Terms of Service

These terms govern bookings made with Bookara Tours and Safaris Ltd (company no. PVT-KW192OWZ), trading as Bookara Tours & Safaris ("Bookara", "we", "us"). By booking a tour or stay on www.bookaratours.com or paying a deposit, you agree to these terms.

1. What we sell

Bookara sells curated safari tours and selected hotels, lodges, and villas ("stays") in Kenya and East Africa, primarily to international guests. Prices on the website are shown in USD unless stated otherwise. Custom itineraries may be arranged via WhatsApp at agreed prices.

2. Booking & deposits

• Online bookings require a 30% deposit to confirm. Paying in full at checkout earns 3% off.
• The remaining balance is due 45 days before departure unless we agree otherwise in writing.
• A booking is confirmed only after we receive cleared payment and send a confirmation email to the lead traveller.
• If the balance is not received by the due date we will remind you at the contact details on the booking. Where it remains unpaid we may treat the booking as cancelled by you and apply the cancellation charges in section 4.
• You must provide accurate contact details, traveller names, arrival information, and any dietary or accessibility needs.

3. Prices & price changes

Prices are quoted in USD and cover only what the trip page lists as included. Once we confirm your booking we hold your price, with one exception: if our underlying supplier costs rise before departure — government park-fee tariffs, fuel, taxes, or currency movement — we may pass on a surcharge of no more than 5% of the trip price.

We will always explain the reason in writing. If a surcharge would exceed 5%, you may instead cancel and receive a full refund of everything you have paid us. We do not reduce advertised prices retroactively if supplier costs fall after you book.

4. If you cancel

Cancellation charges are counted from your scheduled departure date and applied to the total trip price:

• 90+ days before departure: Full refund of amounts paid to Bookara.
• 60–89 days before: 50% refund of amounts paid to Bookara.
• Within 60 days: Non-refundable, except where required by law or where a lodge/camp grants a partial credit we can pass through.

Third-party costs (flights, park fees already remitted, non-refundable lodge nights) may be withheld even when Bookara fees are refundable. Approved refunds are processed to the original payment method within 14 business days where possible.

To cancel, email hello@bookaratours.com or WhatsApp us with your booking reference — the date we receive your written notice is the date we use. See also our FAQ.

5. If we change or cancel

We may substitute comparable lodges, vehicles, or guides when operational necessity requires it (weather, park closures, road conditions, or overbooking by a partner). Minor changes of this kind do not entitle you to a refund.

If we make a material change — a significant downgrade in accommodation standard, a change of destination, or a change of departure date you cannot accommodate — you may choose to accept it, move to an alternative trip, or cancel for a full refund of amounts paid to Bookara.

Some departures require minimum numbers to run. If a trip does not reach them we will tell you at least 21 days before departure and offer you an alternative date, an alternative trip, or a full refund. Where we cancel for reasons within our control we will also cover reasonable, evidenced rebooking costs for services you booked through us — but not third-party costs such as international flights, which is why section 7 requires insurance.

6. Force majeure

We are not liable for failure to perform where it is caused by events beyond our reasonable control — including natural disaster, epidemic or pandemic, severe weather, fire, flood, drought, civil unrest, terrorism, strikes, government action, border or park closures, or travel bans ("force majeure").

Where force majeure prevents a trip running, we will not be able to offer a cash refund of costs we have already committed to suppliers on your behalf. Instead we will issue a travel credit for the full amount you have paid us, valid for 24 months and transferable to another person. Where a supplier does refund us, we pass that money back to you in cash. This clause does not limit any right you have under Kenyan law.

7. Travel insurance is mandatory

You must hold comprehensive travel insurance for the whole of your trip, and you agree not to travel without it. Your policy must as a minimum cover:

• Trip cancellation and curtailment;
• Emergency medical treatment and repatriation;
• Emergency evacuation, including air evacuation from remote areas — several parks we visit are hours from a hospital by road;
• Personal accident, baggage and personal liability.

We may ask for your insurer and policy number before departure. If you travel uninsured or underinsured you do so at your own risk and accept responsibility for any costs — including evacuation costs — that your insurance would otherwise have met.

8. Your responsibilities & conduct

• Valid passport (6+ months validity recommended) and any visas are your responsibility unless explicitly included.
• You must tell us before booking about any medical condition, disability, or dietary need that affects your trip, so we can advise whether it is suitable.
• You must follow guide and park safety instructions at all times.
• Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult; some activities have minimum ages stated on the trip page.
• We may remove any guest from a trip, immediately and without refund, whose behaviour we reasonably consider to endanger themselves, our staff, other guests, or wildlife — including intoxication, harassment, violence, or repeatedly ignoring safety instructions. You remain responsible for your onward costs, and for any damage you cause.

9. Our role

Bookara designs and coordinates your itinerary. The individual services within it — accommodation, internal and international flights, ground transport, park and conservancy access, and activities — are supplied by independent third-party suppliers, and are subject to those suppliers' own terms and conditions.

For those services we act as an agent and facilitator between you and the supplier. We select partners with care, but we do not own or control them and we are not liable for their acts, omissions, delays, cancellations, or for loss, theft, injury or damage caused by them. Where a supplier fails you, we will help you pursue your claim against them.

10. Liability

Safari and outdoor travel carry inherent risk, including proximity to wild animals, remote locations and variable road conditions. You accept those risks as inherent to the experience.

To the fullest extent permitted by Kenyan law, Bookara's total liability for any claim arising from your booking is limited to the total amount you paid Bookara for that booking. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, missed connections, flight delays or cancellations, or events outside our reasonable control. Nothing in these terms excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by our own negligence, or for fraud, where such exclusion is not permitted by law.

11. Photography & media

Our guides photograph and film during trips. You grant Bookara a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to use images and footage captured during your trip in which you appear, for marketing and editorial purposes, without further payment. We will not publish anything that identifies a child without a parent or guardian's consent.

You may opt out at any time — before departure, tell your planner, or afterwards email hello@bookaratours.com and we will stop using and remove the material from our own channels.

12. Payments

Card and Apple Pay payments (USD) are processed by Paystack on our behalf. We do not store full card numbers on our servers. Chargebacks without contacting us first may result in cancellation of future bookings.

13. Complaints

If something goes wrong, tell your guide or your planner while you are still on the trip — most problems can be fixed on the spot, and giving us the chance to fix them is a condition of any later claim. If it is not resolved, email hello@bookaratours.com within 28 days of your return with your booking reference.

14. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Kenya. Disputes shall first be addressed in good faith via hello@bookaratours.com; if unresolved, courts in Nairobi shall have jurisdiction.

15. Contact

Bookara Tours and Safaris Ltd
Tumaini House, Moi Avenue, Nairobi, Kenya
P.O. Box 28255, 00100 Nairobi
hello@bookaratours.com · www.bookaratours.com