Terms & Conditions

General Guidelines on your Travel

The following terms as used in these Booking Terms and Conditions shall be considered synonymous: tour, safari, and trip, all of which refer to the travel arrangements being booked with Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa. Additionally, the following terms: client, guest, participant, member, passenger, and traveler all refer to you, as the traveler.

Reservations and Payments

Payment of a non-refundable deposit of 30% (or the amount stated on the website) of the tour fare, along with a completed and signed Reservations Booking Form and a completed and signed Liability Release and Assumption of Risk Agreement are required in order to confirm your reservation. Upon receipt of your signed Reservations and Release forms and your deposit, we will, subject to availability, reserve your place on your selected tour. The balance of the tour price is due no later than 12 weeks prior to departure. Final payments must be made by check or wire transfer. The proof of Travel and Medical evacuation insurance is also due at this time, otherwise you will not be able to participate in this journey. Upon receipt of your full payment and required documents all final tour information, clothing lists, photography tips etc. will be sent to you by email. All prices are quoted in U.S. dollars and must be paid in U.S. dollars.

Medical Information / Liability Release

Participation on a tour requires that you be in generally good health. All guests must understand that while a high level of fitness is not required, a measure of physical activity is involved in most tours. It is essential that persons with any medical issues and/or related dietary restrictions make them known to Kosen Safaris & Expeditions well before departure. Anti-malaria precautions should be taken, and these are the sole responsibility of the client. Any required inoculations must be recorded by the client’s health practitioner on a valid vaccination certificate, which the client must carry in his/her possession throughout the tour. Kosen Safaris & expeditions Africa will not assume responsibility for the accuracy of any medical information. You should consult your doctor or pharmacist for up to date requirements and personal recommendations.

Currency Fluctuation

In order to keep our tour rates as low as possible, we do not build into the price an allowance to cover possible increases from currency fluctuations. Therefore, as currencies do fluctuate constantly around the world, it may be necessary for us to raise the tour cost, at any time before final payment, if there are exceptional cost increases beyond our control. An increase in the tour price shall not be sufficient grounds for any refund of fees already paid for the tour.

Government Taxes

Airfares & Delays

Airfares are subject to change without notice prior to ticketing. Note that intra-country flights, whether included in your total trip cost or quoted to you separately, may become due and payable in full to Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa at any time after your initial deposit in order for us to secure ticketing for these flights as required by the airline or tour operator. Kosen Safaris-Africa is not responsible for any airline schedule or airfare changes, cancellations, overbooking or damage or loss of baggage and property to the extent that such items are beyond its control. Any and all claims for any loss or injury suffered on any airline must be made directly with the airline involved and not Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa. Air schedule changes may necessitate additional nights being added to your tour. Provided these schedule changes are beyond the control of Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa, any resulting additional costs must be borne by the guest. Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa cannot be held liable for any delays or additional costs incurred as a result of airlines not running to schedule.

Wild Animals

Please be aware that our tours may take you into close contact with wild animals. Attacks by wild animals are rare, but no tour into the wilderness can guarantee that this will not occur. Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa cannot be held responsible for any injury or incident on the tour. Please note that the majority of the tour camps are not fenced, and that wildlife do move freely in and around the camps. Always follow the safety instructions from the camp's staff with regards to moving to and from your tent and while on game activities throughout your tour.

Passports & Visas

The onus is upon the guest to ensure that passports and visas are valid for the countries they plan to visit. Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa cannot be held liable for any visas and/or passports, which are invalid or not held by the guests, nor for the cost of any passports or visas. Please check with us for up-to-date passport requirements for the countries you are visiting.

Not Included (Varies by itinerary)

Insurance to cover for cancellation and curtailment, medical, baggage, money, and emergency evacuation; beverages in certain areas; personal laundry at certain camps; or lodges gratuities to guides, paddlers and to camp staff; any excursion not related to the tour; optional meals.

Guest Representation and Consent

The person making any booking with Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa, warrants that he or she has authority to enter into a contract on behalf of all other persons included in such a booking and in the event of the failure of any or all of the other persons so included to make payment, the person making the booking shall by his/her signature thereof assume personal liability for the total price of all bookings made by him/her. The payment of the deposit or any other partial payment for a reservation on a tour constitutes consent by all guests covered by that payment to all provisions of the Terms and Conditions contained herein whether the guest has signed the booking form or not. The terms, under which you agree to take these tours, cannot be changed or amended except in writing signed by an authorized representative of Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa.

Age Limits

Please consult with us for the specific age policies at the camps on your itinerary. If anyone misrepresents their age, we and our operators reserve the right to terminate the tour without refund. Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa cannot be held responsible for any refund in this situation.

Cancellation and Refund Policy

Cancellations are only effective upon Kosen safaris & Expeditions Africa receipt of written notification, signed by the client. If the balance has not been received 90 days prior to trip commencement, Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa shall be entitled at our own discretion to treat your reservation as cancelled. If your cancellation is made after the due date for full payment of your trip fare, additional charges will be levied. The scale of charges, expressed as a percentage of the trip price, is as follows:

Less than 4 weeks’ notice – 50%
Less than 2 weeks’ notice – 100%

Gorilla permits are Nonrefundable.

Should you fail to join a tour or join it after departure or leave it prior to its completion, no tour fare refund will be made. Some airfare may be non-refundable. There will be no refunds from Kosen Safaris for any unused portions of the tour. The above policy applies to all travel arrangements made via Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa

Insurance

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 dependents and traveling companions for the duration of their tour. This insurance should include coverage in respect of, but not limited to, the following eventualities: cancellation or curtailment of the tour, emergency evacuation expenses, medical expenses, repatriation expenses, damage, theft or loss of personal baggage, money and goods. Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa will take no responsibility for any costs for losses incurred or suffered by the guest, or guest's dependents or traveling companions, with regards to, but not limited to, any of the above-mentioned eventualities. Guests will be charged directly by the relevant service providers for any emergency services they may require and may find themselves in a position unable to access such services should they not be carrying the relevant insurance coverage. Proof of Travel Insurance must be sent to Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa as a condition of travel.

Tour Cancellation

Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa shall not be held responsible for occurrences that are beyond its control, such as strikes, wars, acts of God, acts of government or any other cause whatsoever, beyond its control, that may make operation of the tour impossible, illegal or inadvisable. All tour payments received will be promptly refunded, and this refund will be the limit of Kosen Safaris Expeditions Africa’s liability. Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa is not responsible for any expenses incurred by tour members in preparing for the tour, including non-refundable or penalty-carrying airline tickets, special clothing, visa or passport fees, or other tour-related expenses.

Guide Replacement

If a private guide is unable to lead a pre-scheduled tour due to illness, etc., Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa and its operators reserve the right to substitute with another guide.

Itinerary Changes

Although every effort is made to adhere to schedules, it should be noted that the tour operators in developing countries may be obliged to occasionally change routes and camps on tours as dictated by changing conditions. Seasonal rainfall, bush fires or other natural occurrences may bring about such conditions. Airlines, aircraft specific flights and other transfers may also need to be changed for various reasons. Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa shall not be held responsible for such itinerary changes as discussed above and shall not be held liable for any refund, provided such changes are beyond the control of Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa.

Specific Accommodation

While we and our operators use our best endeavors to ensure that all reserved accommodation is available as planned, Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa shall not be held responsible for a refund either in the whole or part, if any accommodation or excursion is unavailable and a reasonable alternative, acceptable to the guest, is found. If the guest is unable to use any service provided in the itinerary, then there are no refunds due.

Luggage

For safety and because space is restricted, baggage in the charter aircrafts commonly used to transport guests to and from remote locations is restricted to a maximum of 20 kg per person in a soft bag. This includes camera equipment and carry-on baggage. Should guests arrive with excess baggage without prior warning, their baggage could be delayed, as our operators may then have to fly the baggage into camps at a later stage at considerable extra cost to the guest. However, should the guests know in advance that their baggage will exceed the limit; we can usually make arrangements to book an extra seat for the bags on the aircraft, at an additional cost.

Limitations of Liability

This section defines Kosen Safaris & Expedition’s responsibility with respect to all of our tours and safaris booked for our guests, including extensions and independent arrangements.

Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa, its owner, and employees give notice that they act only as the agent for the owners, contractors, and suppliers providing means of transportation and/or all other related travel services and that they assume no responsibility, howsoever caused, excepting its own negligence or willful misconduct, for injury, death, loss, or damage to person or property, delay or change in air or other services, howsoever caused, irregularity, inconvenience or additional expenses in connection with any service resulting directly or indirectly from: defect of any vehicle, act of God, act of war, insurrection, revolt, terrorism, government restrictions and regulations, or other civil uprisings or disturbances, military action, quarantines, strikes, weather, sickness, wars, detention, annoyance, delays, thefts, pilferage, force majeure, wild animals, failure of any means of conveyance to arrive or depart as scheduled, travel advisories, discrepancies or changes in transit, hotel and other services over which it has no control, occurring in either the country of origin, destination or through passage, or through the acts or default of any third party company or persons engaged in conveying the passengers or in carrying out the arrangements of the tour, except for such losses caused by the negligence or willful misconduct of Kosen Safaris-Africa.

Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa may not be held responsible for any loss or damage to luggage, before, during, or after the tour program. Upon advancement of deposit to Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa, the depositor acknowledges that he/she has read and understands the above recited terms and conditions and agrees to be bound by them. On advancement of tour deposit to Kosen Safaris-Africa, the depositor therefore agrees to be bound by the above recited terms and conditions. Kosen Safaris-Africa reserves the right to accept or decline any individual from participating on any of our tour programs for any reason. Kosen Safaris & Expeditions Africa will not discriminate against any individual because of race, religion, sex, sexual preference or nationality.