Booking Terms and Conditions

1. Definitions

“We”, “us”, “our” means Intare Safaris. “You”, “your” means the person who makes the booking and every other person named on it. “Booking” means the safari, transfers, accommodation, permits and other services set out in our written confirmation. “Lead traveller” means the person who makes the booking and who is responsible for payment and for passing our information on to everyone else in the party. “Supplier” means a lodge, camp, airline, park authority, partner operator or other third party providing part of the booking. “RDB” means the Rwanda Development Board.

2. How a booking is made

An itinerary or quotation is not a booking. It is an offer, and availability and price can change until a deposit is received.

A booking becomes a contract when all three of the following have happened: you have confirmed in writing that you accept the itinerary and these conditions; we have received the deposit set out in clause 3; and we have sent you a written booking confirmation. The written confirmation is the definitive record. Check it on the day it arrives and tell us within 72 hours if anything — names, dates, room configuration, dietary requirements — is wrong. Corrections after that point may attract supplier charges.

The lead traveller must be at least 18 years old and warrants that they have the authority to accept these conditions on behalf of everyone on the booking.

3. Deposits

A deposit of 30% of the total trip cost is payable to confirm a booking, plus 100% of the cost of any trekking permits, which the park authorities require in full and in advance.

For bookings made within 60 days of departure, the full balance is payable at the time of booking.

Deposits are non-refundable. They are used immediately to secure permits, lodge allocations and vehicles on your behalf, and those commitments cannot be unwound.

4. Gorilla and chimpanzee permits

Trekking permits are issued by the national park authorities, not by us. We buy them on your behalf and pass them on at the published price without mark-up.

• A Rwanda mountain gorilla permit costs USD 1,500 per person per trek, set by the RDB. Prices are set by the authorities and can change without notice.
• Permits are limited to eight visitors per habituated gorilla family per day and routinely sell out several months ahead for June to September and December.
• Permits are dated and, once issued, are non-refundable and non-transferable to another date. This applies even where the whole trip is cancelled, and regardless of the reason.
• The minimum age for gorilla and chimpanzee trekking is 15 years. Proof of age is checked at the park briefing and there are no exceptions.
• You do not choose your gorilla family. Rangers assign groups on the morning of the trek according to fitness, age and where the animals have moved overnight.
• If you are refused entry to a trek because you are unwell — a cold or flu can be fatal to a gorilla — the permit is forfeited. The park may, entirely at its discretion, offer a partial refund. We cannot promise one.

5. Payment of the balance

The balance is due 60 days before departure. We will send a reminder, but non-receipt of a reminder does not extend the deadline.

If the balance is not paid by the due date we may treat the booking as cancelled by you and apply the charges in clause 10. Suppliers release unpaid allocations on their own schedules and we have no ability to hold them beyond it.

6. Prices, currency and bank charges

Prices are quoted in United States dollars unless your confirmation says otherwise. Payment is accepted by international bank transfer to the account shown on your invoice.

All bank charges, intermediary bank fees and currency conversion costs are yours. The amount that must arrive in our account is the invoiced amount; if fees are deducted in transit, the shortfall remains payable.

Once a deposit is received your price is fixed, with two exceptions we cannot absorb: an increase in government-set park or permit fees, and an increase in government taxes or levies. If either occurs we will show you the official notice and charge only the actual increase. Where such an increase exceeds 8% of your total trip cost you may cancel and receive a full refund of everything you have paid us except issued permits.

7. What the price includes

Unless your written itinerary says otherwise, the price includes:

• Accommodation as named in the itinerary, on the meal basis stated.
• Ground transport in a safari vehicle with a driver-guide, including fuel.
• Park entrance fees and activities listed in the itinerary.
• Trekking permits where these are shown as included and have been paid for.
• Drinking water in the vehicle.
• All applicable government taxes on the above.
• Planning, coordination and 24-hour support from our Kigali office for the duration of your trip.

8. What the price excludes

• International flights to and from Africa, and any airport taxes on them.
• Visas and entry fees.
• Travel insurance, which is compulsory — see clause 12.
• Drinks, laundry, telephone and other items of a personal nature.
• Optional activities not listed in the itinerary.
• Porters on treks, which are hired locally at the trailhead. Hiring one is optional, inexpensive, genuinely useful and supports the community around the park.
• Tips and gratuities for guides, drivers and lodge staff. These are discretionary; we are happy to advise on what is normal.
• Anything not expressly listed as included in your itinerary.

9. Changes you make

Ask, and we will do what we can. Whether a change is possible depends entirely on the suppliers involved.

Changes requested more than 60 days before departure are made without an administration fee from us, though any supplier charges are passed on at cost.

Changes requested within 60 days of departure carry an administration fee of USD 75 per booking, plus any supplier charges. A change that reduces the number of travellers, or shortens the trip, is treated as a partial cancellation under clause 10.

Permit dates cannot be changed. Names on permits cannot be changed. This is a park authority rule and is outside our control.

10. Cancellation by you

Cancellations must be sent to us in writing by the lead traveller and take effect on the day we receive them. Charges are calculated as a percentage of the total trip cost:

Written notice before departure	Cancellation charge
More than 90 days	Deposit only (30%), plus the full cost of any issued permits
90 to 61 days	50% of the total trip cost, plus the full cost of any issued permits
60 to 31 days	75% of the total trip cost, plus the full cost of any issued permits
30 days or fewer	100% of the total trip cost
After departure, or no-show	100% of the total trip cost, with no refund for unused services

Issued trekking permits are never refundable, at any notice period. That is a park authority rule and it applies regardless of the reason for cancellation, including illness, bereavement and refused visas. Your travel insurance is what covers this.

Where a supplier does refund us something after a cancellation, we pass on whatever we actually recover, less any bank charges.

11. Changes and cancellation by us

We plan carefully and we rarely change a confirmed booking. Where we do, the following applies.

Minor changes — a lodge substituted for another of an equivalent or higher standard, a change to the order in which parks are visited, a change of vehicle or guide — may be made without compensation. We will tell you as soon as we know.

Significant changes means a change of the trekking date, a reduction in the standard of accommodation for the majority of the trip, or the removal of a park from the itinerary. Where we make a significant change before departure you may accept it, accept an alternative trip of comparable standard, or cancel and receive a full refund of everything you have paid us, less the cost of any permits already issued in your name.

We may cancel a booking if you have not paid on time, if you fail to meet a condition of these terms, or for reasons of force majeure under clause 18. Except where you are at fault, we will refund everything you have paid us, less the cost of issued permits.

12. Travel insurance

Comprehensive travel insurance is a condition of travelling with us. You must arrange it at the time you pay your deposit, not later, because the risk you most need covered — losing a non-refundable permit or deposit to a cancellation — begins the day you book.

Your policy must cover, as a minimum: medical expenses and emergency evacuation and repatriation; cancellation and curtailment; and personal accident. If your itinerary includes volcano hiking, high-altitude trekking or any activity your insurer classes as hazardous, check it is covered by name.

We may ask for your policy number and your insurer’s emergency contact number before departure, and your guide will ask for them at the start of your trip. Travelling without insurance is at your own risk and does not transfer any liability to us.

13. Passports, visas and entry rules

Passports, visas, and compliance with entry and health regulations are your responsibility. We will advise to the best of our knowledge, but the information we give is guidance and not a guarantee, and rules change.

• Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your date of return and have sufficient blank pages.
• Rwanda issues visas on arrival to many nationalities and operates an online application system. Check the current position with the Rwanda Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration before you travel.
• The East Africa Tourist Visa covers Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya on a single multiple-entry visa and is worth asking us about for cross-border routes.
• If you are refused entry or a visa, the cancellation charges in clause 10 apply in full.

14. Health, vaccinations and fitness

Take medical advice about your trip at least eight weeks before departure. A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required for entry to some countries on our routes and where you have travelled through others; malaria prophylaxis is strongly advised for all of them.

Gorilla and chimpanzee trekking involves walking on steep, muddy, uneven ground at altitude, sometimes for several hours in each direction, in unpredictable weather. It is not technical, but it is genuinely demanding. You must tell us at the time of booking about any medical condition, disability, mobility limitation, dietary requirement or medication that could affect your trip or our planning of it. We will tell you honestly whether an itinerary is realistic. If a condition is disclosed only after booking and the trip is not then viable, we may cancel under clause 11 and the charges in clause 10 will apply.

Anyone with a cold, flu or other transmissible illness will be refused entry to a trek by the park rangers, to protect the gorillas. This is not negotiable and no refund follows from it.

15. Your behaviour and park rules

You must follow the instructions of your guide and of park rangers at all times, and observe the rules of every park you enter, including minimum viewing distances, the one-hour limit with a gorilla family, no-flash photography rules and restrictions on eating, drinking and drone use.

Your guide may end an activity, or we may end your trip, if your behaviour endangers wildlife, staff, other guests or yourself. Where we do this, the booking is treated as cancelled by you under clause 10 with no refund, and we bear no responsibility for your onward arrangements or costs. You are responsible for any damage you cause to a vehicle or to a supplier’s property.

16. Our liability

We accept responsibility for arranging the services described in your confirmation with reasonable skill and care, and for the acts and omissions of our own employees and agents in the course of their work.

Suppliers — lodges, camps, airlines, park authorities and partner operators — provide their services under their own terms and conditions, and are responsible for them. Our liability for a failure by a supplier is limited to the value of the affected service.

We are not liable for loss, damage, injury, delay or additional cost arising from anything outside our reasonable control, including the events in clause 18, nor for the acts of anyone unconnected with the booking. Wildlife is wild: we cannot and do not guarantee any sighting, including a gorilla family, and no refund is due for animals that did not appear.

Except in the case of death or personal injury caused by our negligence, and to the fullest extent the law allows, our total liability to you is limited to the total amount you have paid us for the booking.

Nothing in these conditions limits or excludes any liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.

17. Complaints

If something is wrong, tell your guide or our Kigali office while you are still on the ground. Almost every problem can be fixed on the day it happens, and almost none can be fixed after you have flown home.

If it is not resolved to your satisfaction, write to us at info@intaresafaris.com within 28 days of the end of your trip, quoting your booking reference and setting out what happened. We will acknowledge within three working days and give a substantive reply within 28 days. A complaint raised for the first time long after your return, when we can no longer investigate it with the supplier, may not be capable of resolution.

18. Force majeure

We are not liable for any failure to perform, or delay in performing, our obligations where that failure or delay results from events outside our reasonable control. These include war, civil unrest, terrorism, border closure, epidemic or pandemic, government action or travel restriction, industrial action, natural disaster, volcanic activity, adverse weather, fire, flood, road or park closure, and the failure of public utilities or transport networks.

Where such an event prevents a trip going ahead, we will refund whatever we are able to recover from suppliers, less any costs already irrecoverably incurred, including issued permits. We will always tell you exactly what was recovered and what was not.

19. Data protection

We collect only what we need to plan and run your trip: names as they appear on passports, contact details, passport and permit details, and any health or dietary information you choose to tell us. We share it with the suppliers and park authorities who need it in order to deliver your booking, and with nobody else. We do not sell it, and we do not pass it to marketers.

We keep booking records for seven years to meet accounting and insurance obligations, then delete them. You may ask us at any time for a copy of what we hold, or ask us to correct or delete it, by writing to info@intaresafaris.com.

20. Law and jurisdiction

These conditions and any contract made under them are governed by the laws of the Republic of Rwanda, and the courts of Rwanda have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them.

If any clause is found to be unenforceable, the remaining clauses continue in force.

These conditions are the entire agreement between us. Nothing said in conversation, in an email exchange or on any other page of this website varies them unless we have confirmed it in writing as part of your booking confirmation.

Questions before you book?

Ask. Any planner here can walk you through the cancellation table, the permit rules or the insurance requirement before you commit anything. Call or WhatsApp +256 702 400 804, email info@intaresafaris.com, or send an enquiry. There is more about who we are and how we are licensed on the about us page.