BOOKING TERMS & CONDITIONS
Your contract is with African Sensations (pty) Ltd trading as African Sensations. On the basis of these conditions and the information contained on the itinerary, the content shall be governed by South African law and the jurisdiction of the South African Courts.
Booking & Payments
Once you have asked us to confirm your booking either verbally or in writing these terms and conditions will come into effect and the total price of the arrangements you have booked will become due on receipt of our invoice and payable as follows:
- Deposit of 50% paid on receipt of booking.
- Balance payable 8 weeks prior to arrival date of the tour.
- Bookings made within 8 weeks of the arrival date of the tour should pay the full amount of the tour at time of booking.
This does not apply to groups of 10 or more persons, which are subject to specific group payment terms.
Our preferred method of deposit payment is by bank transfer. Balance payment may be made by bank transfer or cheque (providing there is time to clear it to meet the payment schedule shown above – you should allow 5 working days for clearance from the time we receive it).
All payments shall be made in South African Rands (unless otherwise stated); payment transfer costs to African Sensations remains the responsibility of the lead passenger, group organiser or agent.
We reserve the right to increase or decrease prices in line with any change in VAT, local and South African and taxes, fees, fuel surcharges, exchange rates, security charges, levies or other fees chargeable for the services included in the cost of your holiday, or any incremental annual increases in our supplier prices in all countries in which we operate.
Should it be necessary to make any surcharges or pass on any supplier increases we will notify you of the relevant adjustments and then issue a supplementary invoice for the price adjustment.
Credit Card Charges
In line with The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) we will make a charge of 3.50% for deposits and balances paid by credit card.
Amendments
If you wish to change your travel arrangements after they have been confirmed, we will do our best to help but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes to be made must be submitted in writing and an administration charge may become payable depending on the complexity of the change and the position taken by suppliers.
Amendments of more than 10% of the rooms originally booked are classified as substantial changes and will incur additional costs.
Cancellation
If you cancel your travel arrangements at any time, written notification by email must be received. Cancellation takes effect the day we receive your instructions. Subject to its receipt Monday to Friday by 3.00 p.m. (1500 hours) Central Africa Time, otherwise on the next working day. Since we incur costs in relation to your arrangements from the time we confirm your booking, the cancellation charges as shown in the table below will become payable.
When the cancellation notification is received by us before arrival date. Charges as a % of the total arrangement cost, and apply to individuals and not groups of 10 or more persons, which are subject to specific group terms.
80 or more days 50% (Retention of deposit)
42–79 days 60%
28–41 days 75%
14–27 days 90%
Less than 14 days 100%
Cancellation Rights and Changes to the Travel Arrangements
We reserve the right to change any of the details and correct any errors on invoices at any time. We reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel the travel arrangements (for example- if a minimum number of participants required for a particular travel arrangement is not reached, we may have to cancel it). We also reserve the right to cancel the travel arrangements if there is any default in payments, for either individual or group bookings. Even after we have confirmed the booking, we may have to make alterations, but we will not cancel the travel arrangements less than 8 weeks before arrival except for reasons of force majeure or failure to pay the final balance in full.
Changes and cancellations to confirmed bookings sometimes have to be made and we reserve the right to do so in accordance with this clause. Most changes will be minor and we reserve the right to make these. Where an insignificant change is made before departure, we will notify you in writing. No compensation is payable for minor changes
Please note that our holidays are often to remote and, in some cases, underdeveloped
parts of the world. This type of holiday means that changes sometimes have to be made at short notice and in booking one of our holidays you are taken to accept that the confirmed itinerary is not contractually binding, whilst every effort will be made to fulfil this, changes may be made.
Our Liability
We regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance of our contractual obligations is prevented or affected by or you otherwise suffer any damage or loss as a result of ‘force majeure’. In these Booking Conditions, ‘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.
We will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss (for example loss of possessions or loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost or other sum or claim of any nature or description whatsoever which results from: (a) the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party; and/or (b) the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of your holiday; and/or (c) unavoidable or extraordinary circumstances. We cannot accept responsibility for any services which do not form part of our contract with you. This includes, without limitation: (a) any additional services or facilities which your hotel or any other supplier agrees to provide for you where the services or facilities are not advertised or agreed as forming part of your contract with us (including, without limitation, any flights and/or additional accommodation that do not form part of our contract with you); and (b) any activity, tour or excursion you purchase in resort either individually or through another third party company.
Complaints
In the unlikely event that you experience any problems; you should in the first instance report the matter to a representative of African Sensations and it should be reported within two months of travel date. If the matter is not then satisfactorily resolved within such period of time agreed with the representatives, submit a written complaint to The Directors, African Sensations (pty) Ltd, 15 Alfred Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7000. South Africa.
Other Travelling Conditions including Exceptional Circumstances
Some of the tours may involve third parties whose terms and conditions apply. Some of the tours are also unescorted and while every effort has been made to provide the customer with a safe and enjoyable tour, African Sensations cannot accept responsibility for events beyond our control.
Where you have booked travel by air, land or sea with a third party, such travel will be subject to the terms and conditions of carriage of the airline, shipping, rail, coach or vehicle company providing the transport. Should anyone be refused admission to the coach, ferry or flight or to the destination country by the transport operator or government authority, we cannot be held responsible. This includes any passenger who fails to advise us of any medical condition or disability. If you are prevented from travelling as a result, our responsibility for the booking thereupon ceases. Full cancellation charges will apply and we will be under no obligation whatsoever for any refund, compensation or loss you may incur.
Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions, we regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation, reimburse expenses, or cover losses where the performance of our obligations under our contract with you is prevented or affected by – or you otherwise suffer any damage, loss or expense of any nature – as a result of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. In these booking conditions, unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances means a situation beyond our control,
Travel Insurance
Personal insurance is not included. It is a condition of booking that all customers must have appropriate travel insurance. A copy of the insurance policy should be made available to African Sensations upon request.
Accident or Loss
We accept no liability for loss, damage, delay, inconvenience, or direct or consequential loss, however caused, unless due to our employee’s negligence, in which case our liability is limited to a maximum of the tour cost.
Group Names
Once the booking has been confirmed, full names and final rooming lists must be received by us, no later than 4 weeks prior to arrival and commencement date of the tour.
Mobility
Persons who need assistance and/or have special requests or need special facilities or equipment with regard to accommodation, seating or services required or need to bring medical equipment must notify us at the time of booking.
Dietary preferences
Should any member of the party have specific dietary preferences (gluten-free etc.), this will be passed on to the relevant supplier, provided we are notified a minimum of 2 weeks before the arrival date and the tour commences.
Allergies
Allergies can be fatal and therefore information is required no later than 2 weeks’ prior to arrival in the UK, so the hotel/restaurant/supplier has advance warning. Pinpoint Britain accepts no responsibility for any error or omission by others once the specific details have been received and communicated accordingly.
In the event that your booking or changes are accepted with less than 3 weeks’ lead time, notification of dietary preferences and allergies must be made at the time of booking.
Data Protection (see Privacy Policy)
In order to process the booking and ensure the travel arrangements run smoothly and meet all necessary requirements we need to use the information provided such as name, address, any special needs/dietary requirements etc. We take full responsibility for ensuring that proper security measures are in place to protect customer information. We must pass the information on to the relevant suppliers of the travel arrangements such as airlines, hotels, transport companies etc. The information may also be provided to security or credit checking companies, public authorities such as customs/immigration if required by them, or as required by law.
Updated March 2025
