Clients will receive a detailed itinerary outlining the places and experiences they can expect during their journey. Vaa Africa is committed to providing the agreed-upon safari services, except in unforeseen circumstances such as road closures, adverse weather, or security issues. In such cases, the itinerary may be adjusted, and clients will be informed at the company’s discretion, with alternative arrangements made as needed. We will try to maintain the original itinerary’s quality and character.
Clients should be aware that conditions in Tanzania may differ significantly from those in developed countries. This includes the possibility of unannounced changes in government-regulated fees and taxes, such as national park fees. Vaa Africa reserves the right to pass any local taxes or fees on to clients as they arise.
Upon confirming their booking, clients will receive an invoice detailing all aspects of their itinerary. To secure reservations, we require a 30% deposit of the total itinerary cost, along with 100% upfront payment for airline tickets. The remaining balance is due 65 days before the start date of your itinerary. For bookings made within 65 days of departure, full prepayment is required at the time of confirmation.
Payments can be made via bank wire or transfer.
If you cancel your booking, either partially or in full, for any reason, Vaa Africa will apply the following cancellation charges:
65+ days before departure: The deposit is non-refundable.
50-65 days before departure: 50% of the itinerary cost.
0-50 days before departure: 100% of the itinerary cost.
After your booking is confirmed, if you wish to make any changes to your itinerary or request an earlier departure date, we will do our best to accommodate your requests based on availability. However, please note that changes will incur an additional fee of $150.
All prices listed on vaaafrica.com are per person, based on double occupancy (unless otherwise specified), and are quoted in US dollars (US$). Please note that the following costs are not included in the itinerary price: passport and visa fees, border taxes (if applicable), tips for guides, drivers, and hotel staff, insurance, additional excursions, and personal expenses. Discounts for children and peak pricing during high or festive seasons are also not included. Prices on the website are intended as guidelines only, and Vaa Africa cannot be held responsible for any pricing errors or changes. All costs will be itemized in our invoices, which are valid for two weeks.
Clients will receive all necessary travel documents—including vouchers, e-tickets, luggage labels, and flyers—two weeks before departure.
It is the guest’s sole responsibility to obtain comprehensive travel and medical insurance to cover themselves and any dependents or companions throughout their trip to Tanzania. This insurance should include coverage for medical expenses and repatriation. Optional coverage may include cancellation or curtailment of the safari, emergency evacuation expenses (flying doctors), and protection against damage, theft, or loss of personal baggage, money, and belongings.
Guests are responsible for ensuring that their passports and visas are valid for all countries they will visit. Most nationalities can obtain a tourist visa upon arrival in Tanzania at the border or airport ($50 per person; US citizens $100 per person). This visa is valid for three months. Alternatively, you can apply for your visa in advance at the embassy in your home country. Please verify visa requirements before your trip.
Passports must have at least six months of validity remaining beyond the final day of travel. Vaa Africa cannot be held liable for any issues related to visas or other travel documents not held by the guests, nor for any associated costs.
Please carefully verify the names on the invoice upon receipt. If a name change is required more than three days after you receive our invoice, a fee of $125 will be applied.
By making a booking with Vaa Africa, you accept the terms and conditions outlined below.
The following conditions form part of your contract with Vaa Africa. Please read them carefully before booking. Payment of your deposit signifies acceptance of these terms:
Your contract is with Vaa Africa. These terms and conditions apply to all brochures, correspondence, and bookings made with us. No individual other than a director of Vaa Africa has the authority to alter these terms. Before booking, ensure you have read and understood these conditions and raise any queries with us. By requesting confirmation of your booking, you acknowledge that you have had the opportunity to review these terms before the contract is established.
Vaa Africa does not offer package holidays but specializes in creating tailor-made holidays to meet your specific needs. A binding contract is formed when:
No contract exists until payment is received. Full payment for your holiday is required 12 weeks before departure. If payment is not received by this deadline, we reserve the right to cancel your holiday and apply the cancellation charges outlined in paragraph 5. Cancellation will incur no penalty to us.
If you or any member of your party has a medical condition or disability that may affect your holiday, please inform us before confirming your booking. This allows us to advise on the suitability of your chosen arrangements. You must provide full details in writing at the time of booking. If we determine that we are unable to accommodate the specific needs of the individual, we reserve the right to decline the booking. Additionally, if full details are not provided at the time of booking, we may cancel the reservation once we become aware of these details.
Please review your confirmation invoice, tickets, and all other documentation as soon as you receive them. Contact us immediately if any information appears incorrect, as changes may not be possible later. We cannot accept liability if you do not notify us of any inaccuracies within 14 days of sending the documentation. You will be responsible for any costs incurred to rectify inaccuracies unless we made the error.
Cancellations must be submitted in writing and will take effect from the date we receive your notification. In all cancellation cases, the deposit and any amendment charges will be forfeited. Please note that costs for international flights are 100% non-refundable. Cancellation charges are expressed as a percentage of your quoted price (excluding international flights) as follows:
|
Period before departure when we receive your written cancellation |
Cancellation charge per person canceling |
|
More than 65+ days |
Deposit only |
|
Between 50 and 65 days |
50% |
|
0 and 50 days |
100% |
Surcharge Policy
Factors that may influence a surcharge include, but are not limited to, increases in transportation costs such as fuel, scheduled airfares, and any airline surcharges, taxes, or fees for services (e.g., landing taxes, embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports or airports), as well as increases in park, reserve, or concession fees. The price of your itinerary is based on known costs at the time of its issuance. Up until full payment for your holiday is received, Vaa Africa reserves the right to apply a surcharge if costs change after the itinerary is issued. Vaa Africa will absorb amounts up to 2% of the total holiday price, with any amount exceeding this being subject to a surcharge. If the surcharge exceeds 10% of the total holiday price, you are entitled to cancel the holiday and receive a full refund of all payments made. We reserve the right to correct errors in advertised prices and to make changes at any time before your holiday is confirmed. We will inform you of any errors we are aware of and provide the applicable price at the time of booking.
If you wish to modify your itinerary after making a deposit, we will do our best to accommodate your request, provided it is received in writing. A change fee of $75 per person (or $100 per person for U.S. customers) will apply. Please note that we cannot make alterations to your itinerary within 12 weeks of departure; any such request will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and will incur the cancellation charges outlined in paragraph 5.
We reserve the right to cancel your holiday for any reason at any time before full payment is received. While we strive to avoid changes and flight cancellations, we must maintain the right to do so. In such cases, we will refund all payments made or offer an alternative holiday of comparable standard. In such cases, we will provide compensation of $75 per person. We reserve the right to cancel your confirmed holiday if you fail to comply with any aspect of these booking conditions that entitles us to do so.
We cannot accept liability or pay compensation if the performance or timely performance of our contractual obligations is hindered or affected by, or if you suffer any damage or loss as a result of force majeure. For these booking conditions, “force majeure” refers to any event that we or our service suppliers could not foresee or avoid despite all due care. Such events may include but are not limited to, war, threats of war, civil strife, riots, civil disorder, industrial disputes, actual or threatened terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disasters, fires, outbreaks of epidemic or pandemic diseases, technical problems with transport, cancellations or changes to scheduled flights, airport or port closures or congestion, adverse weather conditions, and other similar events beyond our control. In circumstances deemed as force majeure, we will not refund any amounts paid; however, if we can recover any funds from our suppliers, we will pass those refunds on to you.
While it is unlikely that we will need to make changes to your holiday, we reserve the right to do so at any time. Most changes are minor, and we will notify you in writing as soon as possible. If a major change occurs—such as altering your outbound or return flights by more than 12 hours or making a significant change to your accommodation—you will have the option to accept the new arrangements, select another holiday with us, or cancel your holiday and receive a full refund of all payments made. This is provided the change is not due to force majeure or airline rescheduling.
Compensation will not be payable, and we will not accept liability beyond offering these options if we are forced to make changes or cancellations due to unusual or unforeseen circumstances beyond our control—events that we could not have avoided even with all due care. Additionally, no compensation will be available, nor will the options mentioned apply, if we cancel due to your failure to comply with any aspect of these booking conditions or if the change is considered minor. A minor change is defined as one that would not reasonably be expected to significantly affect your confirmed holiday based on the information you provided at the time of booking or what we, as a tour operator, could reasonably be expected to know.
Please note that no compensation is payable for children aged 2 and under. We cannot accept liability for any damage, loss, expense, or other sums unless: (a) the loss was foreseeable based on the information you provided before we accepted your booking, or (b) it resulted from a breach of contract or fault on our part, or that of our suppliers. We also cannot accept liability for any business losses.
Vaa Africa is committed to ensuring that your holiday is provided as described before your departure and that the services rendered meet reasonable local standards. However, we would like to draw your attention to paragraph 12. Please note that we cannot accept responsibility for any services not included in our contract. This includes additional services or facilities that your hotel or other suppliers may offer, which are not advertised in our brochure and have not been arranged by us.
The information in our brochure and on our website is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. Our brochure descriptions and other materials may reference “other activities and excursions” available at the resort. These activities and excursions are not operated or controlled by Vaa Africa and do not form part of your contract with us, even if we recommend specific operators or assist in booking these activities.
As such, Vaa Africa cannot accept liability for any outside activities or excursions. Any bookings made by us on your behalf for these activities are done solely as booking agents. This applies regardless of whether the activity is mentioned in our brochure, website, or elsewhere. Your contract for any such activity or excursion will be with the respective supplier or operator. Vaa Africa bears no liability for any activities or excursions or the acts or omissions of the suppliers or operators, their employees, agents, or any other individuals involved with those activities. If we are found liable in any capacity as a booking agent for any such activity or excursion, our liability is limited to the cost of the specific activity or excursion in question. We do not limit or exclude our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence.
We would like to remind customers that infrastructure in developing countries may not meet the same standards as in the UK. Some resorts may experience occasional power outages or water shortages. Please note that we will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss (including loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost, or any other claim resulting from the following circumstances: a) The fault of the affected individuals or any members of their party, b) The fault of a third party not connected with your holiday, which we could not have predicted or avoided, c) An event or circumstance that we or the service supplier could not have predicted or avoided, even with reasonable care (see force majeure), or d) The fault of anyone not engaged in work for us at that time.
Additionally, we cannot be held responsible if you do not enjoy your holiday or encounter issues due to reasons that you did not disclose when booking, or if any problems you experience do not arise from a breach of our contract or fault on our part, our suppliers, or agents. We also will not be liable for any losses, expenses, costs, or claims related to business activities.
We accept responsibility for negligent acts of our employees, agents, and direct suppliers that result in death, injury, or illness. Our liability for any claim, other than those involving injury or death due to our negligence, is limited to 200% of the holiday price.
Please note that our suppliers, such as accommodation and transport providers, have their booking conditions or conditions of carriage, which are binding between you and the supplier. Some of these conditions may limit or exclude the liability of transport providers or other suppliers. Copies of these conditions can be obtained from the relevant suppliers’ offices.
If you or any member of your party suffers death, injury, or illness as a result of transport by aircraft, ship, train, or coach, our compensation will be limited by the Warsaw Convention, the Athens Convention, the Berne Convention, and the Geneva Convention. These conditions may also limit or exclude the carrier’s liability to you and the compensation they are obligated to provide.
Vaa Africa accepts liability as described above only if a claim is submitted to us in writing no later than one month after your return.
Carriage by air and sea is governed by the terms and conditions of the respective carriers and applicable international conventions. Vaa Africa accepts no liability for cancellations, strikes, schedule changes, diversions, technical issues unrelated to our services, lost or mislaid luggage, rescheduling costs, missed accommodations, or delays resulting from the operational decisions of the carrier. Additionally, Vaa Africa is not liable for any death, injury, or illness arising from air or sea carriage.
Vaa Africa requires clients to obtain travel insurance. We reserve the right to cancel your holiday at any time if you do not purchase such a policy.
These booking terms and conditions, along with all correspondence, form part of your contract with Vaa Africa. This contract and any matters arising from it shall be governed by Tanzanian law, and the courts of Tanzania shall have exclusive jurisdiction to resolve any proceedings related to our contract.
If you were referred to us by another party (such as a travel agent), you agree to hold that party harmless and waive any claims against them. Any issues you may have should be directed to us and addressed under the terms of our contract.
If you encounter a problem during your holiday, please inform the relevant organizer (camp/hotel manager or safari provider) immediately so they can attempt to resolve the issue. If the problem cannot be resolved locally, you must submit full details in writing to Vaa Africa within 28 days of your return home. Failure to follow this procedure may result in us being unable to accept liability, as we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and address the issue.
