The Fine Print | Terms & Conditions

MAKING A BOOKING

To make a provisional booking, we ask you to first contact us to confirm availability and then to return your completed Booking Form (available online or offline), together with your deposit.

Your booking is confirmed when we receive your Booking Form and payment, after which your deposit is non-refundable, except in the circumstances specified in the Payment Schedule below.

Your contract with Cape Insights exists from the time we receive your completed Booking Form and initial payment.

The ”signatory” is responsible for ensuring that the booking conditions are drawn to the attention of every person on whose behalf s/he has made the booking.

PRICES

Prices are in South African Rands (ZAR).
Tour prices cover virtually everything – accommodation, transport, internal flights, the services of expert lecturers and tour leaders, gratuities, admissions, drinks with meals, all breakfasts, most lunches and dinners, as specified in each itinerary.
Prices do not include air travel to or from South Africa.
We offer a single supplement to individual travellers who want to ensure that they have private rooms throughout a trip.
While we make every effort to guaranteee that the published price will not change, we reseve the right to make adjustments in the following circumstances:
Currency fluctuations – where costs are subject to exchange rates, we will apply the differential (up or down) to the price and adjust the balance accordingly at the time the final payment is due
Airfair and fuel surcharges – any increases up until the final payment falls due will be passed on. 

PAYMENT SCHEDULE

To book a Small Group Tour, we require a 10% non-refundable deposit per person, per tour price.
Full payment or the balance of payment is due 10 weeks (70 days) prior to the start of the tour (or more where specified).
At this stage we require additional information, such as special requirements and your flight details.
Eight weeks before a Small Group tour starts, you receive full details of all aspects of the tour.

To book a Custom Tour, in order to commence planning the trip, an initial non-refundable deposit of R5,000 is required.
Usually, to confirm the booking, 30% of the total tour price is required, and the balance of payment is due 90 days prior to the tour start date.
In some cases, an intermediate payment of 50% of the total tour price is required 180 days prior to the start date, and the final payment is required 90 days prior, which may be subject to a surcharge.
We would only levy a surcharge if the increase is more than 2% of the published tour price.
If it exceeds 10% of the tour price, we offer you the option of cancelling your booking and receiving a full refund of payments already made, less the non-refundable deposit.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

When making payment, please heed our requirement that all bank charges incurred are to be borne by you, irrespective of type of tour.

We accept payment by bank transfer or by credit card  (Visa or Mastercard) since we have an online payment portal.

Should you pay by credit card for a Custom Tour, we levy a supplementary fee to cover processing charges, in line with standard industry practice.


Click here for the online Booking Form
OR
Download the offline Booking Form

CANCELLATIONS

We reserve the right to cancel any tour at any time for any reason.
We take as the day of cancellation that on which we receive your written / online confirmation of cancellation.
We might cancel a tour if there were too few participants for it to be viable, though this would always be more than eight weeks before departure, and we would refund you.
For health, safety and security reasons, cacancellations may occur if the safety of the participants was judged to be compromised by circumstances amounting to force majeure, such as civil unrest, hostilities, natural disasters or adverse weather conditions.

CHANGES

Circumstances sometimes arise which prevent us from operating the tour exactly as advertised – and we would try to devise a satisfactory alternative.

If the change represents a significant loss to the tour, we would offer compensation.

If you decide to cancel because the substitute is not acceptable in your view, we would give a full refund.

Wherever possible, we would advise you of such changes prior to departure, or we would adjust the itinerary to avoid a risky area, but we would not assume responsibility for any loss incurred.

We reserve the right to cancel any tour at any time.

INSURANCE

A requirement of booking is that you have adequate travel insurance to cover, at minimum, such things as medical treatment, repatriation, loss of property, and loss of payment to us  in the event you cancel a tour. 

Experience indicates that free travel insurance offered by some credit card companies is not to be relied upon.

TRAVEL & HEALTH 

We count on you to make your own necessary travel and visa arrangements, as well as take appropriate health measures.

Participants must have passports valid for six months after the date of return, plus contain two unused blank pages for endorsements (excluding the final page).

Visitors from the USA, UK, Australia, most Western European countries and Japan don’t require visas fro South Africa but are issued a free entry permit on arrival valid for up to 90 days.

Since you are making your own travel arrangements, the only proviso is that it is your responsibility to join your tour on time.

ELIGIBILITY & FITNESS

We require participants to have a level of physical and mental fitness which will not impair other participants’ enjoyment by slowing them down, requiring disproportionate attention from the tour leader, or necessitating special arrangements.

If you are in any doubt about your own suitability, we ask that you make this known to us before you book.

We reserve the right to decline a booking without necessarily giving a reason.

PROTECTION

Financial: Our secure, online payment portal PayGate is approved by FNB, a division of First Rand Bank Limited, an authorised financial service and credit provider.

Consumer: Cape Insights offers and operates all tours listed herein. Registration No. 2006/224867/23.

We hold public liability insurance with SATIB (Safari & Tourism Insurance Brokers), the established leader in tourism, insurance &  risk management services.
Our insurance policies comply with the European Union Directive 90/314/ EEC relating to the Travel Trade Act, 1995.

AFFILIATIONS 

We sometimes operate tours in association with companies that are fully accredited with SATSA (Southern Africa Tourism Services Association); ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents); IATA (the International Air Transport Association) and TRAVEL SMART.

LIMITS OF OUR LIABILITY

As principal, we accept responsibility for most of the ingredients of a tour, except those where force majeure conditions prevail. 

With independent suppliers or third party providers, there may be a failure or improper performance of some services, attributable to unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, and for these Cape Insights may not be liable.

Our obligations are also limited where international conventions apply in respect of air, sea, or rail carriers.

We are not responsible for any loss incurred on account of non-refundable or non-transferable air tickets or other unrecoverable travel costs.

INDEMNITY

To indemnify Cape Insights, we ask that you read and agree to the Booking Conditions.

We also require you to assume full responsibility for your needs in respect of personal insurance and health insurance, in case of any loss of property or illness, injury or death.

PRIVACY POLICY

By signing the Booking Form you are stating that you have read and agree to our Privacy Policy.
This can be found and read online, as well as our Protection of Personal Information Policy (POPI)

SOUTH AFRICAN LAW

These conditions form part of your contract with Cape Insights and are governed by the laws of South Africa.
All proceedings shall be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of South Africa.

Should any aspect of the tour be regarded as less than satisfactory, you are asked to bring the matter to our attention immediately, or to contact us in writing at the company address within twenty one days of the incident.
We choose domicilium citandi et executandi for all communication purposes.

Cape Insights
PO Box 15594  / Vlaeberg 8018 / Cape Town / South Africa