Covid-19 Terms and Conditions

These COVID-19 Terms & Conditions are applicable from 30th of April 2020. They remain in place until such time as the World Health Organization declares the pandemic over. Once these conditions are removed, any booking still to travel or made under the auspices of these terms and conditions would be replaced by Mal d’Africa Safaris standard terms and conditions.

Against the backdrop of various restrictive interventions that have recently been imposed not only by the South African government but also by various governments within our source markets in an attempt to stem the spread of COVID-19, all of which measures fall entirely beyond the control of Mal d’Africa Safaris and its portfolio’s partners (i.e. border closures, restrictions on international flight schedules, travel bans and lockdowns), Mal d’Africa Safaris has had no option other than to invoke the provisions of “force majeure” under its trading terms resulting in the suspension of all obligations by the parties under the trading terms until such time that the “force majeure” events have been lifted or cancelled by the various governments.

In an endeavor to mitigate the devastating ripple-effect of disruption and restrictions the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed on the worldwide travel industry, we have amended our standard terms to allow guests to postpone travel up to a year after the original travel date and carry forward 100% of the booking’s value* to the future booking. Should a guest elect to cancel the booking, then our standard cancellation policy applies.

We are communicating with all affected guests and trade partners to advise them on government restrictions on travel.

Given the fluidity of global events, we recommend that guests wait until 01 JUNE 2020 to make a decision to postpone or continue travel after 01 AUGUST 2020. Should guests elect to cancel or postpone their booking prior to 01 JUNE 2020, then Mal d’Africa Safaris standard terms and conditions apply.

Should the same global conditions (varying worldwide travel restrictions) exist at 01 JUNE 2020, then guests may consider postponing their bookings, travelling between 01 AUGUST 2020 to 01 OCTOBER 2020, up to a year after the original travel date and carry forward 100% of the booking’s value* to the future booking.

• The booking value carried forward will be calculated as the full funds received on the booking.
• At the time of deferment, we will clearly communicate what costs are not recoverable and deducted from the credit that can be used on the future booking.
• We continue to engage with our partners to align with the Covid-19 Mal d’Africa Safaris Revised Terms and Conditions.
• 2020 rates will be honored as much as possible for new travel dates in 2021.
• Should the future booking be for travel in a different season, or availability of services means that the costs of the logistics, activities, or accommodation has increased, the traveler will be liable for the difference in costs associated with the new trip.

Electing to cancel a booking based on the current level of uncertainty is understandable but our advice to guests is not to do so. Most travel operators across Africa are electing to impose their normal terms and conditions in this event which may result in any deposits or monies paid being unrecoverable. At this time, deferral remains the best outcome to ensure monies paid* are retained for future use.

Should a booking defer now, and then elect to cancel later, Mal d’Africa Safaris will assess the cancellation restrictions against the original dates and revised dates of all services owned or operated by Mal d’Africa Safaris. The stricter of the two will apply.

As flexible as Mal d’Africa Safaris is being in relation to future travel, we highly recommend that guests take out comprehensive travel insurance; including “cancel for any reason” (where still available) to ensure any funds lost can be recovered.

• Any variations from the above terms and conditions are at Mal d’Africa Safaris discretion and Mal d’Africa Safaris reserves the right to amend or withdraw the terms and conditions without prior notice.

For any enquiries please contact Mal d’Africa Safaris at info@maldafrica.com