The fine print, in plain English.

By booking a trip, requesting a quote, or paying a deposit with Ubuntu Footprints Ltd (“Ubuntu Footprints,” “we,” “us”) you agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions on behalf of every traveller in your party. If you are booking for others, you confirm you have authority to accept these terms on their behalf and that you have shared them with everyone travelling.

These terms apply alongside any specific quotation, itinerary, or supplemental letter we send you. If anything in those documents conflicts with these terms, the document we issued most recently to you in writing takes precedence.

A booking is provisional until we issue a written confirmation referencing your final itinerary, total price, and the dates we are holding for you. Provisional holds are typically released within seven days if a deposit is not received.

You are responsible for checking that names on the booking match the names on each traveller’s passport, and for telling us immediately about any change of name, contact details, dietary needs, medical conditions, or accessibility requirements that could affect the trip.

Unless agreed otherwise in writing, we require a non-refundable deposit of 30% of the trip total to confirm a booking. The balance is due 60 days before departure. Bookings made inside 60 days require payment in full at confirmation.

• Prices are quoted in US dollars unless stated otherwise.
• Card and bank transfer fees, where charged by your bank or our processor, are payable by you.
• We may revise a quoted price before confirmation due to changes in park fees, permit costs, exchange rates, fuel, or government taxes. Once confirmed in writing, your price is fixed.

Cancellations must be sent in writing to the email we have on file for you. The following charges apply, calculated against the total trip cost:

• More than 60 days before departure — loss of deposit only.
• 59 to 31 days before departure — 50% of the total trip cost.
• 30 to 15 days before departure — 75% of the total trip cost.
• 14 days or fewer, or no-show — 100% of the total trip cost.

Gorilla and chimpanzee permits, charter flights, and certain lodge bookings are non-refundable from the moment they are issued or confirmed by the supplier, regardless of when you cancel. We will tell you which elements of your trip fall into this category before we purchase them.

We very rarely cancel a confirmed trip. If we do, for reasons within our reasonable control, you will be offered the choice of an alternative trip of comparable standard or a full refund of monies paid to us. Our liability is limited to the amount you have paid us and does not include onward losses such as flights or visa fees, which is why we require comprehensive travel insurance.

Gorilla and chimpanzee tracking permits are issued by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). Permit dates, sectors, and traveller names are submitted to UWA and become binding once issued. Permits cannot be transferred between people without a fresh permit being purchased, and are non-refundable in almost all circumstances.

Park entry, ranger fees, and activity fees are payable to UWA or the relevant authority. Where we collect these on your behalf they are remitted in full and we do not charge a margin on them.

Comprehensive travel insurance is a condition of travel. Your policy must cover, at minimum: medical treatment and evacuation including for high-altitude trekking, cancellation and curtailment, baggage, and personal liability. You agree to provide your insurer’s name and your policy number before departure on request.

We are not insurers. Costs caused by your failure to hold adequate insurance are your responsibility.

You are responsible for ensuring you hold a valid passport, the correct visa, and any vaccinations or prophylactics required for entry to Uganda and for the activities on your itinerary. Yellow fever vaccination is required for entry; other vaccinations may be advised by your medical practitioner.

Tell us in writing about any medical condition, allergy, or mobility need that could affect your safety or our planning. We reserve the right to decline a booking, or to decline a specific activity on the day, if we believe it would pose a serious risk to you or others.

Our guides have final say on safety, route, wildlife approach, and timing in the field. You agree to follow their reasonable instructions and the park rules at all times. This protects you, the wildlife, the local communities, and our team.

We may, at our sole discretion and without refund, ask any traveller to leave a trip if their behaviour is, in the reasonable opinion of our team, unsafe, harassing to others, illegal under Ugandan law, or seriously disrespectful to wildlife or hosts.

Safari travel involves wildlife, remote terrain, rough roads, light aircraft, water, and altitude. You acknowledge that these involve a level of risk beyond ordinary travel and you accept that risk knowingly when you book.

We are not liable for loss, injury, delay, or cost caused by events outside our reasonable control, including but not limited to: severe weather, road closures, political events, strikes, epidemics, acts of God, decisions by aviation authorities, UWA or other park authorities, mechanical failures we could not reasonably have foreseen, or your own act or omission. To the extent permitted by law, our total liability is capped at the amount you have paid us for the affected trip.

Lodges, camps, scheduled and charter airlines, transfer providers, and activity operators are independent businesses. We select them carefully and visit them regularly, but we are not their agent and they are not ours. Their own terms apply to the services they provide and we are not responsible for their acts or omissions beyond the duty of reasonable care we owe in selecting and coordinating them.

From time to time our guides take photographs and short video on trips. Unless you tell us in writing before or during the trip that you would rather not appear, you grant us a non-exclusive licence to use that content on our website, social channels, and printed materials, without attribution or fee. We will never sell your image to a third party.

Content you share with us in reviews, emails, or testimonials may be quoted, with your first name and country, on our website and marketing, unless you ask us not to.

If something goes wrong, please raise it with your guide and our office at the time so we can fix it. Most things can be fixed in the moment. Formal complaints should be sent in writing to info@wholesomeug.com within 28 days of trip end.

These terms are governed by the laws of Uganda and any dispute we cannot resolve between us shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Uganda.

We may update these terms from time to time. The version that applies to your trip is the one in force on the date we confirmed your booking in writing, unless a later version is required by law.