Booking Terms & Conditions

We are based in Kampala, Wakiso, Kira Municipality City, Mulawa Shopping Center, Uganda. Our operations are licensed by the Uganda Tourism Board under UTB/RTT/TO/2026/102318. BHN Savannah Explore Ltd, trading as Savannah Explore Africa, is a private company registered with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) under registration number 800200009845322.

A booking with us will exist as soon as we issue our ‘Confirmation Invoice & Itinerary’. We will issue this after receiving your deposit and confirming every element of your trip to East Africa.

We will make your booking on the terms of these booking conditions. In agreeing to them, you guarantee that you have the authority to accept, and do accept, on behalf of your party (named on the booking form) the terms of these booking conditions.

Savannah Explore Africa provides transportation, accommodation bookings, restaurant meals, excursions and other services in cooperation with independent suppliers.

All information detailed in client itineraries is given to the best of Savannah Explore Africa’s knowledge and based on the latest information available. We cannot be liable for modified information from third parties, nor for any obvious typing errors.

To reserve flights and gorilla permits we need: your full names as they appear in your passport, your nationality, and your passport number.

Before confirming a safari, the client must inform us of any preferences and special requests of the participants, e.g. medical needs, diet, requirements relating to disabilities, and any other requirements. We will meet the requests if possible.

All packages are subject to availability and are not guaranteed until confirmed. Many lodges and hotels offered by us have limited capacity, so it is essential to make reservations well in advance of your planned trip.

When you make your booking, you must pay a deposit of 40% of the booking cost. The balance or full payment should be made within 45 days of the trip’s departure.

Sometimes your booking may require other upfront payments on top of the usual 40% deposit, for internal flights, gorilla and chimpanzee permits, or some bookings over peak holiday periods. Chimpanzee and gorilla permits in Uganda and Rwanda must be paid 100% upfront based on the government’s advertised price. Changes in pricing and booking terms of the permits are independent of our terms and are determined by the government body in charge of wildlife. We will inform you before booking your trip with us if an additional deposit is required.

You must pay the remaining balance of the booking cost at least 45 days before your departure date. If the deposit and/or balance is not paid in time, we have the right to cancel your travel arrangements and will retain your deposit. If your payment is late, we will send you a reminder, and if it is still not paid, we will be forced to cancel your trip.

Any quote offered to you is valid for 14 days from that date, after which we may have to vary the price due to cost changes. Bookings made within 45 days before arrival must be paid in full at the time of confirmation.

Payment can be made by credit card or bank transfer before the start of the safari. Note that credit card payments have a 4% processing fee; traveller’s cheques are no longer accepted. The costs of wire transactions (or the 4% service charge in the case of credit card payments) are to be paid in full by the client.

Our suppliers quote rates in US dollars. We will quote you a trip in USD only, and any quote you receive from us will be valid for 14 days.

Included in the price (unless stated otherwise):

• Overnight stays in hotels, guesthouses, tents or lodges
• All meals as indicated in the itinerary
• Sightseeing as detailed in the itinerary
• Park entrance fees and ranger fees
• Airport transfers where applicable
• Ground transportation
• English-speaking driver/guides
• Bottled mineral water in the vehicle

Not included:

• International and domestic air fares
• Visa and passport costs
• Meals not mentioned in the itinerary
• Drinks other than the mineral water provided in the vehicle
• Tips and gratuities for guides and accommodation staff
• Laundry, travel insurance and other items of a personal nature

We reserve the right to adjust prices at any time should there be a fluctuation in the exchange rate or an increase in the cost of any element of the tour. The company will, however, make every effort to minimize any increases.

You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Written notification from the person who made the booking must be received by email at info@savannahexploreltd.com, and you must ensure that we acknowledge the email. Since we incur costs in cancelling your travel arrangements, you will have to pay cancellation charges as follows:

Note: Some camps have high cancellation charges over peak booking periods, such as December to February or May to July. This may affect the above cancellation charges, making them higher than normal. If higher-than-normal cancellation charges affect your booking, we will inform you in writing at the quote stage and before you pay your deposit. Once your deposit is paid and we have issued you a Confirmation Invoice, you are liable for these increased cancellation charges.

If you paid upfront for gorilla permits or domestic flights at the deposit stage, these are non-refundable, and their cost will be retained by us on top of the cancellation charges indicated above.

Suppose the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy. In that case, you can reclaim these charges, and we can issue you a cancellation invoice to support your claim.

If, after we’ve issued our confirmation invoice, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example, your chosen departure date or accommodation, we will do our best to make these changes for you. However, it may sometimes be impossible.

Any request for changes to your confirmed booking must be in writing from the person who made the booking. We may ask you to pay an administration charge and any further costs we incur in making the alteration where necessary. The closer to your departure date, the higher the costs of making changes to your confirmed booking are likely to be, so you should contact us as soon as possible.

Note: Certain travel arrangements may not be changeable after a reservation, and any alteration could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements. In particular, any changes requested within 45 days of departure will be subject to the cancellation charges set out in Section 4.

You can transfer your booking to another person who satisfies all the conditions that apply to this booking by giving us notice in writing at least 14 days before departure. You and the new traveller are jointly responsible for paying all costs we incur in making the transfer.

We reserve the right to cancel all or part of your booking if unforeseeable circumstances force us to do so. We will not cancel the booking less than 45 days before your departure date, except for unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances or a failure by you to pay the final balance.

Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances mean a situation beyond our control, the consequences of which we could not have avoided even if we had taken all reasonable measures. We observe advice provided by the USA and UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office only.

If we refund you, we will pay compensation of $250 per person, except where the cancellation is due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances (see definition above). This does not exclude you from claiming more if you are entitled to do so.

(a) Changes to the price

We can change the price of your trip after you’ve booked, only in certain circumstances. Changes in the price of the carriage of passengers resulting from changes to the cost of fuel, the level of taxes, or fees imposed by third parties, including tourist taxes, mean that the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have booked. However, the price will remain the same within 45 days of your departure.

Please note that we do not always purchase travel arrangements in local currency, and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protections in place.

(b) Changes other than the price

It is a term of your booking that we can change any aspect of your booking. If the change is insignificant, we will ensure that you are notified about it. Examples of minor changes include alteration of your domestic flights by less than 12 hours, changes to safari vehicle type, changes of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard, and changes to the timing of some activities.

You must inform us without undue delay of any failure to perform, or improper performance of, the travel services included in your safari package. Suppose any of the travel services included in your package are not performed per the contract, or are improperly performed by the travel service suppliers or us, and this has affected the enjoyment of your travel arrangements. In that case, you may be entitled to an appropriate price reduction, compensation, or both.

We will not be liable where any failure to perform, or improper performance, of the travel services is due to: you or another member of your party; a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel services in the package and which is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, meaning a situation beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if we had taken all reasonable measures.

Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to three times the cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with, and/or in an identical manner to, the contractual terms of the companies that provide the travel services that make up your package. These terms are incorporated into your booking.

Note: this entire section does not apply to any contracts you may enter into for excursions or activities whilst on your trip.

If you have a complaint about any of the services included in your trip, you must inform the supplier or your trip manager, this may be a camp or hotel manager where you are staying, or your driver-guide or trip manager, via the contact telephone numbers we will provide before your departure.

If it is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 14 days of your return home by writing to info@savannahexploreltd.com. Give your booking reference and all other relevant information, keeping your email as concise and to the point as possible.

If you fail to report your complaint whilst on your trip, we will not have the opportunity to investigate and rectify it while you are travelling, which affects our ability to improve the situation for you and the possibility of claiming back any form of compensation.

If you are in health difficulty whilst in East Africa and ask us to help, we will provide necessary assistance, in particular by providing information on health services, local authorities and consular assistance, medical assistance, and helping you to find alternative arrangements and make any necessary phone calls or emails. You must pay any costs we incur, or claim them back from your travel insurance company.

We welcome customers with special needs, but you must contact us before booking with specific details so that we can advise on the suitability of your plans. Regrettably, not every destination may be suitable. We reserve the right to refuse a booking if we cannot meet your needs. If you fail to advise us in advance, we reserve the right to cancel the booking as soon as we become aware of the situation.

Should you have special requests, such as food intolerances or meal requests, or requests for other reasons, we are happy to pass these on to the relevant suppliers, but these are requests and not guarantees.

Excursions or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for whilst you are in Africa are not part of the trip provided by us. For any excursion or tour you book, your contract will be with the operator of the excursion or tour, and not with us. We are not responsible for the provision of the excursion or tour, or for anything that happens during its provision by the operator.

It is a privilege to see animals in their natural habitat, and as such we cannot guarantee wildlife or game viewing. You must take caution when viewing the animals and carefully follow the instructions given by either the tour guide or wildlife rangers. A gorilla or chimpanzee permit guarantees that clients will be able to track the primates in question, but does not guarantee that the animals will be in plain sight.

Accommodation is based on a twin or double-bedded room, tent or banda, with a private bathroom where possible. Single rooms may be available for a supplement fee, but availability cannot always be guaranteed.

Savannah Explore Africa reserves the right to substitute equivalent or superior hotels. If a hotel of equivalent standard is not available, we may substitute the next best quality hotel or suggest superior-standard accommodation (extra charges may apply).

The mode of transport used will depend on the number of clients and the route taken, based on the specifications of the chosen itinerary. Every effort is made to ensure that vehicles are provided in roadworthy condition, but no liability can be accepted for a puncture, breakdown, damage, or delay resulting from poor road conditions.

Experienced English-speaking driver/guides are a key part of your tour and are the only persons allowed to drive Savannah Explore Africa vehicles. The driver’s decision on all matters, such as the route taken, is final.

Please check all the documentation you receive and notify us immediately if you notice any errors. If you do not do so, there may be additional costs if changes have to be made later.

You must review the current travel advice for your safari holiday destination before booking, and ensure you remain up to date with this advice before travelling.

Your specific passport, visa, and other immigration requirements are your responsibility. You should confirm these with the relevant embassies or consulates. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements. You must also ensure that your vaccination certificates are in order and that you have taken the advice of your doctor regarding vaccinations.

We refer, in particular, to our pre-departure information sheet. We will offer general advice but cannot be held responsible if you do not comply with current requirements before your departure. We do not accept liability for any advice given of a general nature before the holiday commences.

You are responsible for timely check-in for all flights, and for presenting yourself to take up all pre-booked components of your holiday. No credit or refund will be given should you fail to take up any component of your holiday or lose any travel documents.

We also draw to your attention that certain inherent risks are involved in all of the African safari holidays we supply, especially concerning wildlife, plants, the environment and illness. You must accept these at your own risk. If you wish to discuss any such risks with us, we would be happy to provide advice over the telephone or in writing.

It is part of our terms and conditions that all clients must purchase adequate travel insurance. We reserve the right to cancel your holiday at any time should such a policy not be taken out by you.

This booking is governed by Ugandan law and the jurisdiction of the Ugandan courts. However, you may choose the law and jurisdiction of Rwanda, Kenya or Tanzania, where we also operate.

Official company contacts that reach our reservations desk are:

• Office: +256 785 049 225
• WhatsApp: +256 701 022 671
• Mobile: +256 700 136 373
• Email: info@savannahexploreltd.com