelation fees which they are entitled to charge as per paragraph 4 above. The Company shall not be required to notify the Client prior to the date of commencement of Services that the Services or any part of the Services will be withheld.
11: Travel documents, visa, and entry to Tanzania
You should make sure that all your travel documents are in place.
Thus, among other things, the validity of your passport for international travel should not expire in six months after the moment of entering the territory of Tanzania. There will be at least two blank pages for the visa and stamps. You should also get a visa for entering Tanzania. Online application through the website of Tanzania Immigration Department is the most convenient and fastest way to do that.
Though we will share some visa-related tips please do not consider our recommendations to be the ultimate and comprehensive advice. The information about visas and other entry requirements for visiting Tanzania published on our website is for general knowledge only, and though we try to keep it accurate and up-to-date, we recommend contacting the Embassy of the United Republic of Tanzania for getting the latest updates. No information published on our website about visas, vaccinations or other entry requirements should be viewed as a warranty or representation.
You are also responsible for bearing all visa and other entry-related costs.
We shall not be liable if, in a highly unlikely event, you are denied entry to Tanzania or any other country on the way to Tanzania for whatever reason. You also agree that if you fail to enter the country for whatever reason, no refunds will be made and you it will not be possible to reschedule your tour, because we will have all the park fees prepaid and other expenses incurred by the time of your arrival.
11: Accommodation
Accommodation in Camping/hotels or lodges.
Our prices for the open group departures include accommodation on a sharing basis in double, triple family or twin rooms with your fellow-traveler. If you travel alone, we will match you with a same-sex traveler to share a room. If you want to stay in your room alone, please inform our managers at the time of booking. Extra charges for single supplements apply;
Accommodation type and setup for our private holidays are agreed with our consultants individually;
Our safari and Kilimanjaro climbing tours include hotel accommodation described in the respective travel packages on our website. In some cases, however, those hotels may be fully booked. We will notify you and suggest an alternative hotel before confirming your tour and accepting payment.
12: Travel insurance.
Having travel insurance is mandatory for participation in our trips. We may disqualify you from taking part in our adventure without any refunds if you do not have a proper insurance package.
Remember that insurance is not generally included in our travel packages (except premium Kilimanjaro climbing packages). This service is available as an extra add-on.
Such insurance should cover emergency medical expenses for any personal injury, evacuation and repatriation, cancellation and curtailment and other reasonable expenses.
If you are climbing Mt Kilimanjaro, your insurance package should cover high-altitude trekking (up to 6,000 m/ 19858 f) and helicopter evacuation.
You should also make sure that your insurance package provides sufficient coverage against all other relevant risks. It is also your responsibility to keep your insurance provider sufficiently informed of your travel plans and the nature of hazards and risks involved.
If any insurance case happens, it will be your responsibility to inform your insurance provider and to comply with all procedures relating to indemnification/reimbursement. We shall provide reasonable assistance, but shall not be responsible for any positive outcome of the insurance claim whatsoever.
13: Vaccinations.
Remember that we provide general, non-medical advice about vaccinations and immunizations, which are required or recommended for your visit to the United Republic of Tanzania.
You should seek professional advice from a practicing, licensed physician to determine whether any specific medical measures are necessary for your visit to Tanzania.
14: Authority of our guides.
It is important and mandatory to follow all safety instructions and rules of our guides. A chief guide’s decision on all expedition arrangements, team management, itinerary, objectives, and any other expedition-related matters while on Kilimanjaro trek or wildlife safari will be final.
If in the opinion of our chief guide, your physical condition or certain actions may be reasonably harmful or dangerous to yourself or other tour participants, the chief guide may decide that you should descend (his assistant and some porters will be helping you on the way).
15: You accept all risk of adventure travel to Tanzania.
You understand that your adventures with us may involve visiting remote areas (National Parks, rural regions, etc.), where the standards of medical assistance may be different from those available in your home country or may be unavailable at all.
In addition to that, you also acknowledge that some adventures offered by us may involve certain risks (for example wildlife, high-altitude, etc.) to your health and safety. You agree that you have carefully evaluated all of those risks and assume full responsibility for them.
You release us from all claims and causes of action, which may arise from any losses, damages, injuries or death which may be the result of the risks inherent to your travels in Tanzania.
16: Your liability for damaged or destroyed property
We will charge you if you willfully destroy or damage our property, for example, our Kilimanjaro tents, safari vehicles, personal expeditions gear that you may hire from us, hotel furniture, items and appliances and so on.
Any indemnification for damage or destruction should be settled in Tanzania, before your departure to the home country.
17: Money for regular travel expenses.
You acknowledge that you should have a reasonable amount of money with you to cover incidental and regular travel expenses (souvenirs, tips, meals if not included, alcohol drinks, etc.). We shall not be responsible for your failure to cover any expenses of that nature for whatever reason.
18: Your luggage and valuables.
We shall not be responsible for any luggage lost, destroyed or delayed by the airliner or any transportation provider other than our company.
If you purchased a Kilimanjaro climbing tour with us and your luggage is lost or delayed and you had your climbing gear there, we shall provide you with everything from our hiring shop free of charge. Please be mindful that we shall provide free of charge only those items that you had in your luggage. Those that you did not have would be provided at a regular cost.
In addition, neither are we responsible for being in touch with the airliner checking the status of your lost/delayed luggage, nor are we responsible for transporting it to the hotel after it arrives. If your luggage arrives later than you, you will need to pay a luggage delivery fee of transporting the luggage from Kilimanjaro International Airport to the hotel.
You are responsible for keeping your valuables, such as money, gadgets, jewelry, and other personal possessions or luggage while taking part in our tours. We shall not be responsible for any lost, stolen or damaged property.
You may ask our managers to accept your valuables, personal possessions or luggage for safekeeping. In such a case, we will lock them in our company safe, which is under constant video surveillance and alarm. We will assume full responsibility for your property entrusted into our care.
19: Images and Marketing.
You understand that we agree that our employees and other tour participants may take photos, videos, and other media images during our tours. These photos and videos may have your image. By taking part in our adventures you agree that we and our partners may use this media material for marketing, promotion, and advertising without any royalty and other payments to you. Please inform our staff if you do not want your image to be captured with any photo or video cameras.
20: Force Majeure.
We shall not be liable for anything that may happen because of force majeure, which includes, but is not limited to natural cataclysms, war or military operations, breakdowns of the mechanical facilities, fire, vehicles or electrical appliances, civil disturbances, labor strikes, actions of the government authorities, political unrest, insurrections and mutinies, extreme weather conditions and other calamities and situations beyond our reasonable control and which we could not foresee.
21: The laws of Tanzania shall apply
The laws of the United Republic of Tanzania shall apply in case of any disputes.
